Fugit stars as Kyle Barnes, a small-town West Virginia man whose mother abused him when he was a child after she was possessed by a demon. Although he's grown up and his mother is lying catatonic in a local nursing home, he still lives in the same house where it all happened, haunted by the violent memories of his mother's unrelenting reign of terror. Adding to his pain is the fact his wife (Kate Lyn Sheil) also became possessed while they were married, and although he's able to exorcise her demon, she ends up leaving him and refuses to let him see their child. Broken and struggling for answers, Kyle teams up with a local priest (Philip Glenister) to find out why these instances of possession continue to follow him.
In a show that's basically about a town-wide struggle between good and evil, it wouldn't be surprising if themes of religion and demons ended up coming off as heavy-handed. Thankfully in the same way that The Walking Dead is a show that puts its focus on the fascinating interactions of its main characters rather than the zombies, Outcast manages to cut through the stringy, tar-like demons; brutal exorcism scenes; and a possible appearances from the Devil himself to be something that somewhat resembles reality. It works because it feels like it could be happening next door, whether you want to believe in demons or not.
