Spoilers. The great thing about six-part series is that there's rarely any excess fat. After a two-part opening, we're already at the penultimate tease for next week's finale! Episode 5 (why no titles, Mr. Ahearne?) finds Father Jacob (Martin Shaw) investigating a vision of the Virgin Mary by a Muslim teenager called Zaid Kopavic (Jamie Blackley), who is shown his dead father burning in Hell by the Marian apparition...Jacob helps Imam Ahmed (Hassani Shapi) investigate the event, which had the hallmarks of Christian iconography that goes against Zaid's religious upbringing. Both men believe the vision was actually a cruel trick by Satan (who can take many forms), and attempt to persuade Zaid that his father isn't really suffering in the afterlife. But the boy is adamant the Virgin Mary is real, and makes arrangements to convert to Catholicism.
Adding to the mystery, after delving into the Kopavic family history, Jacob finds startling evidence to suggest their background as Bosnian refugees who emigrated to the UK is tied to Michael's (Rick Warden) forgotten past as an Army soldier. Is Zaid's vision all part of a devilish scheme to possess Michael again? If so, can Jacob persuade Zaid that his vision is false, before Michael loses his soul forever?
A very interesting and compelling episode, for the most part. Written and directed by Joe Ahearne, it was well-executed and dramatically satisfying. It was also less reliant on gore and FX than past episodes, putting the onus on the human difficulties of the Kopavic's and Michael as their entwined histories were revealed. Jacob himself suffered some major setbacks, as he realized Michael (before he ever had the "excuse" of being possessed by a demon) was a cold-hearted soldier who murdered Zaid's father and raped his mother Sana (Bana Bajic) in front of her sons. Far from the innocent homeless man he's been presented to us as, it was a satisfying sting in the tail to realise Michael is a murdering rapist. This disclosure tipped Michael over the edge, too – viewing himself as a lost cause, despite Jacob's assurance that his soul can still be saved.
Elsewhere, Sister Ruth (Siobhan Finneran) visited Monsignor Vincenzo (Luigi Diberti) in jail – apparently setting up the finale, as she learns Vincenzo was framed by Jacob to pay for his other crimes, and appears to be amassing demonic support behind bars. Again, Ruth witnesses supernatural activity first-hand (possessed prisoners and the inexplicable shattering of glass), so I'm sure she'll be shoulder-to-shoulder with Jacob by next week. Her line in withering one-liners are always worth a chuckle, too: "I've got to get the guest room ready for the next psychopath."
Ruth also defended Jacob in front of Cardinal Bukovak (John Shrapnel) again, who himself participated in this episode's events to a greater extent, by providing assurance and support to Jacob when the demonic plan was revealed: a "reverse exorcism", required to save the life of Ahmed after Zaid takes a knife to his Imam's throat and demands an "anti-exorcism" to release his father from Hell. But, of course, the only escapee from Hell is going straight back into Michael, as intended all along.
Small things like the inter-faith co-operation were interesting and informative, as well. The Virgin Mary is an important part of both Islamic and Catholic faith and, despite their theological differences, both religions know Satan must be behind Zaid's vision. Seeing Imam Ahmed and Father Jacob work together to help the boy understand how he's being manipulated was a potent detail for me.
Overall, this was a tense and often gripping episode with some great performances and characteristically bizarre imagery (the live pig being pushed off a tower block was a particulate favourite – I'm sure no swine were harmed in the making), and a fantastic cliffhanger ending where Jacob essentially assists in Michael's suicide and is left having a fit on the chapel floor. This series has been about evil forces testing Jacob's faith to breaking point, and the usually stoical priest's coercion into desecrating his faith for the greater good chalked up an apparent victory for Satan by this episode's end. Next week's finale should be very interesting...
11 December 2008
BBC1, 9pm
Writer & Director: Joe Ahearne
Cast: Martin Shaw (Father Jacob), John Shrapnel (Cardinal Bukovak), Siobhan Finneran (Sister Ruth), Rick Warden (Michael), Luigi Diberti (Monsignor Vincenzo), Jamie Blackley (Zaid Kopavic), Hassani Shapi (Imam Ahmed), Patrick Knowles (Misal Kopavic) & Brana Bajic (Sana Kopavic)
