‘Outcast’ episode 2 review: Kyle’s family tree, uprooted
For the first episode of “Outcast” on Cinemax, we did feel like it was an entertaining show; unfortunately, it was also one that did not feel altogether different than any other work in the exorcism world that came before it.
This is where the show’s second episode comes into play, entitled “(I Remember) When She Loved Me.” This was definitely not an hour of television that we expected to be as drawn to as we were going into it, since we figured it would just build slightly off of what was established in the premiere. Therefore, imagine our surprise and appreciation that instead of just giving us yet another run-of-the-mill exorcism, we had instead a story roughly devoted to Kyle’s own family history, including precisely what happened to his mother over time to turn her into a woman with the soul of a demon. It was heartbreaking, and this is where the show finds its niche: Really giving you personal stories that are beyond just “this innocent person who you don’t care about now has a demon in them.” You see how the possession over time changes not only the person, but also those around them.
In this case, it changed Kyle, and his struggle to get to where he was in the pilot suddenly felt incredibly real and poignant.
We cannot really speak to anything from the comics, since we’re coming into this relatively unfamiliar with the source material; we just know that from a viewing perspective, we love that the show didn’t waste too much time giving us this backstory, and we also appreciate that we didn’t just get bits and pieces of it over the course of the season. It was daring to go this far down the character rabbit hole right away, but worthwhile in that we care about this show infinitely more than we did after the good-but-not-great pilot.
As for some other notables from the night, kudos for casting Brent Spiner as Sidney, a dark character who will be a significant force in the episodes to come. The “Star Trek: The Next Generation” alum was probably not the first person comic book fans had in mind of this character (how could they?), but this is such a different energy than Data and it works surprisingly well.
In the end, we’re so much closer to giving “Outcast” a universal recommendation after episode 2. Sure, it’s scary, but many people out there can execute a few good scares. What makes this stand out is that you suddenly care about the people getting scared. Grade: A-.
We’ll have our preview for this next episode up soon over at the link here, so stay tuned! Also, sign up over at this link to score some other TV news on all we cover, sent right over to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Cinemax.)