The Fall of the House of Usher: A Midnight Dreary - Episode 01 – RECAP

On my short time on Hive I have written about a couple of different series always trying to narrate what went down on certain episode but there are a few of them or actually different format content that is kinda hard for me to build up on my post like Basketball, Futbol, Comedy and now a narrated story on third person that is Fall of the House of Usher, the main reason because it takes time, when the story is narrated details are everywhere that create an image on your brain of how people react in at the scene, for example there is one part when Roderick said "Yes Im putting a bounty on your head" I can easy see his daughters with an amaze expression like WTF while his son Perry laugh at the rest, then that makes me react in the same way when writing my post, try to bring as much details possible with how I put up all this images trying to make sense at the same time giving my opinion on text, basically is a combination of text and images trying to tell a story.

The Fall of The House of Usher to me seem like a very cool "horror" story, not necessary horror like possession and demons but there will be a lot of killing, probably blood on a lot of scenes, there is revenge, a combination of all kind of evil and bad feelings everything happening within a family that is mainly hold together by a bank account, Roderick mention this when talking to his wife "....the only thing that they fear the worst is been out of his will" referring to his sons and daughters who are always close to him, including their loves one, if you look from the outside anyone would think they are such a perfect family always together but the truth is that the core was only him and his sister Madeline, I get to this conclusion based on episode one only, probably with the progress of the series my opinion changes, after all money is the only thing that can buy souls.

Episode one was very entertaining and at times it will spook you, keep you on the edge of your seat for a few minutes, does a good job at presenting the main topic of the series, it works with time lines going back and forward, already telling you whats coming up that is the death of all his sons and daughters, who have to do with their death and that even after many years his "dead" mother is still lurking around, I would agree with IMDB rating and give it a 7.5/10

Source

Source

Episode one starts with Roderick and his granddaughter next to him, at church; three of his child have died, they are now six of them dead, church is empty, I would assume because he wanted like that, his family is so prestigious if people are let in it would be a total shit show taking pictures, asking questions, people protesting, the Usher family was at a stupid level rich so there will always be those who hate them just for having that amount of money without much reason.

Roderick keeps having this hallucinations of a women with a mask and his dead child, they all had dramatic deaths, he even see them at the church all butcher up from the different ways they die but only him can see them.

Source

Roderick is on the pharmaceutic business, he is at the rock star level, press is always after him and probably why the church was empty but there is one man who only wants one picture and that's Roderick behind bars, Carl Lumbly does Attorney Dupin who has been after Roderick and his entire family for a very long time without luck, they are all always shield, bulletproof from everything in life, that's how much money they have that no body mess with them besides Roderick seems to be the type of guy who knows how to use and control power and nut just money.

Source

The creepy story begins when Roderick invites Auguste, Augi; to his first house where he use to live with his mother and sister, when Roderick got enough money he not only bought the house but the entire neighborhood and kept it the same, let it rood because he did went through hell and back on that place many times because of many reasons so the place work as a reminder that if he went through that he can overcome anything, that is my opinion after Roderick tell Auguste why he kept the place.

Roderick is ready to give up, accept all charges and go to jail but it seems he wants either Auguste to help him solve a mystery or help him escape a problem, creepy his dead mother shows up behind Roderick, can't see it on the screenshot but she is there, this is when the horror side of the story kicks in.

Source

We start with Roderick hell as a kid, live with his mother, Eliza; who didn't believe in doctors or medicine, at a point she got very sick, all her life work for a prick William Longfellow, CEO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, she devoted her life to that job but the moment that needed help and he was their only option William treat them like shit, I guess Eliza had a grudge against William probably for all those years, she always told her kids to stay away from him at all cost, she must had some strong reason.

Source

Elize dies for unknown reason, seem stupid but I guess its part of the story to make the audience feel sorry for Roderick and his sister Madeline, they had to build casket out of old wood and bury his mother in the backyard like a dog, big WTF; they had no family? no money? it was the 50's but come on, still I get the writer, they trying to build that feeling of sorrow for the kids.

Source

Remember how I mention Auguste was behind Roderick, his business and family, well during a trial he mention, no body confirm if this was true or not; that after many years of been behind his case he finally got a member of the family to confess and will serve as witness against the Usher family, this fire up Roderick against his children badly.

Source

One episode one they dont go into deep details of what each of his children does, few details but not their entire life

• Frederick
• Perry
• Camille
• Victorine
• Leo
• Tamerlane

They had different personalities, some care vary much about the family money, few don't, Frederick been the oldest male born waiting for his father to die to keep everything, Perry seem to want a life style of fame to the extreme, still there was three things that unite them, their father who rule the family with iron fist, aunt Madeline who is just as ruthless or worst than Roderick when it comes down to business and money.

Source

For now as I mention not many details about his child but after the trial Roderick calls for a family meeting, he got all of his family members to sign an very nasty NDA that will keep the out of the family for good if they were proof to be the mole within the family, he was straight and didn't loose any time to put a bounty on their head, $50 million all cash, no taxes, no bullshit for the one who brings the mole, they already know its one of them its a matter of time and greed to find out who is it.

Source

While the episode keeps very clear the money situation at the family and that all six children will have a nasty death it still a mystery of how this all happen, the women with the creepy smile, Verna; a women who they Roderick and Madeline met on 1979 new years eve at a local bar, she use phrases like "To 1979. May it rest in peace" or "the future is coming" like she knew something was about to happen while she kept them both at the bar where they were suppose to stay just for a short time, she seem to be the one appearing to Roderick at church, there is also a Joker who shows up inside his car when he was leaving church and then falls backwards, bleeding from his knows telling Madeline its time, but time for what? is Verna really who kill his child? is his mother dead but still wondering around their old house?

Movies has turn smiles into something creepy and evil, with proper makeup their eyes pop and creates this image of people been posses by something looking very evil, like a new thing from horror movies, I feel like that is a key element to this series, we will see Verna smiling a lot, episode one does a great job of giving you just enough information about how the family members die and probably who did it without too much so you can figure out everything from the start, gives the beginning and the end but not the details and that's what the others episodes will be base on, stretching the story enough, clever way to create a tv series narrated by the main character Roderick, this is an eight episode mini series there has been some time since I saw a horror base tv series so I'm really going to enjoy it although covering all the details on a post can be a little tedious because it makes a long post, longer than usual.