Worried about her friends as Uncle Jesse torments them, Sabrina is determined to exorcise the demon inside him, regardless of witch law.
At Wardwell's house, Sabrina demands answers from the teacher, who says she's been watching her and Sabrina knows what she is: a witch.
Sabrina is furious to know of the scrying spell on her mirrors and suggests they go to the High Priest, but Wardwell blurts out that Edward asked her to watch him. She claims she was Edward's acolyte and secretary, having sought him out after her own church, the Church of Shadows in New Hampshire, excommunicated her for being in love with a mortal and planning to marry. She was eager due to his own love and his desire to reform the Church of Night when it came to marriage; he charged her with watching over Sabrina before the crash. Realizing why Wardwell pushed her transfer, Sabrina wonders why Edward would have her do this if her aunts were; Wardwell says he was overly cautious. She continues that she fell in love with Edward, and Sabrina snarls she is just like him, manipulating and keeping secrets; she orders Wardwell to stay away from her. Sabrina returns home and talks to Ambrose, who points out Wardwell saved them, though he's technically still in his nightmare, suggesting she give Wardwell a chance. As she's upset about the deceptions, Ambrose offers to curse Wardwell, but Sabrina isn't sure what she wants to do, other than wipe all the mirrors clean of spells. Meanwhile, Harvey is drawing when he sees the grotesque Uncle Jesse, who says Harvey is full of fear and will die for it. The spirit disappears when Tommy enters, warning about their dad and wondering what's wrong; Harvey assures him he's fine. At her own house, Roz is at the fridge when Jesse appears, saying she'll be made blind due to lack of faith; her scream brings her father, but she says she just spilled the milk. Susie has a visit while brushing her teeth: Jesse says she's a "boy-girl" abomination and will be smited. She checks his room; while breathing heavily, he's still tied down. The next day, Hilda is applying at Cerberus' store, chattering about being enthusiastic and how she's a fan. He brings up his weatherman beginnings and says he opened the store because horror hosts went out of fashion, then asks if she'd wear a costume. Meanwhile, Zelda is checking on Lady Blackwood; she finds the baby's heartbeat, and though it's too soon to determine the sex, she'll find out what she can. The women convince Father Blackwood to step outside, and his wife explains her anxiety to Zelda. Though the 13-month birth should be joyous, she's already lost two. She says Father Blackwood wants a male heir, and Zelda simply says they'll know soon enough if it's the Dark Lord's will.
At school, Sabrina walks in as her friends discuss Jesse, and they explain the encounter; Susie's dad called a doctor, but Harvey suggests an exorcist.
With Sabrina confused, they explain Jesse's mine experience and Harvey says he thinks Jesse saw the same thing he did, and it possessed him. They reveal the visions they had the night before, and though Sabrina says they could've been nightmares, Harvey denies this and says Jesse at least looks possessed. Later, Harvey confronts Sabrina about not believing him; she says she does, but the mine encounter and the ones the night prior could've been their imaginations. He storms off after accusing her of not being honest with him, and Wardwell steps in, but Sabrina sternly says she doesn't want any more half-stories. When she heads home later, she tells her aunts about the possession, but Zelda says such cases are rare and Hilda adds they need to be sure he isn't just ill. Sabrina points out her friends could soon start talking about witches; Zelda claims she'd silence anyone who did, and advises Sabrina, who refuses to let Susie stay with a possessed man, to not let them touch him, as they'd be open to psychological attacks. Horrified, Sabrina says they already did and have had visions, so Hilda advises her to have them bathe in water from the Sea of Galilee. Sabrina goes to Ambrose, requesting that he find his books on possession and guard her as she astral projects into Jesse's room. He protests, pointing out the psychopomps, but she says she won't stay long enough, and she can at least find out the demon's name; he admits this would be useful. Ambrose calls her cocky when she says it's practice for the Dark Lord, and with her body safe, she can help someone who is trapped. He angrily brings up his own entrapment, and though she says it's different, he claims Jesse's will be shorter and tells her she projects at her own peril if she does so. She goes through with it, projecting to Jesse's room where the demon offers a seat. She refuses, so it asks her to step closer, as it feels something is off about her. It decides she's "impure" and declares it is there to corrupt and defile humans, starting with Jesse, then her friends, who tied it up "like an animal." Sabrina says it could leave, and it snarls it's nice and sinful in Jesse. It calls him a sodomite, abomination, and convenient; possession is his reward for releasing it. It requests her name when she asks for its, and she willingly gives it; the demon, saying it's safe since she's a witch, names itself Maerceci, Overlord of Gluttony. She orders it to leave, warning to bring in another demon, but it suddenly projectile vomits, calling her rude for not even being there. Sabrina steps forward to see if the demon left, but suddenly starts coughing as her throat and head ripple; Salem rushes to get Ambrose as her body convulses. Ambrose successfully brings her back, and she tells him it felt like the demon slithered down her throat; he says it must have been high-level to be able to touch her. He doesn't recognize the demon's name, and as she suggests asking Blackwood or Nick, Ambrose starts laughing, having realized "Maerceci" is "Ice cream" backwards. She brings up how it said Jesse freed it, and as Ambrose asks where from, she takes off, to his annoyance, as he points out she almost died.
Sabrina visits Harvey, apologizing for her behavior and saying she's open to the idea of it being a possession; he is surprised when she wants to go to the mine to find clues.
He points out security and the maze-like tunnels, so she asks him to draw a map to where Jesse worked. As he points out possible dangers, she says she's not afraid, and he is distracted as the demon has appeared behind Sabrina. It disappears and he accuses her of thinking he's a coward, deciding to go with her against her desires; Wardwell's familiar watches from outside. At the mines she says he can wait outside, but he gives a firm "no" and they enter, then he asks what they're looking for; she says anything that seems odd or dangerous. Harvey turns a corner to search, and as strange moans drift in, Sabrina finds two pieces of a some stone creation with a snake on it. She stumbles looking for Harvey, and when her light comes on, she sees Wardwell, who warns of the mines dangers and dark rumors. She notices Sabrina has a "trapping stone," and Sabrina says she'll report her to Blackwood if the stalking continues. Harvey's scream takes her away as Wardwell yells she can help, and Sabrina finds Harvey in an alcove. He claims to have seen a demon, and points to a demonic statue. She points out it's just some rocks, but says whether he really saw what he remembers or not, he came into the mines with her anyway, which makes him brave. They decide to leave, and as she claims to have found nothing, the area behind them turns red and a demonic creature growls. In town, a doctor visits the Putnams to talk about Jesse. Susie hears her dad explain his father once beat Jesse for wearing dresses; he always struggled with his sexuality. The demon appears, telling Susie she's the sick one, and she storms into the room, snarling that Jesse's past and sexuality aren't reasons to lock him up. Her dad claims he needs help they can't give, so she demands to see where he's going. Roz also sees a doctor, who says her vision is declining steadily and rapidly; surgery is an option, but her chances aren't good. Her dad asks for a moment alone, and Roz wonders if god is punishing her, as he says her grandma went blind because she lacked faith. The demon appears as he claims she has faith, and she questions if this is so. At the Spellman house, Sabrina uses the snake symbol on the trapping stone to determine the demon's name is "Aphophis," and wonders if she can trap it; Ambrose says she has to get it out of Jesse first. The next time she goes to the academy, she asks Blackwood about exorcisms; he has Prudence explain that witches can't do them because they're a Catholic rite. She keeps pushing it, sharing Jesse's situation and Apophis's name, but Blackwood says the "Devouring Worm" rarely inhabits people for long. Realizing Apophis will move on to her friends next, Sabrina asks about banishing, but Blackwood says a tenacious demon like Apophis would require an exorcism. As class gets out, Nick approaches Sabrina, saying he likes rebellious witches. She says explains she has a boyfriend, and he suggests she have two, like her dual life. With her options seeming limited, Sabrina gets a surprise visit from Wardwell at home, and together with Hilda, plans to exorcise Apophis, against Zelda's warnings.
This episode brought in a lot of the excellent darkness that somehow still surprises me, admittedly using some cliches and with some nice references.
In the past we've seen some graphic images like the true Wardwell being killed, and last episode there was the psychological torture of the Batibat. We get some more psychological pain this time with Apophis, as after invading the kids' minds, he attacks their fears and weaknesses. There is grotesque imagery involved, often with maggots, but more than just the horror we see the results of the demon's work, as each kid becomes aggressive and snaps at someone around them after Apophis uses their fear. I like this aspect of showing the possession process, as along with seeing the actual possession in Jesse, there is the degradation of each of Sabrina's friends. References can be seen throughout the episode, and even in the title, clearly alluding to the iconic horror movie The Exorcist. The most obvious incident is when the demon tries to vomit on Sabrina from afar, but another moment I found referential comes near the end of the episode. As Sabrina and the others go to the Putnam house for the exorcism, the dark shot with light from a streetlamp felt reminiscent of the exorcist's arrival in the movie. A reference to Nightmare on Elm Street can also be seen, as at one moment Harvey is wearing a crop top with "10" on it, like Johnny Depp's character in the film. The demon's bantering was one of my favorite things of this episode, with him confident in his own power and mocking Sabrina in a way I found funny. Along with the silliness of naming himself "ice cream" backward, my favorite moment is when he calls Sabrina rude for not being in the room for the first encounter, despite him possessing a human and having just projectile vomited at Sabrina. With regards to the name, I also honestly ruined the reveal for myself and was facepalming at the moment because of Sabrina. Whenever I've read or seen something like this involving demons, names are important because they provide power over someone. The show brings this up, and while it was smart for Sabrina to ask for the demon's, she is rather quick to give her own, and to believe the demon on his. I didn't immediately catch what his first "name" really was, but I figured it probably wasn't the true one, and it seemed strange to me Sabrina would easily believe him. The scenes with Sabrina's friends were mostly well done, giving a real creepy factor as the demon tears the kids apart with their fears. There's some truly creepy moments, like when Apophis appears behind Sabrina in Harvey's room, but others aren't as impressive. When he first appears to Roz, it's pretty cliche that we see the empty room, the camera pans below the fridge door, and when it returns he's there. The scares could also at times just be lazy, like when he appears and causes Susie's outburst, there is a loud noise to force that his appearance is a jumpscare. Despite these problems, I enjoyed seeing the moments with possessed Jesse and Apophis manipulating the kids. The show is putting Zelda in quite a position now as Sabrina pushes the boundaries of witch law, and she's starting to see flaws herself, and these boundaries will definitely be broken more as Sabrina heads toward facing the Dark Lord.
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