“The Exorcist” returns for season two tonight (Friday, Sept. 29) on Fox. I’ve seen the first two episodes, and they’re humdingers. This is emphatically NOT a show for families. It’s a true horror series. It’s nowhere near as graphic as many movies, but by network-TV standards, it’s up there.
I’ll get into more analysis in a future post, once you’ve had a chance to see the show, but here are five things you need to know.
Father Marcus Keane and Father Tomas Ortega (Ben Daniels, Alfonso Herrera) have gone rogue:
The two priests (sorry, excommunication, or being stripped of public priestly functions, does not undo priestly vows — Marcus may not be in favor, but he’s still a priest, regardless of what a demon may say) are now on the run, being fed exorcism cases by Father Bennett (Kurt Egyiawan) from the Vatican.
This means Father Tomas has evidently disobeyed his bishop and abandoned his priestly duties in Chicago. It makes for dramatic TV, but it puts Tomas’ faith and soul in peril (which the show acknowledges it is).
Reality check: The Devil was disobedient (see the Mass readings for today, the Feast of the Archangels Gabriel, Michael and Raphael). That’s what got him in trouble. Christ and His Church are one. Disobedience to Christ’s church is not a good thing, especially for the ordained. A priest gone rogue can perform exorcisms, sure, but the power and efficacy of his prayers are diminished if he is disconnected from the source of his power — the Church, with Christ as its head.
It’s like he’s running on spiritual batteries, when he could be plugged into the wall. Also, the Church created the exorcism rituals and carefully regulates their use. You don’t want freelance exorcists any more than you want people doing surgery without training or oversight.
This is done for TV effect; it’s not reality.
But, you say, what about those demon-possessed clerics from season one? We’ll talk about that after episode two airs.
We’re not still dealing with the Rance family from season one (whose mom was the adult Regan from the original movie):
Opening an entirely new chapter in the iconic franchise, Season Two of THE EXORCIST premieres Friday, September 29 (9:00 – 10:00 PM PT/ET), where FATHER TOMAS ORTEGA (Alfonso Herrera) and a newly collarless MARCUS KEANE (Ben Daniels) out of Chicago and on the road, searching out evil. Across the Atlantic, FATHER BENNETT (Kurt Egyiawan) attempts to weed out those within the Vatican who have turned against God. Ultimately, Tomas and Marcus are led to ANDREW KIM (John Cho), a former child psychologist who runs a group home for five at-risk foster children on a secluded private island off the coast of Seattle. When one of the children under Andrew’s care is targeted by a powerful force, the two priests head west, setting themselves on a collision course with Hell.
As you see above, we’ve also left the streets of Chicago for a wooded island off the coast of Seattle (actually Vancouver, Canada, for budgetary reasons):
This gives the show a bit of an “X-Files” feel, meaning lots of running around in dark, overgrown Pacific Northwest forests waving flashlights.
The show is very dark. No, I mean, actually, literally dark:
Maybe it was the online screener I was watching, or the laptop I was watching it on, but dang, this is the return of squint TV, owing to the lack of light in almost every scene. Oh, yeah, and there’s a lot of whispering. So, turn off the lights in the room, kick up the brightness, and jack up the volume.
Let me just say, things can be just as scary in the light of day. Please, try it once in a while.
Reality check: I asked a priest friend, and he said many, if not most, exorcisms are done during the day.
Father Bennett (Kurt Egyiawan) is back … but not until episode 2:
As I said, more on that after episode two airs. Don’t want to spoil surprises! But I will say, drinking holy water is indeed supposed to reveal if someone is possessed, unless, of course, they have been “integrated,” and the demon has entirely eradicated the human soul.
Reality check: “Integration” is an invention of the show. The Church doesn’t believe any possessed person is beyond the power of prayer.
In conclusion, it’s great to hear the Lord, the Blessed Mother and a whole litany of saints invoked against the power of evil by men who actually believe in such things. It may be that, like in season one, I’m willing to forgive a lot of silliness just to see the Church — despite the flaws and failings of the people within it — portrayed as the last bastion against Evil.
Reality check: It is.
Bonus material:
Click here for an interview with a real exorcist; and here to learn about “The Devil and Father Amorth,” a new documentary by “The Exorcist” movie director William Friedkin, which just got picked up by a distributor.
Friedkin talked to Variety when the doc screened at the recent Venice Film Festival. Here’s what he had to say about filming a real exorcism:
Tell me about the shoot.
I had to shoot it alone, obviously. The conditions were that I come along with no crew and no lights. So I used a Sony still camera that shot high-definition video. I had only that camera running and I was about two feet away from them, probably even closer.
What was the experience of witnessing a real exorcism so close up like?
It was terrifying. I went from being afraid of what could happen to feeling a great deal of empathy with this woman’s pain and suffering, which is obvious in the film.
As I understand it, Amorth had been doing exorcisms on her for some time.
The one that I filmed was her ninth, and she was having one a month.
Click here to read the rest.
Here’s a taste of the new season:
Image: Courtesy Fox
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