Episode two of the FX series Outcast‘s second season hits the ground running with a crash outside of town being discovered by a local police officer. It seems that rather than following the original fabricated alibi Giles had created (Mark taking his own life), due to Maggie’s wishes of her husband not seen giving up on his family, Giles has set it up so it looks as if Mark was killed in a car crash instead.
We are taken back to the morgue where we witness a body that was taken from the remains of Sidney’s housefire. Was this the silhouette Anderson saw in the window before the fire took hold? The remains look female and old, the lips were sown shut and we are told they may have been dead long before the fire hit.
Kyle follows Chief Giles around and begins to take a more aggressive approach with getting to the truth and Sidney’s whereabouts. It’s clear, too, that something huge is coming. The show is doing an excellent job this season of using its slow pace to fill a sense of dread. We were told previously that there were 18 people chained for days underground and not a single one was reported missing, how far does this go?
John Anderson is now locked up and stuck next to an inmate that begins to lose their mind while having withdrawals from whatever narcotics he was taking. Soon after a bit of banter back and forth we witness a merge of the demonic presence in front of John’s eyes as it enters the inmate, says a few words and tries to rip himself through the bars to reach John screaming. Kyle wasn’t around to save him now! I believe witnessing this was the final step for John Anderson realizing that as of this moment, God wasn’t around and if he even exists.
Kyle returns to the site of Sidney’s burnt house once again, desperate for more clues. He stumbles upon burnt medication bottles and a half melted medical drip, who was being cared for by Sidney? Is this in relation to the female corpse they found earlier?
Maggie, still trying desperately to end the pain off loss, takes some drastic measures. I understand the series trying to show the grieving loss and pain that Maggie is enduring, but when a series like Outcast relies on a small series order, maybe Maggie needs to wake up and help now rather than constantly sink herself into another coma, her daughter needs her more than ever and has taken a big back seat to the whole saga so far. I would love to see more from her. As of right now, I am not a fan of Maggie’s moping and we need to see her strong again and coping with this shit head on.
Towards the final scenes of Outcast’s episode two, we are shown a scene in which Sidney is caressing the head of someone that seems to have been burnt and what looks like red hair? Is this Patricia’s son Aaron? Was he in the house fire and survived?
Once again, I can’t see this show slowing down anytime soon, the fine form in which the show can answer questions and then bait us in with even more is a sign of Kirkman and co.’s masterful story-telling. Outcast is a character builder, just when you think you know all there is to know about someone, a curve ball hits you square in the jugular.
Till next week, I will leave by asking you a question: Who saved Maggie?
Review Score: THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
FX’s Outcast Season 2 is screening Mondays on Foxtel and Foxtel On Demand. Also playable on Foxtel Play and Foxtel Go.
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