The Exorcist: TV Gone Too Soon

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,

  The Exorcist will go down in my history as one of my all-time favorite books. I have read it several times, including a reading and review just recently. It is a faith-challenging, creepy, and often surprising crime novel. Blatty took the usual police investigation story and added a paranormal twist. Some may see the Exorcist as a horror novel, but I usually categorize it as a thriller. And it is a thriller that has stood the test of time. But what happened to Regan MacNeil after her battle with the supernatural? In 2016 the FOX Network answered that question.

  
When it was decided to announce an Exorcist television series, I was excited. As far as I knew, the series would play on the themes of the original book, but be its own entity. Week after week I sat glued to the series, very impressed with its storytelling and loving the actors chosen for this story. Geena Davis plays a mother of two teenage girls, named Angela Rance. Her husband, Henry, was the victim of an accident that left him with brain trauma. Her oldest daughter was the driver in a car accident that killed that daughter's best friend. Now the teen is distant and has removed herself from social contact. Angela's youngest daughter is trying to help her sister cope. But when Angela begins to hear voices within her walls, she believes that her eldest child may be possessed by a demon. 

 

  Enter Father Tomas, played by Alfonso Hererra. Tomas is a new and hip priest that has arrived to take the local, failing perish and breathe new life into it. He has been a success with the parish, but his affair with a married woman has made his life complicated. Meanwhile, in a retreat for failed priests, Father Marcus Keane, played by Ben Daniels, deals with his own failures, mainly the demonic presence that murdered the young child that it  possessed during an exorcism performed by him. Father Tomas has been having dreams of Father Marcus' exorcism. This leads him to Marcus after Angela comes to him for help.


  But what begins to transpire ultimately leads Tomas and Marcus to believe that demonic forces are gathering to usher in an even deadlier presence into our world. Human sacrifices, possessions on the rise, and faith itself being challenged all confirm this. But when Father Tomas reveals that it is Angela's youngest daughter that is under possession, the forces trying to invade young Casey Rance strike. Under possession by a presence that appears to Casey as a kindly old man, Casey is told that she will be released if she gives "her" over to them. The young woman  believes this to be her sister, Kat. 

  Father Tomas and Father Marcus lock Casey away in a room in Angela's home to begin the exorcism by episode four. The demonic presence has fully taken over Casey. She begins to levitate and present hallucinations to those involved in her exorcism. Father Tomas cannot handle the exorcism and leaves Father Marcus on his own. But when Kat breaks into the room, Casey convinces her that she is being tortured. The police are called, Marcus is arrested, and Casey is sent off in an ambulance. But a bible found in a closet, leads Henry to question Angela about if she has been lying to her family all these years. In the ambulance, Casey kills the entire paramedic crew and crashes the vehicle, disappearing into the night. Then it begins: the news reports of Casey's disappearance, televised nation-wide.


  Seems exciting, no? That is not even the best part. In episode five it is revealed that Angela Rance was possessed as at twelve years old in 1974. In fact she has been running for years from her mother's greed and the demonic forces that wanted to possess her again. In a confession to Father Tomas Angela Rance reveals that she is actually Regan MacNeil. Yes,  the television series was a direct continuation of the original novel! And Sharon Gless was introduced as her mother, Chris MacNeil.

  After this reveal I sat quietly and replayed the ending of episode five a few times. As a life-long fan of the Exorcist, I was finally getting the continuation that I had longed for. With amazing acting, gory and often frightening visuals, and fantastic writing, the Exorcist television series had changed the way books are interpreted onto film. A flawless production that had the atmospheric pacing of the film, and the shocking thrills of the book. I highly recommend this series to anyone who is either an Exorcist fan or horror fan.

  Sadly after season two the series was cancelled by FOX. But left behind are twenty excellent episodes that are perfect for horror binge watching. If you enjoyed the Exorcist and Legion, you should love the television series. Gone too soon, it still remains an excellent example of adapting a book to film.

  You can catch all episodes on various streaming services. During Halloween season it is the best time to grab the episodes while they are on sale. 

  Happy Halloween! Have fun reading this week. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.

 

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  Because there is always time to read,
   Xepherus3 

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