Back in 2016, Fox made the decision to pick up The Exorcist TV show. All signs pointed to the project being a disaster since most of the sequels to The Exorcist were mostly disasters at that point (with the exception of the stellar The Exorcist III), and it was dumped on Friday nights, commonly known as “the death slot” during the heyday of network TV. However, despite all of these things working against it, Fox’s Exorcist TV series proved to be a compelling continuation of William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty’s seminal horror film and a worthy legacy sequel that is much better than most of the movies that tried to tackle this mythology.

Beyond 1973’s The Exorcist, which broke box office records and even earned the admiration of the Academy Awards, the franchise has been a mess of devilish proportions. The first attempt to expand on the story came from Irish filmmaker John Boorman when he decided to take on Exorcist II: The Heretic, a film widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made. The critical and box office result was so bad that it took 13 years to bring the brand back to the big screen with The Exorcist III. The decision was made to bring in original author Blatty as writer-director, and this is likely why the third installment is considered one of the better entries and a fan favorite.

The Exorcist Sequels Were Mostly Disasters
Warner Bros.

Two prequels followed in 2004 and 2005 that virtually destroyed the goodwill set up by the third film. First, we got Exorcist: The Beginning, followed by Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist. But why two prequels? In what could be described only as a demonic mess, the studio did not like director Paul Schrader’s original vision for the prequel, which was more psychologically driven and skimped on scares. This led to Schrader being fired and replaced by Renny Harlin, who then reportedly reshot about 90 percent of the film that Schrader created. In the end, we got two separate releases that were panned by critics and were financial disasters.

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Over ten years after the release of those two prequels, TV began to dabble in more horror programming with American Horror Story and The Walking Dead, which led Fox to welcome a TV adaptation of The Exorcist. The move made sense because long-form episodic television could allow the story to be properly expanded without feeling rushed, and the more psychological aspects of the original film could feel at home on the small screen. It would be a move that would surprise fans in the best way possible.

Created by Jeremy Slater, the first season of The Exorcist followed the Catholic Chicagoan Rance family, a seemingly normal brood that is also dealing with their own struggles. Henry (Alan Ruck) has been living with a traumatic brain injury that results in him losing time and forgetting things around his family.

This is an added stress for his wife and matriarch of the family, Angela (Geena Davis), because she’s also dealing with two daughters going through their own traumatic changes. Katherine (Brianne Howey) has become depressed and withdrawn following a car accident that resulted in the death of her girlfriend, and her younger sister Casey (Hannah Kasulka) might be dealing with most of them all because she has just become possessed by a demon.

To deal with Casey, two exorcists enter the picture. There is a local parish priest, Father Thomas (Alfonso Herrera), and the more rogue exorcist, Father Marcus (Ben Daniels). The two men form a very uncertain union to take on this evil, which will be familiar to the audience.

The demon that has possessed Casey is Pazuzu, the very same demon that possessed Regan (Linda Blair) in the 1973 film. This turns out to not be a coincidence as we learn a big secret halfway through the first season about a member of the family that directly connects them to the first movie. It would be a disservice to reveal it here, just in case you choose to give the show a shot, but know that the reveal was a game-changer for the series and allowed the project to be a worthy companion piece to Friedkin’s horror classic.

The Exorcist TV Series Didn’t Merely Cash in On Nostalgia

The Exorcist series worked because instead of cashing in on nostalgia based on the brand’s name, the show was more interested in expanding the world of Blatty’s source material. The show is sprinkled with nods to the original film that come in the form of imagery and even the dialogue that some of the characters speak. More so than any of the sequels that followed, the TV show expressed that evil this strong can’t be cleansed from the body without consequence. That kind of event stays with those who had the misfortune of crossing its path. The traumas of the past can easily infect the present, and the trauma, in this case, happens to be the Devil itself.

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Beyond the connections to the original film, the series forges its own way with compelling characters that drive the narrative forward. Tomas and Marcus make for an interesting pair as the exorcists tasked with helping the Rance family. They’re both flawed with their own share of demons that give their characters added depth. Their story is perfectly juxtaposed with the plight of the Rance family as they have to come to terms with their own anxieties to help a family going through a daunting endeavor.

The Exorcist only lasted two seasons on Fox, but they were both well-received critically, with Season 1 registering a 79 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the second season proved even better with critics at 100 percent. Ratings were never particularly strong but decent enough on Friday night during its first season that it allowed Fox to go all in on a second. While both seasons are good, Season 1 remains the best of the two due to its connections to the original movie, feeling earned and not forced. It’s also a very moving family drama with its horrors grounded in more realistic emotions, much like Ari Aster’s Hereditary.

The purpose of the series would be to turn into more of an anthology series with Tomas and Marcus acting more like freelance exorcists helping new families. This is set up with the second season with the introduction of John Cho, playing a foster father who runs a home for orphaned children. A new big bad demon is introduced, and the writing is still top-notch in Season 2. Still, you do miss the more relatable depictions of the Rance family, which pulled drama and horror out of milking the typical suburban environment and diving into the character’s guilt and resentment.

While The Exorcist: Believer is bound to win the weekend box office from curious moviegoers, should that legacy not hit the spot, a binge of The Exorcist TV series should be enough to satisfy your needs to expand on the greatness of the original movie while also engaging in a new story that is very compelling in its own right.

The Exorcist can currently be streamed on Hulu. If you want to learn more about the original film and its massive impact on culture and the horror genre, check out our short video essay on the film below: