Monday, June 20, 2016

Outcast, Season 1, Episode 3: All Alone Now






This week we seem to be beginning a theme of exorcism-of-the-week, with a possessed ex-cop killing and raping his partner’s wife and being locked in the basement of a prison because all normal procedures apparently don’t apply. This being Outcast we have some brutally awful references to this rape

Rev Anderson grabs Kyle and they head off to do some exorcising

Can we point out, yet again, that Rev. Anderson’s exorcism is basically “the power of Christ does not one fecking thing!”. His exorcism play acting, his recitation, his cross, his oil and water do nothing to these demons (in fact, is demons even the right word here? We’re only working on Rev. Anderson’s narrative for this and he’s clearly not right on this). He was even willing to walk away and assume the possessed was a normal, evil man rather than a demon because his holy toys didn’t work. Even Luke, the current victim’s friend/partner played by “that guy whose name I can’t remember but was in x” (one of those actors who seems to be in everything in some capacity) focuses on Kyle who has the power to actually do something.

Even the current possessed taunts Rev Anderson that his touch does nothing – and it’s something that makes the Rev so bad tempered since he’s apparently given up his entire family (we even have a major freak out about losing a picture of his child suggesting he doesn’t have a lot of these pics or regular access to his kid) to fight demons when he doesn’t even have the power to do so. While Kyle, who isn’t even a believer, has his demon-hurting touch. The Rev is convinced that this is still god’s work – but I think a far more interesting twist which would fit the narrative is that Anderson’s religious context simply doesn’t apply. He’s throwing holy water at spirits or aliens or who knows what else. Or it’s a different religious context entirely. It’d be a fascinating twist on a rather tired exorcism trope.

During this the demon calls Kyle “outcast” and rightly guesses that he has no friends or family because everyone is made uncomfortable by his presence. Kyle wants answers from the demon far more than he wants to save a strange man’s soul – he wants answers and it to end so he can actually have a life and get his family back without demons dropping in like the worst uninvited in-law visits ever.

But in this case they decide that this demon is “here to stay” for whatever reason, and the guy unsaveable.

That leaves him in Luke’s care constantly pushing all his buttons until Luke near suffocates him. But only near.


Meanwhile, Mark, Kyle’s sort-of-brother-in-law found a caravan full of blood last episode and he would quite like to investigate this murder mobile. Chief Giles-who-is-totally-not-suspicious decides there’s absolutely no point at all in investigating the serial-killer-camp and Mark is just wasting all their time by doing this investigating thing at a crime scene. Pshaw, first he wants to arrest a child abuser and now investigating a crime scene? What does he think he is, a cop?

Mark does gather lots of useful evidence that totally-not-suspicious-chief-Giles decides to “take care of”. Uh-huh. Would that involve taking care of it into the nearest rubbish bin?


And Megan, Kyle’s sort of sister, appears to be being stalked by some man called Donald Hamil (he has an evil hat. We focus a lot on said evil hat. I am assuming Megan is worried about this man for more reasons than the fact a fedora-wearer has arrived in town). She is concerned enough to break into this man’s hotel room, check his lap top and see he is following her on facebook, a fact that drives her to tears. This guy also coughs up black goo which is probably a bad sign. Of really bad environmental standards if nothing else.

She’s so worried about this man that images of his face haunt her even when she’s having sex with her husband Mark. In the middle of sex she gasps and has to stop and he responds with concern and worry and no pressure at all: it’s a depressing sign that I saw this as a positive sign. It speaks volumes for how I expect rape culture to skew the media.

We also need more Kyle angst – so he finds his neighbour, dead. Apparent suicide. Whelp, there goes half of the show’s POC, dead to increase a white man’s angst and with no storylines of his own.