‘The Exorcist’ Season 2 Episode 9 Recap: Ritual and Repetition

The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 9 Recap
Ben Daniels in the “Ritual and Repetition” episode of ‘The Exorcist’ (Photo by Sergei Bachlakov © 2017 Fox Broadcasting Co)

Fox’s The Exorcist season two episode eight left off with Father Tomas lost in one of his visions and tricked into believing Andy is still tied up on the bed. Season two episode nine begins with Marcus (Ben Daniels) attempting to revive Father Tomas (Alfonso Herrera), but he’s still consumed by the vision. Father Tomas sees himself standing beside Marcus conducting the exorcism on Andy (John Cho). Andy reminds Father Tomas he promised to help him, and then the vision transforms into Tomas walking into a large church. He’s a Bishop now and although he protests that he shouldn’t be there, he’s told he’s the youngest Bishop in 20 years.

Two men walk through the Seattle Ferry Landing, hunting for Marcus and Father Tomas. They fire into a truck they believe is Marcus’ but it’s not. Instead, the truck belongs to Mouse (Zuleikha Robinson) and she gets the jump on both men. The men (who are from the Vatican) wind up shooting each other as Mouse escapes.

Marcus is forced to leave Father Tomas behind to chase down Andy. He walks slowly through the Holstroms’ house, spotting their dead bodies in the dining room. He also spots blood on the wall and a flashback shows that Andy viciously hit Verity (Brianna Hildebrand) while an already bloody Rose (Li Jun Li) watched from a few feet away. Verity was knocked unconscious and Rose did her best to protect herself as Andy threatened her life. The demon inside him blamed Rose for breaking up his family.

Marcus follows the path of destruction through the house. He spots a pitchfork with blood dripping from its blades and another flashback shows Rose stabbing Andy in the shoulder with it. He begged her stop and she paused long enough for him to knock her out.

Marcus follows drag marks on the ground into the yard.

Back at the dock, Shelby (Alex Barima) sees Andy escorting Caleb (Hunter Dillon) to his car. Harper (Beatrice Kitsos) is already seated in the backseat. Andy apologizes to Shelby for looking so horrible, claiming Marcus and Father Tomas cured him. Shelby pauses outside the passenger door, wondering why Rose didn’t come to get them. Andy swears it’s all over and he won’t hurt anyone ever again.

In Father Tomas’ vision, he’s smiling as he walks down the center aisle in his packed church while the choir sings. He looks unsure as he addresses the congregation and then notices Casey Rance (welcome back, however briefly, Hannah Kasulka!) is in the crowd.

Shelby reluctantly gets in the car and Andy drives them out to the rundown house with the well. Caleb asks what it was like to be possessed, and Andy describes his experience as hell “having to watch while that thing hurt my family, people I love.”

Andy won’t answer Shelby when he asks if the demon is gone. When Harper reminds him he killed her mom, he wonders if maybe her mom was evil and that’s why God brought her to him to be killed. Shelby assures Andy they can help him, but he just laughs. After Andy gets out of the car, the kids lock their doors. Unfortunately, Andy has the keys and remotely unlocks them. Shelby gets Caleb’s cane, ready to protect his foster siblings.

Shelby steps outside the car and Andy immediately attacks. We can hear the fight, but the camera remains on Caleb’s face as yells for Shelby. Harper’s also taken away as Caleb screams out for his brother and sister.

Caleb’s the only one left and he stumbles out of the car. He nearly trips on a big rock and wisely picks it up to use it as a weapon. Unfortunately, he’s no match for Andy who grabs his arm and pulls him toward the deserted house.

Marcus walks around outside the Holstroms’ place and is nearly run down by a horse. He spots more webs in the trees.

Rose and the kids, with the exception of Shelby, are tied up inside the old house. Rose thinks Verity can free herself because she was always able to in the past. Andy brings Shelby in and wonders if they should wait for Truck or “get this party started.”

Casey meets privately with Father Tomas after the service and he asks why she’s in Chicago. She reveals it’s because her mom told her to seek out Father Tomas to get help. Casey doesn’t think she is in control of her own body and admits she has scary dreams in which she’s lost.

Father Tomas realizes she’s not Casey and this isn’t real.

The demon speaks through Casey, reminding him that he left his people behind. She says they bulldozed St. Anthony’s and he doesn’t even care. Father Tomas can’t believe it, and the demon asks if he feels special.

Back at the old house, Andy taunts the kids, asking if they should kill Verity first and finish the job Truck started. The kids yell for Andy to leave Verity alone, and Andy turns his attention to Shelby. He tortures Shelby by grabbing his hurt leg, and Shelby tells the demon he’s not clever. Shelby insists he figured this out days ago. Andy claims God is so much worse than he is, telling the very religious Shelby that he’ll go last after he kills the others.

Andy decides it’s going to be Caleb first and Caleb has a vision of standing on the old well. Rose calls Andy a coward just as he’s about to attack Caleb. She reminds him he’s losing blood from the pitchfork wound, asking why he hasn’t killed her. Andy pulls out his knife and tells the kids to watch. He suspends Rose over the old well, feet inches above the boards.

Rose begs Andy to fight off the demon as he begins his countdown. He breaks the boards that cover the well as Rose whimpers. He makes it to 10 and all but one of the boards have been broken. As the last board breaks, she falls into the well. “Welcome to the family,” says Andy as he walks away, humming.

(Marcus is taking an incredibly long time to make it to the old house!)

The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 9 Recap
Brianna Hildebrand in ‘The Exorcist’ season 2 episode 9 (Photo by Sergei Bachlakov © 2017 Fox Broadcasting Co)

Inside the building, Andy announces he’s decided Truck will die last. Shelby begins praying and Andy’s distracted grabbing Shelby’s chin when Verity makes a run for it. She’s worked herself loose and as Andy turns to chase her, Caleb trips him, giving Verity a head start.

Andy runs after her, screaming her name as Verity makes it into the woods.

Meanwhile, Father Tomas is convinced his vision is a fantasy. Casey assures him he can wash away his sins, and Father Tomas continues to engage the demon even though he knows better. Casey tells him Rose is dead and asks who will die next because of him.

The kids hear something outside the building and it turns out it’s Marcus. As he’s untying the kids, they tell him Rose is dead in the well and Andy’s chasing Verity. Shelby takes over caring for the kids as Marcus races out after Verity and Andy.

Verity manages to stay ahead of Andy, walking backward in her own footsteps and then hiding under brush. Andy slowly passes by but then stops.

The kids make their way out of the old house, but Shelby can barely walk. Harper decides to see if Rose is alive, running to the well and calling out her name. Rose is alive but barely keeping her head above water. Shelby and Caleb join Harper to rescue Rose.

Rose tells them to run, but they refuse. They stay with her and toss down a rope.

Casey continues to keep Father Tomas busy, telling him she’s been around forever. She quotes Marcus using his voice and reveals she has an incredible amount of power. She even promises Father Tomas she can make him the first Mexican Pope. He says he doesn’t want that now; what he really wants is to watch her die.

The kids get busy pulling Rose out of the well. They finally manage it and Rose emerges, exhausted, and falls to the ground. She asks for Verity and Harper lets her know Marcus is trying to find her. Rose hugs Harper and reminds them that they should have left her. “You don’t leave family behind,” replies Caleb. And now it’s group hug time.

Andy’s just feet from Verity’s hiding spot, looking at her footprints. He figures out she retraced her steps and discovers her hiding place. She’s tangled in the webs and crying out, “Dad, please,” as he places a web over her face. Marcus arrives just in time to save Verity and he and Andy get into a fistfight. Andy transforms into the demon as Marcus tells Verity to run.

Verity leaves and now the demon’s playing hide and seek. Andy sneaks up on Marcus, grabs his neck, and holds Marcus against a tree.

Meanwhile, Father Tomas yells, “I want to wake up!” and is finally able to emerge from his vision. However, the demon is now in Andy’s house in the form of Casey. Casey’s body falls away and now it’s Nikki. She bites Father Tomas on the shoulder and he begins screaming prayers at her.

As Father Tomas yells prayers at the house, Andy drops Marcus, and Marcus is able to lift a nearby branch and knock him out.

In the house, Nikki fades away and Andy’s at the base of the stairs. He tells Father Tomas the demon is too strong, asking Father Tomas to promise it won’t get away. He repeatedly begs Father Tomas to keep after the demon as the demon slips back into Andy.

It turns out Father Tomas was still in his vision when he spoke to Andy. He finally wakes and clears his head, thanks to the arrival of Mouse. She introduces herself and confesses she came a long way to find him.

More on The Exorcist:
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 1
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 2
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 3
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 4
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 5
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 6
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 7
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 8
Recap of The Exorcist Season 2 Episode 10

Interview with Ben Daniels, Alfonso Herrera and Kurt Egyiawan
Interview with John Cho and Brianna Hildebrand