WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Swamp Thing Episode 9, "The Anatomy Lesson," streaming now on DC Universe.
Swamp Thing's penultimate episode, "The Anatomy Lesson," serves a critical role in creating the framework for the premature series finale, supplementing the main characters' development and also paying homage to the comic book source material. Along with all that, the episode delivers a subplot that transforms Daniel Cassidy/Blue Devil (Ian Ziering) into a superhero.
In a series governed by the Green and the Rot, Daniel's predicament revolves around the town of Marais, Louisiana, and protecting Abby Arcane. Swamp Thing depicts him as someone who circumstances make a hero but one who is made mighty by the blue demon he's avoiding.
On the series, Daniel is a former stuntman who gained a modicum of fame portraying the demonic Blue Devil in a film, and for much of the series, he's expressed a desire to recapture that fading glory. Before "The Anatomy Lesson," Daniel wasn’t entirely the hero he played on-screen. Sure, he'd stopped bad guys, but he was contractually obligated to do so.
In "The Price You Pay," a flashback gives us a glimpse into the first time Dan and the mysterious Phantom Stranger met. The flashback directly shows us that Dan was a stuntman striving for bigger and better roles. Since he wanted more screen time, the Stranger manipulated the stuntman's desires to diversify his resume by concocting a deal.
Phantom Stranger tells Dan to meet a woman in Marais, who ends up being Abby Arcane. After they shake hands on the deal, the studio bequeaths the role of Blue Devil to Dan. Unfortunately for him, the stranger's terms for the deal were vague, and Dan thought the mysterious man was an executive on the film set. (To Phantom Stranger's credit, Dan did say he would do "anything to have that role.")
While Dan's big blue comic origin story deviates slightly, his path to becoming a hero is always complicated. Regardless of the continuity, Dan always acts as a hero to get out of the Blue Devil role. However, playing the devilish gig always grows on him, and it makes him become genuinely heroic.
On Swamp Thing, he started his journey as a reluctant defender. Because Dan had been attempting to complete his contract with Phantom Stranger, he hadn't devoted himself to the Blue Devil role. At least, not until "The Anatomy Lesson." But that's not to say Dan hasn't accomplished great things. He saved Liz Tremayne -- even though that did more harm to him than anything else -- and he's kept Abby safe by essentially following her around Marais.
While he's performed these noble acts and periodically played the role of a hero, these moments didn't solidify his standing as a valiant savior. After all, his main mission in Marais is legally binding. Most of his antics weren't genuinely committed by his own volition -- he just did them to complete his contract.
However, "The Anatomy Lesson" sees a change between Dan and how he views the Blue Devil role. Episode 9 uses his visible debut as Blue Devil to signify his transformation into a true-blue hero. Before the laboratory fight scene, his contract undermined his crime-fighting credentials. A mystical force predetermined his heroics, so he never got the chance to play a hero off-script. But for once, Phantom Stranger let him decide his own future, and Dan chose to be a hero and aid Liz and Abby -- who were in grave danger -- in saving Swamp Thing from the secret Conclave facility where research was being conducted on him.
Prior to the episode he was a character with ambiguous morality. The decision to show the Blue Devil for the first time when Dan is saving people explicitly highlights Dan's heroic growth. This visual prop draws an implicit comparison between Dan’s temporary transformation into the Blue Devil and his personal metamorphosis.
But honing his heroism comes at a price. Like his switch to the devil, his heroic efforts might be fleeting, but his character development is nonetheless critical. Sure, struggle and acceptance are both parts of Dan’s heroic plight. He’s still got a long way to go in terms of personal growth, but his scenes in "The Anatomy Lesson" give Blue Devil some closure on a show canceled before its time. Though he's still controlled by Phantom Stranger's contract, we finally saw Dan as a real hero during this episode.
He's certainly come a long way from his failed attempts to escape Marais and, speaking of which, we're still not sure if he's resolved his whole hostage situation. But, Phantom Stranger's emotionally manipulative premonition aside, Dan still makes a case for the connection between free will and crime-fighting.
Though there’s still a lot left to learn about all the characters we might never get a resolution for everything considering the fate of the show. Still, making Daniel Cassidy an irrefutable hero at least gives a proper send-off to the character.
New episodes of Swamp Thing hit DC Universe on Fridays. The show stars Crystal Reed, Andy Bean, Derek Mears, Jennifer Beals, Henderson Wade, Will Patton, Virginia Madsen, Jeryl Prescott and Kevin Durand. The series is executive produced by James Wan, Mark Verheiden, Gary Dauberman, Michael Clear and Len Wiseman.
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