The Fall of the House of Usher: Murder in the Rue Morgue
October 18, 2023 9:19 AM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe
In charge of the Ushers' publicity, Camille conspires to spin controversy in her family's favor and expose the grim details of her sister's experiments.
"It’s not Nope, but given the silliness of the source material The Fall of the House of Usher is drawing from here, it’s impressive that the show pulled off a chimpanzee murder that lands closer to horrifying than hilarious."—from Scott Meslow's 3-star review for Vulture.
"I thought I liked “Gucci Caligula,” but “Xbox Gatsby” tops it."—Ibid.
"You had to know “eat the rich” would get literal on this show eventually."—from Sean T. Collins' recap for Decider.
"Timotheé Chalamet wears lemon shoes at Cannes."—Roderick Usher, monologuing. (This scene was...a lot.)
"It’s not Nope, but given the silliness of the source material The Fall of the House of Usher is drawing from here, it’s impressive that the show pulled off a chimpanzee murder that lands closer to horrifying than hilarious."—from Scott Meslow's 3-star review for Vulture.
"I thought I liked “Gucci Caligula,” but “Xbox Gatsby” tops it."—Ibid.
"You had to know “eat the rich” would get literal on this show eventually."—from Sean T. Collins' recap for Decider.
"Timotheé Chalamet wears lemon shoes at Cannes."—Roderick Usher, monologuing. (This scene was...a lot.)
I have to admit I found myself wishing for a Skip Monologue button. No fault of the magnificent Bruce Greenwood.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:40 PM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 5:40 PM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
The writing on this show is shockingly good. At least the set piece dialog.
posted by KaizenSoze at 5:56 PM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by KaizenSoze at 5:56 PM on October 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Carla Gugino is incredible in this series.
posted by KaizenSoze at 6:12 PM on October 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by KaizenSoze at 6:12 PM on October 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
Even if the components of the lemon speech were iffy, I enjoyed it in the moment and I think there's still a point to it - there's turning a bad thing to your advantage, and there's having the ability, resources, access and power to turn a bad thing into something you can conquer the world with, and that's the difference between the Ushers and other people.
posted by LionIndex at 8:16 PM on October 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by LionIndex at 8:16 PM on October 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
For me, this episode is where the show started to turn from pitch-dark comedy into outright horror. To this point, the horror was somewhat camp; after, it becomes visceral.
A thread of humor remained, of course, but it was increasingly overshadowed by a sense of creeping dread. Wonderful series: I binged it in a day.
yasaman's question in the the previous episode thread probably deserves to be addressed here:
> Was this Verna putting her finger on the scale, or would it have all gone down like this anyway?
With very few exceptions, Verna is "hands off". Tellingly, she provides most every Usher with an out, a final chance to veer off the path of their own self-destruction. Ultimately, it's the character's hubris and arrogance that dooms them, implying that it would have all happened regardless; the offer is a kind of final formality that's never taken up.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 11:44 PM on October 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
A thread of humor remained, of course, but it was increasingly overshadowed by a sense of creeping dread. Wonderful series: I binged it in a day.
yasaman's question in the the previous episode thread probably deserves to be addressed here:
> Was this Verna putting her finger on the scale, or would it have all gone down like this anyway?
With very few exceptions, Verna is "hands off". Tellingly, she provides most every Usher with an out, a final chance to veer off the path of their own self-destruction. Ultimately, it's the character's hubris and arrogance that dooms them, implying that it would have all happened regardless; the offer is a kind of final formality that's never taken up.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 11:44 PM on October 18, 2023 [5 favorites]
As someone who loves Flanagan's monologs and "stagey" stylization and production—especially in the face of the typical "realistic" grittiness of our dumb 21st Century horror movie industry— I found the lemon speech to be really, really horrible.
I kept expecting a rug-pull, a turn to a joke from Roderick. But no, it was dead serious. I found it completely cringe, as the kids say these days (or at least said ten years ago). Otherwise I'm enjoying this series. I do like the general campiness, then sudden turn to legit horror.
I've found Flanagan's work to be extremely uneven though. I loved Hill House (though it was probably 2 hours too long) but couldn't even finish Bly Manor. Really enjoyed Midnight Mass, especially because of the stylized tone and stage-production execution. I don't need every movie and teevee show to be ultra "realistic," gritty, and full of cuts and cinema verité.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:57 AM on October 19, 2023
I kept expecting a rug-pull, a turn to a joke from Roderick. But no, it was dead serious. I found it completely cringe, as the kids say these days (or at least said ten years ago). Otherwise I'm enjoying this series. I do like the general campiness, then sudden turn to legit horror.
I've found Flanagan's work to be extremely uneven though. I loved Hill House (though it was probably 2 hours too long) but couldn't even finish Bly Manor. Really enjoyed Midnight Mass, especially because of the stylized tone and stage-production execution. I don't need every movie and teevee show to be ultra "realistic," gritty, and full of cuts and cinema verité.
posted by SoberHighland at 4:57 AM on October 19, 2023
I've found Flanagan's work to be extremely uneven though. I loved Hill House (though it was probably 2 hours too long) but couldn't even finish Bly Manor.
I thought the last episode of Bly was good. I think while I was watching it I didn't love it (same with Hill House; something about the pacing was off, so many denouements), but in hindsight (and seen through the filter of edits on TikTok), it was sad and haunting. Maybe Victoria Pedretti is just an empathy machine. T'Nia Miller's focus episode was also really memorable.
posted by bcwinters at 5:55 AM on October 19, 2023
I thought the last episode of Bly was good. I think while I was watching it I didn't love it (same with Hill House; something about the pacing was off, so many denouements), but in hindsight (and seen through the filter of edits on TikTok), it was sad and haunting. Maybe Victoria Pedretti is just an empathy machine. T'Nia Miller's focus episode was also really memorable.
posted by bcwinters at 5:55 AM on October 19, 2023
As someone who loves Flanagan's monologs and "stagey" stylization and production—especially in the face of the typical "realistic" grittiness of our dumb 21st Century horror movie industry— I found the lemon speech to be really, really horrible.
While I also find Flanagan's work uneven, I generally find his reliance on monologues frustrates me. But I liked the lemon speech. There are other speeches in this show (though not in the episode) that took me out of the show and felt too preachy for me, but this one worked for me.
posted by miss-lapin at 8:35 AM on October 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
While I also find Flanagan's work uneven, I generally find his reliance on monologues frustrates me. But I liked the lemon speech. There are other speeches in this show (though not in the episode) that took me out of the show and felt too preachy for me, but this one worked for me.
posted by miss-lapin at 8:35 AM on October 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
A recent Kate Siegel TikTok post about why she works in the horror genre.
posted by bcwinters at 6:50 AM on October 20, 2023
posted by bcwinters at 6:50 AM on October 20, 2023
I am going to gush over Carla Gugino. The scene where she is playing the substitute wife, she starts with a British accent. Then just as she sits down, switches accents and character. Amazing.
posted by KaizenSoze at 6:44 AM on October 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by KaizenSoze at 6:44 AM on October 21, 2023 [7 favorites]
I have worked for CEOs who would have given the lemon speech. So it sat very well with me. It made me disgusted with Roderick, but I think that's the intent.
I really liked Kate Siegel in this. Seeing her come up with ideas for PR spin was perfect and made it very clear that she was great at her job. We got to see her bonding emotionally with Napoleon (who seemed to be the most caring member of the family...until we saw what he did to that poor cat!), we got to see her being an entitled bitch with her assistants and we got to see her obsessive vindictiveness.
If I were her assistants, and I heard the news about her death, I would go into the office like nothing happened on the assumption that she hadn't yet gotten around to filing the termination paperwork.
Carla Gugino is amazing in this. She played at least three characters here, plus a character playing another character. That's impressive. I was also intrigued by the dinner scene. She seemed to bring something out in the Goldbug husband by asking him questions about how he was doing. His reactions seemed genuinely surprised and touched. I'm interested to see where that goes.
posted by rednikki at 9:05 AM on October 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
I really liked Kate Siegel in this. Seeing her come up with ideas for PR spin was perfect and made it very clear that she was great at her job. We got to see her bonding emotionally with Napoleon (who seemed to be the most caring member of the family...until we saw what he did to that poor cat!), we got to see her being an entitled bitch with her assistants and we got to see her obsessive vindictiveness.
If I were her assistants, and I heard the news about her death, I would go into the office like nothing happened on the assumption that she hadn't yet gotten around to filing the termination paperwork.
Carla Gugino is amazing in this. She played at least three characters here, plus a character playing another character. That's impressive. I was also intrigued by the dinner scene. She seemed to bring something out in the Goldbug husband by asking him questions about how he was doing. His reactions seemed genuinely surprised and touched. I'm interested to see where that goes.
posted by rednikki at 9:05 AM on October 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
The scene where she is playing the substitute wife, she starts with a British accent. Then just as she sits down, switches accents and character. Amazing.
She seemed to bring something out in the Goldbug husband by asking him questions about how he was doing. His reactions seemed genuinely surprised and touched. I'm interested to see where that goes.
Yeah, the other women they hire are aware that they're mostly hired for Tam's benefit/fantasy. "Candy" turns the tables and acts like a wife that cares about her husband, showing Bill something that he apparently doesn't normally see.
posted by LionIndex at 9:09 AM on October 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
She seemed to bring something out in the Goldbug husband by asking him questions about how he was doing. His reactions seemed genuinely surprised and touched. I'm interested to see where that goes.
Yeah, the other women they hire are aware that they're mostly hired for Tam's benefit/fantasy. "Candy" turns the tables and acts like a wife that cares about her husband, showing Bill something that he apparently doesn't normally see.
posted by LionIndex at 9:09 AM on October 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
Carla Gugino is amazing in this. She played at least three characters here, plus a character playing another character. That's impressive. I was also intrigued by the dinner scene. She seemed to bring something out in the Goldbug husband by asking him questions about how he was doing. His reactions seemed genuinely surprised and touched. I'm interested to see where that goes.
Yeah, the other women they hire are aware that they're mostly hired for Tam's benefit/fantasy. "Candy" turns the tables and acts like a wife that cares about her husband, showing Bill something that he apparently doesn't normally see.
Yes, Candy connects with the husband in a way that Tamy never could.
Now, let's gush about Carla's scene with Kate. The voice changes, body language, as you said she swaps between the security guard, Verna, and "monkey" so effortlessly. *chefs kiss*
"Here we are..."
posted by KaizenSoze at 2:44 PM on October 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Yeah, the other women they hire are aware that they're mostly hired for Tam's benefit/fantasy. "Candy" turns the tables and acts like a wife that cares about her husband, showing Bill something that he apparently doesn't normally see.
Yes, Candy connects with the husband in a way that Tamy never could.
Now, let's gush about Carla's scene with Kate. The voice changes, body language, as you said she swaps between the security guard, Verna, and "monkey" so effortlessly. *chefs kiss*
"Here we are..."
posted by KaizenSoze at 2:44 PM on October 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
hard flashing on Gordy's Home. wow.
posted by supermedusa at 9:12 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by supermedusa at 9:12 AM on November 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by LionIndex at 12:43 PM on October 18, 2023