'Outcast' Recap: 'Close to Home'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

If there is one absolute, paramount thing that horror has to accomplish to truly reach us and terrify us...it has to remove any sense of hope we have for our characters. We have to believe that they are doomed and vulnerable, because at that point, empathy takes over...and we are in for one hell of an emotional ride and last night on Outcast, the moment where we no longer felt safe when it comes to the characters arrived at last.

It could not have come at a better time of course, with this being the penultimate episode before the season one finale and 'Close to Home' made sure to rattle us in epic and painful fashion by taking everyone that mattered to their all time low before punching us in the gut with one hell of a frightening revelation. But before we get into that...let's talk about John Anderson, the now former reverend of this town because his fall from grace was the most gentle one of the night. Still desperate to keep a hold on the one job the man ever loved, Anderson does a little digging for intel and discovers the time and place as to where his replacement is being discussed and in classic Anderson fashion...shows up to beg and plead for his job back, before Sidney arrives and...gets his clock cleaned by the former good reverend. Charges are pressed and Anderson beats them of course, leading to what should be a confrontation between John and Sidney when Anderson shows up at Sidney's new place. But it's here that he discovers that Patricia's son is hanging with the Devil and when he confronts the young man about this, his temper costs him his relationship with Patricia, leaving him alone in the world.

While Anderson was grasping desperately to keep some semblance of his life together, Kyle was trying to put his family back together. Faced with the fact that Amber isn't quite healed from the day Allison was possessed, he decides it is high time to provide her with some sense of normalcy. He has Megan pull a few strings to get her enrolled in school in Rome and then heads off to find his missing wife to convince her to come home. It leads to a touching moment between Kyle and Mark as the once judgmental brother-in-law helps Kyle break into his old home to see if by chance Allison was there, only to find old memories and fading hope that he would ever know where his beloved wife went. But a surprise visit from her mother yielded an answer after some pleading and as it turns out...Allison decided that not only was she a threat to her family, but to herself and took the time to commit herself to a mental health facility and by the time Kyle found her...she informed him of the fact that this was where she belonged and to do his best to raise their child. 

Yet, as if that wasn't enough, to strip Anderson of anyone or anything he's loved in recent days and rob Kyle of a future with a complete family after redeeming himself...the show decided it was time to go one step further and bring about the ugliest moment of the night, by allowing for Megan to be taken by the Darkness. Sidney had mentioned the fact that those close to Kyle were often taken by these beings simply because of the fact that he served as a beacon in a way, and that part rung true since his sister emerged from her shower, confused, as the demon within tried to figure out where it was. Now we also learned the first few days of transition into the human body are difficult as well, and dangerous for others and that's also true...since when Mark came to see if his wife was okay, she was quick to slam his head into the mirror and in the process...slice open the jugular. As he lay there bleeding out, we finally saw just how powerful this evil is and how much it buries the original person/personality deep within the soul as this iteration of Megan slowly pulled out the glass and watched Mark die with utter fascination. Oh...and let's not forget...she's also pregnant, while possessed.

So there we are. Our main characters are as broken as can be, at their weakest mentally and physically in a way and now poor Kyle has a tough decision to make. To rip the darkness from his sister's body and risk her further harm...or salvation and top it off...there's something horrible coming over the horizon. Patricia's son hinted at it. So did Chief Ogden and well...one cannot help but get the feeling that Sidney lied about a few things...all in the hopes of keeping Kyle off the trail so that he can execute whatever it is he's been planning. After all, Ogden and Kat are setting something up in town...and in a way it feels like an infirmary is being prepped for newly possessed humans as more of these beings find fresh souls to claim as their own. Either way, the stage is truly set for one incredible showdown. The question now is who gets to walk away the victor...the light...or the dark? Until next time.

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