Critical Condition: Outcast

Outcast (SoHo, 9.30 Mondays)

“Although it’s too early to tell if Outcast can sustain itself, this Cinemax horror series from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman at least has the right idea. In contrast to the Dead series, or for that matter, any season of American Horror Story, this mysterious, atmospheric tale of demonic and supernatural forces in ordinary lives seems informed by horror from an earlier, analog generation. Much modern horror feels obligated to periodically layer on the exposition to make sure everything is clear, and to give you a jump scare every five or ten minutes … Here, the approach to horror is more hermetic: horror as horror. It’s not about what’s withheld and revealed, nor is it about making you jump out of your seat (though it certainly does the latter). It’s about creating an unsettled feeling.” — New York Magazine.

“Is it a horror series? Yes, at first. But Outcast quickly pivots to become a suspense-laden, psychological examination of inner shadows – the undesirable aspects of ourselves that we strive to keep hidden – and the figurative demons constantly flitting around us all. Everyone in the small town of Rome, W. Va., is engaged in a death match with evil spirits, in the form of bad reputations or traumas scratching just beneath the skin.” — Variety.

“Cinemax’s Outcast is a fiendishly pleasant surprise — a demonic-possession horror drama that leads with its heart instead of its 360-degree neck rotations and suggests a depressing (but timely) theme of social and moral rot in America.” — The Washington Post.

“Outcast borrows not from the usual Catholic mythology surrounding exorcism but from Baptist rituals and traditions, while still heavily and lovingly referencing The Exorcist. As with the 1973 classic film, this is not a show for the squeamish or the highly sensitive – there is disturbing, distressing violence from the opening scene.” — The Telegraph.

“Outcast is another of the Walking Dead co-creator’s meditations on how supernatural occurrences may be scary, but nothing is scarier than the darkness lurking in the hearts of regular people. But amidst Kirkman’s banality-of-evil fixation is the potential for very real banality, and after four episodes sent to critics, Outcast has already fallen frequent victim to the wheel-spinning and superficial characters that have often bogged down lesser moments of The Walking Dead and nearly every moment of Fear the Walking Dead.” — The Hollywood Reporter.