A quick look at The Excorcist Season 2: can the new cast replace the Rances?

 Along with Hitchcock's Psycho, Cunningham's Friday the Thirteenth and Kubrik's The Shining, certain movies redefined the horror filmic landscape. The Exorcist was one of these, banned, lauded, derided, hated and loved in equal measures it sent possesions and exorcisms sailing into our collective cultural conciousness. Several slightly iffy film sequels later (and countless rip offs sat through), a television reboot seems to have finally redeemed the original concept, executing it with panache. 

The first season focused on the Rances, a family who seem to have everything, yet are actually falling apart, and things are about to get worse: one of their daughters has caught a serious case of the old possesion. It's difficult to talk about the narrative without spoiling it, but suffice to say the first season was brilliant, disturbing and stark imagery comes together with fantastic acting, (Geena Davis really adds charisma to the show and Ben Daniels is superb as the anti-hero priest) to create a horror show deserving of praise. It builds well upon the lore of the original films, showing respect to them, but isn't afraid to modernise and add more human elements that engage the audience. What could have been camp and over done, is nuanced and contemplative.

 In fact I became rather attached to the Rances, so much so that when I heard the second series wouldn't have them in it, instead moving to new characters and stories my heart sank. However having caught the premier now and seen how the creators are moving the vision of their show, perhaps they knew better all along. The Rances were truly capitaviting, but Davis was definitely the star of the show and their internal struggles were pretty well covered. By moving to a new set of characters (Ben Daniels remains a guiding hand and bridge between the two seasons as Father Marcus) they are able to explore new places and dillemas. Rather than betraying what made the first season good, the creators have honed in on it, rather than about demons, this show is about what makes us human. 

So if you're a fan of the original movies or horror in general be sure to tune in, making sure to catch the first season in all it's fantastic creepiness!