Vatican III
Bridget Farrell shows every sign of being possessed. The demon, if there is a demon, goes by the name "Howard", and claims to be the killer in a serial killing case of young Latin boys. Kristen is caught in the middle because her detective friend Mira Byrd provides her with details of the case, details that indicate Bridget does have inside knowledge of the killings. Kristen's refusal to inform Bridget as a suspect while she and the team are still assessing her state of mind makes her a person of interest. Kristen does call Mira to let her know where the bodies of two victims are buried. At the same time, while Kristen, David, and Ben question whether Bridget is demonically possessed, they also begin to doubt that she's guilty of the murders. Kristen suspects that she is being coerced to take the blame, a suspicion that's supported when Ben sees her husband Dwight make an anonymous phone call to the police department. Visiting the Farrell household, David sees Dwight retrieving souvenirs from the killings from a space behind the wall. Dwight attacks David, but David manages to subdue him.
Leland Townsend witnesses Sebastian, a shy young hacker introduced in "3 Stars", attempt to make a date with a friendly barista. Calling the young woman "a whore for tips" Leland goads Sebastian into taking gross revenge on her. Under the guise of confidence-building therapy he also guides Sebastian to a misogynistic 8chan group called "the Incel Army." He begins to warp his patient's personality and behavior.
A trio of envoys from the Vatican grill the team on the Grace Ling case. They cause some displeasure by interrogating Kristen's departure from the Catholic Church and Ben's Muslim background, but David gets the meeting back on track by insisting that the Church authorities refrain from getting too personal with his colleagues. They are allowed to glimpse at an ancient document that seems to detail a hierarchy of demons. Kristen recognizes a symbol within as a picture drawn in one of the diaries that Leland gave her daughters.
Tropes
- Excrement Statement: Sebastian horrifies the barista by giving her a package after he comes out of the men's room. Do the math.
- Frame-Up: Exorcism subject Bridget has knowledge of three child murders, and claims a demon named "Howard" made her do it. But Kristen's husband Dwight is the real murderer, and turns her in to the police.
- He-Man Woman Hater: The incel support group, to a non-comedic and frightening degree.
- Shout-Out:
- Kristen's cop friend Mira sees David, a priest, in Kristen's kitchen. After he leaves she says, "What are you doing, Fleabag?"
- A very dark one when Howard claims to have buried two "scarecrows" at the corner of Wizard and Paz, as a joke.
- Skewed Priorities: The trio of envoys seem to be less concerned with Grace Ling's situation as they are with the team's moral and religious "failings." At one point one of them, apropos of nothing, asks Kristen if she uses birth control.
- Voice of the Legion: Bridget speaks in a manly/bestial growl while "possessed."
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: During the interview that raises Kristen and David's doubt about her guilt, Bridget has a hefty amount of upchuck on her lips.
