The Fall of the House of Usher: A Midnight Dreary
October 16, 2023 1:38 PM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe
A wealthy CEO faces a criminal investigation amid tragedy, trauma, and a supernatural threat. The Usher family learns an informant lurks among them.
"In terms of Poe, it’s not an adaptation of Usher so much as a wide-ranging riff on tons of Poe concepts, characters, and random names thrown in as Easter eggs—a sort of 'songs in the key of Poe,' a la what Noah Hawley does with the Coen Brothers’ filmography each season of Fargo."—Sean T. Collins for Decider
"If you’re wondering what this lengthy, morbid backstory has to do with Roderick’s six dead children, you have something in common with Dupin, who arrived looking for concrete answers, not a weird trauma dump."—Scott Meslow's 4-star review for Vulture
"In terms of Poe, it’s not an adaptation of Usher so much as a wide-ranging riff on tons of Poe concepts, characters, and random names thrown in as Easter eggs—a sort of 'songs in the key of Poe,' a la what Noah Hawley does with the Coen Brothers’ filmography each season of Fargo."—Sean T. Collins for Decider
"If you’re wondering what this lengthy, morbid backstory has to do with Roderick’s six dead children, you have something in common with Dupin, who arrived looking for concrete answers, not a weird trauma dump."—Scott Meslow's 4-star review for Vulture
In terms of Poe, it’s not an adaptation of Usher so much as a wide-ranging riff on tons of Poe concepts, characters, and random names thrown in as Easter eggs—a sort of 'songs in the key of Poe
To be honest, while it's a fine series as is so far, this aspect of it seems . . . gimmicky. (For reasons I would get into in relevant later episode posts.)
Flanagan has already shown that he can modernize and expand an older short work quite well with Hill House - doing something similar here should be kind of a no-brainer, and moving to a sort of "each episode is a different Poe story" structure is not my favorite.
posted by soundguy99 at 2:27 PM on October 16, 2023
To be honest, while it's a fine series as is so far, this aspect of it seems . . . gimmicky. (For reasons I would get into in relevant later episode posts.)
Flanagan has already shown that he can modernize and expand an older short work quite well with Hill House - doing something similar here should be kind of a no-brainer, and moving to a sort of "each episode is a different Poe story" structure is not my favorite.
posted by soundguy99 at 2:27 PM on October 16, 2023
I think Bly Manor was similar though - Turn of the Screw was the central thing but episodes incorporated other James works.
posted by LionIndex at 3:00 PM on October 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by LionIndex at 3:00 PM on October 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I couldn't finish Bly Manor, but I thought this was really terrific. It won't be as popular as Hill House -- it's much less family friendly and much, much meaner -- but people who like their comedy Dark will love it.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:55 PM on October 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 3:55 PM on October 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
I have ruinated Netflix with my brief but fierce obsession with a whole lot of K dramas like Squid Game! Attorney Woo! Now all they serve is options from the land of South Korea; the homogeny is striking when one contemplates the queue. Nothing new is in the queue.
With my eye evermore jaded and my hopes down in the gutter, I dug up the cursed clicker and brought life to the roku. Then I waited long and weary through the logos and the branding and had nearly lost all hope when Netflix said, "Here's what's for you. We bring you this. This is for you."
Do my tired eyes deceive me or is this an apparition, is it possible I'm dreaming or is what I'm seeing true? No! It's really this year's creeper from the mind that brought us Hill House. Oh my God, thank God for autumn, for at last there's something new! Hip hip hooray, it's something new!
Every five seconds there's another daggity CGI raven.
posted by Don Pepino at 4:32 PM on October 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
With my eye evermore jaded and my hopes down in the gutter, I dug up the cursed clicker and brought life to the roku. Then I waited long and weary through the logos and the branding and had nearly lost all hope when Netflix said, "Here's what's for you. We bring you this. This is for you."
Do my tired eyes deceive me or is this an apparition, is it possible I'm dreaming or is what I'm seeing true? No! It's really this year's creeper from the mind that brought us Hill House. Oh my God, thank God for autumn, for at last there's something new! Hip hip hooray, it's something new!
Every five seconds there's another daggity CGI raven.
posted by Don Pepino at 4:32 PM on October 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
much, much meaner -- but people who like their comedy Dark
That's the description I couldn't think of - this series is full of pitch black humor, and that element is what's keeping me watching. (And Mark Hamill is the MVP of the series.)
posted by soundguy99 at 4:35 PM on October 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
That's the description I couldn't think of - this series is full of pitch black humor, and that element is what's keeping me watching. (And Mark Hamill is the MVP of the series.)
posted by soundguy99 at 4:35 PM on October 16, 2023 [3 favorites]
Mark Hamill was wonderful. The actress playing the young stepmother seemed very familiar to me but she has almost no IMDB credits - she was excellent, vivid and kind.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:42 PM on October 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 4:42 PM on October 16, 2023 [4 favorites]
Yah, really. I was halfway through "Rue Morgue" before I realized, "Dang! That's Mark Hamill!"
posted by SPrintF at 7:51 PM on October 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 7:51 PM on October 16, 2023 [2 favorites]
I really enjoyed this, binging through it in one day.
I felt perhaps it was one episode too long, but that's a minor criticism. I had guessed the premise early on, so there was no big reveal for me at the end.
I can't imagine Langella as the lead -- for one thing I feel he would have been too old for the part in relation to the ages of the other characters: eg., Mary McDonnell as his (older?) sister. I was delighted to recognize her (not immediately) -- she still walks and talks like Commander Raydor from The Closer/Major Crimes. Watch the way she holds her arms/hands.
Nice series, I enjoyed it.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 10:50 PM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
I felt perhaps it was one episode too long, but that's a minor criticism. I had guessed the premise early on, so there was no big reveal for me at the end.
I can't imagine Langella as the lead -- for one thing I feel he would have been too old for the part in relation to the ages of the other characters: eg., Mary McDonnell as his (older?) sister. I was delighted to recognize her (not immediately) -- she still walks and talks like Commander Raydor from The Closer/Major Crimes. Watch the way she holds her arms/hands.
Nice series, I enjoyed it.
posted by alwayson_slightlyoff at 10:50 PM on October 16, 2023 [1 favorite]
Congrats to Mike Flanagan for combining his two favorite things, a) sadistic evil forces and b) Carla Gugino.
I'm three episodes in and I guess it's okay. It's really unsubtle, and it's not exactly challenging in any way, and yet it is also heavily into explaining itself and pointing out stuff. "It's the RUE morgue," it says, looking you in the eye and waggling its eyebrows. It feels a bit young.
The execution is kinda fun I suppose. I don't feel like this show is going to ever actually surprise or disturb me but I want to see how it does its stuff. The acid shower was gnarly.
Idk maybe it's an excuse to watch Moonlighting afterwards as a palate cleanser.
posted by fleacircus at 6:05 AM on October 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm three episodes in and I guess it's okay. It's really unsubtle, and it's not exactly challenging in any way, and yet it is also heavily into explaining itself and pointing out stuff. "It's the RUE morgue," it says, looking you in the eye and waggling its eyebrows. It feels a bit young.
The execution is kinda fun I suppose. I don't feel like this show is going to ever actually surprise or disturb me but I want to see how it does its stuff. The acid shower was gnarly.
Idk maybe it's an excuse to watch Moonlighting afterwards as a palate cleanser.
posted by fleacircus at 6:05 AM on October 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
Honestly, I feel like Mary McDonnell is underused whenever she isn’t spacing people. So say we all?
posted by Mr. Excellent at 8:08 PM on October 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by Mr. Excellent at 8:08 PM on October 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
She definitely has "beloved character actress" status in my book.
posted by rhizome at 10:14 PM on October 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 10:14 PM on October 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
That's the description I couldn't think of - this series is full of pitch black humor
It really is, and I think it’s the comedy (well, and the awful, awful rich people) that initially gave it the feel of Trashy Horror Succession, but that’s no bad thing. Also in this case Precession is much more the right word.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:33 PM on October 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
It really is, and I think it’s the comedy (well, and the awful, awful rich people) that initially gave it the feel of Trashy Horror Succession, but that’s no bad thing. Also in this case Precession is much more the right word.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 10:33 PM on October 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
I couldn't finish Bly Manor, but I thought this was really terrific.
I loved Bly Manor, even more than Hill House. But of the Flanagan series I have seen I rate Midnight Mass the highest. I'm waiting for Halloween weekend to binge this series, and the reviews give me high hopes.
posted by Pendragon at 5:44 AM on October 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
I loved Bly Manor, even more than Hill House. But of the Flanagan series I have seen I rate Midnight Mass the highest. I'm waiting for Halloween weekend to binge this series, and the reviews give me high hopes.
posted by Pendragon at 5:44 AM on October 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
started watching this last night (perfect fare for Halloween!) and I do not disagree with any of the criticisms but also I DON'T CARE. this is cheesy and hokey and omg sooooo fun!! its got a great balance of scary/gross/trashy Succession/Poe fun! I have been completely engrossed through the first three episodes and can't wait to watch more!
I don't remember what Langella's voice sounds like but I cannot imagine its better than Bruce Greenwood's for this role. fun!
posted by supermedusa at 8:59 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't remember what Langella's voice sounds like but I cannot imagine its better than Bruce Greenwood's for this role. fun!
posted by supermedusa at 8:59 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Okay, deducting points for the folks doing the audio description track for NOT noting the very shadowy barely visible figure moving behind the lawyer when Usher is talking about his mom being behind him. I was watching with the AD track on because I was puttering around doing stuff in the room but I happened to catch that moment on screen.
posted by rmd1023 at 7:50 PM on November 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by rmd1023 at 7:50 PM on November 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
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This particular production will be Mike Flanagan's last for Netflix as he moves his ever-growing stable of character actors over to Amazon. Also notable: the mid-filming removal of Frank Langella amidst claims of inappropriate behavior on set (he was to play patriarch Roderick Usher; Bruce Greenwood took over the part).
* Scene: Ryan Murphy reaches out to unpin an index card from a giant cork board in his office and tears it into dozens of little pieces, his face contorted with rage.
posted by bcwinters at 2:13 PM on October 16, 2023 [3 favorites]