Welcome to our recap of Wicked Season 4 Episode 13. Sadly, this is the penultimate episode. You can also enjoy the discussion about the episode.
David declares that today is the last Mass as the building will be consecrated and sold. He found a note “written by a friend” in the front hall, asking to meet at their shrine.
Christine got teary-eyed as she told David, who admitted that it was weird that he felt closest to the two atheists in the building. As they pondered their final assessment, men arrived with ladders ready to demolish the place.
Father Cartagas from the Vatican is in David’s office. All the papers were gone, but he still had one last box. As it turns out, the Vatican didn’t shut them down; the archdiocese did.
Ben was surprised by their last case: an investigation into a professor they invited to join them for a consultation on quantum analysis. John Taupin. He is the world’s top theoretical physicist, a two-time Nobel Prize winner, and he uses a wheelchair. So, evil Stephen Hawking.
The Vatican has been conducting due diligence since Taupin once dabbled in the dark arts. Ben scoffed. Anyone interested in quantum theory is considered a wizard.
They have to meet with Taupin today and have it signed by Friday. Christine thought this was anticlimactic.
Taoping’s place is filled with whiteboards with many formulas written on them. Ben brought out their doppelgangers.
When Taupin saw them, he said they were here to discover his Satan-worshipping calendar. Ben expressed his admiration. This guy is a joker.
When Christian revealed why they were there – Taupin was acting erratically and screaming evil – his assistant Neil mentioned the “Five” who were working with Taupin on wave-particle duality Graduate student in sexual theory.
They set out to interview graduate students.
Kristen had a chance to talk to Taupin, who calls her a soft scientist because of her PhD. He was very rude, asked about her size and said he was hard on her. She told him to fuck off and he laughed.
Kristen wanted to know why they only talked to four of the five. Kristen found the fifth, Beverly, elsewhere. She mentioned Epstein and his crude behavior. She wouldn’t let him anywhere near the Vatican.
Ben laughs off Taupin’s behavior, much to Christine’s annoyance. It seems like a good idea to leave misogyny to the church.
Apparently, there was a sacred object in the vestibule. A small strip of the thigh bone of St. Joseph. No one knows. They never knew it existed. The guy just brushed it aside and told them to pack their bags and get ready for their next mission in a few days.
Sister Andrea saw the ghost stripping, peeing, and screwing on a bench. They cannot leave missing relics there.
David visited the Holy Land at designated times. He is greeted by Father Giovanni de Vita (Denis O’Hara). He is a security guard at the Vatican. David joked. So, I no longer have friends in the Vatican? DeVita asked David if he was angry at the church. David said he was disappointed.
DeVita said that while his anger can be forgiven, his treason cannot. He will be tested with 30 questions. DeVita said it was an honor. If he decides not to participate, he leaves. Gone from their sight, their love and God’s protection.
David put his hand on the glass while a guy wearing sunglasses put his hand on the glass. I guess he’s a human lie detector. The first question is about the last time David saw Leland. DeVita questioned his two-month answer.
David adjusted his answer to 16 days for remote viewing, and DeVita asked about Sixty. He was asked if he had stolen the Prevalian Codex (the spelling may be incorrect). David didn’t, but he did get a copy. To his knowledge, he had not given Leland a copy, nor had Christine.
Would David lie for Christine Bouchard? David wanted background. They won’t give it. Will he lie? Yes.
Ben was wandering around the house wearing a tinfoil hat when he got a call from Taupin. Taoping said that in his peripheral vision, there was something next to him. His voice became demonic. There is a being behind Ben. It looks like an alien from a 1950s movie, with the big red head and all.
“There are subliminal hints of sex and violence in this intro, but, of course, skip it”
In the middle of the night, Father Ignatius was awakened by a knocking in the foyer. This is Sister Andrea, digging holes in the bricks, looking for holy objects. Can’t you wait until morning? The sooner he picks up the hammer and helps her, the sooner he can get back to bed.
Father Ignatius’ hand got stuck in the hole, but he did retrieve the relic. St. Joseph’s silver disappeared. Maybe the mice figured it out.
David wanders around and discovers an apocalyptic painting. It’s grotesque and scary. In the center of the painting, a woman’s face opened its eyes, surprising David. A door opened and Leland walked in. David knocked him to the ground.
Leland said David shouldn’t see the painting. David wants to know why Leland left the entity. As he learns to see from the far side and steps into the worst possible situations, he leaves because the church seems no better than the monsters he steps into.
But he didn’t just leave. He became the opposition. Leland asked to be able to sit up, and David gave him a chair.
Leland said, “I share your belief in the great unseen truth. You know what exists beyond the physical world. This is the cross we all bear. “You are impatient,” David replied. “You chose evil.”
Leland says there is no evil. There is free will and God-given unbearable certainty and death. His only real gift is free will. We are free to do what we want.
If he finds it fun to do so, why not foment conflict, discontent and misery? As they watched each other from a distance, they left behind seeds. David had some of Leland’s evils, and Leland had some of David’s virtues.
The church did not want David to be watched from afar because he would have seen what Leland did – the opportunity for free will. He will undergo a human polygraph test and be flagged. If they couldn’t trust David, they would get rid of him.
David reports to DeVita, who is particularly interested in the painting. When David mentioned seeing Moses worshiping the burning bush, he turned his head. David thought there was nothing noteworthy there. He thought he had Leland’s trust. DeVita said he always trusted David.
When this is all over, will he be assigned to LeConte or Father Dominic again? DeVita said LeConte died, possibly from a heart attack. Father Dominic also died. But DeVita assures David they are not killers.
David looked up at his clone, who was kickboxing with hatred.
Leland cried while watching dog videos. He tries to get out of the situation by watching an argument.
Christine and Ben discuss Taupin’s behavior with him, which he claims is not his fault. Father Cartagus wondered if someone had hacked into Taupin’s voice box.
When Ben came home, Karima was at his house. She was curious about tinfoil. He admits he doesn’t know how or why it works, but since using it, his migraines have disappeared. When she said doctors were using gold ions to treat ALS symptoms, Ben called David. They need to apologize to Taupin.
David told Sister Andrea that he believed part of Leland was in him. He said he was tired of faith. Then she saw blood on his back. He lifted up his sweater to reveal what was on his spine. This is sin. He needs to repent.
Sister Andrea is present and discovers that Neil is a demon. He was no match for her, but after knocking him out, Taupin began bleeding from his orifices.
Neil tried to pin his face back together. It didn’t work very well, so he put on a mask. He prevented Taupin from getting an MRI because he had a neural pathway implanted in his brain. Ben mentioned that when Elon Musk implanted them in monkeys, they developed infections and things like that.
Father Ignatius was awakened again by the sound of knocking. This time, the sound came from inside the wall, not outside. Sister Andrea asked him to help her move a piece of furniture, and when she found a hole, she began to crawl through it. He stops her and she uses him as bait instead.
As they sat there, Dad said he was following the polls about those who did not follow God. The biggest religious belief now is no. Church attendance has dropped by nearly 30%. He was nearing the end of his life and he felt like a fool. He couldn’t discuss God with anyone unless they looked at him like he was a little dim or had been dropped on his head.
Sister Andrea said God does not see us as atoms, but as who we are. That’s why they believe it.
Sounds began to come from the cave. She told him to close his eyes. A demon begins to sniff and crawls out of the hole toward Father Ignatius’s bait. She stabs the demon, but her father cannot see it.
Leland is booking for Sixty. David knocked on the door. Could he be attacking him again? David’s whole demeanor was different. Leland wonders if his agent is missing. How does he think the church maintains its mystery?
Leland loved Christine. He just wanted to force her to curse God so he could defile her. But what if he lets go? David wouldn’t bother Leland. Leland believed he should leave the clergy. This is a good deal. If he left the priesthood…would Christine be saved?
David clones Leland’s phone and gives it to DeVita. DeVita wanted to report the situation, but David refused. He’s done. Find someone else. David’s transfer is complete. He was reassigned to De Vita as security guard for the Vatican in Rome.
Sister Andrea puts on rubber gloves and scares the devil. She sprayed him with holy water and his skin smoked. He admitted that he ate the relic as she released her hard load into him. But he didn’t expect her to cut open his intestines to retrieve it.
Ben visits Professor Tao Ping. Taoping is doing experiments on his own. He uses demon mode and uploads it to the cloud. Technology has made heaven irrelevant. He asks Ben to join him in the cloud.
In the end, they decided to recommend Taupin to work with the Vatican. In return for their hard work, they received three small bottles of olive oil from the Pope’s vineyard.
Christine was devastated when she learned that David was leaving for Rome in four days. She thought it was mean, so she grabbed the olive oil and stormed off.
She was reading Surviving Separation in bed when she heard Timothy’s voice. She decided to watch her doppelganger enjoy life.
Ben was also looking at his clone.
David sat in the unconsecrated church and meditated. Sister Andrea joined him. They are saying goodbye. Sister Andrea is retiring to a quiet retreat upstate where they visited last season. He almost said she might like it, but then he reconsidered.
The nun told him not to let the church misuse his talents. God guides the church, but also causes it to fail. She tells him to repent every time he helps an entity. He wondered how she knew he was helping them. She made him stand up and asked him to turn around. She took out a knife. Sin gnawed at him again.
“I’m not going to be with you, David, so go and repent. Every time you sin, the sin gets bigger and bigger.
My sister has been there for 47 years. Instead of turning the lights off, they turn them on and the credits roll.
