Season 1, Episode 10:
Quid Pro Quo
A man in black robes (who later turns out to be Felix Faust) sends out a wicked black smoke to trap a little girl. Meanwhile, Zed is frantically getting her stuff together; she needs to disappear, and this time, she needs to stay gone. John doesn't get it - how come she can stare the forces of Hell in the face, but not the leader of the cult she's running from? Answer: because said leader is her father.It turns out that the little girl who was trapped earlier is the daughter of John's friend Chas, John tries to negotiate a deal. A Day in the Limelight ensues for Chas.
Tropes present in this episode include:
- Accidental Hero: Constantine saved Chas from dying in the night club (and gave him so many extra lives) by drunkenly performing what he thought was a protection spell designed to help him get home safely after he'd had something to drink that night. Turns out, it was really an ancient spell that induces immortality.
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed, but Renee is much more sympathetic than in the comics.
- Adaptational Wimp: Felix Faust is nothing more than a second-rate loser in this continuity, with the only thing making him a threat being the Rising Darkness.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: In spite of his own magical abilities, Faust does not believe Chas's claims to have 32 souls until seeing him kill himself then return to life.
- A Day in the Limelight: Chas gets one, explaining why he's slightly less mortal than everyone else, and focusing on his family life.
- A Million Is a Statistic: Averted. Chas memorizes the names of everybody who died in the club fire, and keeps a photo album of them, calling them his friends.
- Being Good Sucks: Chas feels an obligation to make the most of the spell John cast on him (which resulted in his unusual state). The result is a ruined marriage and a daughter who wonders when he's coming home.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Chas is generally a Gentle Giant unless the circumstances demand otherwise. His daughter being in danger is one such circumstance.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: A medium (who happens to be an old friend of John's) suffers this when Faust casts a spell to burn him alive. It's left ambiguous as to whether or not he actually feels it, though.
- The Dead Have Names: Chas's treatment of the 32 souls he has.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Chas doesn't like to be called by his given name, Francis.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: This is one of the few episodes that ends on an unambiguously happy note: Chas and Renee are on much better terms, and Chas gets to tell his daughter the truth. Meanwhile, John gets to hear through Zed that his mother doesn't blame him for her death.
- Exact Words: How Felix weasels out of his deal to release Geraldine's soul; he wanted John to banish the demon, not disperse it.
- Flashback B-Plot: The A plot is Constantine trying to save Chas's daughter, and the B plot is flashbacks to when Constantine accidentally made Chas semi-immortal.
- Foil: A subtle example; while Zed's father is The Ghost (and extremely abusive), Chas is a regular member of the cast and a Papa Wolf to boot.
- Friendship Moment: The episode shows several between John and Chas.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Felix spent his life as a second-rate apprentice, and was bitterly envious of the success of someone like John, who barely had to study magic to learn it. One of the first things he does when John shows up is hold it over his head.
- Happily Married: Chas was this, until John cast that spell and Chas decided using his extra souls heroically mattered more than his normal life. See Being Good Sucks.
- Heroic RRoD: Zed has one of these when she tries to connect to Geraldine herself, collapsing in pain and falling into a brief coma.
- Missing Mom: John's says her death wasn't his fault, according to Zed (who met her while she was in a coma).
- Papa Wolf: Chas will stop at nothing to save Geraldine. When it becomes clear that Faust isn't going to keep his word, Chas blows them both up with a grenade. He gets better; Faust doesn't.
- Sleep Cute: John naps next to Zed, smiling.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Felix Faust wants to be a great sorcerer, and talks at length about how much work he's put into it, but he can't do more than tricks without another's power backing him.
- Taking You with Me: Chas ties his and Felix's hands together and blows them both up. He gets better, but Felix is a goner.
- When You Coming Home, Dad?: Geraldine tries to wait up for her father - and it's not the first time she's done so.
