The Exorcist - Chapter Seven: Father of Lies - Review: "Suffering"

The bromance is turbulent lately. 

This week started with a flash-forward of sorts, to a memorial-esque church setting with a huge canvas of Casey present. I immediately assumed it was her funeral, though nobody was dressed appropriately for such, so it was clearly a trick. Going back nine days, the narrative quickly took us to the recent past to see the lead-up to the scene. Side-note: the episode didn't seem to take us back to the church scene, and so its possible next week will also be part of the lead-up.

The demon has tripled in strength since we last saw it, battered in a lake thanks to Father Marcus (Ben Daniels). Having taken a somewhat dying Casey (Hannah Kasulka) to Sister Bernadette (Deanna Dunagan), the priest is warned that if they fail, the pair are unleashing an ancient violence into the world. Immediately we're on edge about the success of the impending exorcism(s), so good job writers. Of course, the exorcisms don't go particularly well, though they do succeed in letting Kasulka shine. Her facial expressions were incredibly creepy, and again the make-up department deserve a lot of credit for making her look so gross and possessed.

Already worried by the decisions made by Father Marcus, Father Tomas (Alfonso Herrera) this week was further pressured by other members of the church, with one saying that the excommunicated Father Marcus is now an "enemy" of the church. Father Tomas is warned that he must be found before any damage is done to the church's reputation, particularly as his Holiness is arriving soon. The threats to the priestly bromance were certainly real this week, sadly. They'd been joining together so nicely over the past few chapters, yet once again, cracks and tense conversations were present in the episode. It's all part of the build-up to a happy ending, right? Another thing to mention in regards to our favourite hunky priest, is that he was finally linked to The Exorcist (1973) in more than just a fan theory. I pointed out after the Pilot aired that Father Tomas mirrored Father Karras from the original movie and this week Chris (Sharon Gless) remarked similarly. Whether this was simply just a nice reference or hinting at a particular plot-line, we'll have to wait and see.

Additionally, Father Tomas showed some bravado and briefly fought with a random man in a pharmacy. The scene itself was a little unimportant, other than showing the priest at his breaking point, yet the conversation he had with Maria Walters (Kirsten Fitzgerald) following such may have big consequences. Rescued from being charged with assault by Maria and her persuasive ways, Father Tomas asks for her advice: "have you ever been in a situation where the only way to do the right thing is to do something wrong?". It's refreshing to see a religious man portrayed as needing help too. The scene remind me of why I fell in love with the character from the beginning: he's human, he's flawed, he doesn't have all the answers. He's not trying to be perfect, or preaching of morality all the time. Father Tomas is leaning along with his congregation, and the viewers. Throughout the conversation though, Maria often had a smirk on her face, and I wonder whether the repercussions of showing his vulnerability will be good, i.e. she changes sides and helps him, or bad, i.e she informs her demon friends and they go for Father Tomas even more.

Who knew being stupid could make you so likeable?

Now onto the third priest of the show: if you'd asked me following the Pilot whom I disliked the most, even more than the demon, it would have been Father Bennett (Kurt Egyiawan). The character was harsh on Father Marcus, a bit too much of a stickler for rules, and generally quite whiny (and not in an interesting way like Father Marcus). Imagine my surprise when this week, I actually began to care for the character! Over the past few weeks the show has shown him slowly aligning with Team Exorcism (as I refer to the leads) and finally in Chapter Seven he seemed to swear his allegiance to them in a number of arguably stupid decisions, similarly to his questioning of the Friars of Ascension last week. This week, he highlighted that the newly added stop during the Pope's visit, would leaves his Holiness exposed and vulnerable, with various points for assassins to set-up. He wishes to revert back to the original plan of just having the Pope travel to a stadium, though his colleagues (who all seem to be connected to the Friars of Ascension) assure him everything will be fine. I wouldn't bet on that though.

Later on, and in an even more dumb but entertaining move, Father Bennett found the base of the Tattersal trucks (a.k.a the possessed HQ of those working for the Friars of Ascension). It was a location were we briefly shown a few episodes ago, when we witnessed the burning of body parts in an incinerator. The residue / ashes were later used at the Friars of Ascension meeting when Maria failed to be selected as a host. Upon arriving at the building, Father Bennett decided to explore, alone and unarmed, with only a flashlight as his aid. Flicking lights and lots of dark corners made a tense yet satisfying viewing, and I kept wanting him to keep going whilst simultaneously shouting that he was crazy for doing so. Eventually finding a heap of bodies, each with parts missing and lots of cuts, the priest had a run in with some creepy fellows. Fighting two of them off successfully, a third one, wielding a knife, seemed to stab the priest right by the neck. I swear that's what I saw, yet moments later and it was the third attacker who was dying, not Father Bennett. The latter seemed to channel some holy force and fight the demonic guy off without even using his hands. It was impressive, I'll say that, and maybe its a power, or skill, that'll come in handy in the coming weeks. #HeIsComing after all...

Having touched on the priests' parts in the episode, its now time to mention the legendary Geena Davis, who was incredible this week. One scene in particular which caught my attention was between Angela (Davis) and the wife of one of the first-responders who died in the crash, caused by Casey / the demon, It was such a painful scene to watch because these two women who are so in pain, were almost at odds with one another. "Your little demon girl killed him" the wife sobbed as Angela broke down herself. We often have a tendency to vilify everyone associated with a criminal nowadays, without ever really considering that they are in pain too. They aren't the criminal (or in this case the possessed girl) and why should Angela not be allowed to grieve too. I felt there was definitely a sense of guilty by association put onto her this week and it only added to my sympathy for the woman.

That was far from my favourite scene thing. The stand-out (well one of two), would have to be the painful dialogue between Angela and Chris. Finally discussing how she felt all those years ago, Angela (well Reagan) explained of how even after the possession was over, she felt her mother judging her. Already feeling "dirty" within herself, she felt Chris saw her as this "broken thing". Angela promised that when Casey comes home: "she's gonna look at me and I'm gonna say 'you are good' and 'you are clean' and 'none of this is your fault' and I'm going to say it over and over until she believes me". As she spoke, Angela rubbed a photo of a young Casey into a glass of water, 'cleaning' the girl, in a sense. She was so broken yet very determined to not make the same mistakes as her own mother, and for once Chris made no excuses for her past actions. She listened, and you could see the pain on her face as her daughter showed, with more than words, the damage the past has really done to her. It's the kind of scene I've been waiting for since Sharon Gless arrived on the show, and it was the worth the wait. 

Could Davis get a Golden Globe nomination?

The scene which I'd say showed off Davis' star power was however the end scene. With the Rance family hidden away at home, avoiding the media frenzy of their traumatic experience, Father Tomas paid a visit. It was clear things weren't good right away, as Angela had cornered herself into the shower, and could hardly speak. She did reveal that she's felt a presence over the past few weeks, which she believed suggested Casey was alive, yet suddenly this feeling has stopped. Viewers of course know Casey isn't dead yet, but still seeing Angela panting and occasionally incoherent, was a heartbreaking (and I can't stress that enough) portrayal by Davis of a woman who is completely broken. It's easy to forget the true extent of Angela's suffering in the hustle-and-bustle of exorcisms and creepy demons, but this woman has truly suffered: she was possessed as a child and this was then exploited by her mother; she ran away to start a new life yet suffered from mental health issues; her husband suffered a traumatic injury to the brain leaving her as the head of the family; her eldest daughter nearly died in a car crash and subsequently has become closed off after killing her friend / love-interest; and now her youngest daughter is possessed by the same demon which attacked her decades ago! You've got to laugh at how ridiculous it sounds, yet cry at how traumatic it all is. Davis had me verging on the latter though, and some weeks I've wondered whether her portrayal is over-the-top or just right, yet this week, without a doubt, she was spot on! Give this woman some nominations please. 

To conclude this week's review I just want to say that Brianne Howey needs more screen-time. Kat has so much potential and is such an interesting character, yet seems to be very in the background. She's slowly started to get closer to her mother, and grandmother, and I want to see some fighting spirit in the girl. What about her sexuality? The show kind of used it was a shock-factor twist in regards to the death of her friend, yet there's been no further mention or reference. So yes, let's pray that Kat gets a bit more focus in the coming episodes and that Howey gets more opportunities to show her own star-potential.


Quote of the Week:

"'One little lie, just for the greater good. God won't mind', that's what you start to tell yourself. Then it multiplies: you lie to protect your own lies" - Father Tomas.

Performer of the Week:

GEENA DAVIS. Need I say anything more? 

The Exorcist continues next week on FOX, with its eighth chapter, but in the mean time let's discuss this episode in the comments section below.