The Fall of the House of Usher episode 1 throws viewers right into the deep end with a shocking reveal that six siblings have died in quick succession.
Mike Flanagan's take on the Edgar Allan Poe horror story is a modern twist, following the lives of ruthless twins Roderick who have built up Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into a mega-powerful empire. But past secrets are exposed when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.
The story takes place between different timelines when Roderick invites the Assistant US Attorney and long-term adversary to his childhood home with the promise of fully uncovering the events that led to his children’s deaths.
Over the course of eight episodes, we'll learn more about the Usher family and what happened to them, and in classic Edgar Allan Poe style, we should expect to be seriously disturbed along the way.
Here's a recap of what happened in The Fall of the House of Usher episode 1...
The Usher family tragedy
The Usher family is led by twins Roderick and Madeline Usher (Bruce Greenwood and Mary McDonnell), who have very successful careers in Big Pharma. Together, they run the company Fortunato Pharmaceuticals and its wonder opiate, Ligodone.
Roderick has six adult children: Frederick Usher (Henry Thomas), Tamerlane Usher (Samantha Sloyan), Victorine Lafourcade (T’Nia Miller), Napoleon “Leo” Usher (Rahul Kohli), Camille L’Espanaye (Kate Siegel), and Prospero “Perry” Usher (Sauriyan Sapkota).
All the siblings are different. Henry works closely alongside Roderick, Tamerlane is all about her lifestyle brand, Victorine is a scientist, Leo is a gaming influencer, Camille works in PR and Perry wants to build a chain of hedonistic nightclubs.
But here's where it gets interesting. At the beginning of episode one, we get a crucial piece of information. All six of the Usher children are dead, and all of their deaths occurred within a two-week period.
Reports of each death range from reports of a "gruesome incident" to a "bizarre tragedy", and naturally there's plenty of talk about what exactly happened to them, and why they all died so close to each other.
Right now, we don't know too much about the family, but the funeral takes an ominous turn when Roderick sees a mysterious figure in the church and declares "She's here" after his granddaughter Lenore (Kyliegh Curran) asks if he's okay.
Not only that, but Roderick starts having some pretty intense hallucinations which could be linked to what's happened, but right now it's not looking good for the troubled patriarch.
Following the funeral, Roderick meets with Assistant US Attorney C. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly) at his childhood home. The place is decaying and neglected, and he intends to give Dupin a confession, that will prove he's guilty of the 73 felony counts Dupin is currently bringing against Roderick and Fortunato Pharmaceuticals.
Not only this, he promises that his confession will shed light on what happened to his children because they weren't freak accidents at all and he is responsible for what happened to all of them.
What happened to Roderick's mother?
Roderick begins his confession by speaking about his mother, as this goes back to his own childhood. Here, we meet Eliza (Annabeth Gish), a woman with very strong principles who is difficult to love.
Not only this, but we meet Roderick and Madeline's biological father William Longfellow (Robert Longstreet), who was the CEO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals at the time, and Eliza’s boss. Of course, he denies the fact he's their father and forbids them from setting foot on his property.
Eliza falls ill and refuses medicine, believing that God will save her instead. We see teenage Roderick and Madeline burying their mother after she succumbs to her illness, building a coffin and burying her in the backyard. And they think that's the end of it, but they're very wrong.
Roderick peeks out the window and realizes the grave has been dug up and the coffin broke open, with a trail of muddy footprints leading into the house. Talk about creepy.
As it happens, Eliza is alive and attempts to strangle her son, but stops when she recognizes her children. Then, she heads to Longfellow's house and strangles him to death, before dying herself. So it's quite the abrupt and shocking death for the former Usher matriarch.
Back in the present day, Roderick describes his late mother as "remarkable" and something tells us that she'll be back in some capacity later on.
Things are taking an eerie turn too, as Roderick
Who was the Usher informant?
The family secrets run even deeper, as we also know that one of the Ushers had been acting as an informant, working for Dupin and the prosecution. Following this bombshell, Roderick and Madeline force all of them to sign an NDA created by the family’s terrifying lawyer, Arthur Pym (Mark Hamill), also known as the “Pym Reaper.”
However, it turns out this NDA wasn't enough to scare the children, prompting Roderick to bribe his own children and that he'll give 50 million dollars to whoever finds the culprit.
So far we don't know who's responsible so we'll have to watch and find out...
