Let’s be honest here. No one was asking for a television adaptation of William Friedkin’s seminal 1973 horror film, itself an adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel of the same name. Alas, with the rise of horror television and the unexpected quality of similar shows like Hannibal, it seems hard to believe that it took this long for a network to greenlight a show like The Exorcist.
The Exorcist takes place in the same universe as the original film (as evidenced by a newspaper clipping seen that references the events of Friedkin’s film), and follows Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera), a progressive priest who is brought into the lives of the Rance family when matriarch Angela (the Geena Davis) surmises that her daughter Katherine (Brianne Howey) is possessed by a demon. It isn’t long before Tomas seeks the help of Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels), a veteran priest who is familiar with exorcisms.
Unfortunately for The Exorcist, there just aren’t enough new ideas on display to fully justify its existence. Possession stories have been done to death, and while it is admittedly going to be difficult to bring anything new to the table, The Exorcist doesn’t even try. Even the scares are predictable. There was a moment when Tomas is fixing the circuit breaker in the church’s basement only to turn around and OH MY GOD ANGELA IS STANDING RIGHT THERE. Jump scares such as these are lazy and not worthy of the source material.
As uninspiring as the scares are, nothing in The Exorcist is outright bad (the sound design is the most memorable part of the episode). The pilot, which was written by Jeremy Slater (The Lazarus Effect, last year’s Fantastic Four reboot) just has a “been there, seen that” air that pervades the whole thing. Director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) gets great performances from his cast. Davis and Herrera are the standouts, but Daniels has some impressive moments in his handful of scenes. Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) even pops up for a bit as the Rance patriarch, but almost little to no information is given about him or the brain damage that affects him.
There are some tidbits of backstory given to the characters (mostly Tomas) that plant the seeds of more character developments in future episodes, but the pilot is so focused on the possession aspect that most of the characters are relegated to background objects. Focusing so much on the possession aspect is not the wisest path for this series to take. If you’re going to adapt the most highly regarded possession film of all time, don’t try to replicate that film’s scenes. Give your audience something new to latch on to that will prevent them from thinking “the movie did this better.”
The pilot actually rushes through a lot just to get to the possession. For example, Angela approaches Tomas about her suspicions about 20 minutes into the episode. At this point the viewer has hardly seen anything that would lead a rational person to suspect demonic possession, so it seems downright silly that this woman would jump to this conclusion so hastily.
All of this being said, it’s worth sticking around for the final five minutes. They offer up a plot development that, while not entirely unpredictable, shows that the series has a few tricks up its sleeves that could make future episodes worth tuning in for. I wouldn’t say I’m hooked, but I’m intrigued.
One has to wonder what Fox is thinking airing The Exorcist on Friday nights. Friday is typically a television burial ground, but it can also provide an excuse for a network to renew a show with the lowest of ratings. This decision may bode well for The Exorcist, as it just barely makes you want to keep watching. It’s not must-see-TV, but it’s worth checking out.