‘Damien’: Damien & Ann vs Shay Rivalry Begins in Episode 4
WARNING! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!
Damien has a new, clear-cut villain to try and thwart and it’s not the Devil himself. Last week we saw Detective Shay continue his investigation into the curious deaths involving Damien and things escalated when he was attacked by one of Damien’s watchdog rottweilers. It’s obvious now after episode 4 that Shay is here to stay and his mission is simple: take down Damien and Ann.
This week kicks off with Simone finding a dead bird clogging her shower tub drain. Later in the episode, a witch doctor goes to her apartment to “purify” the place. He sacrifices a chicken and spills its blood over a pile of Kelly’s possessions, one of which is her notebook with scribbles containing the truth about Damien. The witch doctor then lights the pile on fire and the notebook is the only thing to survive but now, burned into the pages, are the numbers 666.
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Once again, Damien confides in John about Ann and once again John warns him to stay away from her, still keeping up the appearance that the two don’t work together. Amani, trying to give Damien his normal life back, tells him about a job interview that he set up for the two of them but Damien skips it. After the interview, Amani is approached by an anonymous blonde woman who was shown briefly in episode 3 who works alongside Ann. The two go to a bar together and after several drinks, she kisses Amani.
Shay asks Damien to come to the police station so he can ask him questions about the mysterious deaths surrounding him. Shay brings him to a hallway that conveniently doesn’t have any security cameras. He provokes Damien, trying to have him attack the police officer but Damien doesn’t fall victim to the trap. When Shay presses him, even describing how he would hypothetically frame him, Damien fires back with subtle threats saying, “People who come after me, they don’t fare so well.” Finally boys and girls we see some life out of Damien! Finally he steps up and takes a stand on something rather than just rolling over and constantly being a pawn in this show. The writers need to continue to give Damien some control and action. Take a look at the scene below.
Before he leaves, he tells Shay that he should be questioning Ann and informs him she has a secret room with a shrine to him. For the first time in the entire series, Damien feels like he’s in the driver’s seat and confident. That’s all ripped away as he’s leaving the police station and a man who is either possessed or feels an evil presence around Damien castrates himself by repeatedly stabbing his groin with a pair of scissors.
John and Ann meet and he tells her it’s time they set aside their differences in order to accomplish their common goal. Later, Shay takes Damien’s tip and visits Ann at her house. She continues to spin her lies and tells him she’s the Thorne family attorney. When he asks her about the secret room, she tells him before leading him there, “It’s a panic room. I never use it. I never panic.” The room has been cleared of the shrine and made to look like a wine cellar.
“People who come after me, they don’t fare so well.” – Damien Thorne
Damien is picked up by his “attorney” Ann at the police station and the two engage in a heated argument that leads to Damien threatening to slit her throat. I’m all for having a ballsy, strong lead character but this was a bit much. Ann challenges Damien to do just that but he refuses. Before walking away she tells him, “The day will come.” This is very telling of what her character is willing to do to push him to his breaking point. She admits that her role in this grand master plan is insignificant so it’s obvious she’s willing to do anything and everything in order to have him reach his destiny.
Simone, slowly starting to catch on and/or believe the truth about Damien, goes to his apartment and shows him the burnt notebook. She also tells him she feels as if Kelly is trying to communicate with her from the dead. Damien comforts her right? Nope. He dismisses all of her suspicions with atheistic reasonings. So Simone becomes offended and stands her ground on her beliefs right? Nah. SHE apologizes to HIM and tells him that she wishes Kelly was still alive so she and Damien could be together. Ugh. Such a brutal scene.
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Shay’s chief advises him to stay away from the Damien case and mentions something about, “not wanting to have a repeat of Baltimore.” Shay has dug himself a grave before with his obsessive persistence. Back at his house, Shay’s son is lured outside by one of the rottweilers and into their pool which has a cover on it. Shay races outside and sees a demon rising from the pool, beneath the cover. The episode concludes after Shay successfully saves his son.
The big takeaway from this episode is that it looks like Damien is slowly turning evil. He threatened two people one of which was a police officer and the other was a woman, although you could argue that the second one was justified. She is, after all, essentially a crazy stalker woman with a shrine that compares to the one Helga had on Hey Arnold! and I mean she is encouraging him embrace the fact that he’s the anti-Christ. Not to mention Damien completely shut down Simone when she was clearly reaching out for help. All of this is cause for concern. What will he do next?
Who’s the blondie locking lips with Amani? Let me quickly recap her story thus far… she was introduced (but never named) in episode 3 when Damien was leaving Ann’s house after seeing the shrine for the first time. She has an involvement with Ann but to what extent? Is she a part of Armitage Global and their master plan? Or is she simply a friend of Ann’s who’s helping with an independent plan they have drawn up? I think her hooking up with Amani is just her trying to eventually get to Damien. How do you get to someone who is pushing everyone away? Get chummy with their best friend.
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What did you think about the fourth episode of Damien? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below and don’t forget to check back in to 1428Elm.com next week for more break down and analysis.