The Exorcist season 2 episode 7 review + analysis: Help Me

This episode of The Exorcist takes us deep into Andy’s mind as he battles his demons, literal and otherwise. Will his unresolved grief cost him his soul?

The final exorcism of season 2 of The Exorcist has begun, and it’s wildly different from anything we’ve seen so far. Andy spends this episode fighting his way out of demon-induced visions of paradise, into the nightmare of the exorcism itself.

This episode establishes some important character beats. Grief is what first allowed the demon to worm its way into Andy’s head; now, it’s Andy’s greatest weakness. Though the demon literally traps him in the memory of his wife’s death, we see Andy has been trapped there long before he was ever possessed.

Andy asking Marcus and Tomas for their help is especially poignant. If he had reached out when grieving for his wife, the demon might never have found a foothold. It’s clear that Andy will have to face the the pain of that loss before he can free himself from the demon’s hold.

Check your expectations at the door

Season 1 of The Exorcist never used its source material as a crutch, nor did it abandon its roots entirely. It wove a complicated dance of bringing in familiar characters and references without ever feeling cheap.

Season 2 steps onto new ground, as we move away from the Regan McNeil storyline that fans of the movie are familiar with. Without that focal point to build around, season 2 had less initial momentum; but watching the different storylines slowly converge was just as satisfying as having everything set up from the get-go.

I loved the creative choice in season 2 to begin Casey’s exorcism with Angela Rance cleaning up the kitchen, while the muffled sounds of Marcus and Tomas’s shouting filter down from the attic. After the action-packed ending of the previous episode, the sudden quiet was unexpected—and sinister. It brings us into the action slowly, from outside of the room in.

“Help Me” introduced the exorcism with a similar narrative device, but took it in a very different direction. Where we also begin with a stark tonal shift from horror to domestic, this time we begin in Andy’s mind and work out way into the exorcism from the inside out.

Another interesting way this episode subverted expectations was in how it portrayed Marcus and Tomas. When the demon possesses Angela Rance in season 1, she ends up trapped inside the memory of her childhood bedroom with the demon trying to force its way in. But this time, Andy is trapped inside his visions with the demon, and Marcus and Tomas are the violent intruders. The demon tailors Andy’s visions to his every fantasy, and our exorcists have to try and batter their way into the dream world before Andy succumbs to it entirely.

Pausing the action at such a crucial juncture to do a character study episode was a big risk. A deeply emotional performance by John Cho paid that risk off in full. Digging deep into Andy’s issues will set the scene for the last episodes of the season.

One thing I felt was missing from this episode was the character interactions which made episode six so great. The previous episode featured some exquisitely tense character moments. Watching Marcus be intentionally mean to people while Tomas winces in the background is so painful, and so good.

This episode, Marcus and Tomas are mostly relegated to shouting at Andy in between visions. It’s unfortunate, because an essential part of the exorcism is the exorcists themselves, and I wanted to see more of what was going on from their end of things. But we did get a pretty great moment where Marcus and Tomas appear as snaggletooth demons gleefully dousing Andy in holy water.

Apparently Hell doesn’t offer good dental.

Next: Top 10 shows that jumped the shark

Episode 8 of The Exorcist will air on FOX at 9 p.m. ET on Dec. 1.