'Outcast' Recap: 'What Lurks Within'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

The truth is something that every single one of us seek, every single day of our lives. After all, as the old saying goes, it will just so happen to set us free, and while often times this saying holds true...sometimes it's best we don't quite know the truth. Because once in a while, the truth hurts, and we discover things that we never quite wanted to know and that darker side to the truth ended up being the focus for this week's outstanding episode of Outcast.

'What Lurks Within' delivered on so many levels, finally revealing the truth to some incredible plot points that we have all been waiting for, but there was a price to be paid for that, because wow...everything we learned last night was downright ugly and most of our uncomfortable truths came about courtesy of Sidney. Because this was the story that finally revealed who this man is and where he comes from and well, believe it or not...before he was possessed, he was just as evil, if not more evil than he is now. As it turns out, the Sidney of old was a brilliant photographer, and a simple man who enjoyed working at a local entertainment center for kids from time to time, the kind that offers up tickets for prizes, but not out of the kindness of his heart or to pass the time...oh no, it was to find his next victim because old Sidney...was a child killer.

That little nugget would become quite important in this story, because Chief Giles decided it was time to bring Sidney in for assault, and while he waited in his cell, he was paid a visit from Kyle Barnes for what turned out to be one contentious meeting at first. In fact Kyle was ready to rip the evil out of him...until Sidney pointed out what kind of man he was before the demon took root and once the bravado cooled down...we finally got our answers. We learned that the possession process is in essence random. Both good people and bad people will find themselves under the spell of darkness on a moment's notice. But more importantly, we learned that Kyle has in a way, helped some of this mess along. For when these creatures find their host they feel lost and out of sorts...and Kyle is somehow a beacon for them, shining bright and helping them find their way.  

But while Kyle learned all about the evil within...Reverend Anderson finally completed his downward spiral. With the church empty on Sunday thanks to his little outburst, he doubles down and tries to get his hands on Chief Ogden's possessed wife in the hopes of getting Kyle to free her, and in the process get the testimony of her plight that he needs to bring the flock back to him. The whole event turns out to be a disaster since Kyle spares her from his special touch, which means he's clearly learned more about these beings that the show is saving for later and well by denying her 'redemption'...the good Reverend ends up in a fist fight with Kyle and eventually loses the church for his actions. He's now more or less on his own at this point and he's earned this. It's clear now it's not about saving lives for him, it's about pride and that's a damn shame because he truly could do some good.  

But what was equally as fascinating as Anderson's fall from grace, was the fact that Ogden confessed point blank that he knew what his wife was and that he liked this new version of her better. His confession also revealed that the trailer existed as a 'recovery' center for the newly possessed, giving them time to acclimate before returning to the world. But while it was nice to finally get some answers, plenty more questions arose from this story. For starters, what exactly does Kyle know about these beings...and did Sidney tell him the truth?  Because despite the sympathy created for these creatures in this episode, including the final shot with possessed Sidney sparing the child that old Sidney was going to murder...one gets the feeling he is still up to something and is working to keep Kyle off balance, and of course we're still left wondering...what will become of Anderson now? He's a man without a pulpit or a cause and that's just downright dangerous, and it should be interesting to see where the story goes from here, until next time.

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