The Exorcist Review: Just Let ‘Em In

I’ve been pretty blown away by how much I’ve enjoyed The Exorcist so far this season, and I hope horror fans learn to love the show as much as I have. Let’s take a look at this week’s new episode, “Chapter Three: Let ‘Em In.”

The episode opens with a flashback to three months earlier when Kat was spending time with her friend, Julia, whose death is what put the girl in the rut that she’s been in since the beginning of the series. The scene is pretty brief, but it’s nice to finally see why Kat has acted the way that she has, and her motivations now make a lot more sense than they did before. Brianne Howey does a spectacular job with the scene, and I’m impressed more and more with every episode at the raw emotion this cast is able to display.

“Let ‘Em In” does a really good thing by letting us spend a lot more time with Henry. Alan Ruck has been giving a very understated performance since the premiere, but the character is clearly of vital importance to the entire family. His affliction has such a powerful effect on his family that it has to be explored, but his life outside of the immediate family is also important to understand. Early in the episode, Henry has a conversation with Father Tomas about his daughter that does a ton for the character, and the subtle exploration of faith helps the development of Henry, Angela, and Father Tomas all in one scoop.

The pacing in “Let ‘Em In” may be the best in the series so far. It seemed like the episode had hardly started by the time that the end credits rolled around, but I still felt completely fulfilled when it was over. If anything, the pacing left me wanting more of the series, but not at all in a bad way. One of the biggest strengths with The Exorcist is its ability to grip the viewer and not let go, and that’s exactly what horror on television has to do to succeed.

Speaking of horror, “Let ‘Em In” does a great job at feeling “horrific.” The investigation and exploration of the murder that we saw at the end of last week’s episode lets us see frights outside of the family (even though it’s obviously going to tie in completely with the Rance story), and it’s nice to broaden the story a bit even while keeping the focus squarely on the family.

The best scene in the episode, of course, is the pseudo-exorcism that takes place at the Rance home while Father Tomas is attempting to get enough video evidence of possession for full exorcism approval. Even though it isn’t a full exorcism, the scene is, in my opinion, just as strong as anything from the film franchise, and I can’t wait to see what will happen once we get to the story’s climax. Speaking of climaxes, though, the ending of this episode is another super strong horror moment that does another great job of showcasing the strength of the writing and production on this series.

“Chapter Three: Let ‘Em In” is another incredibly strong episode of The Exorcist, and it seems like this series is only getting stronger and stronger as it goes on. For the second time in a row, we’ve gotten a better episode than the one that came before, and I can’t wait to see where things go from here.

What did you think about the third episode of Fox’s The Exorcist? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!

[Photo Credit: Fox/Jean Whiteside]