THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER - Mike Flanagan's trashy sub-Succession tale of karmic retribution on Netflix

This is B-level TV with an A-level budget (this is kind of Netflix's whole thing, maybe?) and it's pretty addictive viewing tbh

What do people think so far

I'm halfway through Ep 6

so its not a Poe thing...?

oh okay its an update. i'll watch if tracer tells me i should. i'll report back!

No it is, I should have included that in the title but it was already getting pretty long lol

it's a Poe thing in the sense of borrowing ideas and names from Poe and then doing whatever he wants with them. Each episode kind of riffs on the themes of a different story. Some of the time there's no real connection at all, for instance, Arthur Gordon Pym is a gruff lawyer in this.

It's good but you do feel a little bit cheap and tawdry afterwards

It’s really good! We finished it. Extremely ridiculous but a lot of fun.

Really liked Tamerlane’s onstage meltdown as the most horrific mundane thing to happen. The malignant harlequin motif that only shows up in the bookend episodes was so good. The actress who played Victorine has this weird tic where she curls her lip a lot for emphasis - I knew where that storyline was ending up as soon as it showed up, so that definitely coloured my interpretation.

Carla Gugino really good and sinister. Henry Thomas’s whole aesthetic and stimulant mania clearly influenced by J*hnny D*pp.

That scene at the end of the Prospero episode was genuinely haunting.

I might compare it to Goliath in that it's extremely moral, also extremely pulpy and trashy, and delivers some very well executed shocks

Henry Thomas is a very strange person to look at when he's acting

the acting seems very... uneven? Bruce Greenwood is totally lights out.. almost channelling Cranston I feel like. He's reached a similar age, his voice is similarly rich and amazing. The camera LOVES his eyes. He's intense. Mary McDonnell also really really good. She underplays everything which really stands out amidst the other crazy shit goin on

Not such a fan of the flashback scenes. I don't see any of the spark of future Roderick in young Roderick.

In a way it's like Doctor Who, with a monster of the week, except in this case it's grisly supernatural murder of the week

Really enjoyed this having never seen any of Flanagan's other series (I've just watched two episodes of The Haunting of Hill House, and previously made it two or three episodes into Midnight Mass before bailing). I also gave up on Succession very quickly and this seems definitely related to that in some key ways.

I like the way they incorporate about a dozen or more Poe stories, just tossing elements in as needed.

Not such a fan of the flashback scenes. I don't see any of the spark of future Roderick in young Roderick.

imo it’s only related to Succession in some pretty superficial ways, but they are enough to sometimes actively distract my brain from the show

xpost yeah I could watch the guy who plays Griswold all day. what an absolute penis. If they ever remake The Breakfast Club he’s got to be the teacher/vice principal character

That’s exactly who he reminded me of, with a bit of young Harrison Ford in there

I enjoyed the fuck out of this, but Carlo Gugino was the real star

guy who plays Griswold was also on Battlestar Galactica reboot. drove me nuts trying to figure out how I recognized him

Also the word "fart" appeared an awful lot on this show.

Prospero's death was pretty lol, Verna didn't really even have to intervene at all, just hint that this thing you think is water is not

guy who plays Griswold was also on Battlestar Galactica reboot. drove me nuts trying to figure out how I recognized him

I thought that was Dane Cook for the first few episodes.

lol he totally does look like Dane Cook. i'm sure he loves being told that too.

Pretty impressed with how Tamerlane gets taken down. Virtuosic stuff visually. Kind of wanted her to go full Carrie on the crowd somehow, she looks like Sissy Spacek a bit

I wanted her to suffer after the abusive way she treated her husband for ten minutes

They were all pretty much shit to their partners/sex toys though so hard to feel sad for them

Pretty impressed with how Tamerlane gets taken down. Virtuosic stuff visually. Kind of wanted her to go full Carrie on the crowd somehow, she looks like Sissy Spacek a bit

I want to know if Zuckerberg sacrificed his bloodline for his power or if Carla Gugino just made it where he looks like a bad android forever.

"We're not Goop!"

*Narrator: They were totally Goop.*

Prospero's death, was it the only one where innocent bystanders got it with him?

Victorine maybe tangentially as she probably wouldn't have killed her lover if not for Verna, prior to an admittedly labored Telltale Heart sequence

I guess you're supposed to feel like the party guests had it coming because they were all filthy rich. Verna saves the hoi polloi. But still just being loaded and participating in a deeply lame orgy shouldn't be a death sentence probably

On Mike Flanagan’s blog, he says that the children would have died peacefully if they’d listened to Verna. They all have a moment where they don’t take advice.

Fraudrick's wife didn't take Verna's advice either, although it sort of looked like she didn't hear her

Well…She didn’t die!

Btw the whole thing where she makes things out of cake in episode one was extremely funny

The bit where Tamerlane gives instructions to her husband is LOL - "eat her ass while she reads a book," which is a genre I assume will soon be bubbling up on the tube sites.

oh i’m dumb i just started a thread i didn’t see this one oops

ANYWAY OMG EPISODE 2 :D : D

xxpost when they hand out the NDA’s and Rahul Kohli says “let me guess, also cake” or something similar was v funny

Thinking back Tamerlane pulling the pieces of glass from herself squicked me out worse than probably anything else in the show

glad to finally see a show deal w/ what actually happens if you yeet yourself through glass

Verna = Raven, duh

It seems typical of this extremely on the nose show that the last episode includes an actual house of Usher, falling

I was surprised by how much I liked all the poetry, and how it was woven in

I kept falling asleep to episode 2 last night but might question innocence of partygoers at a rave at a building that was among those that there was already litigation going on for. Think that was how Prospero found the place .
I assume this was a tribute to the Masque of The Red Death though I'm not sure if they used any of the surrounding context there. Maybe the litigation case was enough to show more widespread effect of this toxicity. The short story has the background of a group of rich people thinking they can isolate themselves from a plague by having an orgiastic party in their castle
I may need to rewatch the episode to get it in full.

I dunno, I never asked to see the most recent code inspections at rave locations.

the ADR on the uh, aftermath, was so wonderfully disgusting

watched the 2nd half of episode 2 again and definitely seeing Masque of Red Death allusions.

The episode is called “Masque Of the Red Death”!

It's a very pointed allusion, okay?!

Right thought I'd find that I'd missed the title after posted that. I just transfered it as S01e02 and had to rewind it from the point id stopped at.

So yeah good use of the story anyway.

Flanagan seems to be really good at recontextualising core elements of other works innit.

not getting the plan with the 'rain' though I thought they were setting out to extort money not commit mass murder.
But haven't got beyond that episode yet.

the animal stuff in ep 3 & 4 is a bit rough but still loving it so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoizkcuVKKI

What kept this series good rather than great for me was that we don’t see the young Roderick’s evolution from earnest, naive doofus to the shrewd, jaded manipulator of the present day. It would have so evilly delicious to see him, step by step, lose his humanity. Egged on by his sister of course. Instead he just kind of goes from zero to burying people alive.

That didn’t bother me that much because it’s not that kind of a show. But I’m not sure that’s true either - he makes the decision to do something truly evil (fucking over the case against his boss and betraying Annabel by virtue of same) before the live burial.

True, and that moment’s supposed to surprise you the way it surprises Dupin and Annabel Lee. Foreshadow it too much and you lose that. But it would have been great if we could have seen some breadcrumbs leading up to it. So the betrayal is a surprise but makes sense in retrospect. There’s no “journey”, he just does a heel turn. (And past Roderick remains cloddish, like some himbo indie rock guitarist. None of the glittering malice of future him)

The thing that got me was that the terrible pharmaceutical boss in the flashbacks sounded a lot more like old Roderick than young Roderick did. I kind of assume he stole his entire way of speaking from the guy he bricked into a wall

There are some weird things about Roderick that seemed like they were supposed to be fleshed out more but got cut - the kids initially talk about him as a stern taskmaster, Business Drill Sergeant Dad but we don't really see that aspect of his personality in practice or developing (he quotes poetry, not Business Mindset books). And the bastards all met him after they were adults?

I know Annabel basically said he won them away from her by offering them lots of money, which to me signified approaching them later in life like maybe teens or early adulthood.

I do agree we don't see a lot about Roderick's transition other than that his sister was the Machiavellian one and that he sort of learned it from her, but he seemed to be much more of an angry idealist as a young man. took it as suggesting he fell more and more under her influence and basically between her and old boss he stopped resisting the bad lessons he had been forcefed his entire life.

i.e. he made a deal with two devils, not just Verna

to mh: Yes!! I even imagined that young Roderick would somehow, idk, supernaturally suck out Griswold’s soul or something

ok finished whole series, damn that was some good gross epic goth

agree that young Roderick Usher was a bit underwritten and/or underrated, prob a combo of the two

loved how young madeleine did line up with old Madeleine, especially her precise way of speaking that was a nice touch

loved the sleep-deprivation stuff with Tameralne, her suddenly dropping off & coming to, the paranoia etc, and the ultimate meltdown was truly epic
when she was smashing the mirrors i was just thinking OMG GIRL PUT YOUR SHOES ON PLEASE lol

Henry Thomas was so good as Fred/Froderick, his early ineffectual appearances really set the table for his heel turn into full coked-out monster. Felt like a Stephen King villain performance , i was impressed

and Bruce Greenwood

what an absolute fucking king.

Was really sad Henry didn't scream IT WAS NOTHING LIKE THAT, PENIS BREATH at any of his siblings

otm

If I've disliked everything Mike Flanagan's been involved in, will I like this?

I liked when he had a fight on the pitch with Charlton team mate Derek Hales

watched the 2nd half of episode 2 again and definitely seeing Masque of Red Death allusions.

― Stevo, Friday, 27 October 2023 22:48 (four days ago) link

The episode is called “Masque Of the Red Death”!

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 27 October 2023 23:16 (four days ago) link

lol, this was me and my gf watching the show.

Me: Ohhh, I see, they're referencing 'The Telltale Heart' here!
Her (patiently): Yes, that's the name of the episode.

Why people always expecting me to pay attention to things, I swear.

I haven't watched one of the Flanagan series, The Midnight Club, I think? It's hard to keep track.

I'd say it's in the middle as far as being worthwhile. If you want a mish-mash of Poe allusions, a deal with the devil, minor commentary on the pharmaceutical and tech industries, and some ridiculous death scenes happening to loathsome characters, it's... all that.

think Bly Manor was my fav

Hush was a good flick and the Ouija sequel was also pretty dope

the movies definitely feel like comfort food with a few jump scares here and there

We skipped the Midnight Club and only started watching it this week and currently I think it's the best! Hill House was overwritten and took itself too seriously and just not very good other than some effective moments. Bly Manor I don't remember, I thought it was fine I think. Midnight Mass I ended up really liking, despite yeah, being a bit talky at times (obv they all are). Usher I felt was too campy but was fun and had some good bits for sure.

So we decided to watch Midnight Club after skipping it and I'm surprised how much we like it. It's different than the others in a lot of ways. It's doesn't try as hard to be "scary" not that any of them are that scary, but I like these kids and I think they're really well written and the way they discuss and deal with their deaths is pretty good for a show like this.

Bly Manor felt rushed - so much setup and then resolution with big leaps in 1.5 episodes.

That's kind of his M.O. though. Even the House of Usher show just screws around with this framing device and teasing what's up with Carla Gugino until the end

the amount of times in this someone sounds like they're reading wikipedia articles in an intense dramatic style...

did Verna kill Prescott Bush's entire family

xpost lol right - also Madeleine’s final speech similar wiki vibes omg girl we GET IT make an infographic & put it in your instagram story jeez

Shouted out who killed the Kennedys
After all it was Carla G

The lemon monologue was beyond excellent, good work MF

lol at shouting out legendary see you next tuesday Gina Rinehart

The lemon monologue was beyond excellent, good work MF

I saw this bit last night, otm. I'm watching when I can, which is not often. I was kind of turned off at first by the huge cast of differently dislikeable characters that I would have to get to know and hate but it's drawn me in. I thought the end of ep 3 (rue morgue) was more disturbing than 2 (red death), 4 (black cat) was a bit meh.

though thinking about the lemon bit as life advice, you couldn't do any of those things if you weren't already a mega successful billionaire asshole so it's of limited value.

The Black Cat was lol to me because of the ending, which is a bit of an inside joke for Flanagan fans - on twitter and tumblr, he keeps getting accusations that he hates cats (tbf, cats often die in horrible ways in his shows/films)

started Midnight Mass and LOLing at how they got Henry Thomas looking like Ron Swanson

We just finished this last night, thought it was good fun. Gugino, Greenwood and McDonnell all very good — Gugino really squeezes all the juice out of that role, seems to be having a blast. I was also somewhat surprised at how faithful it felt to Poe in overall tone. The shoehorned direct references sometimes felt forced, but the doom-laden gothy morality was very on point.

Yesss this show was deliciously trashy AND Poe fan-service-y and I loved every second of it.

P.S.: I had *no* idea who played Arthur Pym until I listened to the Ringer's Prestige TV podcast about the show (which was a good listen)

I didn't recognize that the actor who played Napoleon (Rahul Kohli) was the same guy who played Owen on Bly Manor. he looked so different.

"you're 80% cum" still my favorite takeaway from the show other than calling everyone named Frederick "Frauderick"

i mean now it's obvious but I think the bushy 80s mustache in Bly Manor threw me

was in midnight club too

and Midnight Mass!

and iZombie!