'Outcast' Recap: 'Bad Penny'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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​It’s quite an interesting time for the television industry, in that, T.V. seasons no longer obey their usual norms, wherein a series will run through its episode order, hit hiatus and be back on the air a year or so later to do it all over again. Because these days, those breaks between seasons can suddenly extend out far longer than expected as the folks behind the scenes work to bring us the best possible series that they can, and one such series that just so happens to fall into that category, is the magnificent horror saga, Outcast, which last aired a brand-new episode of this harrowing story about a world being slowly overtaken by mysterious demons and the one man who might be able to stop them in August of 2016. 
 
Which I won’t lie, made for an uncomfortable wait because the cliffhanger that the season one finale left us with, wherein Kyle Barnes and his daughter came to discover just how far this evil invasion has truly spread, was an epic one to say the least, the kind that leaves you craving more and thankfully, our long and painful wait when it comes to this disturbing series has finally come to an end since last night, the season two premiere aired on Cinemax and boy, did ‘Bad Penny’ completely and utterly deliver. In fact, it would seem we are going to be in for quite the treat in year two because this particular chapter wasted no time in getting down to business, by answering an important question that was still lingering on all of our minds, would Kyle ever embrace his powers and his role as a hero?
 
As it turns out, the answer to that question is a resounding yes, because this episode saw he and Amber return to Rome in quite the hurry. Because Kyle quickly realized that there was no escaping this evil if it was this widespread, and the only way to ensure his family’s safety was to fight this nightmare at the source and just like that, Kyle was a hero at last, turning over every single stone in order to find the mysterious Sydney and learn more about what exactly is happening to the world and well, sadly, much of Kyle’s work in this episode proved fruitless since Sydney is still in hiding and because this evil is taking root in faster and more terrifying fashion, but, while his storyline in this one was more or less one grounded in failure, the overall structure of the episode proved to be satisfying thanks to an important change storytelling wise.
 
Because season one of this series, saw quite the slow burn approach to the story when all is said and done. The kind where the bigger answers as to what is exactly is going on and what will happen to some of the characters thanks to their poor choices have remained elusive. But it would seem that season two of this show, is prepared to move things into overdrive. Take for example the now former Reverend Anderson, who last season gave into his anger and his fury and the belief that only a man of God could put an end to this madness, and because of his pride and his foolishness, he accidentally burned Patricia’s son to death in a fire that was meant for Sydney and well, it would seem Anderson is going to face some consequences for his folly in the coming weeks now that he’s manned up for a change and flat out admitted to this horrific crime.
 
And the story wasn’t done there, it brought several lingering plot lines to their logical conclusion in this tale, even going so far as to wraparound and address what happened to young Joshua (who we met in the series premiere) following his exorcism. Yet, seeing progress on that front was merely the beginning, because everything about this show suddenly feels faster paced, and genuinely terrifying for that matter as well since the eerie and uncomfortable atmosphere present in season one still hangs over this story, and it seems to be intensifying and, in the end, I’m utterly stoked to have this series back on the air. It’s just so different and refreshing and I’m ecstatic that Kyle is ready to fight for his family and potentially the rest of mankind, but his mission is going to be incredibly difficult and perhaps Chief Giles put it best when he posed the question as to just how far this whole mess goes and I would imagine that we are unfortunately going to find out in the weeks to come as this season ramps up the intensity and the terror. Until next time. 

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