Welcome aboard to the world of the supernatural, Southern fried style – – it’s Robert Kirkman’s Outcast, the Cinemax adaptation of his 2014 -2018 Image Comics series. Set in Rome, West Virginia, Outcast is the story of Kyle Barnes, a man haunted in many ways by demonic possession throughout his life, and his return to his hometown of Rome after separating from his wife and daughter after his wife’s own demonic possession was misinterpreted as a domestic violence situation.
After airing in the UK last year, the second season dropped this past Friday on Cinemax, about a month after the comic series itself concluded. Let’s take a look at the season premiere “Bad Penny” – – and as always, spoilers within.
1. The Story So Far
Since we at Multiversity never reviewed this show before, let’s offer a quick primer on the world of this show and where things left off at the conclusion of the first season in 2016. As mentioned in the intro, Kyle is a troubled man returning to Rome separated from his family after a demonic possession incident with his wife, Allison. This is no new world for him; he grew up with a mother with demonic possession, and it has haunted him (literally and figuratively) throughout his life. Because what happened with his family has been interpreted as domestic violence, there is a restraining order against him, so he cannot contact Allison or his daughter Amber. Reconnecting with his adoptive sister Megan and her family, Kyle also makes the acquaintance of the local clergy, Reverend John Anderson, and the two investigate the various paranormal activities going on throughout town.
The first season concluded with Allison leaving her daughter in Kyle’s care as she feels her mental state is not stable enough to be a parent. Megan herself has become possessed, culminating in her murder of her husband, Mark. Sidney, a mysterious preacher who himself is possessed, has kidnapped Amber, leading both Kyle and Reverend Anderson to save the women. In the ensuing struggles (Kyle and Reverend Anderson versus Sidney and his associate Kate, Kyle and Megan), it’s discovered Amber has demon whispering powers. Megan is released from her demon, and Kyle and Amber head out of town.
Think of this show as Supernatural meets Jeff Lemire’s “Royal City.” Because this is on pay cable (at least here in the United States), there’s also your fair amount of sex and violence, so this is definitely not a show to watch on your lunch hour or when the kids are still awake.
2. On Cinematography
Kudos to the cinematographers and editors on this show for setting up some truly eerie shots of mundane objects. In one scene, the camera remains submerged in water, panning to the surface to reveal what looks like blood. Once the lens breaks the water’s surface, you see it’s just one end of a fishing lure. It hammers home the ideas of the sinister and evil lurking just beneath the placid surface, and that things aren’t always what they seem to be.
3. Kyle
Kyle couldn’t stay away from Rome for too long. Whether it’s out of fear of being sensed by the devil no matter where he goes (“they could sense us”) or a desire to go home and finish what’s been started, he’s back in Rome. He’s also back to throwing caution to the wind, returning to the Ogden house to be met with a very suicidal Lenny Ogden or back to the home of the first child he and Anderson exorcised, a few days on the road didn’t teach him to think before you leap. All this also uncovers that the demon problem in Rome runs deeper than feared, as a few people are at a point now where they just cannot be exorcised. If Kyle (and Amber) have something special within them (as has been hinted at during the entire first season), this is going to be the time to discover it. He can’t keep getting kicked while he’s down.
4. Megan
Megan has the double edged sword of working through both demonic possession and committing murder, no easy task. So it should be no surprise that she’s clammed up and gone catatonic herself. Here is where Kyle does something that I really don’t agree with: ask her if she remembers anything about her time in demonic possession. As someone who has suffered from mental illness, the only thing one needs when you’re in your deepest darkest states is support, a reassurance that they are loved no matter how dark things get. When the person is ready to open up to you, they will. Do not force it. For Kyle to jump the gun and ask Megan “do you remember anything?” is insensitive, moreso when the timeline indicates that only a few days have passed in between Megan recovering from that trauma and Kyle’s return to Rome. She needs time to process all that has happened, and this is another example of what I said about Kyle earlier: his desire for answers leads to impulsive behavior that causes more problems than it solves.
Continued below5. Reverend Anderson
The Reverend is very much a broken man. Not being able to defeat Sidney (he had torched Sidney’s trailer in the hopes that he was inside but Sidney was not home at time) has left him jaded and floundering for purpose – – dedicating himself to helping to find Patricia’s missing son Aaron, visiting a fringe church in the woods, to finally coming around to help Kyle find the last of Sidney’s minions. It’s all under the cover of survivor’s guilt, for there was someone in Sidney’s trailer at the time he set it ablaze: Aaron. Nothing is going to save him now, and he practically begs Officer Giles (the late Reg E. Cathey) to arrest him.
His storyline also features another beautifully composed shot: a flyer advertising The Beacon (the name of the fringe church in the woods) across the street from his old church, his name forcefully painted over on the front sign. Reverend Anderson stands between these two, at a literal and figurative crossroads.
We’ll see you next week for “The Day After That!”
