S04.E06: How To Dance in Three Easy Steps

[AnimeMania]

A possibly possessed dancer leads Kristen, David, and Ben to a dance troupe with coven-like practices; Sheryl reaches her breaking point with Leland.

Premiere Date: June 27, 2024       Paramount+     

Stella Everett as Isabella

[Anela]

“How to stop the haunting.”

”show the intro to someone else.”

😂

[StarBrand]

Oh, Leland, it's really not a great idea to piss Sheryl off, and this time you've really done it.

The girls have very weird imaginations. So, they did this video, or whatever, and the shink is getting credit for it? Huh?

I suppose we'll find out more about the "muse" entity later on. Gotta say Kristen and dancer lady had amazing chemistry together.

So, David compelled the dictator to kill himself? So not is he only inhabiting others' bodies, his emotions are influencing them? That's a big one.  Can't blame David for feeling upset about it

[Chaos Theory]

Satanist ladies trying to seduce Kristen with the power of sexy dance.

Leland messes up big time by pissing  Sheryl off that much.

I don’t know why but I  am not really caring about David’s storyline this season.  

 

[Madding crowd]

Since Kristen is still married I don’t care about her being seduced by the weird dance troupe. Why were these women taking classes since they do their own private shows and have some kind of mystical powers. I can’t imagine them allowing the teacher to be abusive to them.

Sheryl has done too much evil for me to root for her. If she loved her granddaughters she wouldn’t have been involved with hurting their father or stealing Kristen’s egg. I didn’t understand why the girls put Boggs name on their video-I must have missed something . Also think Sheryl is awful for encouraging them to post a video about a dead mother! 

Edited June 28 by Madding crowd

[Snazzy Daisy]

Will the trio ever talk about Megan being “vanquished” by The Entity? David says he would’ve never supported the Church if it’s straight up murder. Will David be leaving the Church at the end of this series?

“Oh my god, is this some of your James Bond-Vatican shit?” 😆

The remote-viewing ability and the demands from his handler have taken a toll on David. He’s mentally exhausted and emotionally drained. Saving lives by taking another? Get out, David. Runnnnn!

"When two or more men are gathered, it's a church. When two or more women are gathered, it's a coven."

“When women go against their accepted roles, the church labels them as possessed or witches.”

EVIL is making a point on the patriarchal BS. 

How come Kristen isn’t aware of the girls’ new activities after school? They must’ve used a family Uber account to travel to/from Sheryl’s place. Kristen would’ve been notified as well. Then there’s the Cannibal Mom story that goes viral. The online picture book contains faces of Kristen (with red eyes) and the girls. Nobody in their circle has reached out to either of them? 🤔

What happens to Ben’s Djinn? Has he been vanquished too, by the prescribed drugs?

 

[Dani-Ellie]

56 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

I didn’t understand why the girls put Boggs name on their video-I must have missed something

The cannibal mom story was part of the demon-induced book Kurt was writing last season. He’d given Kristen a copy of it to beta for him and the girls found it. When they made the video, one of the Ls brought up that it wasn’t their story to make a video out of, so they gave Kurt his due credit as the author.

Edited June 28 by Dani-Ellie

[Anela]

1 hour ago, Madding crowd said:

Since Kristen is still married I don’t care about her being seduced by the weird dance troupe. Why were these women taking classes since they do their own private shows and have some kind of mystical powers. I can’t imagine them allowing the teacher to be abusive to them.

Sheryl has done too much evil for me to root for her. If she loved her granddaughters she wouldn’t have been involved with hurting their father or stealing Kristen’s egg. I didn’t understand why the girls put Boggs name on their video-I must have missed something . Also think Sheryl is awful for encouraging them to post a video about a dead mother! 

Weren’t they reading his book in a previous episode? I haven’t finished my re-watch yet.  I’m so tired, I barely got through the episode today. 

[ferjy]

Love that Kurt was trending higher than Stephen King, Elon Musk and Kim Kardashian. 🤣 Gotta get up there and beat Saint Patrick, Kurt! Must have been March, with Ireland trending too. Kurt may still make it to #1. He’ll surely bump Taylor Swift out of the park after his next muse-inspired chapter. He was typing away like a madman!

 

Edited June 28 by ferjy

[Anela]

10 minutes ago, Dani-Ellie said:

The cannibal mom story was part of the demon-induced book Kurt was writing last season. He’d given Kristen a copy of it to beta for him and the girls found it. When they made the video, one of the Ls brought up that it wasn’t their story to make a video out of, so they gave Kurt credit as the author.

Yep. Kristen thought he’d written gibberish, but one of the girls realized that it was written backwards.  https://tvline.com/recaps/evil-recap-season-3-episode-9-demon-of-money-1234858156/

[ferjy]

1 hour ago, Chaos Theory said:

I don’t know why but I  am not really caring about David’s storyline this season.  

The only thing I like about it is it gives us more scenes with Father Dominic Kabiru. Chukwudi Iwuji is a very good actor. 

 

 

[Annber03]

2 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Will the trio ever talk about Megan being “vanquished” by The Entity? David says he would’ve never supported the Church if it’s straight up murder. Will David be leaving the Church at the end of this series?

“Oh my god, is this some of your James Bond-Vatican shit?” 😆

The remote-viewing ability and the demands from his handler have taken a toll on David. He’s mentally exhausted and emotionally drained. Saving lives by taking another? Get out, David. Runnnnn!

"When two or more men are gathered, it's a church. When two or more women are gathered, it's a coven."

“When women go against their accepted roles, the church labels them as possessed or witches.”

EVIL is making a point on the patriarchal BS. 

I wondered that about David possibly leaving, too. Can't say I'd blame him one bit if he did so, given the kind of weird shit he's experiencing like he did in this episode. I liked the whole scene of him trying to fight these violent urges and sensations that were compelling him. 

I loved Ben's whole Bond snark at David this episode, too XD. And the way he snarkily admonished him when he started cussing up a storm, with his quiet, "Father...". Ben and David play off each other so well. 

And yeah, I loved those quotes about society/the church's attitude towards women, too.  Ben's reaction to David debating her on that was perfect, and I like how he quickly diffused things before they went even more sideways. 

The case this epsiode did creep me out quite a bit, though, and I think that floating demon was a large part of why. Every time she popped up afterward I kept expecting her to let out that godawful scream again. She was freakly. And then the stuff with Megan. Wow. 

8 hours ago, StarBrand said:

Gotta say Kristen and dancer lady had amazing chemistry together.

They really did, holy shit. That dance between them in the forest was genuinely sexy and hot, not gonna lie. 

I absolutely love the girls' super dark and twisted sense of humor :p. Heps that they had good inspiration in Boggs' story. But man, reading it to a baby...:p. 

Oooooooh, Sheryl is PISSED. Leland really needs to learn that he messes with  Kristen/her mom/her girls at his own peril. 

Edited June 28 by Annber03

[phalange]

So David can now basically influence people, including make someone kill themselves? Yeah, he’s not going to be okay with that.

While I’m not opposed to Sheryl going after Leland, it’s not like she’s innocent in all of this. She was fully involved in brainwashing Andy and is going behind Kristen’s back by visiting the girls and introducing them to the baby. What almost happened to Laura is partially Sheryl’s fault too. 

[millennium]

I quit this show last season but then learned this season would be the last, so yadda yadda, sunk cost fallacy, here I am.

Isabella the dancer was ... wow.  Alpha female, predatory, and hot as hell.   I can't even remember what the other dancers looked like.

So who's the worse mother, Sheryl or Kristen?   Hard to decide.   Sheryl's clearly up to no good and has successfully led the girls to betray their mother's trust ... but Kristen is hardly ever home thus leaving ample opportunity for Sheryl to weasel her way in.    Kristen's absences have also left the girls undefended and susceptible to various temptations -- lying, deception, etc.

I felt the Sigil/coven storyline was left too open-ended.   Sure, the priests dragged away Megan with the Latin title ... but the coven girls are dancing with demons, too, aren't they?

[StarBrand]

7 hours ago, millennium said:

but the coven girls are dancing with demons, too, aren't they?

Yeah, that bit about the "muse" was left wide open. The fact it visited Boggs and "inspired" him to start writing like a maniac seems to indicate she/it will be back....that, along with the little grief demon that's been hanging around...

[StarBrand]

9 hours ago, phalange said:

While I’m not opposed to Sheryl going after Leland, it’s not like she’s innocent in all of this

No, she's not, but she gave Leland very clear instructions NOT to harm any of her grandchildren, ever. I'm pretty sure she told him "harm any of my grandchildren, and I'll cut your balls off".

[Affogato]

Sheryl’s goal is to bring down management at this point. I assume this means raising the baby to be at least morally grey, not black, with human connections and to strengthen her control over Lexis. I do think she genuinely cares about the girls and Kristen, and while she didn’t much care if Andy was tortured she resents Leland going over her head about the amulet and plan to kill one of the girls. Sheryl is the head of a sigil house, now, and she has to create her heirs and legacy.
 

I feel there may be even more power shift in the yucky Leland household. 
 

yeah, Kristen needs to do better as a mother. 
 

 

[SeanBug]

So apparently there was a time jump and Timothy is now several months older than last week, and looks like an adorable baby boy.  Thank God because that fake baby they were using was pretty bad. 

What are those little packets? Some kind of mystical herbs or something?  I don't recall them being around when Andy was in Leland's hypno closet. 

[jub]

1 hour ago, Affogato said:

yeah, Kristen needs to do better as a mother. 

She’s got a job to go to, a husband who has always been only half there and now all but indisposed, and a demon child thrust upon her. Give the girl a break! 😛 

[Affogato]

12 minutes ago, jub said:

She’s got a job to go to, a husband who has always been only half there and now all but indisposed, and a demon child thrust upon her. Give the girl a break! 😛 

 

yes, Kristen is spiraling, Ben is spiraling, David is spiraling. 
 

will the coven provide childcare? Can they at least get an exorcism done on the places where they live?
 

 

[jenn31]

3 hours ago, StarBrand said:

"harm any of my grandchildren, and I'll cut your balls off".

And she’s sitting in the chair swinging a machete. Leland is going to be singing high!

[edlask]

While I’ll agree that Isabella was very sexy, I didn’t feel chemistry between her and Kristen. In fact, it all felt so forced. Never in three seasons was it even hinted at that Kristen may be interested in women, and suddenly it’s revealed that she dated girls in college and then a sexy woman hits on her in the same episode. Way to shoehorn in a LGBTQ storyline, just to tick a box. Rather an insult to the community.  Have to do better than that, writers. 

[kwnyc]

Yeah, I think Sheryl is going to mutilate Leland. She's random chaos evil, and there's very little she won't do.

And if she's head of her own sigil family, that means that...Kristen is her heir. In a matrilineal order of succession! Lil Tim might be taken down a notch or two.

 

[Affogato]

4 hours ago, SeanBug said:

So apparently there was a time jump and Timothy is now several months older than last week, and looks like an adorable baby boy.  Thank God because that fake baby they were using was pretty bad. 

What are those little packets? Some kind of mystical herbs or something?  I don't recall them being around when Andy was in Leland's hypno closet. 

Leland gave them to Andy to put Lynn (hope that is the right daughter)?to sleep so Andy could kill her with the injection. They may have other functions, I suppose. 

[Annber03]

4 hours ago, edlask said:

Never in three seasons was it even hinted at that Kristen may be interested in women

Actually, it was. There was her flirty encounter with the woman at that monastery in the silent episode they did a while back, there were a lot of implications in there that there was some affection between those two that wasn't just pure "interacting with a person on a case". 

And then there was her friend who's a cop, from way back early on in the series - they used to be part of the mountain climbing scene together back in the day, and the way they talked about how they shared space back then, again, the implication seemed to be there that there might've been some attraction, even if they didn't act on it. And the creators have backed up both the implications in both 

Also, considering the fact that this group of women was accused of luring people in, I think people need to consider that as well, in terms of Kristen being drawn to them as she was and being as flirty as she was with Isabella. Was it genuine attraction, or is it more that she was under a spell of sorts? Or was it perhaps a mix of both? 

[Castiels Cat]

I get a Sheryl going for Lexi for her sigil house vibe, both to undermine Leland and protect her from him; previously Leland was angling for Lexi as his heir (Daffodil!).

The Muse seemed interested in Kristen. I doubt that a house that powerful is just going to die. Someone is going to wake up tattooed. One too many canned margaritas and there's a sigil on your...

[kwnyc]

So both Kristen AND David saw the Muse, right? 

[Anela]

2 hours ago, kwnyc said:

So both Kristen AND David saw the Muse, right? 

I think so.  

[snoopypez]

12 hours ago, edlask said:

Never in three seasons was it even hinted at that Kristen may be interested in women

Yeah, as someone else said...there absolutely WAS, since the very first season. It just took this long (last episode) to actually put it into words, and I for one am thrilled, though wish it had been even clearer from the start. 😌

I'm actually super intrigued by David's arc this season, and getting pretty concerned for his mental health. I'm also missing scenes of Kristen and the girls even though it's only been like two episodes. 

And as much as I mostly don't like Sheryl, I am cheering her on so hard right now. I've always believed she loves her family a lot, but she's also so selfish with it; not caring that getting rid of Andy would of course devastate her family because it meant she'd be able to spend time with them again, etc. But by all means, Sheryl, use that protectiveness for good again and STOMP LELAND'S HEAD!! 

Last thought: needs more Ben, as usual.

[Chaos Theory]

Leland is a pure psychopath.  He will do anything and hurt anyone to get what he wants.    Using Kristen’s embryo was at least in part to annoy her.   He likely had a full range of embryos to use picking hers was pure spite.   Also going after one of Kristen’s kids in order to get her closer to a son she never consented to shows any lack of understanding of human nature.

Sheryl is a man hating narcissist but is  also morally gray not black.   I do still maintain she loves Kristen and her granddaughters but like a lot of narcissists her needs circumvent theirs.  That being said directly and purposefully hurting them is not something she would even consider.   You could counter with what she did to Kristen’s husband but I truly think she thought she was helping Krusten in a twisted way.     My long winded point is Sheryl is bad not evil.

 

[Madding crowd]

I think Sheryl is evil. She associates with demons who want to bring death and chaos to the world, she doesn’t care and even participates in harming the father of her grandchildren and encourages them to do creepy things which could come back to hurt them or their mother. It’s true she doesn’t want them actually murdered but that’s a low bar for a grandmother.

[Affogato]

On 6/29/2024 at 7:46 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Leland is a pure psychopath.  He will do anything and hurt anyone to get what he wants.    Using Kristen’s embryo was at least in part to annoy her.   He likely had a full range of embryos to use picking hers was pure spite.   Also going after one of Kristen’s kids in order to get her closer to a son she never consented to shows any lack of understanding of human nature.

Sheryl is a man hating narcissist but is  also morally gray not black.   I do still maintain she loves Kristen and her granddaughters but like a lot of narcissists her needs circumvent theirs.  That being said directly and purposefully hurting them is not something she would even consider.   You could counter with what she did to Kristen’s husband but I truly think she thought she was helping Krusten in a twisted way.     My long winded point is Sheryl is bad not evil.

 

When she willingly participated in whatever they did to Andy the first round, that’s murder wall evil. 

Edited July 1 by Affogato
Typo

[Niuxita]

On 6/29/2024 at 5:46 AM, Annber03 said:

Was it genuine attraction, or is it more that she was under a spell of sorts? Or was it perhaps a mix of both?

I really hope not, because there's been too many portrayals in the media of women being attracted to women framed as evil or predatory, one of them being corrupted by the other against her will, and it's gross. I was really worried that that was where the movement storyline was headed, but was very happy that the resolution was that the actually evil entity was framing them and the dancers just wanted to enjoy dance and be in communion with each other. 

I loved the portrayal of Kristen being drawn to them from the very first moment she saw this group of women dancing very sensually with each other, and that her interactions with Isabella could not have been interpreted any other way. Mad props to the show for not dropping the bisexuality label in name only just for clout points and actually putting their money where their mouth is (although, as others have already said, Kristen has been having subtextual interactions with other women since as far back as season 2. It's just nice for it to finally be confirmed as canon).

It's a bit of a relief to finally see Sheryl turn on Leland. All I can hope now is that he doesn't manipulate her into not going through with whatever punishment she wants to inflict on him, because we're only halfway through the season and it seems too early for him to be "vanquished" for good.

On 6/28/2024 at 11:25 AM, Annber03 said:

And yeah, I loved those quotes about society/the church's attitude towards women, too.  Ben's reaction to David debating her on that was perfect, and I like how he quickly diffused things before they went even more sideways.

That was a very interesting discussion between our leading trio. I gotta say, I did not expect David of all people to spout opinions in the line of "women are more sensitive therefore they are more susceptible to manipulation". David, I had faith in you, man! I suppose you can't be involved in the church to that degree without some of its ideologies with respect to women rubbing off on you.

[Annber03]

3 minutes ago, Niuxita said:

I really hope not, because there's been too many portrayals in the media of women being attracted to women framed as evil or predatory, one of them being corrupted by the other against her will, and it's gross. I was really worried that that was where the movement storyline was headed, but was very happy that the resolution was that the actually evil entity was framing them and the dancers just wanted to enjoy dance and be in communion with each other. 

For my part, I personally agree with you, for the very reasons you note. I too am glad that that part of the story didn't go where one might've expected. 

But yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see people read into the other possible interpretation instead, and it was something that gorup had been accused of, so...

Quote

That was a very interesting discussion between our leading trio. I gotta say, I did not expect David of all people to spout opinions in the line of "women are more sensitive therefore they are more susceptible to manipulation". David, I had faith in you, man! I suppose you can't be involved in the church to that degree without some of its ideologies with respect to women rubbing off on you.

I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he didn't mean that to come out the way it did, or was awkwardly trying to play devil's (...pun not intended...:p) advocate. I certainly hope so, 'cause yeah, my reaction was a mix between Ben and Kristen's there. 

[AmigaJoe]

Show seems schizophrenic...

Sheryl works so hard to fit in, even putting with a literal glass ceiling. Had no problem holding Alan hostage, and ultimately working for the downfall/damnation of Humanity. But, mess with her grandkids, THAT'S IT!? She commented 'You thought I never met a demon before?' last season, always wondered about that (til recently). Must have had a clue about her daughter's frozen egg, but said nothing. What's her freaking motivation? Glad they didn't default to the 'classic' depiction of Witches, but it really felt that way mostly, what are they? What is the 'Muse'? Is this a rivalry between 2 Demonic houses? 

One other thought: if the expelled ex-dancer was a demon, you'd think her attempt at a ruse (the brand) wouldn't have been so amateur-ish...

Oh, and why did Isabella want to see her foot?

Edited July 3 by AmigaJoe

[Castiels Cat]

19 hours ago, Niuxita said:

I really hope not, because there's been too many portrayals in the media of women being attracted to women framed as evil or predatory, one of them being corrupted by the other against her will, and it's gross. I was really worried that that was where the movement storyline was headed, but was very happy that the resolution was that the actually evil entity was framing them and the dancers just wanted to enjoy dance and be in communion with each other. 

I loved the portrayal of Kristen being drawn to them from the very first moment she saw this group of women dancing very sensually with each other, and that her interactions with Isabella could not have been interpreted any other way. Mad props to the show for not dropping the bisexuality label in name only just for clout points and actually putting their money where their mouth is (although, as others have already said, Kristen has been having subtextual interactions with other women since as far back as season 2. It's just nice for it to finally be confirmed as canon).

It's a bit of a relief to finally see Sheryl turn on Leland. All I can hope now is that he doesn't manipulate her into not going through with whatever punishment she wants to inflict on him, because we're only halfway through the season and it seems too early for him to be "vanquished" for good.

That was a very interesting discussion between our leading trio. I gotta say, I did not expect David of all people to spout opinions in the line of "women are more sensitive therefore they are more susceptible to manipulation". David, I had faith in you, man! I suppose you can't be involved in the church to that degree without some of its ideologies with respect to women rubbing off on you.

It's not just the Church

It has been a longstanding  horror movie trope to have women be more easily corrupted by evil than men. In the Evil Dead (original version) the women are the first to be corrupted. For a woman to survive she has to be a virgin. Even in Evil Kristen was the weakest link. She was corrupted in season, committed murder and possessed in season 2 only to be exercised by happenstance, God's will or David's grace 

[Zaffy]

On 7/2/2024 at 11:09 PM, AmigaJoe said:

Oh, and why did Isabella want to see her foot?

She is Tarantino in disguise? 😉

Isabella actress was amazing! I am glad she is not a demon. Maybe this "white magic" coven will help our heroes at some point?

I am not sure about the writing this season. Everything Vatican annoys me so much  and the frustrating way everyone "explains" things with looong pauses and not saying from the beginning what is going on:  "I am showing you a bullet". "And why you show me this bullet?", etc etc etc.
They think this makes the story more mysterious or intriguing? Who talks like that? I bet not even the real Vatican dudes talk like some kind of catholic Yoda.

So David is a supernatural superhero?  Hmmm... I guess in order to stop apocalypse you need superheroes. But common David, Catholic church has been murdering for centuries isn't a tad naive to wonder about it?

So what exactly Sheryl told to her granddaughters? How she explained Timothy's existence?  "This is your brother, me and a satanist fella stole your mother's eggs to create the antichrist" ? Did I miss something?

I hope they make Isabella their ally. We need more Isabella! She would certainly drive crazy all those misogynists satanists.

 

Edited July 4 by Zaffy

[AmigaJoe]

' ...She would certainly drive crazy all those misogynists satanists.'

 

- We just call 'em MAGAts for short.

Hey, they hate women and believe in demons, so...

[HerkyJerky]

On 7/4/2024 at 11:26 AM, Zaffy said:

Isabella actress was amazing!

Conversational French, Dance (7 years of study in ballet, jazz, contemporary, ballroom), Horse Riding (equestrian, 7 years of study), Skiing, Singing (Soprano), Surfing, Music (cello, guitar, piano), Armed and Unarmed Stage Combat. Accents/Dialects available upon request. US Green Card, Australian Passport, Latvian Passport.

[tennisgurl]

I would be happy to see the actress playing Isabella again, she was so intense and she and Kristin had crazy hot chemistry. It seems like she and her dance coven weren't actually doing anything evil, just dancing in the woods with muses, so maybe they'll be back. 

Leland made a big mistake fucking over Sheryl so many times, he knows what she's like. She also knows what Leland's like so I have no idea why she's so shocked that he went after her granddaughter, she knows what a monster he is. Its pretty hilarious watching her be all shocked at how people who she knows are in league with the actual devil are assholes.