On last week’s episode of The Exorcist, Father Marcus was working his way down his friend list, provided to him by Father Bennett. Casey was tormented by her demon for not being totally submissive, but could it have finally been exorcised by the two priests determined to help the young lady?
The show opens with Father Tomas and Father Marcus having a pre-exorcism huddle of sorts. Tomas is worried about the Rance Family as they are going through so much, and has the jitters about performing the exorcism. The elder priest reassures him that he has a knack for it and will do just fine. It seems it is the calm before the storm, as thunder claps above them in the narrow alley.
Angela is on the couch watching Casey on a monitor, while Henry ventures into his daughter’s temporary room. He recites the Lord’s Prayer to her, and sweet Casey tells her father that she has a secret, could he come closer to hear it? Henry sits next to her, Casey quickly snaking the chain binding her around his neck. She whispers something in his ear that causes a change in Henry
Meanwhile, Kat is trying her best to ignore the sounds coming from Casey’s room. She uses headphones and a computer as a distraction, but she cannot help but worry about her sister. Angela is trying her best to stay busy as well, cleaning household items that don’t necessarily need attention.
Henry is not himself after his encounter with Casey. Out of the blue he asks Angela if she believes in God, and if she has ever lied to him. His wife goes on the defensive, telling him all she wants is his cooperation. She insists that whatever is happening to Casey isn’t her fault, accusing Henry of putting the blame on her. What did Casey say to him, and is it true?
The exorcism is underway upstairs, both Tomas and Marcus battling the demon. It’s getting trickier with the priests, assuming the persona of Tomas’s grandmother. Marcus tells him not to let it get into his head, and Tomas douses the beast with holy water before fleeing the room, with Marcus behind him. They take a moment to regroup before entering Casey’s room again. To their horror, she is being tossed around the room like a doll.
Henry is sitting on his bed reciting a Hail Mary before he goes into the closet. He leafs through a Bible that falls from a shelf. In it he finds a red feather tucked between the pages.
While Casey lies outstretched, we see the demon sitting on her chest. The girl pleads to know what it wants, and the demon tells her “bring her to me.” Who is he talking about?
Kat and Angela are at the table when Kat begins questioning the care of her sister. She is in favor of calling the police, but Angela is against it. Marcus enters, taking a break, and he tells the worried girl that he would never do anything to harm Casey, even if she doesn’t believe in their course of action.
Tomas is taking a break when he’s sure he hears Jessica call to him from inside Casey’s room. He sees Jessica in the room and this time he is compromised by her. I knew she was bad news, I kept hoping he would douse her with holy water and leave. Marcus comes into the room to see that Tomas is the weak link in the process, he made a huge mistake, and dismisses him from the exorcism. Kat sneaks a peek at Casey in the room and Marcus rushes her away.
The dejected Tomas doesn’t go home, as you might expect. Instead he knocks on Jessica’s door, wasting no time breaking his vow of chastity when she answers.
Now only Marcus is left to face the demon. It taunts him with quick wit, telling him he’s not fit to say Grace let alone perform an exorcism. It uses his mother against him as mental torture.
The priest is making progress, even using some of Mother Bernadette’s tactics on the beast, when the police arrive. Kat took it upon herself to call them, not knowing how much worse she just made the entire situation. Her sister is removed on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance, Casey removing her oxygen mask to smile at her. Maybe then Kat realizes that her parents were right about her sister needing more than medical help.
Casey escapes from the ambulance after it suffers a bit of a mishap on the way to the hospital. Marcus watches a news report about the incident from jail. He realizes the demon said “He is coming,” a reference to the papal visit. Father Bennett visits a detained Marcus, and the excommunicated priest tells him to warn the Pope.
Henry brings the Bible to Angela and tells her that she needs to confess. Does the demon want her instead of her daughter?
Tomas goes to his church to confess his sins. Angela is there and she has quite a story to tell. When she lived in Washington, DC as a child, she had an imaginary friend, a little red bird. (Remember the red feather that was in the Bible Henry found)? Angela was told she had a nervous breakdown, but she knows it was more than that. She cannot recall much of what she went through, but it left her with post traumatic amnesia. When she recovered, her mom wanted to capitalize on her story, even parading her on talk shows. (Does anyone else think the host resembles Casey’s demon)? Angela eventually left, changing her name to begin a new life. It turns out that Angela was Regan MacNeil.
The episode ends with a mysterious figure exiting a cab in front of the Rance home in front of a light post in heavy fog (reminiscent of the movie). Henry answers the door to a woman looking for her daughter, who introduces herself as Chris MacNeil.
So, who saw that coming? What a treat of an episode, the best yet. Unfortunately, the trick is we have to wait two weeks to see what happens next. I’m sure it will be worth the wait.
