Ben leaps into a priest during the onset of the Great Depression on Halloween night in 1930.

Some people may have little faith in this new version of the series. Me, I think it’s doing a solid job and shows glimmers of brilliance. The main question remains how well it will fulfill its potential.

All kinds of genre-hopping goes on this week. Supernatural suspense? Family drama? Religious thriller? Victorian horror? Murder mystery? Science or occult? The show touches on all of them. The episode ultimately makes up its mind and deftly ties up all the plot points.

As far as requisite holiday episodes go, this one entertains and builds adequate suspense. The setup and spooky atmosphere leave no doubt the show is playing to the season. The guest cast shines less brightly than last week’s. Story focus never really gives them their due. Still, they fare well enough despite the writing giving them little more to play than archetypes. They also shine less brightly because the longer the episodes goes on, the more difficult it is to actually see them. The entire episode could have benefitted a great deal from lighting. I hate not being able to see the action.

The lightless malaise doesn’t afflict the regular cast. Addison and Ben share some nice exchanges. Addison also gets some nice moments with Jenn and with Ian. The sense of colleagues growing closer and forming a family deepens, and adds needed warmth and emotional resonance to the show. The bulk of their tasks this time deal with helping Ben ­– or trying to – with only the slightest attention given to the overarching mystery. The metaplot continues to teeter between intriguing and irritating (and yawn-evoking). Everything depends on where it ends up.

A midseason break starts after next week’s episode, so we won’t see any resolution any time soon. The series did just pick up extra episodes, though, which always bodes well.

Verdict: Lots of good stuff in the episode is overshadowed by literal shadow, and by the ending. 6/10

Rigel Ailur