S02.E13: C Is for Cannibal

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

The team is sent to meet on campus with Mitch Jasper, a student with a growing compulsion to eat human flesh.

Season finale dropping Sunday, October 10, 2021.

[For Cereals]

Love this show, but I’m not happy…1) that it’s over for the season, and 2) the end. Waiting for everyone else to comment.

I know violence is wrong, but I loved the shoe beating.  

Edited October 10, 2021 by For Cereals

[AimingforYoko]

I'm glad Kristen pulled back from the brink for two reasons: One, she didn't need another murder on her conscience. Two, no more Leland the Troll? Blasphemy!

As to the ending, we'll see whether Sister Andrea has to kick Kristen's ass or not.

[Zaffy]

that was a tad weak for a season finale.. I dunno... it didn't really resolve much.
Still the confession scene was amazing, both actors nailed it.
I guess Kristen and David won't do more than making out (are priests allowed to make out? I mean the good priests not the pedophiles).
Except if they do the hanky panky which means David's hours as a priest will be less than 24. In this case I wonder if Kristen is possessed with the mission to stop David from being a priest. Hmm...

I dunno what was creepier in that "dinner scene", the cannibalism or the rest of the guests? These people looked like if they escaped from a freak show or the asylum, or both.. 

Can someone please explain to me how Leland managed to get such an important role in the church in such a short time? I mean what justifies this? Can all exorcised people do the same? There is no logic in this. This is a weak part of the story.

I am sure George can beat the ass of that flying little daemon. 
Talking about George, shall we start a petition for "Sister Andrea the demons' slayer and George" spin-off?

[Snazzy Daisy]

[Anela]

I'm going to be sick. I should have known that wasn't a dream. 

I do like Sheryl threatening Leland, and protecting her granddaughters. 

Oh, Kristen. No. 

My favourite parts were Sister Andrea stabbing the demon - do not mess with her - and Ben with the girls. I don't like the whole storyline with Lexi? Is that her name? The tail and all that. I think it's too much. I wonder if Sheryl really knows what she's doing with these people (and I also agree with wondering what all of those people were doing at that party - and what was Sheryl doing there?)

Edited October 10, 2021 by Anela

[Snazzy Daisy]

David’s big O day was wild (with sexy fantasies) and fuzzy towards the end.

Wow David, you broke your vows on the very same day you took them! What lead you to that forbidden kisses - doubts, temptations or blurry logics?

Lexis told Kristen that she smelled like death. Which part of Kristen is dying? Is something rotting inside her despite being exorcised? She confessed to David about the murder and the guilt of getting away with it but she mentioned nothing on the infidelity. Dr. Boggs was right all along. Kristen has been affected by the killing far more than she'd want to admit.

It was very sweet of Ben and Kristen to throw David an “ordination bachelor party”. The party scenes were interesting as we get to see rare interactions between characters who don't usually speak. One thing that I hate is the “daughter energy”. Ughh. 😣

Leland is way more evil than I thought he would be. He’s playing the church like a pro. The Monsignor was easily manipulated. Bishop Marx seems tougher, but where is he?

Sister Andrea has shed some lights on the sigils. They are the family crests of 60 demonic houses, going back 60 decades. Before the master of a house dies, they must guarantee a successor. And to do that, the predecessor must be “consumed/eaten”. 

At his birthday party, Mitch took his place as a successor, surrounded by other masters of demonic houses (presumably). Soon Sheryl will have to “eat” Edward before taking over his demonic house. Or she already did that? 😬

We now know that Leland has been talking to Lexis secretly. Is he grooming her to be his successor? (Leland has his own piggy sigil). The “daffodil” thing could be some kind of initiation etc. The Pop-Up Book of Terrifying Things must be a gift from grandpa Leland.

Top 3 best (and also frightening) moments of this episode:

(1) Sister Andrea scolded Dr. Boggs for using science to run away from the truth and creating “fictions” to avoid god. Kristen and Ben have been doing the similar things. Maybe all four of them should do a round table discussion one day.

(2) Kristen repeatedly hitting Leland in the face with her high heels and then screaming, “This is me with help, Leland!” This is so satisfying. 😂

(3) Sheryl to Leland, “If you ever hurt one of my granddaughters, I’ll cut off your dick.” Best grandma ever! 😘

 

I still have a lot of Qs on the following: 🤔

- What will happen to David now? Will he confess to Sister Andrea about the broken vows?

- The dynamic between David and Kristen, will it change after their kisses and her bombshell confession?

- Will Andy be coming home soon?

- How can Sheryl rule a demonic house from Kristen’s back office?

- Will Kristen come clean with Andy (and David) about her impromptu sex with Graham Lucian?

- Any explanation on the demonic goo dripping from Kristen’s bed?

- What will David/Ben/Kristen do to prevent Leland from interfering their assessments?

- Any progress on the investigation of RSM Fertility and demonic eggs/babies? What happened to Kristen’s 12th egg?

- What were Dr. Cara Autry and another lady doing at Leland’s back room?

- What is the fluid that being injected into Sheryl and Edward in the Nutcracker suite?

- What happened to George, flaming head Jinn and Abby the retainer?

- What happened to Vanessa/Maggie?

[AimingforYoko]

From TV Line:

Quote

TVLINE | The question I have verbatim on my list here is: “Edward, Sheryl and Leland: WTF?” I truly do not know what’s going on there. Illuminate anything you can, please.
ROBERT KING | [Laughs] To me, this goes to the secret of what the 60 are and what that sigil map is about. I think what Sister Andrea says is true, there are 60 families, almost like these are crests of the family, and they’re not genetically connected. When one person dies out, they need to replace them, but that replacement has to be someone who will take on the mantle of whatever that sigil means. We’re going to find out more specifically what the sigils mean next season, but at least at the moment, she has deciphered the fact the way succession happens is through cannibalism.

Almost everything with the demonic side of the script is a bad parody of the Catholic side of the script. So, there’s eating the body and blood of Christ on one side, eating the body and blood of the demon before you on the other. So, it’s all flipped on each other. Demonic Edward, he’s not the same sigil as Leland. There are two sigils, so there are two kind of parts of an order of a house. So, they’re always on the make for who’s going to replace them.
MICHELLE KING | Same union, different local. [Laughs]

 

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, Zaffy said:

Can someone please explain to me how Leland managed to get such an important role in the church in such a short time? I mean what justifies this? Can all exorcised people do the same? There is no logic in this. This is a weak part of the story.

I am sure George can beat the ass of that flying little daemon. 
Talking about George, shall we start a petition for "Sister Andrea the demons' slayer and George" spin-off?

I'd watch that spinoff :D. I about cheered when she stabbed that freaky thing in the heart with the crucifix. Do not fuck with Sister Andrea. 

As for how Leland managed to worm his way in, I have to think he's got some kind of "in" with someone in the church already. There was Father Mulvehill a few episodes back, whom he'd been in contact with, after all. So if he's been in touch with him, who knows who else he's been spending time with outside of the exorcism stuff he's been doing with the church? He managed to worm his way into Kristen's old job pretty fast, too, so there must be some kind of special skill or manipulation or something that he does to these people to get them to do his bidding so fast. 

As for everything else....wow. That's...a lot to process and mull over for the next season.

So, they finally went there with David and Kristen. I really loved the confession scene, it was genuinely emotional and it was such a relief to see her opening up to David as she did, though I do wonder about the potential conflict of interest, as it were, in her confessing to David specifically, given they're longtime friends and all. But I suppose other priests have inevitably heard confessions from people they know outside the church at some point, so... There's also the fact that David now knows her secret, but Ben doesn't. He's got his heavy suspicions, of course, but he hasn't had them officially confirmed. So I wonder what that's going to do to the dynamics and their friendship and such.

(Speaking of friendships, I loved all the scenes with Ben and David this episode, with Ben calling David "Father" in a gentle teasing sort of way, and the two of them investigating that super creepy old place together and whatnot. I said this last season, but I'll say it again here, I really want an episode at some point that explores what their early days working together were like, before Kristen (or even that Judy that we met last season, provided she wasn't there from day one) came into the picture. I know Ben mentioned how they met, but I want to know more about that time period in general.)

I'm also pleasantly surprised they actually went through with David being ordained, I was wondering if something would happen that would either delay it or not let it happen. Course, now that he's kissed Kristen (and possibly more, who knows?), I wonder what will happen if the Church finds out about that. And we do know priests have left the church for romantic reasons before, so I wonder if he'll ever consider doing that down the line. 'Cause as intriguing as it is to see them finally getting together, this is definitely an awkward time to do so, to say the very least :p. So that's going to be interesting.

Course, I'm also wondering if there's more to this moment as well, because there was that scene where Leland opened the door, once to a fade to black, the next to that Mitch kid. So I wonder if there's some sort of alternate timeline/dream sort of thing happening here. I liked the tension involved in whether or not Kristen would grab that pick ax and go after Leland (and I noticed she was wearing the same outfit in that moment that she was the night she killed LeRoux), and while I certainly wouldn't have blamed her for going after him (the reveal about him going to Lexis' school actually made me gasp in horror), I did breathe a sigh of relief when she showed up at David's door instead. 

And it's not a coincidence that Lexis, of all the girls, would notice an odd smell around her mom, given all the weirdness going on. Interesting, too, that she got a message with the same word that Edward was giving Sheryl. That can't be good. 

On a lighter note, I always love any time Ben interacts with the girls, and this was no exception :D. Loved all of them rocking out to that music at the party - kind of odd to invite kids to a party like that, but hey. 

I still can't make heads or tails of what the hell's going on with Sheryl and Leland and Edward, so I'm not even going to try and figure that out. That whole thing with them inviting Mitch to that party was all kinds of creepy WTF?. And everything in that old building was creepy*, as was that scene with that...thing, whatever the hell it was, chasing David. 

*Oh, god, the moment when that drawer opened with that person inside...I was wildly gesturing at the screen like, "UM. GUYS...". Hell, no. Nope, nope, nope. You could not pay me to spend the night in one of those drawers, in a place like that. 

Very strange, wild season, this. Still some stuff left unanswered that I want to learn more about, notably everything with the Vanessa/Maggie situation and that previous work Ben had done, but hopefully we'll get more into that next season, too. Until then, going to spend a lot of time trying to sort through everything that happened this season and see how I can make sense of it all. Until season 3, then!

[Zaffy]

4 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

The Pop-Up Book of Terrifying Things must be a gift from grandpa Leland.

 

They should sell this.  I would buy.

[Snazzy Daisy]

4 minutes ago, Zaffy said:

They should sell this.  I would buy.

That book will “eat” your finger! 

😂😂😂

[Zaffy]

 

32 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

Course, I'm also wondering if there's more to this moment as well, because there was that scene where Leland opened the door, once to a fade to black, the next to that Mitch kid. So I wonder if there's some sort of alternate timeline/dream sort of thing happening here.

I watched this episode from an.. erm erm alternative source.. (usually watching  from subscribed tv but I wasnt home and well I could not wait!) and I thought it was a cut to ads and the replayed the scene from the beginning. So this is interesting...hmmm...

 

34 minutes ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

I still have a lot of Qs on the following:

It is kind of weird they left so many things unanswered, well actually most of the story.
Maybe they needed an extra episode or two. Even if they were strong episodes (the elevator one, the silent monastery one) and some strong moments, I feel the season as uneven and incomplete. 
I do not mind not getting all the answers, but everything seemed to got thrown on us a bit randomly and in such quantity that we won't remember squat next season.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Zaffy

[Snazzy Daisy]

47 minutes ago, Zaffy said:

It is kind of weird they left so many things unanswered, well actually most of the story. Maybe they needed an extra episode or two. Even if they were strong episodes (the elevator one, the silent monastery one) and some strong moments, I feel the season as uneven and incomplete. I do not mind not getting all the answers, but everything seemed to got thrown on us a bit randomly and in such quantity that we won't remember squat next season.

Agreed.

The most frustrating plot line is the RSM Fertility story. It was brought to us in S1 and we still don’t have much clues on what’s really going on here. We knew about corrupted eggs that resulted in demonic kids, stolen eggs and Lexis with her tail. That’s it. I couldn’t believe that the team has stopped following up on that investigation after they couldn’t find Dr. Cara Autry.

At least (in this episode) Sister Andrea has provided some clarifications re the 60 demonic sigils. Now we have some basic ideas re Sheryl/Edward collaboration and why suddenly Mitch was feeling the cannibalism urges. The fact that David’s father is also using the demonic sigil in his arts, this shouldn’t be forgotten.

There are also some inconsistencies that bother me. In S1, Sheryl has her own apartment, we saw Leland spending the night at her place. Then why suddenly she needs to stay at Kristen’s? Did I miss any backstory on this? Leland has a history of stealing Kristen’s job and she did a background check on him. So why can’t she reveal to the Monsignor that Leland is a fraud? 🤦🏻‍♀️

[phalange]

So the sigils are family crests that involve cannibalism to initiate the next generation. I'm guessing that was what that shrunken head in a jar that Edward gave Sheryl was all about. I appreciate Sheryl threatening Leland if he ever hurts the kids, but how could she even stand to be around him, knowing that he's going after Lexis? Though she still wanted to be with him last season after what Kristen told her about him, so it tracks. Either she's playing the long game somehow or she really is just as evil as he is.

"This is me with help, Leland!" had me rolling. That's the least of what that creep deserved. I still don't get how he managed to worm his way into working for the church unless he has someone on the inside because I can't imagine the church is handing out jobs to everyone who gets an exorcism. Leland, I imagine is the one who gave the girls the pop-up book? Having the book be an actual thing that exists in the show as opposed to only seeing it in the opening and closing credits as we have up until now is smart. I really want to know what "daffodil" is supposed to be. Some kind of trigger to get Lexis to fully transform into a demon? 

Kristen's confession to David was intense and so well acted by both. I'm glad Kristen finally told David because she was still carrying it around on her conscience despite having told Boggs already. Also the kiss was hot and I've been waiting two seasons for this. Sorry, not sorry lol. Gonna be fascinating to see what the kiss means for David going forward now that he's ordained and also if him knowing about the murder will affect the team dynamic since Ben is now the only one who isn't in the loop.

[Annber03]

1 minute ago, phalange said:

Having the book be an actual thing that exists in the show as opposed to only seeing it in the opening and closing credits as we have up until now is smart. 

There were a couple times this season when the book showed up outside of those opening/closing credits- it was found in the room of Lila's friend in the zombie episode (I think it was in her closet), and then I think Sheryl had picked up the book ant put it on the shelf in another episode as well :). Good to see it actually winding up playing an important role in the end. 

[Zaffy]

2 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

In S1, Sheryl has her own apartment, we saw Leland spending the night at her place. Then why suddenly she needs to stay at Kristen’s?

I am not 100% but I think Sheryl went to live there with the excuse of taking care of her granddaughters

[snoopypez]

I love any time Ben is with the girls! They're so cute and I adore them. I also loved Ben telling David to taste the red stuff to see if it's blood since he already stuck his fingers in it anyway.

The scene/s with the reveal that Leland has been talking to Lexis and then her getting the book were CREEPY as hell. 

Not creepy but hilarious was when Kurt asked to talk to Sister Andrea and she was just like "...who are you?"

Lastly... sigh. I was very very Here For the last scene with the amazingly well-acted confession. and then they had to go and do THAT. I just...really am NOT Here For Kristen cheating yet again, and David already breaking his vows. It left the whole episode on a sour note, and I'm honestly really disappointed. Not surprised, since it was gonna happen sooner or later, but I already held on to a tiny bit of hope that it wouldn't. 

[Scout Finch]

10 hours ago, Annber03 said:

*Oh, god, the moment when that drawer opened with that person inside...I was wildly gesturing at the screen like, "UM. GUYS...". Hell, no. Nope, nope, nope. You could not pay me to spend the night in one of those drawers, in a place like that. 

That would be one the very last places you'd ever find my claustrophobic self! ~shudder~

[jada]

I'm over them not being successful at anything and being oblivious to their failures. The confession scene was powerful...till it became about sex. 

 

 

[Madding crowd]

I didn’t like the kissing scene either. I’m not rooting for Kristen cheating on her husband or David cheating on his vows. I liked the scene with the students sleeping in the drawers and the creepy bat thing. And Sister Andrea is just awesome; love that feisty old broad. 
 

I thought the party of cannibals reminded me of the party scene at the end of Rosemary’s Baby when the satanists gathered to greet the baby. Don’t believe for a second the church would just hand over this case to Leland especially since Kristen could prove he is fake. And isn’t there always more than one person on these cases? The three were in charge at first but then it gets handed to Leland. Also not impressed with Sheryl’s threat to Leland. Her definition of “harm” might be different than ours. She also should be appalled that Leland is spending time with her minor granddaughter and she should have walked away from that party. Was hoping for something more regarding the creepy dolls.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Madding crowd

[kwnyc]

Quote

At least (in this episode) Sister Andrea has provided some clarifications re the 60 demonic sigils. Now we have some basic ideas re Sheryl/Edward collaboration and why suddenly Mitch was feeling the cannibalism urges. 

So Mitch is the heir to a house...but he obviously didn't know anything about it. I wondered if it was the best idea for the "Sixty" to pick someone who knows nothing about them as the next in line to a house. Mitch said he didn't know the man who died. What if he had been able to resist the darkness/and or get exorcised? Would the house die?

And I am willing to bet that the first thing we see next season is either David or Kristen breaking up the kiss and saying something like; "no, we can't do this." I just don't see David breaking his vows SO SOON. And, they specifically asked him that question: can temptation be resisted. (Is this the first we heard that David had been treated for sex addiction?) (My wife is of the opinion that it's a dream.)

As for Leland the devious, all Kristen has to say is that he has been hanging around Lexis's school, sending her notes and books and ask if the church wants ANOTHER pedo lawsuit on their hands. 

I'm also in the minority in thinking that Andy WILL be back. In some ways, he and David have a lot in common: they are both men of faith who chose a difficult path (Andy, literally, to the tops of mountains.) 

And I wonder if RSM will re-emerge in connection to the Sixty: that they are modifying the eggs to CREATE heirs to the houses. Designer genes for each sigil ;-)

Next season can't come soon enough for me!

Edited October 11, 2021 by kwnyc
Additional thought

[DavidJSnyder]

2 hours ago, kwnyc said:

(Is this the first we heard that David had been treated for sex addiction?)

No, that was mentioned when David got sued for an exorcism last season, back when they originally introduced Renee.

[Anela]

I missed talk of "the sixty" and this is one of those storylines I never like. It's like another show with "the twelve". I suppose I should have expected it, with the talk of sigils in the first season, and the one daughter being different, their realization that something happened because of that clinic. 

I suppose this is no longer a spoiler, since the season ended, and we saw Sheryl praying to those dolls, and the head in the jar (ugh). I also thought of that head, at the dinner party. The actress said she had a higher/better reason for being there, but I don't see what that is, if those sigils are all evil. She was doing horrible things, after that rich guy said "Daffodil" and now we find that her granddaughter has that written in a book, given to her by Leland. 

[raven]

I thought the season started off very strong and then tried to do too much which caused me to not be as interested.  I did mainly enjoy the finale.  There was definitely for me a sense of throwing a bunch of stuff into the show pot - we had to have Sister Andrea exposit about the 60 because there was no time for a story where our main trio discovered it on their own.  I love SA but would rather see her do more demon stabbing, TYVM.

Kristen is kind of sucking at her job - she abandons whats his name because of Leland, which leaves whats his name to then listen to Leland.  I get that the kid probably wasn't going to be swayed from cannibalizing the guy regardless but I didn't like that, as much as I enjoyed her beating Leland with her shoe.  Speaking of Leland, it is beyond ridiculous that the church is having him help out now.  I hate when shows do that, shoehorn someone in for drahhhma.    There are so many ways to get him in trouble - for instance, tell the school that this creepy guy has been hanging around the school and talking to her daughter and who knows who else.  

I'm still not much interested in the 60/Leland/Sheryl storyline.   I'll watch with an open mind next season but I hope it doesn't take up the bulk of the episodes.

Though I agree with confession scene was great, I'm not onboard for the David/Kristen kiss and breaking of various vows. 

Loved the "you taste it" scene with Ben and David :D

I'm complaining but I mostly enjoyed the season, it's the kind of thing I like and am glad the show will be back.

Yes, I want the book too!!

[ferjy]

21 hours ago, snoopypez said:

Lastly... sigh. I was very very Here For the last scene with the amazingly well-acted confession. and then they had to go and do THAT. I just...really am NOT Here For Kristen cheating yet again, and David already breaking his vows. It left the whole episode on a sour note, and I'm honestly really disappointed.

Absolutely agree. What was it, 2 minutes after his vows? He hadn’t even defrocked yet. It‘s a major disappointment because it was a powerful scene with David dejected because he was clearly having his biggest doubts yet after Sister Andrea told him about the new reality he will have to face, and then he was saved by helping Kristen, a distraught soul, and realizing how much good he could do and how easily it came to him. It was quite emotional. Then they ruin it with that ending. It belittles his commitment as well as doing the same to Kristen’s commitment to Andy which she just promised. How weak are these people?? 

 

[jenn31]

21 hours ago, snoopypez said:

Not creepy but hilarious was when Kurt asked to talk to Sister Andrea and she was just like "...who are you?"

No niceties, right to the point. 😆 Sister Andrea trusts nobody. 

[ferjy]

On 10/10/2021 at 5:29 PM, Zaffy said:

shall we start a petition for "Sister Andrea the demons' slayer and George" spin-off?

lol  I’m in, for Sister Andrea at least. I was horrified that she might meet her demise when the winged beast showed up hovering over her bed. Please don’t kill off Sister Andrea, show. We won’t think you’re clever. We won’t find you daring and edgy. We will hate you. Sister Andrea will haunt you for the rest of your natural lives (and beyond!).

 

[jenn31]

On 10/10/2021 at 6:56 PM, Annber03 said:

As for how Leland managed to worm his way in, I have to think he's got some kind of "in" with someone in the church already. There was Father Mulvehill a few episodes back, whom he'd been in contact with, after all. So if he's been in touch with him, who knows who else he's been spending time with outside of the exorcism stuff he's been doing with the church? He managed to worm his way into Kristen's old job pretty fast, too, so there must be some kind of special skill or manipulation or something that he does to these people to get them to do his bidding so fast. 

I don’t get them giving Leland that position at all. You may be right. There’s got to be something. It’s ridiculous otherwise. 

[ferjy]

On 10/10/2021 at 9:23 PM, phalange said:

I really want to know what "daffodil" is supposed to be. Some kind of trigger to get Lexis to fully transform into a demon? 

Yes, definitely a trigger word. The same word Edward gave Sheryl when she did his bidding. Usually a trigger word is to get someone to do some specific deed. Lexis went straight for the book. I noticed that the page with Daffodil written in had pictures of the ice pick tool like Kristin’s. Seems odd to have it in there. I wonder if Lexis is supposed to expose Kristen killing LeRoux. 

 

[Annber03]

2 minutes ago, ferjy said:

I wonder if Lexis is supposed to expose Kristen killing LeRoux. 

Ooh, that'd be an interesting way for everyone else outside of Kurt and David to learn about that. 

[ferjy]

3 hours ago, raven said:

Kristen is kind of sucking at her job - she abandons whats his name because of Leland, which leaves whats his name to then listen to Leland.

That didn’t sit well with me either. She is so adamant that Leland is evil and will use and hurt clients, then she leaves  a particularly fragile one alone with him! After they promised they would help him and keep him safe. Good going, Kristen. 

 

 

 

[WAnglais1]

I love the idea of this show, and the cast is great, but I'm not going to watch yet another X-FILES, LOST, MANIFEST, or any other show which starts out to be great TV and then disappears up its own backside.

During the confession scene, someone walked in to the room where I was watching and began a conversation with me. I was finally able to get through it. I was muttering, "Don't ruin a pair of great performances with kissing!" But, they did. 

Too many questions and not enough answers. I'll start next season, but I may be out soon.

[Norma Desmond]

4 hours ago, WAnglais1 said:

Too many questions and not enough answers.

Right? I know it's par for the course to leave some things unanswered so people will tune in next season, but seriously. How do the dolls tie in with everything else? Why was Sheryl praying to G*d and then taking part in a cannibalistic demonic feast?

 

I feel the writers have no idea where this is going. A lot of things from season 1 are still unanswered.

I liked season 2 but the finale was the weakest episode.

Also: NO GEORGE AT THE END. A big NO-NO.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 12, 2021 by Norma Desmond

[Jack Sampson]

They had a ton of weird things to get an audience hooked and keep them guessing, but never explained them or had a payoff.  It didn't work for me.  I couldn't believe this was the last episode of the season.  Next season could either be great or horrible depending on whether or not some of these major plot points are resolved.

[kwnyc]

Remember when TV shows had more than 12 episodes a season? A 20-episode season would have been the right length for this one!

[millennium]

On 10/11/2021 at 9:24 PM, jenn31 said:

I don’t get them giving Leland that position at all. You may be right. There’s got to be something. It’s ridiculous otherwise. 

The entire show is ridiculous.   Nothing makes sense.   Story lines are left hanging when they apparently become too difficult to pursue, meanwhile preposterous new ones are introduced.   Kristen gets away with murder because the cops happened to be in a forgiving mood that night.   Her mother for no apparent reason starts warming up to satanic worship, blood baths and cannibalism.  David chucks his vows within hours of taking them.  Her lying daughter grows a CGI tail that's a thing in one episode but not in subsequent ones.   Leland, the putative Big Bad, is little more than the show jester.  And Ben, whom I think is one of the most interesting characters on the show, is underutilized almost every week.    IMO, the Kings are treating the audience like idiots and laughing all the way to the bank.  Don't think I'll be back next season.   There aren't many characters to like.

[Jack Sampson]

9 hours ago, millennium said:

IMO, the Kings are treating the audience like idiots and laughing all the way to the bank.  Don't think I'll be back next season.   There aren't many characters to like.

It's the JJ Abrams “mystery box" brand of storytelling.  Supposedly, the idea or anticipation of what might happen is more important than what actually happens.  So a writer can just keep introducing more weirdness instead of resolving anything.

It's a nice way of saying that, if a writer is out of ideas and can't complete a successful storyline, just keep the audience guessing for several seasons before they get bored and quit.  At least you get a paycheck.

Edited October 14, 2021 by Jack Sampson

[millennium]

50 minutes ago, Jack Sampson said:

It's a nice way of saying that, if a writer is out of ideas and can't complete a successful storyline, just keep the audience guessing for several seasons before they get bored and quit. 

Or the show is canceled.   I often wonder how many screenwriters actually breathe a sigh of relief when their show gets the axe because they haven't a clue how to tie up all the loose ends and are spared the humiliation of the terrible finale. 

[jada]

On 10/14/2021 at 12:06 PM, millennium said:

The entire show is ridiculous.   Nothing makes sense.   Story lines are left hanging when they apparently become too difficult to pursue, meanwhile preposterous new ones are introduced.   Kristen gets away with murder because the cops happened to be in a forgiving mood that night.   Her mother for no apparent reason starts warming up to satanic worship, blood baths and cannibalism.  David chucks his vows within hours of taking them.  Her lying daughter grows a CGI tail that's a thing in one episode but not in subsequent ones.   Leland, the putative Big Bad, is little more than the show jester.  And Ben, whom I think is one of the most interesting characters on the show, is underutilized almost every week.    IMO, the Kings are treating the audience like idiots and laughing all the way to the bank.  Don't think I'll be back next season.   There aren't many characters to like.

 

Your list of preposterous stories + Ben reminds me - whatever happened to Ben's girlfriend and her "sister"? was that resolved? did I miss it?

[raven]

48 minutes ago, jada said:

Your list of preposterous stories + Ben reminds me - whatever happened to Ben's girlfriend and her "sister"? was that resolved? did I miss it?

No it wasn't - this reminds me, that incident didn't show Ben in the best light - he either had knowingly had sex with his girlfriend's sister or knowingly had sex with someone who is not mentally stable. 

 

[millennium]

13 hours ago, raven said:

No it wasn't - this reminds me, that incident didn't show Ben in the best light - he either had knowingly had sex with his girlfriend's sister or knowingly had sex with someone who is not mentally stable. 

 

All three members of the team seem to make poor choices in that area.

[Meredith Quill]

Meh. Really glad I waited to binge this, watching week by week would've irked me with that weaksauce finale. Someone else here said "too many questions/not enough answers", yep, that's where I'm at now. I even went into the finale thinking "should finally get some answers to stuff and why do shows not breadcrumb us more but instead wait until the finale to 'reveal all' that's uber annoying!" - how naive I was....I got a big fat doughnut! Bleh.

The show is losing my interest by continually showing stuff without any explanation even by the finale. I'll watch next season in the hope that G-Ma dies, she's a complete and total idiot and deserves all she gets imo, and as for Kristen...she's really started to become a laxative as well; I actually feel sorry for her husband at this point. Sister Andrea is the only one who has any damn sense in this show.

[Niuxita]

On 10/10/2021 at 5:56 PM, Annber03 said:

And we do know priests have left the church for romantic reasons before, so I wonder if he'll ever consider doing that down the line. 'Cause as intriguing as it is to see them finally getting together, this is definitely an awkward time to do so, to say the very least :p. So that's going to be interesting.

I've seen the "nun has crisis of faith and subsequently leaves the order (or however you call it) because she falls in love with a man" storyline a couple of times now in different things, and it's always bothered me because the nun is always a conventionally attractive woman, which makes me think that these storylines come from a place of discomfort with having an attractive woman in a position where she cannot be desired by the male gaze. So, if the show wants to do a gender-flipped version of this with an attractive man leaving the priesthood because he falls in love with a woman, I'm all for it. But with how much buildup there has been to David wanting to become a priest, it would unfortunately feel like a bit of a cop-out and a disservice to the character's journey. So, as an unabashed shipper, I'm torn.

On 10/10/2021 at 8:23 PM, phalange said:

Also the kiss was hot and I've been waiting two seasons for this. Sorry, not sorry lol.

Make some room for me at your table, heh. Absolutely worth the wait, IMO. Life's too short not to enjoy two attractive people having the hots for each other on TV.

The confession scene was absolutely FANTASTIC. The intensity of it all, the way Kristen kept getting more and more upset and, that bit where David is like, "Do you want me to get someone else?" a bit panicked just added to it because you could tell he knew that whatever she said next would not be good. What got me was Kristen fervently reciting the Act of Contrition (?). It reminded me of the exorcism scene, when she's lying on the floor and the priest says something like, "Do you accept Christ as your Lord and saviour?" and she feebly says, "I do!" It really underscores how desperate she is for forgiveness/atonement, as someone we've known from the beginning to be a staunch non-believer who is now reciting traditional Catholic prayers as if therein actually lies the key to make it all go away. It's fascinating, and KH does an amazing job with moments like that.

On 10/11/2021 at 5:37 PM, raven said:

Kristen is kind of sucking at her job - she abandons whats his name because of Leland, which leaves whats his name to then listen to Leland.

I though Monsignor had told her on the phone to get back to the church office and let Leland do his thing. I remember because it really bothered me that he would just automatically let Leland pull rank over her.

Speaking of that scene, and I know this was completely NOT the point, but the way Kristen looks at Leland right before slowly taking her shoe off? HOLY SHIT. I would have gladly been on the receiving end of a shoe-smack. *cough*

Looks like I am easier to please than most, because overall I have thoroughly enjoyed this season. There are still some unaswered questions, sure, but that's par for the course for a show with an overarching mythology, and moreover, I don't think there is a show currently on air that doesn't have the annoying tendency to not reveal the answers to previously introduced mysteries. If I kept getting mad about that, I wouldn't enjoy anything. Super looking forward to next season, and I hope the fact that it took me so long to finally catch up on this show means the wait will be shorter.

Edited February 22, 2022 by Niuxita

[Annber03]

27 minutes ago, Niuxita said:

I've seen the "nun has crisis of faith and subsequently leaves the order (or however you call it) because she falls in love with a man" storyline a couple of times now in different things, and it's always bothered me because the nun is always a conventionally attractive woman, which makes me think that these storylines come from a place of discomfort with having an attractive woman in a position where she cannot be desired by the male gaze. So, if the show wants to do a gender-flipped version of this with an attractive man leaving the priesthood because he falls in love with a woman, I'm all for it. But with how much buildup there has been to David wanting to become a priest, it would unfortunately feel like a bit of a cop-out and a disservice to the character's journey. So, as an unabashed shipper, I'm torn.

I totally understand that dilemma! Your thing about storylines involving nuns being tempted away - that's not a familiar plotline to me in the shows I've watched, myself, but I have certainly heard about the ones where it is, so yeah, I get your concerns and critiques about it on that level, and what it means about the women involved. That's a really fair and important critique to make. I know there have been stories about men of the cloth wrestling with similar issues, but with David in particular, it's especially interesting to see him struggling with it here, because of all the other factors that play into his commitment to his work, some of which the show's touched on already (notably how his race is a factor into part of why this profession means so much to him). So I do like that they're flipping the script in that way and letting us explore that struggle from an angle that hasn't been explored much, if at all, before.

But yeah, I have enjoyed watching David's journey to this point, too, and I like how committed he is to his work. And yet, indeed, I'm intrigued to see where he and Kristen could go from here, too. It'd be great if he were able to find a way to have both his work and a burgeoning romantic relationship in his life, of course, but yeah, that'd be far easier said than done in such a restrictive setting. I do wonder if he won't try such a thing, though. That could make for some interesting tension and drama. 

Quote

Super looking forward to next season, and I hope the fact that it took me so long to finally catch up on this show means the wait will be shorter.

Good news is that judging from what I've seen on Twitter and such, they're filming the third season as we speak, so I imagine we'll start getting some official news on a return date (at the very least, the time of year to expect the new season) and whatnot soon enough :)!

[KittyQ]

Late to finish season 2, but here are some thoughts I had.

• I agree with everyone who cannot believe that Leland has managed to get a position of some responsibility with the church, even as a volunteer! In fact, I'm astonished that anyone would even consider having someone who just recently was possessed and had to be exorcised do anything at all with vulnerable people. Even if Leland had truly been exorcised, you'd think he would still be in a very delicate state with regard to demons and evil things. He should have been required to take a long time building up his spiritual muscles so to speak before coming in as some kind of supervisor to the team. Sadly, I think that the ideas some people have of there being an "inside person" who is making it easy for Leland might be the answer. I don't know if viewers of this show also read books about these topics, but the "birthday party" scene seemed like something out of one of Malachi Martin's books. Extremely weird and creepy.
• I thought the scene of Kristin confessing was very well done. You could tell how much the murder troubled and damaged her and how much she need absolution (and not the kind that her mother gave her when she returned home after screwing that guy in her car).
• The kiss kind of ruined the confession for me. I get that there's been sexual tension between them, but for crying out loud, David was ordained only a few hours ago, and Kristin was in a very vulnerable state. Even a rookie priest has to be aware that it is all too easy to mistake these strong emotions for something else, and also avoid taking advantage of a person who is so fragile emotionally and spiritually. A very bad start to David's priesthood! I hope that the kiss was it and he comes to his senses here. 
• Love Sister Andrea! She should be the diocese's exorcist. Give them spiritual guidance along with a kick in the pants!
• I was confused about the cannibalism needed to have a successor - Edward's predecessor was the shrunken head guy, did he eat the rest of him? And will Sheryl have to eat Edward?  Do they all have a sigil tattoo somewhere? 
  • Did Leland eating his therapist in a curry count? Or was that just one of those things?
• I hope Kurt comes back. I liked his sessions with Kristin and his struggle to deal with the very strange things she has to do for work.

I will add that I knew a man who left the monastery because he fell in love with someone. I didn't know either of them all that well, but they worked together on a team, and fell in love. I believe they waited until he was released from his vows before they started dating though.

Edited May 16, 2022 by KittyQ

[Paloma]

On 10/10/2021 at 6:17 PM, Zaffy said:

I do not mind not getting all the answers, but everything seemed to got thrown on us a bit randomly and in such quantity that we won't remember squat next season.

This is a problem for me in any show with multiple plots and random clues--I end up having to rewatch the previous season (if it's available on streaming) when the new season comes out. My husband and I watched Season 1 of Evil when it was on regular TV (CBS, I think) but refused to pay for Paramount Plus when it moved there, because at the time we didn't think there were other shows we'd want to watch on PP. We only got PP recently because there were a couple of other shows we wanted to watch on it, but now I'm glad we waited because we will be able to continue on to Season 3 without a long time gap between seasons. 

On 10/12/2021 at 1:17 AM, Norma Desmond said:

How do the dolls tie in with everything else? Why was Sheryl praying to G*d and then taking part in a cannibalistic demonic feast?

I thought she was praying to the dolls, which she had arranged and named as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost--in other words, a satanic version of these entities. Although it looked like there was a statue of the Madonna above her, I think that was just meant to show what a blasphemy she was committing. (I have no idea why there would be a statue of the Madonna in Kristen's office.) However, I am Jewish so may be totally wrong about what she was doing and what it meant--please correct me if you are more familiar with Christian/Church prayer practices.

[Norma Desmond]

10 hours ago, Paloma said:

However, I am Jewish so may be totally wrong about what she was doing and what it meant--please correct me if you are more familiar with Christian/Church prayer practices.

I am a member of the tribe too. Happy Hanukkah, by the way!