The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 7
The Exorcist, season 2, episode 7 “Help Me,” takes place entirely during the performance of an exorcism, but that doesn’t limit its focus. Most of the episode unfolds from the perception of the possessed, Andy (John Cho), and that is a forced perspective at best. In the twisted psychology underlying spiritual hijackings it’s hard to tell the angels from the demons. Of course, Andy’s much too observant a parent and husband, and catches most of the subtle manipulations seducing his decisions. He catches a little hint here and there to distinguish the woman he loved from the alien soul impersonating her, or the fantasy child who first held out her hand in diabolical understanding after his wife died. Nikki’s demonic outbursts belie her urban roots as she shoots him with her fingers much the same way Harvey Keitel fantasized about popping his girlfriend in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets. But here it has much deeper subliminal effect. Andy slips into immediate unconsciousness and wakes up in a memory without the compass of reality. With or without the ADR effects, Cho easily parses the demonic frustration from the human anger, and offers empathy for both. Bring her back, bitch, Andy screams at almost-lover and possible betrayer Rose Cooper (Li Jun Li) when his paranoia outgrows his head. Really, Andy, is that the best you got? Think of all the things little 12-year-old Regan got to say when she wasn’t spewing bile a couple hundred miles an hour. Andy’s fully grown and already proved himself a belligerently restrained host after a little wine. We buy the stifled outburst of the demon because Andy does seem to be good enough a person to curb the worst impulses. He genuinely comes across as a nice guy. What’s not to like? He immediately says yes to taking in the thick-skulled goth kid Verity. He consistently and casually puts other people’s needs ahead of his own. He remembers only the good outcomes, never the bad detours. He can be trusted, and for the most part, counted on. You don’t remember what those kids were like, Nikki reminds Andy, before she drops another subtle shadow onto the encroaching darkness. We get a hint there is something off about the kids being in the garden the first time Nikki mentions it, but we brush it off. That tingle is part of the collective subconscious in fear that goes back to how the contrary Mary got her garden to grow. The payoff comes in broad daylight and doesn’t lose a bit of bite as Nikki is internally tagged the demon. Then the devil evokes sympathy. We don’t only see the devil from the outside form of Nikki. We get a peek at the devil peering out through Andy’s eyes. In the eyes of the devil, god is pretty scary, and so are its righteous ways. The demon inside Andy sees two red-eyed men of god, one frothing at the mouth, the other so malicious the air around him turns to stench. The men of god are burning at the flesh, demanding the demon leave. The relative peace the demon found on this almost remote island is threatened with a clerical eviction notice. The Christians are as vicious and single-minded as the administers of the Inquisition to the prone antichristian. Marcus and Tomas toss the roles of good cop bad cop back and forth like Frisbees on a beach. But when it comes to the real police, Rose is the only one sane enough to wonder what to do with the corpse in the corner and a demon for an alibi. She keeps the proceedings planted in solid ground as the spiritual and mental earth shifts threaten to knock her off her feet. In this modern, technological reality TV world, there are hundreds of amateur exorcists sitting alongside ghost busters who haven’t taken Basic Demonology 101, which would include proper pronunciations. “Help Me” works because the mystical rites and the prayers are almost drowned out by the mundane justifications and recriminations. In the end, it’s all about the choices Andy’s made and the choice he’ll make, and whether he can trust his free will.
