The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 9: Ritual and Repition Review

If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.

Synopsis: The demon has plans for everyone on the island when Tomas faces it in a desperate battle while Marcus and Rose try to evacuate the foster children. (IMDB)

Writer: Jeremy Slater, William Peter Blatty

Director: Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum

Rating: TV-14

Runtime: 45min

In the beginning of this episode, we find Andy becoming freed and pursuing Rose in an effort to collect all of the children for a specific purpose. Father Tomas is finally confronted by the evil that has been residing in him in an attempt to distract him enough to take over his body. The evil takes on the presence of Casey Rance, the possessed girl from last season, as she tries to convince Tomas that his path as an exorcist is the wrong one and he should be shooting for grander goals instead.

Marcus, having returned to the house, attempts to retract Andy and Rose’s steps in order to find their whereabouts. The viewer is able to see Andy and Rose’s struggle in real-time while simultaneously switching back to Marcus trying to piece together what happened based on the evidence left behind. It’s a clever editing maneuver that was well used and ended up being one of the better points of the episode.

It is shortly after this, that we find Andy has been able to capture all of the children plus Rose and bring them to the abandoned well that has been featured countless times throughout this season. Sadly, this is was where the episode got worse as during the next several minutes, we are treated to Andy going on a series of monologues that are meant to be threatening and continually build tension but only result in time being wasted with very little payoff in the end. Even the kids were getting tired of hearing the empty threats because after a certain point they just began to taunt him about not following through on his threats and just to go ahead and get it over with. That seemed to be what worked because Rose quickly became the demon’s first victim in the well. The scene between Andy and Rose during her final moments was enjoyable to watch because the tension created as Andy was slowly counting towards Rose’s death felt earned and gave a glimpse of what could’ve happened earlier in the episode if done correctly.

In the episode’s third act, you have all of the storylines appear to quickly be resolved as Tomas is brought out of his comatose state and greeted by Mouse who is now on the island, Marcus is able to free the children and save Verity from Andy while knocking him unconscious and the kids being able to save Rose who did not die because let’s face it, the show has to have someone to be able to watch the kids after Andy dies because it is very clear that there is no going back for him now.

As mentioned, this episode just felt as if it was lacking a certain type of punch needed in order to really set up the finale to be a strong resolution. It had certain moments and scenes that were good within it but overall the episode just did not hold its own up against some of the stronger episodes earlier in the season. As to the reasoning behind this, it’s anyone’s guess, but a major misstep was having Father Tomas ride the bench for the majority of the episode. Why did he need to face that evil presence now? Was it because of the exorcism he was trying to do that the evil was able to gain a foothold? Either way, it could’ve been dealt with in another way, however, we have seen throughout this season that something was building with this storyline and so it had to happen eventually. The tease of having Mouse on the island but only showing her at the beginning and end of the episode didn’t help as well. She is a very interesting character, even more so now that she has a backstory, and I can’t help but feel as if they have done her character a disservice this season.

Looking ahead to the finale, hopefully it can nail a strong landing. This season has been very good so far and I would hate to see a show like this falter right in the last leg of the season. If the teaser for next week is any indication, it looks like we are in for a great conclusion.

Score: 6/10