The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 5 Review: There But for the Grace of God, Go I
Carissa Pavlica
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Where are all the fans who watched The Exorcist Season 1 with me?
Weren't we all in agreement that the best part of the series was the dynamic between Marcus and Father Tomas, and the show could go on as long as the two of them remained and continued to fight demons?
Well, here we are about to jump into a discussion about The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 5, and unless you decide to join me, I'll be all alone. You guys have been virtually silent since this new story started, and that's too bad because it's freaky as hell!
If you've all had time to watch The Exorcist online and get the stunning news that Grace is nothing more than a manifestation of evil, then it won't shock you that she's finally being a very, very bad girl.
Verity was lying in wait in the disgusting bedroom Andy keeps as a mental shrine to his "daughter" Grace, and once she broke into his fantasy, the demonic presence lost control of its hold on Andy, at least temporarily.
What's hard to imagine is the stink stank that must have been emanating from that room. I haven't been paying close enough attention, I guess, to realize virtually nobody goes up that far but Andy.
The demon has been doing amazing things such as keeping Andy from tripping over old pizza slices and uneaten sandwiches on his way to wake Grace every morning. That in itself is quite a feat.
Why it manifested as Grace instead of Nicole is hard to understand unless Nicole was pregnant when she died or the couple talked about one day having a child and naming her Grace. The latter option seems too simple. Andy isn't a pushover. How he got to this point with a demon child would be interesting to learn.
So taking the kids out for a camping trip was a good idea. After all, for some reason, until Andy had a hankering for the outdoors himself, Grace was perfectly keen to stay in the house with a bag over her head. But oh, no. As soon as he fled, she went, too. Is there anything scarier than kids doing bad things?
No, I didn't think so.
Marcus and Tomas got very close to answers without doing too much digging. Father Tomas was right in the hand of evil questioning Rose about whether she'd seen anything iffy and walked right back out the door. He still had lingering doubts but nothing earth-shattering.
Marcus was hanging with the handsome dude he met on the beach who, as a war veteran, felt a kinship to the former priest. They'd both done battle and suffered the wounds of disturbing imagery and countless deaths, so it made sense.
Also, they're both hot men who play for the same team, and that didn't hurt the guy's desire to help out super sexy and now collar-free Marcus. Just sayin'.
Discovering the island has a decades-old history of demonic possession makes island life a little less attractive than it once was but only a little bit. Did you ever notice how many horror stories take place on islands?
Is it the captive audience or the fact the people love their home turf so much they refuse to give it up even if oddly high numbers of people in their midst become mass murderers?
No matter, Tomas was on it. Marcus was taking a breather and getting in touch with his romantic side and reconnecting with God by praying and soul searching while Tomas was battling the demon in all of its incarnations inside that damned house.
Father Tomas may have bragged a bit in the past about how he gets these great visions from God, and Marcus may have been a little bit jealous, but what Tomas suffered was nothing to fight about.
Lucky Tomas got an adventurous thrill ride through all (or some) of the island possessions from the perspective of the victims. At first, I thought he was feeling it through the possessed, but fighting his lungs swollen with water and seeing his face cut up by chains proved otherwise. That was crazy.
I'm curious why Grace didn't show herself to Tomas while he was battling her, trying to rid her from the house. Maybe it was because she was in two places at once, and that had to take a lot of energy on her part.
The little angel was beating a doll against the wall and possessing Truck at the same time she was doing quite a bit of damage to the house as Tomas tried to get rid of the demon.
But if she'd shown herself, don't you think Father Tomas might have had a WTF moment of his own? Andy thinking she's his daughter wouldn't be the only person affected by a cute little girl in the middle of a demonic possession. Any demon with half a brain would have used that body to his advantage.
It wouldn't make sense Grace could only manifest to Andy if Andy and Nicole never had an actual daughter. She should be able to appear to anyone if she wanted. At least, when I flip through Carissa's Handy Possession Tips, that's what it says on page 672.
I'm also unsure why poor Truck was overtaken by the demon.
Then again, I've been wondering how the stories of Bennett and Mouse will intersect with everyone in Oregon (that's where there are, right?), and all I can come up with now is demon stupidity.
The demon should have tried to get rid of Shelby or Verity. They're the kids who can potentially do the most damage to the demon's presence. Shelby is questioning too much and Verity, well, she's Verity. She's too willful. That's never good around a demon.
When Bennett and Mouse get to Chicago, surely Maria will get wind of the small-time demon activity on that island and want to put an end to it. Right? What else could connect these plots?
Grace appears to be gone for the time being. I knew the moment Tomas looked that the photo of Andy and Nicole that Andy's wife was coming home because Alicia Witt is not only going to be cast for a photo opportunity.
I highly doubt she'll be wearing a bag over her head for long, either. That phase of the demon's development is over. Will it continue harming Andy's shoulder or will he now get sexual scratch marks on his back? Can Andy deny the love of his life? Eventually, but not at first.
What fun would that be?
Come on guys, have you been enjoying The Exorcist Season 2? How do you think it compares to Season 1? Did you think the demon made some mistakes considering it's been around this island for a very long time? Hit me up in the comments.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.
