TV review: Damien S1, episode 2 (Second Death)

Last Updated on July 21, 2021

PLOT: Damien (Bradley James) begins to look in the Bible for answers, a mysterious assassin is on his tail while Ann Rutledge (Barbara Hershey) reveals more of her cards to Damien.

REVIEW: Although the first episode didn’t knock my socks off, I decided to come back and give DAMIEN another go at it and I am happy that I did. Don’t get me wrong, the show still has its problems; namely “we the audience” waiting for Damien to catch up about him being the Anti-Christ (like seriously dude, you haven’t pieced together yet, what is it gonna take? A billboard?) and Damien aside, the paper thin characterization of the side characters. On that, only one-question matters to a shmuck like me: Was I entertained? And the answer is: yes I was. Hence, Episode 2 will lead me to Episode 3… I'm in!

Damien meets his number 1 fan! 😉

I’ve personally become somewhat of a Christianity buff over the years; meaning I have a fascination with scripture, with old churches/art/statues and the history behind Christianity hence a show like DAMIEN which dips its toe in it of course appeals to me. I loved the religious imagery here (all about the Christ statue bleeding bits), Damien’s hate speech about God was some intense shit (Bradley James so owned it there) and much like in THE OMEN , the film this show is based on, they keep going back to the Bible. 

Speaking of THE OMEN, this episode kept up its trend of flash-backing to scenes from Donner’s 1976 original while also emulating some plot devices from its source material. Again, the Hell Hounds were afoot here, Damien reacted badly to a church, the daggers that can “kill” Damien were unleashed (THE OMEN III style) and the finale of the episode was all about winking at the fans in terms of the film. I had a big smile on my face! All I’ll say is: the tricycle.  Add to all that a slick visual style by director Ernest Dickerson (yes the talented man that brought us JUICE and DEMON KNIGHT) and a scene stealing showcase by Barbara Hershey and you get a fun 40 minutes of TV!

Barbara Hershey IS The Scene-Stealer!

A note on Hershey if I may. The lass not only looked fantastic but she was obviously having a hoot with the role! That bit where she randomly stomped the head of that dying crow for example had me in stitches and her overall sexy yet unnerving Damien fan-girl vibe just makes her a delight to gawk at. I’m really digging her role and I hope she’s in the show for the whole of the season, cause she's rocking it! On a negative note; the episode did leave me with a couple of questions. First and foremost why was it that Damien was able to go in a church in the first episode to bust Christ’s chops but was not able to stay in a church in this second episode? Was it because he stayed longer in this church than the last one? I shouldn't be asking…

Moreover, why did that chick fire him and his partner from their job right there at their friend’s funeral? Maybe I blinked or scratched my crotch and missed something but I didn’t get the motivation for that. On the whole though; this was a better episode than the Season opener and I expect that to be the trend: the show will keep getting better after each episode. Lets see if I am right!