Janine-The-Barefoot

I'm not going to start with comparisons to either the book or the movie. I read the book, watched the film and did that over 40 years ago. Enough has been said about both in prior reviews that it just doesn't seem necessary for me to go over ground that's already been covered be it good or be it bad. So I'll start as I mean to go on and address THIS story in THIS TIME.

Good storytelling is a rare and beautiful thing. Using effects to define your characters instead of characters to be there while you show off the effects is becoming as rare as really good storytelling. So letting a plot play itself out in it's own time instead of at a breakneck pace designed to please horror/action fans who want action and gore to define a story instead of characters and the events that have shaped them is becoming equally rare. As the implosion of Penny Dreadful made many of us aware, good storytelling, incredible characters & actors, beautiful sets and costumes, combined with action in service of the story still wasn't enough to save it from destruction. One that many of us are still hurting over.

So now we have Fox's The Exorcist... and after only one episode (which is all it took me for PD by the way) I know enough to be willing to commit myself to whatever amount of time has been given to this series in it's freshman season. Because, for me, the bottom line is that it's a really good example of good storytelling and it's nice to come back to worthy TV after running off to the solace of my bookshelves after the great debacle that was S/3 of PD.

I like the priests. I like that we're seeing signs that their backstories are going to be more fleshed out. I was appreciative of the nod made to the movie out of what was clearly respect and I especially like that the family involved is both diverse and will also have stories of their own to tell. So, in short, it already appears to me that The Exorcist plans to be an actual STORY; played out over a season and that it takes itself, it's characters and it's audience seriously.

Right now, that's more than enough for me. In point of fact, it's enough to guarantee that I'm going to be there throughout it's freshman season hoping against hope that it too has started as it means to go on.

OK, so it's not Scream the original movie. It's not smart or sophisticated and it's not a fresh and exciting new take on an old genre. But if you let go of all your preconceptions and expectations, it CAN BE something else. It can be a summertime guilty pleasure; and that's not at bad thing at all. Because it's actually pretty easy to be entertained by something you don't expect much from… and if you do that with this show, you give it the potential to deliver.

First, everybody has something to hide so by the end of episode 2 you know that much of what you've seen isn't what it appears to be. Sure, it's been done before but in some cases, and with these people, the humans are just as scary as the ghosts! If nothing else, trying to figure out who's going to mess with whom and why can actually end up fun. Or, put another way, let the backstabbing begin and just try to follow the knife!

So what if the history of the camp has been seen and done before in any number of ways. We haven't seen it done with Tony Todd, who floats through the show like an avatar of death and destruction without giving the viewer enough knowledge yet to be certain of why he does it or what it actually means. So, bad guy? Yes. In this context? No way to know yet.

And by the end of episode 2 it would also appear that filing this show away in a box marked "guilty pleasures 2016" might not be a half bad idea. So give it two episodes, get out your popcorn and surrender your disbelief, cynicism and critical analysis. Don't try to take it apart, take it for what it is and enjoy the ride. It's not brilliant, surreal or groundbreaking. But neither is a trip to the old state fair and we enjoy going to that every year in spite of it all!