S04.E08: How to Save a Life

[AnimeMania]

Through remote viewing, David stumbles into the life of a man planning murder-suicide and the team rush to find him; Sheryl executes/carries out her plan to stop baby Timothy from becoming the Antichrist.

Premiere Date: July 11, 2024       Paramount+   

[TakomaSnark]

It's really finding it's groove now. This was an amazing episode. The opening with Sheryl and David was intensely satisfying.

[StarBrand]

This has to be the high point of the season for me, so far. Cheryl, for all her faults, comes off as more than sympathetic here-she's clearly given up on herself, and to see her reject David's offer of forgiveness, was rather sad.   Lahti was excellent in this episode.  She did strike a severe blow to Leyland's plans, (although whether that sticks remains to be seen) I found it hilarious Leyland was more annoyed/scared of "happy" Tim than the crying, projectile-vomiting creature he's dealt with before.

Good thing Sister Andrea was available for the baptism, because she could actually tell Cheryl was dead serious about the baby being the antichrist.

David was also great this episode. I liked the way he stood up to both Dominic and Sister Andrea and insisted that looking into the guy planning a murder-suicide was the MOST important thing-"THIS is EVIL!". The fact that the guy lived right below Leyland, of course, wasn't a coincidence.. Although it seems that he wasn't quite able to prevent.....something from happening with the 60, although what just occurred, I dunno...

[RedInk]

I love this show, and Christine Lahti is a definite high point, but Cheryl’s arc is just confusing. I was shocked by both her descent and her turnaround. For a stretch, she has been so evil that I’d say she was completely irredeemable. I buy her in any role, but I wish the writing gave us something to help reconcile these two opposing parts of her personality. I’d love a Cheryl-centric episode. Oh! Also I was screaming at them just returning that baby. 

Edited July 12 by RedInk

[NeenerNeener]

3 hours ago, RedInk said:

I was shocked by both her descent and her turnaround. For a stretch, she has been so evil that I’d say she was completely irredeemable.

I chalk her turnaround up to being an overwhelming desire to stick it to Leyland and all the other men at Evil Inc. It became more important to her than the transfusions. She was going to do the right thing for the wrong reason. Hell hath no fury yada yada yada. Talking to David is what started to make her think of doing the right thing for the right reason, although I don't know how long that will last.

[Anela]

I loved it.  Sheryl and David, Sheryl and sister Andrea.  “Yes, yes, all of the above!” Lmao. She believes, she just hates them. 
Leland’s face, every time the baby giggled. 
I’m glad that David was able to help that family.  

2 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

I chalk her turnaround up to being an overwhelming desire to stick it to Leyland and all the other men at Evil Inc. It became more important to her than the transfusions. She was going to do the right thing for the wrong reason. Hell hath no fury yada yada yada. Talking to David is what started to make her think of doing the right thing for the right reason, although I don't know how long that will last.

I think protecting her grandchildren was more important than anything.  She has the same attitude as Kristen, when it comes to the evil in the church.  

[Chaos Theory]

Christine Lahti is the high point of this week's episode.  Sheryl confessing...no explaining to David her sins was devastating to watch. Then her going back into battle mode to get Timothy baptized by the church and not Leland even though she hates the church was fun to watch.  I absolutly loved the baptism scene in large part because Sheryl didn't really want to reject Satan but she did to save Timothy....and to screw Leland.

I think David was right when he said something in the line of no one  (except maybe Leland) being beyond saving.  Sheryl eventually came to a church she hated for help because it was the right thing to do.   I thought the scene in the confessional was really telling about Sherly's character. 

 

She is not beyond saving.  She is not beyond redemption.

Edited July 12 by Chaos Theory

[Snazzy Daisy]

Someone please get The Manager a good bra. The gravity makes them saggy. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Sean Patrick Thomas as the suicidal Tyler - I remember him in Save The Last Dance with Julia Stiles and Kerry Washington.

I don’t like Father Dominic Kabiru. He treats David like his minion. He simply dismisses David’s visions as AOLs when they don’t fit his narrative, without actually listening to David. Please bring back the former handler - Victor LeConte.

So, the red painting that Father Dominic mentions to David is actually the (unseen) painting that’s revealed at the blood ritual ceremony by The Saggy Manager. The clues provided by Father Dominic are supposed to lead David to that ceremony at Leland’s but instead they lead him to Tyler who lives directly under Leland. God’s intervention or too much AOLs?

I love the emotional scene between Mike Colter and Sean Patrick Thomas. It’s beautifully done. 💔

Mike Colter also has an amazing scene with Andrea Martin when Sister Andrea criticizes him for wasting his gift.

“Have a little more respect for me. This is to stop a man from killing himself and his family.”

Now I like David even more… 😍

A tag team between Sheryl, Sister Andrea and Father Ignatius to baptize Baby T in time before the demonic ceremony is definitely not in my bingo card.

In the confessional, it’s sad to hear Sheryl asking David to look after Lexis as Leland believes her to be a sort of John the Baptist to the antichrist. David remembers this when he notices the red part of his birthday cake, decorated by Lexis. Talking about Lexis, this show hasn’t mentioned RSM Fertility for quite sometime. This evil clinic needs to be shut down, pronto!

Happy 40th birthday David! 🥳🎂🎉

 

[Castiels Cat]

12 hours ago, StarBrand said:

This has to be the high point of the season for me, so far. Cheryl, for all her faults, comes off as more than sympathetic here-she's clearly given up on herself, and to see her reject David's offer of forgiveness, was rather sad.   Lahti was excellent in this episode.  She did strike a severe blow to Leyland's plans, (although whether that sticks remains to be seen) I found it hilarious Leyland was more annoyed/scared of "happy" Tim than the crying, projectile-vomiting creature he's dealt with before.

Good thing Sister Andrea was available for the baptism, because she could actually tell Cheryl was dead serious about the baby being the antichrist.

David was also great this episode. I liked the way he stood up to both Dominic and Sister Andrea and insisted that looking into the guy planning a murder-suicide was the MOST important thing-"THIS is EVIL!". The fact that the guy lived right below Leyland, of course, wasn't a coincidence.. Although it seems that he wasn't quite able to prevent.....something from happening with the 60, although what just occurred, I dunno...

I wanted to see the painting. And apparently Lexi also knew because of her sudden fondness for red and tge red frosting was a match.

[Castiels Cat]

6 minutes ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Someone please get The Manager a good bra. The gravity makes them saggy. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Sean Patrick Thomas as the suicidal Tyler - I remember him in Save The Last Dance with Julia Stiles and Kerry Washington.

I don’t like Father Dominic Kabiru. He treats David like his minion. He simply dismisses David’s visions as AOLs when they don’t fit his narrative, without actually listening to David. Please bring back the former handler - Victor LeConte.

So, the red painting that Father Dominic mentions to David is actually the (unseen) painting that’s revealed at the blood ritual ceremony by The Saggy Manager. The clues provided by Father Dominic are supposed to lead David to that ceremony at Leland’s but instead they lead him to Tyler who lives directly under Leland. God’s intervention or too much AOLs?

I love the emotional scene between Mike Colter and Sean Patrick Thomas. It’s beautifully done. 💔

Mike Colter also has an amazing scene with Andrea Martin when Sister Andrea criticizes him for wasting his gift.

“Have a little more respect for me. This is to stop a man from killing himself and his family.”

Now I like David even more… 😍

A tag team between Sheryl, Sister Andrea and Father Ignatius to baptize Baby T in time before the demonic ceremony is definitely not in my bingo card.

In the confessional, it’s sad to hear Sheryl asking David to look after Lexis as Leland believes her to be a sort of John the Baptist to the antichrist. David remembers this when he notices the red part of his birthday cake, decorated by Lexis. Talking about Lexis, this show hasn’t mentioned RSM Fertility for quite sometime. This evil clinic needs to be shut down, pronto!

Happy 40th birthday David! 🥳🎂🎉

 

LeCompte also mentioned Lexi as the possible successor to a sigil house; the Vatican knew Leland was grooming her.

[Madding crowd]

I thought this was a great episode. I’m happy Timothy was baptized and I hope that’s enough to save him. Dominic and his group should already know about Leland and the satanists. How come the only thing he knows about is a red painting? Everyone on the show knows Leland is evil. For some reason the actress who plays Kristen seems to be flirting with everyone. I would like to see her playing it straight for awhile. 

[sistermagpie]

4 minutes ago, Madding crowd said:

Everyone on the show knows Leland is evil. For some reason the actress who plays Kristen seems to be flirting with everyone. I would like to see her playing it straight for awhile.

Maybe it's meant to be her reaction to what's happening with Andy?

[Anela]

25 minutes ago, Castiels Cat said:

LeCompte also mentioned Lexi as the possible successor to a sigil house; the Vatican knew Leland was grooming her.

I think Sheryl mentioned it to David, too. That Leland wanted her to be his successor.

[phalange]

I’m still highly critical of Sheryl for her role in everything, but at least she told David what’s going on and got Timmy the Antichrist baptized. Sheryl also had the two best quotes of the episode between “Say Jesus!” and “Like Martin Luther, motherfucker” when she nailed the certificate to Leland’s door. Leland is truly the most hapless villain; he gets screwed over at every turn and it’s hilarious. 

Glad that David stood up for himself with Father Dominic and Sister Andrea when they dismissed his visions. And he turned out to be right since he not only saved that family, but the objects, like the painting, were one floor above in Leland’s apartment. 

I love the birthday cake the girls made for David, but Lexis’ decorations being red is definitely a bad sign. 

[RedInk]

3 hours ago, Anela said:

I think protecting her grandchildren was more important than anything.  She has the same attitude as Kristen, when it comes to the evil in the church.  

This is what doesn’t track for me and why I need more backstory on her. She’s orchestrating the apocalypse, torturing people, and assisting her boss (the literal devil) with creating the Antichrist from her own child’s body. I can’t understand how that person cares much about anything. She just kind of turned evil and then grew a (semi)conscience at breakneck speed.

[Annber03]

14 hours ago, StarBrand said:

This has to be the high point of the season for me, so far. Cheryl, for all her faults, comes off as more than sympathetic here-she's clearly given up on herself, and to see her reject David's offer of forgiveness, was rather sad.   .

When she was talking about how she was worried she was going to be killed soon, I was sitting here like, "No...!" I was genuinely scared that she might find herself in life-threatening danger at some point (and hey, the season's not over yet...who knows if she will be). 

But yeah, echoing everyone else that her scene with David was really good, and I loved everything with her desperate attempt to do a baptism for Timothy, and SIster Andrea just rolling with it once she learned Leland was involved. The violent storm outside and the power going out and them trying to find the best water they could really added to the tension. And I liked Francis just being utterly baffled by the rushed nature of all of this :p.

43 minutes ago, phalange said:

Sheryl also had the two best quotes of the episode between “Say Jesus!” and “Like Martin Luther, motherfucker” when she nailed the certificate to Leland’s door. 

The halfhearted way they both said, "...Jesus..." in response XD. 

And as someone raised Lutheran, I got a really good laugh out of that "Martin Luther" line, too. I was thinking that very thing before she even said it :p. 

Really intriguing storyline with David this episode, with his desperate attempts to find Tyler. I liked the parallel of him and Sheryl both going to great lengths to try and stop something utterly awful from happening, and it ties nicely into David's statement to Sheryl that nobody's beyond saving. The tension as he depserately tried to find Tyler was really well done, and the visions he kept having of Tyler first threatening to kill himself, and then his family, were harrowing. I actually closed my eyes when he went to his kids' room and pulled out the gun. I'm so glad he was able to prove that this vision was real, and I loved the way Ben and Kristen helped him and took hsi vision seriously enough to try and track him and his family down. 

The birthday party scene was cute, too. I especially loved when Kristen and Ben launched into "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" :D. 

[Anela]

1 hour ago, RedInk said:

This is what doesn’t track for me and why I need more backstory on her. She’s orchestrating the apocalypse, torturing people, and assisting her boss (the literal devil) with creating the Antichrist from her own child’s body. I can’t understand how that person cares much about anything. She just kind of turned evil and then grew a (semi)conscience at breakneck speed.

People can love their own family, and not care what happens to anyone else. I think she thought her family was only going to benefit from the apocalypse, what with Lexis possibly being a successor to someone else, and the baby being the anti-christ, and coming from her daughter's egg. Going after her youngest grandchild, when they were supposed to be left alone, was the last straw. 

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

When she was talking about how she was worried she was going to be killed soon, I was sitting here like, "No...!" I was genuinely scared that she might find herself in life-threatening danger at some point (and hey, the season's not over yet...who knows if she will be). 

 

When they were giving out the titles of episodes in advance, that seemed like spoilers, I was wondering if they would kill her off, after she finally does something good. Titles like "how to build a coffin" and mentioning grief - a picture I won't describe, because it could be a spoiler - it seemed like they were leading up to killing someone off, that Kristen loved. So far, everyone has survived. 

Edited July 12 by Anela

[Castiels Cat]

7 hours ago, RedInk said:

This is what doesn’t track for me and why I need more backstory on her. She’s orchestrating the apocalypse, torturing people, and assisting her boss (the literal devil) with creating the Antichrist from her own child’s body. I can’t understand how that person cares much about anything. She just kind of turned evil and then grew a (semi)conscience at breakneck speed.

I think God works in mysterious ways. Sheryl's love for her family is the only goof left in her and it woke her up. It may be the key to Leland's undoing. She loves Timothy. She baptized him to f@#$ with Leland because he tried to kill Laura. She's going to protect Kristin and the girls and now human Timothy.

David is right. If she told Kristin she would ice pick him to death and Sheryl could dismember him. The Entity would cover it up.   And X out a sigil 

 

8 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

Maybe it's meant to be her reaction to what's happening with Andy?

Yes. She's been acting like that since the antiChrist reveal except around her mom.

[Castiels Cat]

8 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

I thought this was a great episode. I’m happy Timothy was baptized and I hope that’s enough to save him. Dominic and his group should already know about Leland and the satanists. How come the only thing he knows about is a red painting? Everyone on the show knows Leland is evil. For some reason the actress who plays Kristen seems to be flirting with everyone. I would like to see her playing it straight for awhile. 

2 women stopped the great evil and  the reluctant Father Ignatius.

He had the ceremonial dagger too with which they cut their hands. I could not identify the third object.

I agree with Father Ignatius. He is shadey. He is clearly testing David and distracting him from good works. LeCompte was also uncomfortable with him.

[Chaos Theory]

I think the title “How to save a life” applies to Sheryl as well.   She has been doing nothing but putting herself in a path of destruction since she met Leland but going to David and later Sister Andrea may be her first step in saving her own life.  Or at very least her soul.

on a second note I would love to see Sheryl and Sister Andrea have a real conversation about the choices they made.  Two powerful ladies who are cast aside because of gender. Both have to deal with idiot men who don’t see what assets they actually are.  They are similar in a lot of way.  One chose God.  One chose Satan.

 

Edited July 12 by Chaos Theory

[kwnyc]

Anyone else think Sister Andrea was going to get struck by lightning when she went outside with the metal bucket?

Also, how cute is Baby Timmy.

I am in awe of how the show has worked in plot and character to have Sheryl say: he's Kristen and Leland's baby. He's the Antichrist. 

And Sister Andrea looking at him and hustling them into the church.

 

 

[Anela]

3 minutes ago, kwnyc said:

Anyone else think Sister Andrea was going to get struck by lightning when she went outside with the metal bucket?

Also, how cute is Baby Timmy.

I am in awe of how the show has worked in plot and character to have Sheryl say: he's Kristen and Leland's baby. He's the Antichrist. 

And Sister Andrea looking at him and hustling them into the church.

 

 

Yes, I was worried that she would be struck by lightning.  

[Castiels Cat]

Leland just lied to upper management about the baby's status: baptizing him changed the equation. The antichrist cannot be baptized.. Leland will be in trouble if they find out because it happened on his watch. The ceremony probably didn't work because he's not the antichrist. He's Kristin's son now. Leland will keep pretending everything is fine.

The baptism solved the evil upstairs. Hence David was sent to deal with the potential tragedy downstairs.

 

[Zaffy]

What a good episode this was! 
Everything was perfect.
So the Vatican dude had the evil shareholders gathering in mind for David to "see", but God (or David) had other priorities. 
I am not sure what is more dangerous, to have Leland or Sheryl against you?

Ok... I can't be only one that when they looked at the revealed  painting I expected to see this, right? 

Edited July 15 by Zaffy

[Linderhill]

I had to laugh that whenever they showed baby Timothy after the baptism he was a happy laughing baby.  The incessant crying stopped and he was a happy adorable baby.

[Anela]

2 hours ago, Linderhill said:

I had to laugh that whenever they showed baby Timothy after the baptism he was a happy laughing baby.  The incessant crying stopped and he was a happy adorable baby.

And Leland's panicking, because he was so happy.