A is for Angel.
The team investigate a construction worker named Raymond Strand, who claims to be possessed by the Archangel Michael.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Ambiguous Ending: The fate of Ashley Strand, Raymond's wife. Raymond claims that she lost faith and Michael turned her into a pillar of salt, in reference to the biblical story of Lott's wife. He shows even shows the team said pile of salt. However, there is no real way to test this, as Raymond was the only witness and salt cannot exactly be tested to see if it was once a pregnant woman. On the other hand, Raymond's abusive behavior led to Kristin putting Ashley in touch with a shelter for battered women, and it's entirely possible she just fled there, and Raymond's delusion caused him to believe she was turned into salt.
- Archangel Michael: Raymond claims to be visited by him, and works on a giant mural of him inside his house. Later Michael speaks through Raymond, and seemingly begins acting through him as well. David also experiences a vision of the angel.
- Artistic License – Biology: Sister Andrea teaches David a method of meditation that could help him speak with Michael. This method involves setting a metronome to a specific tempo, and then letting your heartbeat match it. This is not feasible, as human beings do not have that degree of control over their heartbeats. It is possible to set a metronome to your heartbeat, but not the reverse.
- Black-and-White Insanity: Michael, both when talking to David and through Raymond, displays this. David argues vehemently against this line of thinking, as it implies the whole world needs to die in the Second Bowl, despite there being many genuinely good people. Michael doesn't like this view at all.
- Camera Spoofing: Invoked. Kristin wonders if Leland has pulled this trick on them, due to his weird movements on the webcam. Ben refutes this because the shadow movements on the wall behind Leland in the video never repeat.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: Leland returns to his office after dumping Sheryl to find she has written "Die you stupid pig fuck" on his wall in (possibly her own) blood.
- The Nose Knows: Sister Andrea immediately and literally smells that something is off about Leland.
- Forced to Watch: Or listen, in David's case. As part of his priest training, he is instructed to hear a real confession for the first time, and his superiors force him to specifically hear Leland's, who uses the opportunity to try to torture David with a story about Julia.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: Leland finally reveals he was just using Sheryl to hurt Kristen and breaks up with her.
- Imagine Spot: Leland imagines stabbing the wedding planner in the eye with his and Sheryl's cake topper.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Leland is so impressed with Sheryl vandalizing his office with (possibly) her own blood that he tries to make up with her (also realizing alienating her would be counterproductive to his goals). She doesn't take the bait.
- Internal Reveal: David delaying Leland's exorcism causes him to snap and Rage Quit his entire relationship with Sheryl, and he coldly informs her that he despises her and was only using her to hurt Kristin, while viciously insulting her.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Leland tries to make a show of enjoying cake tasting with Sheryl, and even tries to express enjoying the buttercream cake, only to have the wedding planner immediately shoot this choice down, claiming buttercream isn't good for a summer wedding. Leland snidely snaps back that she really shouldn't have given them the buttercream option if it wouldn't work.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: David is ready to believe Raymond is possessed by Michael. Ben, in contrast, hypothesizes that Raymond overdosed on scopolamine patches (used to treat vertigo for his crane operating job) which can cause psychological effects when used to excess, and they triggered an underlying mental condition. The episode leans towards the former.
- No Delays for the Wicked: Averted. Leland clearly thinks this will be the case with his exorcism, but David smugly informs him that, no, it will be delayed by potentially months because their exorcist is out of town, and has an extensive backlog anyway. Leland doesn't take it well.
- The Reveal: Potentially. Leland claims to David during his confession that he was stalking David's deceased girlfriend Ashley when she was alive, and influenced her to commit suicide while she was dying of cancer. It's left completely ambiguous whether any of this is true, as Leland seems to have said it purely to screw wit David.
- Second Episode Introduction: David meets Sister Andrea, a no-nonsense nun living in his monastery, who seems to know more about the mysteries he is investigating than he does. She originally balks at helping him, but changes her mind after meeting Leland, whom she immediately recognizes as thoroughly evil and volunteers her help to David in deciphering Leland's version of the sigil map.
- Self-Harm: David squeezes his rosary hard enough to draw blood from his hand while hearing Leland's confession. Sister Andrea later chides David for trying to induce holy visions this way, telling him using pain to talk to God "is for tourists".
- Vagueness Is Coming: Raymond cryptically refers to "The Second Bowl". David's later vision of Michael warns him that the Second Bowl refers to a coming Apocalypse, will wipe out half of the world's population in preparation for a planned "rebirth", and shows him an image of the world on fire. He doesn't give any helpful details though.
