Kristen’s admissions confirm the suppositions the audience has been making, and color the entire episode with foreshadowing. Everyone is swimming in a downward current. Even Dr. Boggs is at a crossroads usually reserved for blues musicians looking for the perfect guitar lick. The hellhound on Dr. Boggs’ trail sings in French, and makes him cut his hand while shaving, which somehow sounds naughty. Even the murder Kristen witnessed, a fetus being torn from the mother by the father, is mirrored in the case the team investigates when stockholders rip out body parts to pay back the interest.
Evil likes giving an illusion that incidents come together by chance, and in “The Demon of Money” all the disparate elements assemble like the monster in Dr. Boggs’ book may, and converge into a pincer by the time it bleeds out. The monster-of-the-week is a fiduciary concern, a shadowy figure which haunts and taunts anyone who makes money off a certain stock. The company is called DF and its logo matches the sigil of one of the unholy families. The mystic Grace Ling (Li Jun Li) fills in missing pieces of the demonic family tree after meeting Kristen’s mom Sheryl (Christine Lahti) at a family gathering, which leads to the vaguely unforeseen events of the climax and Monsignor Matthew Korecki’s (Boris McGiver).
The monster of the week case itself gets familial. Ben (Aasif Mandvi) calls in his sister, Karima (Sohina Sidhu), for an appraisal and inadvertently brings her into the curse. It is fairly obvious she’s going to do the day trade from the moment we learn she has a portfolio, so it comes as no real shock when the dividends try to reap her. The DF case is interestingly covered. We see the team do the legwork, interviewing victims, chasing leads, comparing video captures, but Grace gives the crucial piece to the puzzle.
A pen with a sigil leads to the initial stockholder, who brings a collective gasp from the team. The makeup effects are very realistic, quite horrifying, and cringeworthy, but it is the pained looks on the faces of the interrogators which provide the atmosphere.
Ben gets solo reaction shots when he is being stalked by the murky DF collection agent, and when the young investor is chased off his yacht, Top of the World, in the middle of the night. Kristen is at her most discerning when she points out “The Ring is not a B-movie,” and at her most astute when she finds the perfect solution for the dicey stock tips. A forensic psychology pro for the team, her true expertise is in revenge.
Father David’s (Mike Colter) relationship with Grace Ling is vastly different than it is with Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin). Both spiritual visionaries, however, share a similar commitment. Ling throws herself into the priest’s caring arms and general concerns with full trust, and no doubts. David is the one resolve she has in an environment completely out of her control. Colter brings a touch of mirth to each encounter, allowing David to self-consciously enjoy such a deep and personal connection with an almost exalted being. It is also somewhat encouraging that after Victor LeConte (Brian d’Arcy James) backs David’s appeal for Grace’s personal space, the rest of the assembled holy men show him the respect of seeking his counsel.
