While we’re on the subject of phobias (see last week’s recap of Darkness Surround Him), I have this recurring nightmare of swallowing my own teeth and as such, extracted teeth are one of the Scariest Things Ever in my book. Naturally I’m thrilled when Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit) discovers a bloody, broken canine tooth under a dresser in his house. I’m even more excited to learn the backstory behind that and to discover that said tooth has been lying undiscovered for about 20 odd years. As exhilarating as it is, I get the idea that I’m never going to be comfortable watching Outcast.
In the second episode of Outcast, we learn more about Kyle’s mum, about the life they had together before her possession. They were as close as a mother and child could be and then she turned into a depraved and violent monster. More than that, Demon Sarah (Julia Crockett) knew to deceive and lie to Kyle, to manipulate her way out of a locked cupboard and to rain the vengeance of hell upon him.
There is another side though. A side that Sarah, in her catatonic state, remembers but Kyle does not. A side where Sarah tried everything in her power to protect Kyle and ultimately had to watch in horror when she failed. Kyle does not know this but now the viewer does.
What Kyle does know is that he cannot leave his mother where she is and so he embarks on an ill-fated plan to bring her home. He believes that the demon is still within her but perhaps Reverend Anderson is right, perhaps it is not.
In the midst of Kyle’s flashbacks and ignorance is his relationship with his estranged wife Allison (Kate Lyn Sheil) and his tender attempt to reconnect with his daughter Amber. The show is leaving the stage wide open for Kyle to return to their lives with his daughter loving her gift and Allison not hating the idea of him making contact but come on, this is television, we all know how that will pan out. He’d be better off running like mad in the opposite direction.
Elsewhere in “(I Remember) When She Loved Me”, there are mysterious and ritualistic animal killings and a very sinister character in Sidney (Brent Spiner). I imagine that these are threads that will be followed up in episodes to come which makes me ever more excited to see them.
