Father Jonascu is on Skid Row handing out blankets to the bums. The police roll in and starting roughing up the crowd. Jonascu is knocked to the ground in the chaos. A cop asks if he is alright, but when he turns to the cop, he sees a demon in a police uniform. Looking a second later, he sees a human cop.
He tells his assistant he thinks he is losing his mind. Understandable, because whoever heard of a priest believing in something supernatural. One of the bums knows that Jonascu saw the demon and begs him to tell others. Father Jonascu will not offer this slight comfort.
Father Jonascu says that he is considering a reassignment, and this is a man who knows what he wants:
Jonascu, when is life is on the line, opts for a scientific reason for his vision. He is diagnosed as having a brain tumor. He takes this as a cause rather than effect. He was fine until he saw the demon, he reasons.
During his next sermon, he sees a woman in the back of the church who is a demon. Seconds later she appears human again, then a demon again. Knowing she has been busted, she runs out. Jonascu gives chase, but collapses.
He begins telling his doctor about the hallucinations, then the doctor plunges a syringe into his neck. The doctor wants to introduce some friends — he opens the door and the demon cop and demon woman are waiting. He turns back to the doctor, who reveals himself to also be a demon, although he says he does not like that label — perhaps the D-word.
The woman says they are “the way,” and that all our religious teachings have descended from them. They have come to deliver the power to heal to humanity. They want Jonascu to be the human face to deliver this gift; understandably.
The lady D-word grabs Jonascu’s head. She cures his tumor, but the transference kills her. Apparently there are no young boys in the hospital, so he lays hands on a young girl injured in an auto accident, and instantly heals her. Once the press is notified, his life becomes very busy as he heals hundreds.
Jonascu’s assistant overhears the D-words discussing their real mission — to siphon off earth’s atmosphere. He is dealt with appropriately. For some reason, it takes Jonascu a long time to figure out he might be able to resurrect his assistant.
Turns out, he was only “mostly dead” and Jonascu brings him back. Ironic since the doctor is played by Prince Humperdinck. The two priests confront the D-words.
At this point, I got completely lost. Jonascu grabs the D-cop’s head, but the “healing” action somehow kills the alien. Does that mean the aliens can’t heal each other? Does that mean the aliens aren’t “normal”? That after removing the bad parts, there was nothing left? Seems a little racist. Then the D-doctor grabs the priest’s head; and the priest grabs the D-doctor’s head at the same time. As they struggle, the assistant priest jumps into the mix and grabs the D-doctor’s head. After a lot of sound and fury, Jonascu and the D-doctor are dead, and the assistant has the healing power. It took slow-motioning this a couple of times for me to get it.
In a long shot of the carnage on the altar of the church, we see the D-woman observing from the back of the church. But wasn’t she killed after transferring her power? Does that mean the D-doctor and Jonascu are going to come back to life? It’s one thing to leave the story open-ended, but you have to establish some rules.
Once it was clear this was going to be another religion / sci-fi hybrid, I feared another White Light Fever caliber fiasco. Luckily it was handled better this time, and turned out to be a good episode.
Post-Post:
- Stuart Gillard also directed Sandkings.
- The little girl healed by Jonascu also played Samantha Mulder.
- Etymology of Skid Row. The tree-dragging scenario sounds a little too neat, but who knows.
I don’t know who wrote this review but womeveri did has a slanted view of prists and their misson in life. The writers sarcastic opinions are evident in every sentence and makes this review worthless. Biast reviews have brought scam on the reviwer as well as the people he or she works for. The worst!!!
Sorry for my misspelled words. I don’t see a way to edit my post…. so……
It doesn’t feel like this reviewer grasped any nuances in the story, nor paid any attention to the method the demon/aliens used to kill the humans who saw them; Jonascu was told that the homeless man and the younger priest both died of embolisms. Jonascu deduces that since they(the demon/aliens) healed his brain tumor, and were aware that the young priest and the homeless man both knew about their presence on Earth, then the two embolisms were most likely not coincidental.
It also is no significant stretch of the imagination that the d/a woman did not die at all, but they merely LIED to the priest about her ‘death’, so as to make their ‘gift’ seem more benevolent and significant.
Going back to the first point; we see that the d/a power can be used to kill or injure, as they’ve done so twice. Why is it confusing to the reviewer that the priest, who was given the same power, could use it the same ways? Also, since Jonascu healed the younger priest, it makes sense that the younger priest now has the power as well; this transference of power along with the healing was established when Jonascu was first healed of the brain tumor and gained the power.
Finally, no one spontaneously resurrects at any point. The D/A woman never died, it was a ride to ingratiate themselves with Father Jonascu. Jonascu is dead, the doctor is dead, the younger priest still lives and has the power. Not difficult to understand when watching with a modicum of attention. Rules were solidly established, and the somewhat open ending allowed for these creatures to appear again in later episodes.
Yeah, I know this is another necroing, since the review is 6 years old…but it came up in google when I was searching for a list of related episodes, and this review is just sorely lacking.
On the other hand, I have learned the word necroing, so it was all worth it. Thanks.
Also, were there really 33 other potatosacks?
Len Cariou (noted mostly for his Broadway/musical theatre experience) is one of those understated actors whose work usually flies under the radar. His protagonist/priest allows for legitimate discussion between good vs. evil, church hegemony, is healing mental or spiritual, or both?
Unfortunately, what weighs down this episode is the actor who plays his protegé: he is positively miscast, and positively awful. Every scene between him and his mentor, Father Jonascu is painful to watch – I can only wonder what a better actor could have contributed to both the script and the action. Any other actor. And yes, the ending leaves more questions than answers – which is fine if you’re engaged in philosophical debate about religion, but as a plot point/denouement, is an ‘abomination’.