Z is for Zombies
When Father Mulvehill, David's teacher and current exorcist, begins spontaneously bleeding from his back in class, David insists he let the team perform an evaluation of him, even as his exorcisms of Leland progress.
Kristen's daughter Lila and her friend, Alex Matellus, become suspicious of several figures they see exhibiting zombie-like behavior around their houses after dark, and try to investigate, discovering it is connected to Alex's father, Brandon.
Ben insists that he is fine after his traumatic near-death experience in the basement, and refuses to take time off.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Absence of Evidence: Ben, upon examining Mulvehill's computer, finds that his email inbox has been wiped clean, suggesting there was something Mulvehill definitely didn't want them to find. He has to resort to a hacker's trick to blindly email the last person Mulvehill contacted, hoping it's related to the case. It turns out to be his Loan Shark.
- Ambiguous Situation: The bleeding from Mulvehill's back without any wounds. It could be, as he claims, that he is spontaneously bleeding from his pours. It could also be from injuries sustained from his dealings with a violent loan shark, and the new bleeding is because he is accidentally breaking open the scabs. He never lets the team examine if there are any wounds or not on his back.
- Batman Gambit: Sister Andreas ploy with the holy water requires that David wouldn't accidentally spill some on himself while throwing it at Leland, AND, that neither Leland or David would notice the strong smell of ammonia coming from said "water".
- Brand X: Amazon, ahem "CongoRun", is an online distribution hub famous for its efficient deliveries, and infamous for its abusing labor practices and union-busting policies. It's even said to be one of Amazon's key competitors.
- Full-Circle Revolution: Brandon's union organizing—possibly with the help of Miss Marie's potions—gets him noticed at CongoRun and in turn gets him Mr. Hamlin's job. As a result, now he's the one barking orders at the laborers while he works from home.
- The Gambling Addict: Father Mulvehill eventually reveals that he was once this, but was in recovery until he discovered online poker, which caused his relapse.
- Holy Burns Evil: Invoked. During Leland's second of three exorcisms, Sister Andrea arrives at David's request, to bring some order to the proceedings. When Mulvehill is mysteriously incapacitated, she hands David a bottle of holy water and directs him to complete the ritual. He promptly sprinkles it on Leland, and it visibly burns Leland on contact, much to David and Leland's astonishment, and the latter flees in terror. Andrea later is seen discreetly emptying the bottle back into a jug of Ammonia.
- Magical Negro: Mostly played straight with Miss Marie, the mystical shopkeeper who Lila and Alex consult for help with Brandon's condition. She ticks most of the boxes, with the exception that she is actively helping fellow people of color (Alex, Brandon, and her mother), with Lila just along for the ride.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Two big ones:
- Did the two-part potion Alex and Lila use on Brandon and his boss actually result in Brandon's life being saved from a toxic gas leak, his boss getting fired, and Brandon taking his place? Or is it just a hell of a coincidence. The kids definitely believe it is the former.
- Father Mulvehill collapsing during Leland's second exorcism. Is he actually being overcome by something supernatural occurring, or was part of Leland's blackmail scheme an instruction for him to collapse at a specific moment. The fact that Leland immediately reveals to David after the collapse, but still during the ritual, that he knows Mulvehill has been compromised (and taunts him with it), would seem to suggest the latter, but it isn't spelled out.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: If we are to believe Miss Marie, Lila and Alex's efforts backfired horribly. Brandon has recovered from being a "zombie", but he has now taken the position of his boss, the figurative Slave-Driver, given up his union-forming ideals, and if anything has become even worse than his predecessor, as he can do his job remotely and has even less accountability.
- Nightmare Fetishist: Lila and Alex both love Zombie movies, and become intrigued when they think they spot a few real-life zombies in their neighborhood.
- No Name Given:
- Miss Marie is only named in the credits.
- Alex's mother is only credited as "Mrs. Matellus".
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Leland freaks the fuck out when David burns him with "holy water", and flees in tears and terror. It's quite satisfying to watch.
- Our Zombies Are Different: Miss Marie explains the origin of the zombie myth. It's just a piece of propaganda from the slave-masters the old sugar plantations in Haiti. The slaves, who's lives were complete misery and without hope, would frequently commit suicide to escape torment. To combat this, the slave masters spread the story of the zombie, saying that if a slave killed themself, they would be reanimated as a zombie and be forced to continue their back-breaking labor for eternity.
- The Reveal: Two-fold:
- Father Mulvehill, contrary to his claims, is seriously in debt to a violent loan shark, and...
- He's completely aware that Leland is faking his reactions to the exorcism, as Leland is aware of his debts, and blackmailing him to pretend to go along with the exorcism.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Lila and Alex's B-story this episode. While they do help Brandon recover from his zombified condition, he is now an active participant in abusing his fellow CongoRun colleagues, to an even worse extent that he was abused, and possibly destroyed all hope of them unionizing. He and Alex's mother also don't seem to see anything wrong with this in the slightest, just being grateful the horrors of CongoRun aren't happening to them. To add insult to injury, Alex and Lila's shared love of zombie-movies has been completely soured by the experience.
- Take That!: The episode is a scathing review of Amazon and its reputation for abusing employees.
- Technically-Living Zombie: There is nothing fantastical about the quote unquote zombies in this episode. They are just CongoRun workers who are so emotionally and physically burnt-out that they are barely capable of speech, and shuffle along because of untreated blisters on their feet.
- Trapped by Gambling Debts: Mulvehill is both on the line for $40,000 to a Loan Shark and Leland is blackmailing him by threatening to reveal his addiction to his superiors.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: The assessors work on Father Mulvehill's case, culminating with the exorcism of Leland. Meanwhile, Kristen's daughter and her friend Alex suspect something is going on with Alex's dad.
