Gary J Sibio
Image is in the public domain.
23 Oct 2019
A new series appeared in the USA this past September. It’s called “Evil” and it deals with the investigations into demon possession and miracles. There are three main characters:
David Acosta who is an assessor working for the Catholic Church. He is not a priest but is studying for the priesthood.
Kristen Bouchard, a forensic psychiatrist with four young daughters.
Ben Shakir, the technology expert.
Together they investigate possible cases of demonic possession and claims of the miraculous.
Another character, Leland Townsend, is played by Michael Emerson who was in “Lost” and “Person of Interest”. The nature of his character is mysterious, other than being completely evil.
So what is an assessor? When someone seeks an exorcism in the Catholic Church, their case must first be investigated to determine if actual possession is involved? This is done to determine if the person is genuinely possessed or if there is some kind of mental illness. This is the job of the assessor. He and, in this case, his team determine what is going on. He does not perform the exorcism. That is done by specially trained priests. In this series he also has the job of investigating miracles but, in reality, this would not be the case. That would be handled by others.
Of the three people on the team, only the assessor believes in the existence of demons. The other two completely reject the possibility which makes them more useful to the assessor.
The show is very scary but well done. If you are prone to nightmares I would think twice about watching it. However, if you like scary movies, I highly recommend it.
Text © 2019 Gary J. Sibio. All rights reserved.
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Question of
Have you ever seen the show?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
If so, did you like it or find it interesting?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Do you believe in exorcisms and the existence of demons?
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Yes
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No
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I don’t know
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I have only seen the previews and they weren’t enough to get me interested in watching the show. Maybe Netflix will eventually buy it and I’ll binge-watch the episodes.
This is a Great to See.
I find it interesting that a distinction is made between “genuine possession” and mental illness. I see no distinction – all cases of so-called possession are nothing of the kind and can be adequately explained as forms of mental illness.
The whole question of “possession by devils” harks back to previous ages when mental illness was insufficiently understood.
I have to disagree with you. There are physical manifestations associated with demonic possession that are not found in cases of mental illness. Please read my response to HistoryGal for an example.
I have seen a few clips announcing the show but have not had the chance to view it yet. As for possession by demons I am not inclined to believe it. As an ex registered nurse I have dealt with such extremes of human behaviors and most if not all of them were controlled with medication. If there was a demon in a patient I do not believe that meds would put him to sleep….
I’m a believer. I once saw a guy who had just gotten out of a street gang raised into the air to a height of about six feet like he was being held by an invisible hand and then slammed to the ground.
There are degrees of possession. Most of the time the demon is just harassing the person. The hardcore ones are rare.
A couple of years ago there was a case where a boy was possessed. The church sent in an exorcist and gave the local news permission to cover it. The boy started walking backwards, went right up the wall and on to the ceiling. All caught on film.
I have seen this show a few times Gary and find it very interesting. It is well made.
It is much better than I thought it would be. Michael Emerson is so creepy.
Yes he is indeed creepy!