by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
Welcome to Cross-Platform Partners! In honor of a new movie release, I have selected a TV show to watch to pair with the movie. Think of it as a way to get hyped for the new movie, a preview of things to come, a means to tide you over if the movie won’t be released where you live for a little while, or a change of pace if you’ve run out of related movies or sequels.
This October, I picked The Exorcist TV show to pair with The Exorcist: Believer.
For a long time, The Exorcist was the pinnacle of scary movies. I watched a version of it on WGN and it terrified me. Even when it was rereleased in theaters in the early 2000s, I traveled with some friends to a further away theater to see if it still held up. Some moments did, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I remembered. Since the original, there have been sequels that have failed to live up to the original. Even The Exorcist: Believer has me skeptical about whether it can be good enough to surpass the original. Doubling down and having more possessions doesn’t always mean double the success. So the only property that has come close to the original movie is the 2016 TV show The Exorcist.
I originally thought this was going to be another show based on a movie to add nothing to the mythology, or to expand on the original. I was dead wrong.
Set in Chicago, The Exorcist follows two priests on their journeys to fight the forces of darkness. Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels) is a seasoned exorcist, tortured by a recent possession gone wrong. On the other side is Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera), a rising star in the Chicago Catholic Church. A member of Tomas’ parish, Angela Rance (Geena Davis), has a feeling that someone in her house is possessed by a demon, and she requests help.
As the two priests we follow, Daniels and Herrera are outstanding. They’re asked to do a lot for their characters, and each have different reasons for working towards helping the Rance family in Season One. Father Tomas is looking to make a name for himself and his Church. His reasoning could be seen as selfish, and a move that he’s about to discover is way over his head. On the other hand, Father Marcus is looking to stay out of the fight, but is roped back in as an expert on exorcism. Paralleling one another at a crossroads of faith, both Father Marcus and Tomas struggle with the weight of the exorcism. While confronting their own personal demons and failures, we see how their faith in God takes them to places neither thought they could go.
Both seasons open with Father Marcus performing an exorcism. As someone who’s dedicated his life to eradicating demons from the world, Marcus is conflicted about why he does this work, as well as the role the Catholic Church plays in approving the use of exorcisms. It’s evident that he is skeptical of the institution of the Catholic Church. He has faith and is devoted to helping others, but the Church has all kinds of rules about exorcism, instead of trusting their priests to know what the right thing to do is. The Catholic Church is corrupt and compromised to Marcus, and it parallels the skepticism that others have in the institution of the Church overall. He is Father Merrin, but with more of a backstory, depth, and self-torture.
Tomas is new to exorcisms, and relies very heavily on Marcus to show him the ropes. His intentions at first are purely for ego-driven. Angela sees a lot of potential in him, but Tomas also has personal demons involving a past love interest and family problems. He’s not perfect but he strives to be perfect in the eyes of everyone around him. Marcus and Tomas make a great team, but Tomas’ naive and overconfident nature helps him to learn more about what he was destined to become.
Although much of the time in The Exorcist is spent with the priests, two separate groups of families are where the heart of the show lies. Season One shows the Rance family struggling when one of their own is struck with possession. Sisters Casey (Hannah Kasulka) and Kat (Brianne Howey), and their father Henry (Alan Ruck), fight alongside Angela. Their closeness is on full display, and love becomes the ultimate weapon against demons. The second season has a foster family, led by Andrew (John Cho), along with a group of five foster kids. Both groups represent the power of a loving family and how it can confront the ultimate evils of the world.
One thing I will give credit to is the creative way the show connects to the original movie. Halfway through Season One, there’s a twist for the ages that ups the stakes. I really like the way it connects to the original movie, and helps serve as a direct sequel to the original. Although there’s no hope that the TV show will connect with The Exorcist: Believer, the way it expands the story and the world from the original is amazing. This alone makes the show, particularly Season One, worth a watch.
Of all the movies to be adapted into a TV show, The Exorcist will go down as one of the better examples. Introducing rich characters with amazing performances, it successfully expands the world and offers a terrifying glimpse of the world of exorcists. It’s a shame that it only lasted two seasons, because there was still more story to tell.
You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Serializd