[Review] The Dead Lands Episode 4 Puts a Spin on Exorcisms

It’s another Thursday and that means another episode of Shudder’s The Dead Lands, the Maori fantasy series that dares to put so many tropes and genres into one blender and come out really fun.

Episode four, “The Exorcism of the Boy,” is almost entirely focused on – wait for it – exorcising a demon from the boy who knows who broke the world. Exorcism movies are their own sub-genre to an extent (they usually have some form of “exorcism” in the title), with well-known story beats and character movements. These are present to some extent in this episode, like the running doubt that the Boy might not even be truly possessed, but so many of the stereotypes are thankfully missing here.

Of course, there’s no reciting biblical verse or any sort of Christian theology anywhere. These characters aren’t Christian and this story takes place long before The Bible was conceived. It’s seeing how this particular culture deals with an exorcism that breathes fresh air into the story.

But this episode isn’t bereft of the ongoing tension between Waka and Mehe. All of the boiling contempt from last week is exposed and dealt with but not entirely resolved. I appreciate that nothing’s tied up with a Danny Fuller-style emotional chat. Two heroes with the same end goals can’t quite trust each other even though they want to. It’s very simple drama, but well executed.

Still, I’m ready for the story to return to Mehe’s tribe (and not just because I want more of her smoldering brother, Rangi…but kind of). We’re halfway through the series and it feels like there’s forward momentum working now. Our heroes know who the villain is, so it’s time to recoup at home base and plan their next move.

I wonder if the series would have benefited by premiering two episodes at a time. Episodes one and two were released together and it feels like three and four belong together. Waiting between episodes makes me feel like this side adventure has lasted a lot longer than it should have. I’m curious if the rest of the season will be broken into two-episode sub-stories as well.

Either way, I’m looking forward to the rest of Waka and Mehe’s adventures in Aoteroa.