Abby and Matt pursue young patient Ellie Coyle into the swamp, unaware that Alec Holland is still alive, but in a very different form.

After last week’s effects-heavy opener, this second episode plays more as a drama procedural, most of the locals demonstrating animosity towards Abby for leaving the town and coming back again. Luckily for her, she’s more focused on the swamp-borne disease that’s claimed two more victims. Kevin Durand (The Strain) also joins the cast as an affable scientist, who’s informed that the accelerant devised to dry out the swamps has mutated into something far worse, clarifying our suspicion that Sutherland (a slimy Will Patton) is the real villain here.

But it’s the final act that really impresses. Ellie stows away on a police launch and witnesses the murder of a swamp warden by criminals. Abby and Matt are in hot pursuit, Ellie ducking and diving from the villain’s machete, and then Swamp Thing arrives. What a wonderful job the team have done in kitting out Derek Mears as our vege-hero, so authentic to Bernie Wrightson’s original design. And as the graphic way in which he dispatches the villain shows us, he’s no pushover.

Verdict: The excitement you feel when watching this solid second instalment is tempered by the news that the show has already been cancelled. Like finding out at the end of Doctor Who’s Rose that Christopher Eccleston has already left, it’s hard to be invested in something that will soon be gone. It’s a great shame, as it wears its horror credentials proudly, but will soon be submerging back into the big again. 8/10

Nick joy