Sometimes, demons go to church, and sometimes, priests are fooled. In last week’s episode of Outcast, Mildred died and Sidney put his mark on Reverend Anderson. There is a battle coming to the town of Rome and the good guys are outnumbered. Can Kyle mend fences with Allison? Will Mark’s poor judgment come back to haunt him? Will the Reverend lose another battle with Sidney?
Marked
What does it mean to be marked by the Devil? According to Scripture, a mark was usually placed on the forehead or right hand of a person who swore allegiance to the fallen one, a.k.a. the Devil. Sidney had carved a pentagram into Anderson’s chest and the minister was so traumatized by the attack, he forgot about poker night until Giles and the others showed up. Up to this point, Anderson, who we know is a good although a misguided man of the cloth, has kept his composure and his faith but tonight we see him come apart at the seams.
After an argument breaks out between Giles and Ogden over the burned out camper, Giles notices the blood on Anderson’s shirt. Anderson is visibly shaken not only by the attack but his failure to successfully do an exorcism and yet, he tells Giles he knows how to trap Sidney. This shows us that Anderson has yet to understand how cunning Sidney is. There can be no sneak attack done on the wily king of hell because he knows who his enemies are, but I’m afraid that Reverend Anderson is so unbalanced by Sidney’s attack that any plans to outsmart Sidney will fail.
Kyle is marked by the experience with his mother and the fact that he is separated from his wife and child. In tonight’s episode, it is revealed that Kyle had this gift to identify a possessed person for a quite a while. In a flashback scene, we hear the familiar and telltale sizzling sound when he goes to shake hands with his friend and fellow co-worker at the mines. Russ was one of the men who died in the mine accident. Kyle was spared, thankfully for his neighbors, and now the town is getting ready to present a memorial in honor of the men who died in that mining accident.
Allison is marked by the half memories she’s been having about the night Kyle beat her into a bloody pulp. Allison may not remember, but little Amber does. Little Amber is so hostile to Allison we know that she remembers who tried to choke the life from her, but until this episode Allison had always assumed that Kyle was the abuser. Little by little, the memories are returning and after finding the drawing inside Amber’s closet, everything came home to roost. How will Allison deal with this shocking insight?
Megan is marked by a predator, a rapist who takes joy in harassing her. Instead of seeking her husband’s help from the very beginning of Donnie’s appearance in town, Megan dealt with the trauma alone, and it backfired.
Donnie is not possessed, but he is a demon in his own right. He is a rapist, a coward who most likely has a long list of rapes notched onto his belt. If Megan would have handled Donnie’s reappearance through legal venues, I’m sure he’d be sitting in jail. But, Megan felt marked by her rape and she gives into Donnie’s demand for compensation. Did she really believe that bribe money would keep Donnie from pressing charges against Mark?
Sidney
I will always think of Brent Spiner as Data from Star Trek’s Next Generation, but in this series, he has successfully removed any traces of the lovable android that I once loved. Spiner has taken on a new role with chilling precision. The Sidney character is scary because he isn’t sprouting horns or a tail. This devil not only goes to a barber, but he makes promises to those who foolishly make him a friend. As the Devil, Sidney knows how people will react and he uses this information to confuse them. Sidney knew the effect that mark he carved into Anderson would cause and Anderson fell into the trap.
Conclusion
Giles is convinced the Ogden has a demon inside him, but Kyle’s handshake doesn’t bring out the familiar sizzling sound. Does this mean that Ogden is innocent? This was a shocker because we know that Ogden is a very bad man. Then again, there are a lot of bad men in the world, but not all of them are possessed. They just do the Devil’s work by promoting hatred and bigotry. Maybe Ogden wasn’t possessed, but his wife sure is and, Kyle knows it. It will be interesting to see how big a part she played in Ogden’s secret life.
Things didn’t go well for Mark or Megan. Donnie used the bribe money to hire a lawyer and now he’s pressing charges against Mark. One by one the good guys are falling flat on their faces as Sidney continues to get stronger.
Kyle got part of his family back. After he and Allison made love, she left. She has her own demon to fight and she can’t trust herself around Amber. At least Kyle has Amber, but for how long. The Devil attacks what you love the most.
From the beginning of the series, Anderson was always boastful in his belief that he could send the Devil packing. He was mistaken. Anderson had invited Sidney to play a game of poker, but the Devil never loses a card game. He is the ultimate gambler.
Anderson thought his faith could save him and he played his cards as if he had the winning hand, but his attempt to reveal the true identity of Sidney to the townsfolk has backfired. The people think him a fool and that’s a shame because Anderson is a good man. Let’s hope that Anderson uses Kyle’s deck of cards for the next poker game.
Kyle is the reluctant crusader. He is the protagonist with a secret power, but the only thing that Kyle desires is to have his family back. But, like Chief Giles pointed out, Kyle has an important mission to complete. Kyle is able to cast out demons and this makes him a dangerous opponent. Robert Kirkman has given us a worthy antagonist to fear and the battle that is about to take place in the town of Rome is as old as time itself. See you next week, my little angels.
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