A&E’s Damien
Season 1, Episode 3: “The Deliverer”
Directed by Guillermo Navarro
Written by Ryan C. Coleman

* For a review of the previous episode, “Second Death” – click here
* For a review of the next episode, “The Number of a Man” – click here

As Ann Rutledge (Barbara Hershey) leads Damien Thorn (Bradley James) back towards his past, the memories, and his seat on the throne as Antichrist, Glen Mazzara’s Damien moves to the next chapter, “The Deliverer”, and one can only hope things get more macabre, more wild from here on in.
After escaping a near stabbing, Damien is really on the radar. Detective James Shay (David Meunier) is also on the case of the dead professor, torn apart by the dogs. Well it’s no secret how it all comes together. Trouble’s around the corner for Shay now, too. The hounds of Hell are lurking around his office. Will he find himself at the wrong end of the Antichrist’s wrath? All the threads of Shay’s investigation lead back to Damien – the deaths, the attempted stabbing. Their paths will crash together soon.

The flood of memories from Damien’s past aren’t coming easy. He recalls essentially killing his mother: “This is a murder weapon,” he says describing his childhood tricycle. He remembers the governess who killed herself, Ms. Baycroft, all of it. All the while, Ann tells him of a group which protects him, and has for quite some time. Damien seems to believe, as far as he was nearly killed because of some mad belief. But it’s all a shock to his system, like it would be for any rational human being. He doesn’t really want anything to do with it, particularly after Ann gets a little creepy on him.
Simone Baptiste (Megalyn E.K.) is seeking out help in regards to the notebook her sister left behind. All the talk of Satan, “the Book of Revelations” and more. A priest only shoos her away by saying there’s nothing to it. As she leaves, Simone sees a statue of the Virgin Mary start bleeding from a heart full of swords. Then, it’s gone again. Yikes. That can’t be any good.
Damien’s diving in deep trying to track down hospital records. Likely hoping to discover the origins of his birth. Then he’s also stuck on Ann, the relics of his childhood, the fact she bought up a ton of his work. Partner Amani Golkar (Omid Abtahi) thinks there’s a ton of weird shit happening, too, but can’t get on board with Ann being a stalker. Furthermore, Damien shows him the pictures of the old Syrian woman in the background of his other pictures. Yet Amani’s only concerned with their work, and Damien’s mental health. He is obviously a good friend. Though, will that thread wear thin?

Finally we’re introduced to John Lyons (Scott Wilson). He and Damien are “old pals” from when the latter was a part of the White House world. We also get bits to fill in story between The Omen and Damien: Omen II; Lyons mentions Damien left the White House simply because it wasn’t a conducive environment to raising a young boy. Makes sense. But that’s part of what’s making this series solid heading into each following episode. They use lots of clips, which started annoying me earlier. But now, with Lyons and his character, they’re adding bits and pieces to the background of this mythology, and that’s interesting. Aside from that, Damien gets clues as to what’s happening around him out of Lyons – particularly, that Ann Rutledge is a scary lady.
Simone is starting to slip. Well, not really. But outwardly, to Amani now, it’s looking like she’s “grasping at straws“, yet we know the truth. She is beginning to see the light; the dark light of the Antichrist.
Well now we’re also seeing Lyons and Rutledge together. Is Lyons a part of this super secret group? Seems that is the case. “I brought you in,” he tells Ann. John wants Damien under lock and key, unimpressed with her work thus far. “Do you know how much blood I‘ve spilled keeping him safe?” Ann questions. Apparently there’s no more room for Ann in Lyons’ plans. I enjoy this angle because it speaks to the nature of the Antichrist, how big corporations and secretive societies might try to use his presence as a way to influence world events, politics, economy, who knows what else. Plus, it gives us more to latch onto other than just Damien; even though he’s interesting enough.

Lyons: “This Damascus woman is the sign we‘ve been waiting for”

I also love the investigative nature of Damien’s storyline so far. He’s digging deep and hard into his origins. So there’s a mystery angle to the whole series here in the first few episodes. But Ann is working her own games on the side, too. She sets up a situation where Damien ends up chasing her successor; right into the street, down to the subway. She plays both sides to create a situation where the Antichrist ends up saving a child, before inadvertently causing death as the man he chases ends up shredded to bits on an escalator. Savage. Nasty. Dig it. A bit of gruesomeness added to this A&E series, after a couple mild horror moments in the previous episodes (aside from the throat chomping at the jaws of dogs). Of course Ann hears of it back at the office, faking sympathy and gloating in her latest victory.
Note: the idea of fate and free will come in here plenty, as Damien fights off his destiny/legacy as the Antichrist while trying to be a good person, saving people, and all the while condemning himself for not saving everybody.

Damien: “It seems wherever I go, death follows.”

Quick enough, Detective Shay meets a hound from Hell. I expected it. Although, wasn’t sure if Shay would make it out alive.
On a lighter note, Ann brings Damien some food and now they’re all buddy-buddy again. She’s incredibly dedicated to him, wanting him to accept his position as Antichrist. She pushes him, lightly, towards it every chance possible. He talks about some of the terrible, hideous things he’s seen; the pictures he took, et cetera, in some of the vicious places of the world. “The fields were filled with the screams of the dying,” he recounts with obvious tears welling around his eyes. The story involves a pregnant woman and a disgusting act, a whopping revelation from his time in the fields as a war photographer. “The evil you felt that night, that you always feel, that you keep running away from – it comes from inside of you,” Ann tells him. An all around spooky scene, with plenty of meaty, unsettling dialogue between Ann and Damien. Crazier is the masochistic weirdness of Ann, sporting cuts in the form of 666 on her inner thigh. Wow, just… wow.
The finale is super unnerving, with Ann feeling Damien’s birthmark right after cutting a fresh 666 into her flesh over the last one. It’s all overwhelming for her, as she nearly orgasms from the thrill.

Damien: “Guess there is a God after all”
Ann: “Not God; something else.”

What an episode. Mazzara’s series is getting better by the episodes. Let’s hope this continues in the next one, “The Number of a Man” – stay with me, friends and fellow fans.