'The Exorcist' Season 2, Episode 1 'Janus' Recap and Review: New Narrative, Underwhelming Scares

Jeremy Slater’s TV adaptation of “The Exorcist” is back, albeit underwhelming scares and a disruptive new narrative. The previous season ended with a cliffhanger that was meant to remain a mystery. And now that a new story is set for the second season, I could only imagine how far this would go before another cliffhanger is thrown at us again. We see our two hero priests—Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera) and excommunicated Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels)—caught up in a brand new predicament and a brand new foe.

Our exorcists on the run

The episode opens with Father Tomas and Marcus on the run from the town sheriff. This officer turns out to be Cindy’s (the possessed) husband, and he’s out for the two priests’ blood. To him, the priests just kidnapped his wife.
While they were at it, we get a glimpse of something that sets Father Tomas apart from all the other priests in the series so far—he can connect to the possessed individual mentally. And so we see Tomas enter the mind of Cindy (the first demon casualty of the season, I presume) making his way to find her. He does in the end, but there’s something about his ability that the demon is scared of. The demon takes this as a way to scare Tomas and Marcus that they won’t be able to drive him away because Tomas can come in and be possessed himself. Little does the demon know that Tomas is on to something here. This ability worries Marcus, but he eventually sees how they are actually in the upper hand.

Tomas thinks that there might be a new way for them to effectively drive the demon out, apart from the traditional repetition and prayer that they’re already practicing. A confused Marcus hesitates, but he obviously sees it too. Tomas enters the mind of Cindy once again as both of their eyes turn white—and sees the demon for what it is. There’s a huge chance for him to drive the presence away, but something happens…
Cindy’s husband finally finds them, and after a three-on-one brawl with Father Marcus (seriously, this priest can take a huge beating!), barges in the abandoned barn where the exorcism is taking place. He takes Cindy as he wrestles her apart from Tomas’ trance and walks away.

Now it’s unclear if the demon has successfully infiltrated Tomas’ mind or if it’s the other way around.

The Exorcist: A New Chapter unfolds

Meanwhile, the first episode also sets up a new narrative, this time involving a foster home run by Andy (John Cho). You can already feel that something’s off in the house. It’s like a pervading sense of imminent threat that reveals itself towards the end.

Andy is obviously a good foster dad to blind kid Caleb (Hunter Dillon), prayerful Shelby (Alex Barima), boy on the spectrum Truck (Cyrus Arnold) and edgy Verity (there’s also the resident weird kid Grace). But things take a turn for the worst when the kids head out to the woods. Verity (Brianna Hildebrand) tells Caleb a scary story that sticks with him all throughout the day. This sets up the scare that’s about to happen soon after.
The foster home is then visited by Rose, the social worker. It turns out that Andy had a romantic past with Rose, and he’s afraid that because of that, Rose might use that against him to take away the kids from him. Rose reminds him that it’s not why she’s there and the two make it up silently (more awkwardly than silent, though).

During dinner, Rose’s presence manifests negatively towards the kids. Verity shows off her pessimistic, cynical attitude. Caleb also shows his mildly violent side when he learned from Andy that his dad never went to the custody hearing. He bangs the table and appears to be on the verge of a violent breakdown. Andy calms him down (and the other kids as well), to which Rose sees as a good sign that the kids are at home with Andy.

And now the scare begins

Later that night, the weirdness of the kids show up. Rose sees Caleb manually spinning a record player. Grace, the weird kid comes up to Andy with her sack mask on saying that she can’t sleep. Truck suffers a mini-seizure when Rose attempts to wake him up while he’s sleepwalking. Andy comes to the rescue and shows her how he neutralizes the situation. This is when they both notice that Caleb is gone.

Apparently, Caleb went back to the woods and tried to see if Verity’s story is true. He’s standing on top of an old well, with the wooden board covering it about to break from his weight. Andy tries to slowly calm him down. And just as the wood breaks and Caleb falls, Andy catches him.
He brings them all back to the house and tries to turn it in for the night. However, we catch a glimpse of Caleb’s eyes without his shades. It’s noticeably white. It’s the same pair of eyes that Tomas and Cindy had earlier in the episode.
The walls of the foster home also have the same wall in Tomas’ vision earlier—colorful children’s handprints.

Overall Verdict

“The Exorcist” is definitely a good show with a good narrative. However, the first episode of season 2 failed to start the series off with a bang. There’s something missing—the element of evil and horror. Comparing it to its pilot episode last year, the season premiere doesn’t even come close to the interesting story that unveiled the series. Sure, it successfully set up the launchpad of the story, but nonetheless failed to make it more of a horrific glimpse of demons and possessions. But then again, this is just the first episode, and we have yet to see where the plot takes us. Hopefully, not towards another cliffhanger.