Outcast Season 1 Episode 1: “A Darkness Surrounds Him” Recap & Discussion

Welcome to Rome, West Virginia: Robert Kirkman’s upside down town with a secret. Meet Joshua, a local boy struggling with literal inner demons so bad he crushes roaches with his head just to lick up their insides. For dessert he goes for a deep bite of his own finger.

We shift to a local bar where Reverend Anderson, Chief Giles, and Ogden enjoy a game of poker. Florence interrupts them and asks Reverend Anderson to help Betsy (Joshua’s mother) at the church.

Time to meet the star of our show Kyle Barnes, a man with a past almost as tragic as his living situation. His adopted sister Megan shows up unannounced and berates him for his sordid lifestyle. Kyle experiences a flashback to his childhood when his possessed mother dragged him by his hair and threw him into a pantry.

Over at the Piggly Wiggly (which is a real place) Megan stocks him up on groceries and buys him a cell phone. He runs into Florence Hall, who used to go to church with his mother. She tells him she’s asking everyone in town to pray for Joshua, who’s “Fallen prey to dark forces” like his mother.

Back at Joshua’s house Reverend Anderson struggles to calm a growling and possessed Joshua. His body levitates and he force kicks Reverend Anderson and his mother in the head. Reverend holds him down and yells scripture at him to no avail.

Megan takes Kyle back to her house against his will. Her police officer husband Mark isn’t pleased and argues it’s not safe to have him around their daughter Holly due to an incident where he allegedly attacked his own daughter a while back. Holly asks him about the incident and he storms out.

The following morning Kyle calls his estranged wife but says nothing. She hangs up and he chucks his phone at his window. He drives to back to see Joshua, who says he knows him. Joshua tackles him and seems to suck part of Kyle’s soul out of his mouth. Kyle flashes back again to his mother doing the same thing to him as a boy. He escapes outside to catch his breath.

Later Kyle visits his comatose mother in the hospital and remembers her abusing him as a child. He returns Norville’s car and they discuss loss over dinner. Norville expresses his regrets about he and his wife’s inaction over Kyle’s abuse as a child.

Kyle arrives back at Joshua’s with a plan. He throws open the curtains and the boy recoils from the light. He and Kyle tussle again, forcing Kyle to. They both begin levitating and Kyle continues to punch him. Joshua bites him but his blood clearly burns Joshua. Kyle squeezes more blood on him and Joshua finally seems subdued. “The great merge cannot be stopped,” he says before vomiting black slime onto the ceiling. The goo coagulates and disappears. Joshua awakens as a boy again.

Kyle’s cuffed by the police but Chief Giles lets him go because Joshua’s mother refuses to press charges. Mark, who already considers Kyle a child abuser, is dumbfounded. Kyle flashes back to his possessed wife Allison attacking their daughter, proving Kyle’s falsely accused.

What’d YOU think of the series premiere?? Will Joshua transition back to non-roach food? Will Kyle break more flip phones? And what the hell was that black goo? Discuss all of that and more below!