The Fall of the House of Usher

Once again, content warning! The Fall of the House of Usher features sexual innuendo, language and death scenes. BE WARNED!!!!! (And don’t watch this with your grandparents.) Also, spoilers ahead.

Many sophomores and upperclassmen are already familiar with the Edgar Allen Poe story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” It details the narrator and his interactions with Roderick Usher, who has mental health issues, and his deathly sick sister Madeline (who ends up being buried inside the house after her “death”). I won’t ruin the ending, but it is very dramatic. 

While I wouldn’t describe the Netflix original series of the same name as a typical horror show, it definitely fits into that spooky thriller category. The show is suspenseful, and, as cliche as it may sound, leaves you at the edge of your seat. 

I’ll say, when I watched it, I (regrettably) binge-watched it. After each episode, I said I’d stop, but the ending for each one would lead me, hooked, into another. Every episode, one of the wealthy Roderick Usher’s kids (yes, he has children in this) gets killed with one woman mysteriously being present for each death.  

When I figured out that the same woman was there for each death, I was confused on her role in them. Was she the cause, or is it just a really interesting coincidence? But being based on an Edgar Allen Poe short story, I knew the supernatural had to have been involved somehow–especially when one of the characters starts hallucinating that woman on a chimpanzee that’s attacking and killing her.

Speaking of the characters, they’re … different. In my opinion, there wasn’t really a completely likable character, except for Roderick’s innocent daughter Lenore. Everyone else was either stuck up and rude or naïve and annoying. Especially the Usher family. They were the stereotypical rich, powerful and corrupt family, and, whether this stereotype was intentional or not, it played a big role in how the story played out. 

Most of the Usher family lacked complete empathy for one another. Even when their siblings died, some of the children just brushed it off, even being glad some of them were dead. I wasn’t sure how this was realistic, if it was trying to be. I feel like even the most sociopathic sociopath would acknowledge a close family member died for more than 2 seconds. But I guess when you’re a billionaire, small problems such as sibling deaths just don’t matter anymore? 

While Roderick was seen as the head of the family, his sister Madeline was definitely behind his power (even more powerful than him in some ways), making sure that everything was in order and going the way she wanted. To me, Madeline and Roderick are the most dislikable characters in the show. This is simply because everything bad happened because of them. That’s right, the twins (disguised as brother and sister for whatever reason) were technically the villains of this show. Want to know how? Watch it!!

However, if you’re looking for a show that completely adapts the original story, this isn’t for you. While the main themes of the story, such as mental and physical instability, are present in the story, they have notable differences.

The mood of the setting was a little less gothic, as most of the story features flashbacks in high-tech, wealthy-looking buildings, except for some scenes taking place in front of the campfire in Roderick’s and Madeline’s old house. Another difference is how in depth the story goes, especially for Roderick. Not to give away too much, but Roderick turns out to be a regretful, manipulative man who’s betrayed a lot of people in his life.

Overall, I give this show an 8/10! I loved the mystery and suspense. I think the 8 (almost hour-long) episodes had a perfect length, not too short and not too long. It’s definitely one of the better Netflix Originals, but I doubt it’ll be memorable after the fall season.