Created and co-executive produced by Robert Kirkman ("The Walking Dead"), the drama series "Outcast" stars Patrick Fugit ("Gone Girl") as Kyle Barnes, a man who has been possessed by demons since he was young. His search for answers -- and redemption -- leads him into a relationship with Reverend Anderson, a West Virginia evangelist who believes he is fighting in a holy war against Earth's evil forces. As Barnes sequesters himself from those he loves for fear of causing greater hurt, he begins to delve into secrets from his past. What he discovers could be life-changing -- and affect the fate of the world forever.
Some series I run into by chance, others are based on a Netflix, Hulu,or Amazon recommendation. For some reason this one came from a list of most unique series of the year review. The first thing I found out was this show was created for TV then a comic was created by the same name. You should know by now, dark emotional comics are being brought to the screen as often as they can (Preacher, Walking dead). I was cool with it and figured the premise sounded interested. With all that said I decided to give It a try. I'm not a big horror fan unless its made to be very interesting and captivating. So when I found out that Robert Kirkman the creator of the "Walking dead" created this series and sold it to Cinemax before he put it into comic book print. I was like damn. Guess I better pay attention to this. Basically this was a made for TV comic book series that happened to be sold oversees as well as locally. But what you get from this show is a truly mysterious, creepy horror show like you wouldn't normally see on network TV. Barely from cable TV. I started reading the comic but found that since the show was written for TV. The comic followed the same script. Nothing deviating from the script. But what the hell is Outcast about. Funny you should ask.
We open up with a child watching a roach climb up a wall while he stares at it with a blank hypnotize glare. He slams his head into the wall killing the roach and eats it. WTF?? Yeah, he licks the wall and eats the damn thing. O yeah, you got me now. We switch to a man lying in bed while a knock on the door in the background disturbs his already disturbed sleep. He's in a house thats pretty dark, disheveled and creeps you out with shit every where. At the same time, we see flash backs of a closet and someone terrorizing a child constantly. You are now introduced to Kyle Barnes. This depressed, lonely ostracized man who was accused of beating his child and wife for no apparent reason. He returns to the town he left to escape what happened to is family and his mother. We'll get to his mother. The creepiness continues when he runs into a preacher that has been exorcizing demons from people possessed in town. The stories tells a different story about Kyles memories of his mother that was possessed as well and is now in a coma. You see her attack him and locks him in a closet. The strange thing is Kyle has no idea what happen to her or why. The show reveals very little but slowly pieces things together as the episodes go by. Back to the preacher. He has a tremendous ego feeling that he is doing gods work by curing these people from these possessions. But he finds that he is a useless pawn and Kyle is the key to overcoming these possessions. The preacher encounters Kyle while he takes while Kyle and his sister travels downtown Rome W. Virginia. The Preacher convinces Kyle to help him understand a current possession he is dealing with which is the roach eating kid from the beginning of the show. What we see at the house of the child, takes us through the complete first season with multiple characters and situations that the town, the preacher and Kyle begin to understand that this is bigger than one or two people that are being possessed. They find during this engagement with this child that he is known by these demons that are possessing these people. He is called an Outcast by these demons and he finds he has the power to release these demons from the bodies they possess.
What makes this such an interesting story is the randomness of the people being possessed as well as who gets cured and who falls into a coma based on when and how the demons are released. I really think these our aliens but the series never lets you know anything about their origin that clearly. But the story lines keeps the spiritual aspect throughout the series. The series also has very interesting characters supporting Kyle like his sister and her family. His wife and his daughter. The Black sherif in the town and the possessed people who now walk among them that are the same but really not. A really dark almost depressing show with untold evil that no one knows where its coming from and a reluctant hero that has no idea who he is to these demons and what is his purpose. I binged through the 8 series 1st season in two days because it kept me so captivated by the mysterious demons and how Kyle had to fight with his past, family and realization that something is wrong and its not him. Even though it really is him in a way he can not understand. Worth the watch especially if you are a Walking dead fan or horror fan. This I believe is top shelf writing