This week’s Outcast, “The Damage Done,” was the first episode that didn’t specifically feature a demonic possession (even the flashback was short). It instead focused on a different type of possession, the one the past can hold over us.

Megan tried to buy her husband and her family out of trouble by paying off her childhood rapist Donny, but rather than get him to go away without filing charges, it was the impetus for him to pursue them. It wasn’t enough for him to come back and make Megan re-experience the pain of her childhood by trying to get her to accept a false sense of responsibility for his actions, he needs to ruin her financially and send her husband to jail. Remember, he isn’t possessed by the devil, but he is still evil. Cruelty and wickedness are not only the purview of the supernatural, which makes Donny feel even worse than the demons that make Rome, West Virginia so scary.

As a result, Megan realized she will never really be free of Donny, short of finally using the gun that feels as though it will be fired sooner than later. Of course, as Mark pointed out, Megan has been carrying the pain from Donny’s assaults all these years in a way that won’t let her try to overcome it (if she even can), in that kitchen scene that displayed just how great Wrenn Schmidt has been in the role of Megan.

The real question now is how much past damage will result in new damage. It happened to Reverend Anderson, where very literal damage via his new chest tattoo, combined with the anniversary of a terrible tragedy in town, led to him exploding in a fit of madness. At least that’s how it appeared to the townsfolk.

Kyle was right — even though he and the Reverend are fighting something very real and terrible, they need to be smart about how they go about doing this work. It’s just that the Reverend’s failures until this point, and the damage that failure has caused, makes it so he can’t see the pragmatic reasons for working in more anonymity. He might end up being the side of good’s worst enemy if he can’t forget the past.

Anonymity is what had prevented Allison from facing the truth about her past, but by finally learning that it was her, and not her husband, that had attacked their daughter, she too had to face the truth, and it led to–what can only be a mistake going forward–her leaving Amber with Kyle.

So this episode wasn’t about the pain from the past, it was about how you respond and deal with it today. Only Kyle, the person who somehow is connected to all of this damage, seemed equipped to handle it. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing for everyone going forward, but it feels like there is a lot more damage to come, even from those that aren’t possessed by demons.

Now just a couple of last thoughts before we slink back into the shadows like a black goo hell spawn…

— I was just as stunned as you guys to learn that Ogden wasn’t possessed. I figured both he and his wife were suffering from it equally. It will be interesting to see how much of her possession is responsible for his unsavory actions, of which there are now even more questions.

— That scene in the barbershop between Sidney and Anderson is one of my favorites. Hopefully Brent Spiner and Philip Glenister have many more scenes together, though with less human skin inscriptions.

— Is it possible Ogden is possessed, but is so evil he can overcome touching Kyle? I don’t think so, but definitely worth keeping an eye out for the rest of the way.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Talk about it with us in the comments below.

Images: Cinemax