Episode 8 – “Long Walk Home”
First aired July 19, 2019.
This episode is named after the Bruce Springsteen song from from his 2007 album Magic.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 1: In the swamp, Avery is injured and hears strange noises around him as he tries to find his way back to Marais.   He carves a marking in a tree to help him keep his bearings but the marking is erased as soon as he walks away.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 2: Abby meets Harlan at a CDC facility in Atlanta and gives the sample of the Rot to a colleague to run some tests.  Abby notices new people at the CDC and Harlan mentions that there is a new assistant director, Dr. Palomer.  Palomer approaches them and is unhappy that Abby has not been sending frequent reports, and that she stayed in Marais longer than necessary.
NOTES: Dr. Palomer is portrayed by Adrienne Barbeau.  Barbeau played Alice Cable (an amalgam of the Abby Arcane and Matt Cable characters) in the 1982 Swamp Thing film.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 3: Avery struggles through the swamp and has a vision of Lucilia. She taunts him, and then tendrils shoot out of her face before she disappears.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 4: Matt is at home when he receives a voicemail message from Lucilia asking him to go to the station.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 5: Abby is upset with Harlan because he didn’t defend her in front of Palomer, and he is concerned because she has not been communicative.  Abby leaves.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 6: In the hospital lab, Ellery visits Jason to discuss his work and to tell him that he has ordered a mobile biological lab that could be housed at an abandoned Sunderland facility.  Ellery wants to keep the project secret, and will have the new lab ready by the time the ‘specimen’ is located and brought in.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 7: As night falls, Avery sees a vision of his younger self and his father.  Teenage Avery is afraid of a tree because it is rumoured to have special powers, but his father begins cutting it down anyway.  A root comes out of the ground and drags the father into the campfire, burning him to death. The vision ends and Avery then sees Swamp Thing towering over him.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 8: Abby arrives at the place she is staying and looks through a box marked ‘Marais’, which includes some items from her childhood and an unusual necklace.  Harlan arrives at her door with pizza. Abby mentions that her mother died when Abby was eight. She tells Harlan that she has been trying to help Alec Holland in the swamp but that she has left him out of her official reports.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 9: Avery wakes up in Alec’s lab with moss on his wounds.  Swamp Thing introduces himself and explains that he is Alec.  Avery insists that the swamp is deadly and its purpose is to be used by humans, but Swampy argues that it has been abused and this has caused a darkness to be released.  Swampy believes that the Green saved him so that he could restore the balance of the swamp and protect it from those who would exploit it, like Avery.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 10: Matt is in an irritated mood at the station and snaps at a colleague.  He talks to Lucilia, who needs him to keep a level head. Matt talks to her about the father who raised him, and who left because of Lucilia’s ongoing relationship with Avery.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 11: Abby continues to talk to Harlan and she describes Swampy’s abilities to manipulate plants and access their memories.  Harlan believes her because of what he saw in Marais.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 12: Outside of Abby’s apartment, Harlan is approached by two men and dragged into the boot of a car.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 13: Avery realises that Abby has been trying to find a cure for Swamp Thing, and that Swampy wants to be with her.  Avery offers to get Jason Woodrue to help cure him. Swampy brings a boat to Avery so that he can leave, and Avery tells him that he will bring Jason to meet him in a clearing tomorrow.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 14: Abby finds that she has been denied access to the CDC offices.  Palomer tells her that the sample she had brought in has been “locked down”, and that Harlan has been transferred to Bangladesh.  Palomer leads her into an office to meet with Ellery, who wants to discuss Alec, who he claims to have learned about from Harlan.  Ellery insists that Abby bring Swamp Thing to Ellery, or else they will use violent force to capture him. Abby tells them to stay away and she leaves the office.  Abby tries unsuccessfully to reach Harlan, but leaves him a voice message advising him that she is going to Marais.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 15: Avery arrives at the Woodrues seeking medical treatment and Caroline leaves Avery and Jason to talk alone.  Avery shows him a shotgun wound, which is nearly healed because of Swamp Thing’s help. Avery describes meeting Swamp Thing, and Woodrue already knows that Swampy’s true identity is Alec Holland.  Jason also informs Avery that Ellery is their investor after Maria took over the meeting, and Ellery been helping Jason with his requirements. Avery asks whether its possible to cure Alec, but Jason wonders why anyone would want to do that when they could achieve fame by exploiting Alec in his current form.  Avery argues that Alec saved his life, but Jason retorts that he could save millions more as Swamp Thing.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 16: Avery and Woodrue meet Swamp Thing in the swamp.  Swampy is familiar with Jason’s research, and asks him whether he can be made human again.  Jason asks Swampy to follow him to his facility, but but Swamp Thing refuses to leave the swamp. Swampy realises that they are not alone and flees.  He is approached by a group of military personnel with guns and is forced to fight them, but Swampy is eventually frozen with nitrogen.
NOTES: In Swamp Thing #20 (Jan. 1984), Swampy is attacked with flamethrowers, shot, and only frozen after he is captured.

EPISODE 8, SCENE 17: Abby searches for Swamp Thing in the swamp but only finds a shotgun shell.

Next: Episode 9… ▸