287 "A Midnight Dreary" (The Fall of the House of Usher E1)

[00:00:01] Hmm? Ah! Hmm. Podcastica! Hey everybody, I'm Rima. And I'm Pake. And this is Strange Indeed, a podcast dedicated to the Netflix show The Fall of the House of Usher. This week we are covering episode one titled A Midnight Dreary. Love it.

[00:00:31] I squealed a little when I saw the title. Yeah. I, I, I, last night when they dropped I was a little worried. I was like, should I look at all the episode titles in advance? Cause I don't want them to spoil it. And I don't think they did.

[00:00:44] I ended up losing that mental battle and reading them just cause I was like, I gotta see the Poe references. I gotta see where this goes. And yeah, it's fun. Um, I think there's a couple episodes that are more specific to just like, oh, this is

[00:00:56] within this world. I don't think it was a direct Poe reference, but I'm not as versed on Poe as I would like to be. So maybe they are. I don't know. Yeah. I was, I also took a quick peek.

[00:01:07] I won't read them out just in case anyone considers that spoilery, but there's definitely some references there in the titles, which is fun. Uh, you know, fan of Poe here. So this series, I know we were just chatting just before we hit the record button here

[00:01:27] that we're so stoked to be back. We've had one hell of a break. It feels like it's forever. I don't know. It's like if anybody is listening to Run For Your Lives, I've still been doing

[00:01:35] that every week. But then when we do like the little plugs and stuff at the end and I was just like, I feel like a broken record because every time it's like in my other podcast

[00:01:41] Strange Indeed, we're still on hiatus waiting for the Flanniverse to come back to us. Yeah. It was a struggle to, you know, find something to cover and not have it overlap and run into, you know, Fall of the House of the Usher.

[00:01:57] You know, we've obviously been looking forward to this for so long. This is like priority number one. I was like, we got to give it our all when it's here. Absolutely. And if anyone is listening and happens to be catching our Great British Bake Off coverage,

[00:02:09] I mean, that's that's separate. You know, we've been playing around with that a little bit, but it's definitely separate from this. And we really wanted to focus on this and not have anything else take away because so stoked in man. Was it worth it?

[00:02:23] I mean, I'm so I'm so glad that we're back for this. I mean, if anything is worth coming back from break for, it's definitely anything in the Flanniverse. Watching anything, you know, Mike Flanagan, that he is a part of creatively and

[00:02:42] directing and something that he's wrote is just it's like a warm being wrapped in a warm, cozy blanket on a cool fall evening, you know, cozy up on the couch for me. I mean, it's like being home. Right. Absolutely. Yeah, I would agree with that.

[00:02:58] With with a healthy level of like anxiety and stress because you're just like, oh, God, what's going to happen? But definitely. Yeah, that goes without saying for sure. I love that. Yeah. Well, so here we are at episode one for this show, which is the last series that's

[00:03:22] going to be from the Flanniverse on Netflix. He's reached a deal with Prime for anyone that I think we talked about that before, covered that in our news once before. But if you were not aware, he's moving over to Prime again, going to create some content

[00:03:37] for them. So this is his last series here on Netflix, which kind of an end of an era. I mean, he's really, you know, him and his team, you know what they've done, you know, to bring this horror kind of leveled up, in my opinion, for Netflix.

[00:03:54] So, yeah, it's quite a partnership. I think Netflix was the one that coined the Flanniverse term. Oh, OK. I'm not sure it could be him, but I mean, that's where I first saw it was like Netflix actually like advertising the Flanniverse. Maybe they did. Maybe they did.

[00:04:12] Yeah. So, yeah, it feels kind of weird, but I'm glad that like because I know we kind of worried about with Midnight Club and how it seems to be like that just kind of got

[00:04:22] dropped. And we were hoping Netflix wasn't like really mad at him and that there's this like kind of infighting. But luckily, I've seen Netflix has been promoting the hell out of this show.

[00:04:33] So I think they know it's still worth giving it lots of good favor and credit here. Absolutely. It's anything that he's put out for them has done really well. So it's definitely in their interest, I think, to definitely promote it.

[00:04:50] It definitely, I think, brings in the viewers for sure. So, yeah, we're super stoked to be back. Super stoked for this show. What are your general thoughts about this first episode? Oh, man, I I loved it. Like I said, it's good to be back with Mike Flanagan.

[00:05:08] I'm not sure what to expect. I'm like already like, OK, I was in critical thinking mode on my first watch. Maybe too much. I had to like reel it back because I was like, just enjoy it for what it is first and then I'll do notes tomorrow.

[00:05:23] But yeah, because there's just so much like you already know, like there's all these little like details and intricacies and. Mysteries and secrets and things that are waiting to be unveiled and revealed, and

[00:05:35] it's just like I want to know what I'm already trying to think of what secrets I'm going to want to know about. Like I'm thinking ahead of like, I don't even know what I don't know, you know? But I want to know it. I know.

[00:05:49] So I'm excited to be back and it's looking great so far. Of course, a lot of my points that we'll really get into, I'll talk about a lot of like casting and and stories and things I'm excited to see, but.

[00:06:01] Man, I'm just I'm ready to be emotionally ripped apart, terrified, confused and then mind blown all one after the other for another eight episodes. I can't say it any better than what you just did, and I'm right there with you. I loved this first episode.

[00:06:24] So great to be to be back with, you know, something that Mike Flanagan has created just in time for spooky season. You know, it's my favorite time of year. Yes. And fitting to have a series like this to be covering again.

[00:06:41] And I'm thrilled with how well, in my opinion, the first episode really was. I thought it was a really strong. Yes. Episode one, you know, to lead us. I thought there was enough to grab you and make you curious and make you want to keep watching. Yeah.

[00:07:01] You know, I thought there was enough mystery there, enough questions to be like, well, I have to keep watching to find out, you know, what what the hell is going on here and get some answers to this mystery and to these questions.

[00:07:13] And we may not get a whole lot of answers. You know, they they love to kind of keep us hanging sometimes, but they usually give us just enough to at least satisfy you and of course, keep you watching. So I'm thrilled.

[00:07:25] I thought it was a really strong episode. Yeah. I can't wait to talk about it. So let's go ahead and jump in. And we've probably got a lot to talk about. And I'm you know, we are covering this like it just dropped today or very, very late last

[00:07:40] night if you stayed up past what was it? 2 a.m. or something. So we're we're fresh off. We don't normally do this. So I'm hoping at least for my sake that I have some coherent thoughts because I feel like I like to

[00:07:51] marinate it on it for a day and I haven't had my whole day. So I'm like, I don't know. I might be going in circles here with a lot of my points. I'll apologize in advance to our listeners.

[00:08:00] But regardless, I think we're going to have some great conversation because it was a fantastic episode, in my opinion. Peck, do you want to kick it off with your first point? All right. Start kind of quick and easy, but I'm going to start near the end.

[00:08:15] We're going to talk about New Year's Eve. Which is the kind of final flashback that we get in this episode of Roderick storytelling here. New Year's Eve, 1979 going into 1980. We have Roderick and Madeline Usher entering this small little bar on New Year's Eve.

[00:08:36] They have come from a different party at a different location elsewhere, and they have done something. They're not necessarily hiding out, but they are using this place as an alibi. You know, we couldn't have done X, Y and Z because we were at this place all night.

[00:08:54] Look, there's witnesses and we were talking to the bartender and owner the whole time and really setting up this idea. And we still are never told in this first episode what happened. We have this kind of flashback to Dupin interrogating, not interrogating, but

[00:09:11] interviewing and getting his confession from Roderick. And he's even like, oh yeah, New Year's 1980. I remember what happened. And I'm sitting there screaming at my screen, just what happened? Like, stop hinting at it. We, the audience, need to know. Tell us.

[00:09:24] Goddammit, what was going on with Roderick's fingers? What? I mean, they looked, I don't know if they were, they didn't look dirty, but I'm like, she's really focusing on her fingers and her nails. It was like a plaster or something. Yeah. Like it was, yeah.

[00:09:37] But it was all just very dangled there in front of us. Like, you gotta wait, you don't get to know yet. But man, it was really interesting. Which, it was fun to see that setting because I think actually it was this year or whatever,

[00:09:50] the last New Year's we had going into 2023. I rang in New Year's at like a local brewery this last year, which was, you know, kind of a smaller ordeal like this. It was a little more busy than this was, I think, but not by a whole lot.

[00:10:03] And honestly, it was pretty great. It was just, it was fun. Like, we'd just sit around and had some music going on. And then when New Year's hit, we just like went outside to the patio and all took a shot of champagne and happy New Year's.

[00:10:17] And then went back in, drink another beer, close the place down and went home. It was nice. Nice. Not a bad way to ring it in. Yeah. But yeah, they meet this bartender, I guess, owner of the place. But there is a lot more mysterious about her anyway.

[00:10:33] But this character of Verna played by Carla Gugino, she knows things, something. I don't know. She's very mysterious and there's a lot of questions around her. But even just the things that she says to them at the bar this night, when they first

[00:10:48] meet, you know, the, oh, the first two are on the house by now pay later. That's what I always say. So yeah, it's just ominous. You know, she just seems to know, oh, it seems like you two have already been partying ending 79 with a bang, huh?

[00:11:01] You know, you're going to be here for the ball dropping so you can make your resolutions and you know what a resolution is really. It's a deal you make with the future and the future's coming fast.

[00:11:09] And it's just very like creepy, ominous things that she's saying that seemed like nice banter, but you're like, there is something hidden underneath all of those words. And, and then we see that she ends up playing a very major role for Roderick

[00:11:25] and Madeline where we have this kind of quick glance at later on, she's at the table with them and she is telling him also we are outside of time and space and. You know, everything changes for you tonight.

[00:11:39] And it's just very, yes, you know, like is a deal being made. That's what it seems. Cause at the end Roderick is saying to Madeline, it's time, it's time. Where it's like, is there some kind of deal?

[00:11:51] Is there something that Verna has given them in exchange for something she's expecting back from them and now it's time to pay the devil her due. Uh, I've never read the book. I've never seen any other movie adaptations.

[00:12:02] So this story is brand new to me and I'm trying to stay as you know, clear going into it as I can. So I, I'm literally just making assumptions. I know nothing about this.

[00:12:13] And so that's kind of what I read into it as a first time experience of this story, but I'm excited to see what all that means. You know who, why, where, what, when, how, what is she? It yeah. Huge mystery as to who she is.

[00:12:29] She's obviously very important somehow in the ushers lives. Uh, from the time that she met them until like where we see them in present day. Uh, because she's, um, she pops up a lot in flashbacks or, you know, just in like

[00:12:47] flashes of, uh, Roderick's mind, uh, and he's afraid of her. So, and it did feel a little bit like a deal was being done. Um, like you said, like almost like a deal with the devil, because it's, it's

[00:13:02] interesting that, you know, seeing their story from when they were children to when they were teenagers, when their mom died, there's three stories that were told in this first episode and somehow they're intertwined.

[00:13:17] I don't know how yet, but I, I feel like Roderick was being very intentional in these stories that he was telling. Uh, depend. Um, I know I'm butchering that name. I'm sorry. Um, but I feel like it was very intentional, the stories that he chose to tell.

[00:13:34] And for some reason we don't know how yet. I don't have it figured out and I don't think I'm supposed to or any of us are supposed to, but. Uh, it's intentional and I was trying to pay very close attention. Um, maybe too much.

[00:13:47] So sometimes I get so hyper-focused on some things I miss others. That's why it's always good, I guess, to watch it twice and take notes and things like we do. But, uh, because especially when we're watching a Mike Flanagan series and

[00:13:58] podcasting on it, because everything he does is there for a purpose. There, everything in the scenes is from like the backdrop and the scenery to the words that are being spoken to the things that you see placed around. Um, you know, everything's intentional.

[00:14:17] Uh, so, you know, I, I, I got really hyper analytical, uh, trying to really pick up on what's going on. I don't know anything yet, but I feel like there's purpose there and I feel like there has to be a purpose.

[00:14:28] And we got that little scene because it's like when they, when, when Roderick and Maddie come into the bar, they were like, Hey, you know, we work just right down the street. We've, I don't think we've seen this place before. Is this new? Did you just open up?

[00:14:42] And she's kind of like, Oh, well, you know, kinda, you know, being really vague and then they're like, oh, it's kind of dead in here. And she's like, oh, we're more of a midnight, you know, kind of place.

[00:14:52] Um, and then she sits down with them later, you know, and having that conversation. And then, and then when she makes that comment about being somewhere between time and space, and I'm like, did this place just like appear out of like necessity?

[00:15:06] Did, was there like some, like she was aware of what they just, whatever it was that they just did before they came in, in, into there is it, did this just come out of nowhere, you know, because of, um, because she kind of picked up somewhere

[00:15:21] in the universe of what, what I'm guessing a bad deed, I guess, because there was talk of police, you know, if the police don't show up by midnight, then we're good. They needed some kind of like alibi. Um, Madeline looked very nervous about Roderick.

[00:15:37] He seemed to be very chatty. You know, she kept kind of giving him the side. I like, would you shut up? Like you're, you're talking way too much is the vibe that I got from her. Like she was like wanting to shut him down.

[00:15:48] Like, you know, we're just here to kind of be seen, um, make sure we chat and people see us or hear us and know that we're here, but you, you need to like be quiet. That's like the vibe that I was getting from her.

[00:15:59] Um, so it's like, I, I, I just assume they did something sinister or, um, you know, up to no good. So yeah, it's interesting because it's like, if, if she is some sort of like, and

[00:16:10] I don't know, uh, you know, like devil type figure and they made some kind of deal. It's interesting because we see in the courtroom scene, um, when he's like, you know, I, you know, they've never been charged with anything for the last 40

[00:16:22] years, you know, um, they've gotten away with everything, not even like a speeding ticket, you know? So it's like, how did they manage to get by with everything or, you know, with everything that they've done and, and stay out of trouble and nothing, um, you

[00:16:34] know, no consequences have ever come about, but now. Are things now, um, those consequences are now being paid up if you will, by what we're, by what we've seen. Um, you know, cause we were kind of told, well, here's, here's what happens right here at the beginning.

[00:16:50] So we know kind of what happens with this children. I was kind of surprised. I was like, oh hell we're, we're kind of being told at least part of the story, you know, right here in the, in the beginning.

[00:17:01] So is this kind of that, you know, time to pay the piper so to speak? I wonder. So, and Verna, she said her name is Verna and of course all the PO references, you know, and, and look, I'm not an expert by any means.

[00:17:16] I'm not going to claim to be. So I'm sure a lot of people are going to probably either be saying no, that's not right. Or they're going to be way better experts than me and that's totally fine.

[00:17:23] Um, but I, you know, I, I do, um, have always been drawn to PO in his work since I was very young and introduced to PO. Um, so I'll throw in some things here that I, I, I saw, but Verna is an anagram for Raven. Uh huh.

[00:17:38] So I didn't even think about it. I didn't even connect that necessarily, but I mean, she's got the mask and we see at the end that the Raven is definitely attributed to her and connected in some

[00:17:50] way that that's what Roderick sees is this Raven, Raven and connects it with her. So, but I didn't put together the anagram thing. That's good. Yeah. So I feel like there's a little bit of a tie there anyway, like, you know, ties her with, with the Raven.

[00:18:05] I don't know how, but, um, you know, so yeah, I, I liked that scene. I liked all the stories. They were really great. Um, they've done a, done a great job so far setting all this up.

[00:18:19] Uh, well my first point I wanted to just start out first because again, it just felt so good to be watching another amazing series, uh, from Mike Flanagan and his team, I have to give bonus points for the opener with Pink Floyd.

[00:18:36] Love, love Pink Floyd, all time fave of mine. And, you know, Mike Flanagan has a really great, um, standard of the music of like really great kick-ass music that he puts in his series. Like the music just always hits right.

[00:18:52] He, he, he's got good placement knows just what song to use in certain scenes. So I love that. Um, but then thought of, I don't know if, if, if it, if it is tied to this, but

[00:19:08] when the, when the song starts, it, you get a shot of a brick wall. Yeah. Another brick in the wall and there's, it's this cask of a Monteado kind of vibe. Yes. Thank you. Okay. I'm glad you caught that.

[00:19:19] The cask of a Monte, a Monte EO is that I don't think I'm pronouncing that right. Monteado. Thank you. Goodness. I'm terrible today. It's been a long day. Thank you for the correction. Uh, but yeah, I was like, nice job, Mike Flanagan.

[00:19:34] So hats off, um, for that reference. Um, I love the setting when Dupin gets out of his car, like he's going into this neighborhood. It is just, it's dark, it's gloomy. It's very Gothic and I, oh, I just, I'm eating it up. It is so great.

[00:19:52] Um, the, the darkness, the houses, the decay, um, you know, the windows boarded up, it's like something straight out of Poe. I mean, Flanagan really got, um, you know, that right in my opinion. Also just all throughout the episode, and I'm sure for the entire season, uh, Mike

[00:20:15] Flanagan's beautiful use of language. You know, we've talked about it so many times, you know, just the, like, it's almost poetic in some of the series and some of the episodes. And, um, I know there's been a few folks like, I just, people don't talk

[00:20:29] like that and I don't like it and that's okay. You don't have to, but I know I love it. Yeah. And, uh, it's always been one of my favorite things about Flanagan stuff is the dialogue and yeah. Yes. The dialogue. So, so great.

[00:20:42] And, and this episode was so rich with great, great dialogue. Uh, so I just, I loved it. It's so poetic. I love how he, um, uses words, um, in all of his series. Um, we got more like religious themes.

[00:20:58] We see this over and over in other Flanagan series as well. He's definitely, um, got this relationship and he likes to kind of get that out creatively in his work. So we see it here, um, really heavy in the first episode with, um, Maddie,

[00:21:13] um, Maddie and Roderick's mom. Yeah. Um, and then, yeah, that's it. Just a quick first point of just like diving into it and just like feeling like, oh, I'm home. You know, it's October. Got another Mike Flanagan series to jump into.

[00:21:30] And it was so, so good that it just, it just felt great. And I wanted to just kind of talk about that for a minute and give it a little shout out about how great it was to, you know, just how satisfying that first episode was. Absolutely.

[00:21:42] I'm like getting, like, you can see me, especially like last night, cause I watched it. You know me, I stay up and I'm going to watch it when it first drops. But like this first episode, cause when it ended, because you know, it ends, it goes to black.

[00:21:55] And then that like title screen with the fall of the house of usher comes up in white. And I literally was like clapping like giddy. I was just like, yes, we're going off. I know. Just, just so good. It just felt so good.

[00:22:12] The warm bowl of soup cuddled under the blankets and just, oh, just the best thing ever to, uh, it's what that, what his shows feel like to me. Um, like a bomb for the soul, if you will. Yes. Yes. But not sarcastically. Truthfully. All right.

[00:22:35] What's your second point? All right. Well, you know me, I'm, uh, predictable where do some quick smaller stuff and then I'll really dig into the meat later. So another kind of quicker one, but just this dynamic between Roderick Usher and Charles August Dupin, uh, Augie.

[00:22:56] Uh, we're beginning the episode Roderick sins for Augie to have, uh, you know, a little personal tell all one-on-one confession here in, uh, Roderick's abandoned and rotting childhood home. Uh, we learned that Augie Dupin, whatever you want to call him, uh, August, he is

[00:23:18] like government, like attorney who is charging this family and really in control of bringing them to justice and bringing them down. And it's kind of been his life's work. And now after all six Usher children have mysteriously or tragically died within two weeks.

[00:23:39] Uh, Roderick is now ready to just lay it all out plus more, um, maybe some more bonus stuff too. And just confessed all the charges, all the counts, but he has to tell everything. You're going to have to buckle in and listen to his story from the very

[00:23:54] beginning, all the way to the end. And it's gonna get weird. Uh, he's telling him is like my mother and my children and new year's eve and all these things I'm telling you is like it all, every piece is important and

[00:24:09] you're not going to want to believe it, but it's true and it's, it's important. And I'm just so curious what all this could be. I'm excited for this ride. I really am. Uh, yeah. And he's saying that it's his fault that his kids are all dead, which again

[00:24:24] makes me question this deal. Where does Burna play in with this? What has he done? Uh, and there's a lot to unpack and what I'm really excited about with this one, which is funny because kind of, kind of, kind of comes off the heels of us covering

[00:24:38] you this last season with like a murder mystery vibe. This one's almost like a supernatural murder mystery in its own way. Uh, yeah, a little bit where this more plays off of the idea of who's the

[00:24:51] informant and they're kind of, you know, happy hunting, but then we're learning like, okay, what did happen to his family? What has done? And there's going to be little pieces of the mystery that are revealed and solved one at a time.

[00:25:02] So I'm, I'm so excited to see how all that plays out and it's going to be kind of. Mod, I think it's going to be a back and forth of like current day and two weeks

[00:25:11] ago, like when his kids were all alive and then some more stuff from his childhood and younger days and how it all connects. So it's going to be a fun puzzle to piece together. Uh, he has one little line though about like, oh, you could ask Madeline about

[00:25:27] that. It's like, oh, she's downstairs in the basement. And then he never mentions that again. I'm like, how ominous was that? What does that mean? I don't know about that. I was like, why did you say it that way? And it never gets brought up again.

[00:25:42] Never again in the episode. I'm like, well, what about the, I don't like the way that sounds. Uh, and the door was like, yeah, like cracked open there behind him. I'm like, what's happening? I don't like it.

[00:25:56] Which I was looking for hidden ghosts a lot in the episode. I'm assuming that there's not any really, it's not a haunting show. Quote unquote. Uh, but I'm going to look anyway. Uh, the only thing that I saw that's related to that or close to that was this

[00:26:09] ghost of Roderick's mother, Eliza standing behind Augie, which the way that they did it, cause it was literally like they, he told the flashback story and immediately as it cut back, we're seeing Augie sitting in the chair and she's standing right there.

[00:26:21] And I was like, there it is. I see it. Like, I'm like, it's there and it takes a while, but then Roderick even like mentions like, well, I guess I'm supposed to tell you that because she's here. She's right behind you.

[00:26:31] Um, so I, I don't say I wouldn't necessarily call it a hidden ghost cause they directly talk about it, but it was still creepy. Very creepy. Very creepy. Uh, but then I kind of laughed a little bit where he's like, I'm not going to turn around Roderick.

[00:26:45] And then ghost Eliza is like, oh, fine. Then I guess I'm not needed. And just like walks off. Like goodbye then. Like fine then. Missed opportunity and just gulks away. Yeah. But, but just their, their back and forth was, was really interesting and it's a

[00:27:01] good storytelling tool to like get all this flashback is through him revealing and confessing to the attorney, which is cool. And you can tell that like they are like mortal enemies that have been at each

[00:27:15] other for so long that they have this mutual respect for each other to some degree, like DuPan hates Roderick and everything he is and everything he stands for. And it is his life's goal to put him in prison, lock him underneath the prison

[00:27:29] and save humanity from this horrible evil man. But there is also this like, but he's been doing that for so long that he knows Roderick Usher, he knows who he is and he kind of has, we said almost this

[00:27:43] familiarity to him, almost respect, but not quite, uh, to where they have this kind of fun back and forth banter. You know, he's like, I was actually impressed with your opening statements and you know, it's like, well, what about your family? And they can dig at each other.

[00:27:56] They know each other that point, which I kind of laughed at that line. He's like, well, my family was all there on day one. Why wasn't your husband there? Why weren't your kids there? What was it? And he's like, well, some of your family were indicted co-conspirators.

[00:28:07] That's why they're there. He's like, Hey, now I, did you pick up? And, and I don't know, but there seemed to be some familiarity between them, not just based on like maybe depend trying to constantly go after him and

[00:28:29] his family or anything, but like, uh, Roderick called him Augie. That feels like a nickname almost like they've known each other, like outside of all of this court business and outside of like, um, all of these charges and things, did you pick up on that at all?

[00:28:48] Like they've I didn't really think about it that way, but. It very much could be the case. I could see that. I wonder, I don't know. They just seem to like really know each other. Yeah.

[00:29:00] If that, like it's outside of what we saw, like from the courtroom and maybe this long history of him constantly trying to come after the family or whatever. Um, in that way, it seemed like they, they. Like actually knew each other outside of that.

[00:29:14] So I'm curious if we'll get any of any of that or maybe I'm off. Um, but I did love their banter. Yeah. I thought just, I don't know. There was a chemistry between them too. It was really great.

[00:29:27] It goes to like what you were saying this, the writing, the dialogue, the conversations that like, it's one of my favorite things of this whole episode is just the back and forth that Dupin and Usher have. Isn't Bruce Greenwood just killing that role? He's fantastic. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:29:47] Absolutely fantastic. I, I've always loved Bruce Greenwood in other roles, but wow. He's just. I'm like, yeah. And without getting too much into the specifics of everything and all the mess. Wasn't he like, if I remember correctly, he was like backup plan.

[00:30:04] He wasn't even the original cast for this. And right. They, I don't know all the details, so I won't go into it, but there was something that happened during production and I believe the original actor that was supposed to have played Roderick Usher.

[00:30:21] Um, was no longer going to be playing Roderick Usher. So they kind of phone a friend as Bruce Greenwood has got a long history in the Flanniverse, uh, like many others in, in, in this series. And he he's come in and I think he's just absolutely nailed it.

[00:30:37] He's doing a fantastic job. Yeah. Or even after just this one episode, I'm like, no, this is great. I don't even want to imagine it with another actor now. Like this is great. Yeah. I can't imagine anyone else being able to do it justice.

[00:30:51] Like, like he is, I think he's just absolutely fantastic. So I'm loving, I'm loving it. Well, I think they always do a really great job. I think Mike Flanagan and whomever his team and when they're, you know, doing

[00:31:01] their casting and yes, he uses a lot of the same people. It would be a shorter list to name people who haven't been in another, you know, either Mike Flanagan movie or series than, um, of all the ones that have been.

[00:31:13] Um, uh, so far, but, uh, so yeah, he's, I think really great. Um, I like what you were saying there, I think as long or like, as far as the setting, um, you know, I'm not, I don't recall every detail of the, um, the poem

[00:31:29] or short story of the fall or, um, the house of, um, Usher, um, but it is very much like that it has, you know, Roger Gusher and this narrator, you know, having this conversation and it's kind of in a setting very much like that.

[00:31:43] I mean, the way that they've described it in the story and then the way they put it in the series in a visual format, I mean, I think is spot on and, and the atmosphere that you get in the series is very much like how it comes across

[00:31:54] in the, in the story too. So I think he's done an amazing job. And again, the dialogue was just, and the banter between the two. Perfect. Just chef's kiss. I agree with you. Um, well you talked about the, uh, New Year's Eve story.

[00:32:12] I want to kind of go back a little farther and talk about, um, seeing and meeting Roderick and Madeline as children and getting a little bit of history, because again, I'm really curious. I have so many questions.

[00:32:25] I don't know if I'm going to have a whole lot of insight, but just like kind of questions about what we got from the story. So we meet their mom, um, and, and learn that they, uh, Maddie and Roderick are

[00:32:38] illegitimate, illegitimate children of this man who actually owns this Fortunato pharmaceuticals. Yeah. He's the previous owner and CEO that of this company that we come to learn now. Madeline and Roderick are running all these years later. Yeah. A lot of, a lot of questions there.

[00:32:58] But without, without coming out and saying it, um, you know, they, they definitely imply that, and it's just like kind of known and he wants nothing to do with them. Uh, you know, he's married and, you know, we don't know anything about this

[00:33:16] relationship that he had with their mother. Her name was Eliza. Um, but she worked for him as a secretary. Uh, so we don't know if this was some sort of consensual thing that they had going

[00:33:27] on. Was there like some misconduct or something on, on his part, him being the boss or something? We don't, we don't really know that. Um, but it, but the show definitely makes it clear that, uh, they, they are his children and he doesn't want them around.

[00:33:42] Doesn't even want them on, on his property. He's not a very likable fellow at all, but played wonderfully by Robert Longstreet. And I was so happy to see him again. Yeah. He's, he was really great. So good to see him again. He's a fantastic actor.

[00:33:59] Um, but he was not a very nice character, um, by any means. So curious to know, you know, how, how does that come about and what are we supposed to like get from this story?

[00:34:13] Uh, Roderick says, you know, I, I said I was never going to be anything like my father. Like he, he, he straight up calls Mr. Longfellow his, his, his father. Um, and says that, you know, if, if you're my blood, the gate is open and was a really

[00:34:28] great way to say like, you know, that dude's gate was like always closed. Right. And definitely closed to them. Like they were not to be there. They were not to be seen at all. He didn't want to even acknowledge that they existed.

[00:34:39] Um, his gates were closed to them. And when he says, you know, you know, I have six children by five mothers and I'm like, oh goodness, he got around. Um, but my, you know, my, my gates are always open.

[00:34:51] Doesn't matter if you're an usher, your, you know, gates are open, um, just by principle. And I thought, okay, is that part of what, and maybe it's just part of, and I don't

[00:35:01] know, cause I feel like we're going to get more to that and why we were told these three different kinds of stories and seeing these flashbacks that kind of shaped Madeline, um, and Roderick and who they are.

[00:35:15] Um, and if that kind of plays into what we're going to see, um, in the future. So I was kind of trying to figure, figure that out. Are we just, you know, also establishing, um, Mr. Longfellow as, you know, as their father and they were illegitimate.

[00:35:28] He was the owner of Fortunato pharmaceuticals and somehow through events between that time and when they were teenagers and came back later, um, to, you know, now that they own this company, I'm like, how did that, how did that come to be?

[00:35:41] Like, it's not like they were his heirs or something and they were just going to inherit. How, how did that come to be? So big, big question for me, um, for, you know, um, how that came to pass,

[00:35:55] especially with like what happened, like his, well, we saw what happened with, um, their mom. Um, and coming back to like kill him. That's, that's a whole other thing. I don't even know how to talk about that. I don't know.

[00:36:09] And I feel like I'm kind of spiraling here a little bit. Um, because I'm just trying to piece it all together and I don't know that I can. So what did you think about that? That story? Oh man. I mean, it is, it's my next point.

[00:36:22] So yeah, it's perfect to just have, yeah. You talked about setting it up. Oh man. I didn't hurt my soul to see poor little, little Roddy's ankle. I was like, oh, that looks rough. Like he really, really messed that thing up.

[00:36:37] Uh, and we know he didn't get any painkillers or anything for it because we learned about, um, more of his mother's ideology and things a little bit after that. Uh, I did really love the line from Roderick saying, you know, if pain and

[00:36:51] suffering or the kisses of Jesus, then he kissed the living fuck out of my mother in the years that followed. Such a great line. Yeah. So good. Loved it. But yeah. Uh, without this becoming too much of like a religious conversation, not that

[00:37:03] we've ever shied away from that in the past, but, uh, especially with Flanagan, but it is part of this backstory here. Uh, yeah, right. But yeah, we, we learned that Roderick Madeline's mother was extremely religiously devout, uh, to the point of extreme detriment where she refuses any

[00:37:23] kind of medical involvement, uh, believes, oh, God is going to heal and take care of anything and everything just by devotion and prayer alone. So yeah, obviously she gets sick and dies. Shocker. Um, but you know, not before rising from the grave as a terrifying zombie

[00:37:41] looking mess and killing Longfellow on her way out, uh, you know, talk about lifelong trauma for, for Roderick and Madeline there. But then we learned that they have covered up this actual death of William Longfellow all of these years.

[00:37:56] Like this is the first time he's actually said what really happened to that night to anybody. It seems as he's an old man, a grandfather himself now, and this for the first time he's saying, yeah, here's actually what happened that night.

[00:38:09] And it wasn't so much as like, and it's haunted us forever, but he's like, you know, my mother's last act in life was to kill a powerful man. And I still love her for that. Like there's how he phrases that. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:38:25] But man, that, that scene, this grave rising zombie mom scene, uh, man, it was, it, again, it comes from the fact that she was, yeah, I was trying to find a nice way to say it, but, but yeah. Uh, I don't know if there really is.

[00:38:42] Um, but yeah, but her kids refuse to get anyone involved. They can't call any police or doctors or, cause she can't be embalmed or altered in any way her body. There's probably some kind of religious belief of like, oh, she can't go to

[00:38:55] heaven if anything is messed with, you know, who knows? Like there's a lot of different kinds of beliefs in those areas. Uh, and of course I could understand them as kids also just not wanting any government or police or authority getting involved because who knows

[00:39:08] what that means for them? Where do they go? Who do they stay with? They don't have anybody. The only other family they have is literally like paying, was paying their mother off, it seems taking care of them from a distance to keep them a secret

[00:39:20] from his wife and to never have them in his life. So yeah. What, what does that mean for the future of them? Uh, but yeah, but that, that scene of her like climbing out of the grave and

[00:39:32] going back in the house and then the kids finding her was just peak horror. And it was awesome. You know, her appearing behind Roderick and this flash of lightning. And I'm like, this, this is what I love to see for Flanagan.

[00:39:45] It's like, you're going to, it's going to get emotional. It's going to be like really deep and the dialogue's great and the characters are great. And then you get a scene like that and you're like, but it is horror and he's good at that too. I love it.

[00:39:57] It's got some good psychological horror and not just like the jump scares or, you know, scary, like some of his other series. So this one's good so far. Yeah. But yeah, so I really enjoyed that, that backstory in that scene, but

[00:40:12] like you were saying, it leaves more questions than it really gives answers because you're like, okay, well how do you go from that to them being, you know, CEO and COO of this company? Where, how does, where does, where does A get to be on that? Exactly. Yeah.

[00:40:29] I, it's like, we got the beginning of their origin. We see here in like the flash forward in the future, how they ended up and how powerful they are. But like, I really want to hear that story in between. I want to know, you know, that journey. Yeah.

[00:40:46] I'm excited to get to see some of that. I did also really like with that backstory is really learning the dynamic between the siblings, between Roderick and Madeline, where even though Roderick is CEO

[00:41:01] and kind of technically in a way, like just, just a little bit ahead of her in the company. She seems to be, at least when they're growing up, the more protective and assertive and dominant of the siblings.

[00:41:13] She was, she's the one that's not afraid to speak up and out towards Mr. Longfellow. She's the one that seems to really be taking care of her brother. I don't know the age difference. Did they say who was older? They're twins. Okay. So they're twins. Yeah.

[00:41:29] So it's, but you know, cause Roderick really took on like the younger brother, like role in this though. Like she was protective of him and she was the one calling the shots growing up. And that was pretty clear. Yeah.

[00:41:44] I think that was true in their youth very early on. Like when he's like, oh, well, you know, Maddie being Maddie, you know, we're going to break the rules and we're going to go over there.

[00:41:55] And, and you can see then she's still very assertive and kind of controlling situation when they wanted to go confront Longfellow about their mom, when she was sick just before she had died. And then we see it in the future present, not future, but present day that she,

[00:42:14] she definitely, I think that Roderick is definitely very smart. I'm sure he's cut throat, I think by some of the things that we saw in him and things that he said in this episode, he definitely can be very cutthroat if needed to be.

[00:42:29] So I do think he's a very smart businessman, but I do think Maddie is definitely like the driving force behind that company and probably behind Roderick. They have a very interesting relationship and maybe it's a twin thing. I don't know.

[00:42:45] And then she's, there's something special about Maddie too. It's like he, he will say like Maddie knows she just always knows. And then when they were passing out the, the papers for everyone to sign the non-disclosure

[00:43:00] forms and she's like, you know, we'll hand out the forms and I'll get a look at their eyes and then I'll know. So it's like she just has something, an intuition or something about her as well. So they're a very interesting pair of siblings for sure. Yes.

[00:43:16] I like their dynamic. And Mary McDonnell is amazing. I love her. Now this is her, this is her first role in the Flanniverse, right? Is this her first Flanagan family? That, that I'm aware of. As far as I could find. Yeah. I think so.

[00:43:39] I'd have to probably go look it up to be sure, but I think she is new to the Flanniverse. So welcome. Yeah. You're doing great so far. Yeah. That's what's funny. I mentioned that because my next point that I'll get to a little bit is literally just like

[00:43:52] Flanagan family reunion. I just wanted to talk about like all the cast members returning. So there's a teaser for what's coming up. So I did a little research on like a lot of the core cast. I was like, okay, what have they done? Where have they been?

[00:44:04] What are they? So yeah. Great. Good. Yeah. It was like a, it was like a reunion of sorts in this episode for sure. Is it my turn? Yes. Yeah. Um, well I wanted to, I'm not going to go too deep specifically into the whole scene

[00:44:29] with the family, but specifically about this bounty that Roderick puts out there. And I thought that was really interesting. I didn't see that coming. I thought it was a cool idea, but also a terrible one.

[00:44:47] Just let's just sow the seeds of discord between every family member real quick. Chaos ensue. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, probably not the best idea to be turning the family against each other, but it has a huge incentive, you know?

[00:45:02] So I'm like, well, that's one way to, you know, flush out a rat, I guess, you know? But it's like, um, when they're in court and Dupin is like, oh, we've got this informant and they're, you know, it's, it's an insider and they're going to bring him down.

[00:45:21] And everybody's freaking out. Even like the cool cucumber lawyer who can't even be bothered to look up from his crossword puzzle, which played by the fabulous Mark Hamill. I love it, yes. It's amazing.

[00:45:38] But it gets everyone all stirred up and the way that they're, when they're talking to the judge and he's like, oh, well, you know, I just, they're afraid for their lives. I couldn't, couldn't bring it up before now.

[00:45:50] And he's kind of hedging a little bit, like why he couldn't bring it up during discovery, the knowledge of this, this witness. So they were aware of, I mean, that's a big no-no, right? You can't just bring up some kind of surprise witness without everybody knowing

[00:46:04] who and what's going on. Yeah. So I question, did this informant really exist? Because, and we don't know, but it's like hearing, hearing what happened to the court scene and then hearing the conversation between Dupin and Roderick.

[00:46:20] And he's like, hey, if this is all about me bringing up this informant or, you know, and you're trying to like put this on me and make me responsible. And Roderick's like, no, no, no, it's me. I am responsible. But it's like, was, was there really an informant?

[00:46:37] You know? I questioned the same thing. Was all this for nothing? Yeah. I feel like there, there might be, like it probably still could be, but I am curious to see how that plays out.

[00:46:46] I did like that Dupin's playing a little dirty himself because he knows the rules. He's been doing this a long time and he, he literally does that just to get under the skin of Roderick and his family.

[00:46:59] Because it's like, yeah, I get struck from the record, but the damage is done. You can't put that genie back in the bottle. It's, it's in everybody's mind now. He's got them unraveling. Yeah. You can't unsay that. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:47:10] So I thought it was a really interesting idea that, you know, they're like, okay, well, everyone now has assigned these forms. It's very tight knit thanks to the expert lawyering over here. But there's not just the heavy consequences of, of, of that.

[00:47:32] But there's also like mountains like, no, I'm just, I'm just gonna straight up kill you. I was like, oh, okay. Okay. I was like, I was not expecting, I loved it because it was like, I wasn't expecting any of that at all.

[00:47:48] I thought, wow, that's, that's pretty heavy. And then Roderick just gets upset and was like 50 million, 50 million to the person that finds the informant. Yeah. And I was like, whoa, I didn't see that coming either.

[00:48:03] So I think that definitely, obviously, knowing what happens and what we saw after this dinner scene in this confession from Roderick, that obviously this really kind of puts the wheels into motion of what we're going to see for the next seven episodes. So, so I don't know.

[00:48:28] I'm interested to see if that was a real thing or not. Or if it was just something that Dupin was trying to do to like, you know, get the, get one over on them, if you will shake them up because they seem so unshakeable, right?

[00:48:42] Like they get away with everything. This would be the one thing that shakes them up. What, what's your next point? You said you wanted to talk about the dinner too. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:48:55] So I have kind of a point that includes that, but it's kind of a big, big point. So I'll hold on to the, the casting and stuff a little bit longer. Cause yeah, kind of the biggest point was, yeah, just this family dinner, but also just

[00:49:09] meeting the children of House Usher, right? And a lot of them just kind of getting to flesh out the family a little bit, which I did love that there was a good bit of comedy and humor still sprinkled in, in a lot of these scenes.

[00:49:24] I love that with, with Freddy being obsessed with the departed and his wife, Morella, Mori and her cake. A lot of fun stuff that, but during that first scene at the Freddy's house with his

[00:49:41] daughter Lenore, which is the one at the funeral with, with Roderick at the bookends of this episode, there's this moment where she's saying, you know, well, whoever the informant is, they would have to be really brave.

[00:49:53] And she's like holding her phone towards her dad and asking, so are the charges true? And it's like, Lenore, I feel like it's definitely a red herring for sure, but I did pick up on it.

[00:50:03] But I was like, seems kind of weird that she's asking her dad, like, is it true what they're saying about us? As she's like pointing a phone towards him and being like, the informant must be really brave to stand up against the family. Cause yeah.

[00:50:18] But I don't know if it's her. I don't, I don't think it is, but it was a fun little tease at least. Yeah. But then we just get all of the, the kids kind of talking about who the informant would be with their different significant others and things.

[00:50:33] They all seem to be leaning towards Perry, this social media influencer wildcard of the family, the youngest one, it seems, the youngest child, except for Victorine, who seems to be very set on it being Camille for some reason.

[00:50:50] Um, we get to learn about Victorine a little bit, her partner, uh, Alessandra as they work in these like medical studies that seem to be doing it, dealing with like cybernetic replacements to save lives, like organ transplants and stuff with like, you know, mechanical parts.

[00:51:07] They're doing this study with the chimp, which is kind of cool, but then they're using some stuff from Fortunato that isn't definitely not cleared by the FDA or any other kind of thing. Uh, let's see. Roderick's family meeting demands all spouses and partners to be there.

[00:51:28] But then we learned that Leo, uh, seems to be keeping his boyfriend a secret. Um, he hasn't met his family. I don't think the family even knows about Julius, I believe his name is.

[00:51:39] Uh, and he's also keeping secrets from him as well as he's being serviced by a fan while he's on the phone with his boyfriend. Um, so maybe not such a great guy, but he is being able to keep Julius from family dinner.

[00:51:55] So, uh, see, I don't, there's not a lot about Camille. She's like the media person of the family. Uh, it's Kate Segal. So I'm sure we'll get lots of great stuff with her as this season goes on. She was fantastic.

[00:52:13] Again, I've loved the way that she can flip between all these characters that she plays that we've seen her in all the different series. Just she nails it. She was so good. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[00:52:27] Um, at some point Roderick's doctor comes over to the house and has a very serious matter to discuss off screen. So we still don't know what it is. It's private. Even his wife, Juno, is not privy to it. But whatever it was seems to have really shaken Roderick.

[00:52:41] It's something big. Even Maddie kind of realizes this shift in him after this happens. So I'm sure we'll get that revealed. Um, is it like a diagnosis or something's going on? I don't know. Mm-hmm.

[00:52:54] Might have something to do with how he, the state he ends this episode in. Uh, I don't know. It feels like he's got some kind of condition because he had that bloody nose and then falls on the ground. So yeah, there has to be something. Yeah.

[00:53:09] Yeah, we have Prospero Perry pitching his Prospero nightclubs to his dad and his aunt. These super exclusive dens of iniquity. Uh, and they absolutely hate it. Speaking of you, kind of remind me of a certain character in that last season of you that

[00:53:27] we covered in a certain character and his business. Into. Yes, absolutely. Very much like that. Yeah. But yeah, as Roderick says, it's, you know, being an usher is about changing the world. It's not a blowjob whiskey bar. That's fun.

[00:53:50] And then at the dinner, I just, Roderick is such a big fan of Maury's cake shenanigans. You know, oh wait, it's cake. And I'm just, the family claps and claps and it's just very awkward. And like, really? Like there's, who are they appeasing with this? Like, oh wow.

[00:54:06] Uh, even the coffee, which I died laughing with Leo, just like leaning over and being like, I bet it's cake. Oh. Uh, then you talked about the, yeah, the NDAs being handed out by PIM, the PIM reaper,

[00:54:26] that have major consequences to the kids and their spouses and families. If anything is broken, it's this way of trying to prevent the possible informant, if they so exist from speaking out because if they do, then legally they lose all inheritance, all assets, family connection.

[00:54:42] And like you said, Maddie even threatens their life. But then got to have Leo come back in with, he gets handed the paper and goes, wait, is this cake? So funny. I love him. Raul Coley. Yes, we love our Raul Coley. Yeah.

[00:55:00] And then, yeah, the last thing about that was just mentioning, yeah, the bounty, which you said, which I did question whenever he's like 50, $50 to whoever, you know, unveils the informant. And immediately my thought, I was like, loophole? If you are the informant, can you turn yourself in?

[00:55:14] And then, yeah, you lose your inheritance and assets, but then you still gain $50 million to start fresh all on your own away from the family. That is if Madeline doesn't have you killed by hitman the next day. No kidding.

[00:55:27] Yeah, you better hide from, use that to hide from Madeline. Wow. Yeah. I didn't think about that. I wonder if that, that would be a loophole. But yeah, so that's just what I was talking about.

[00:55:40] It's just like the family dynamic and kind of those things where they're a family, they have each other's backs, at least Roderick is like there for him, you said the open gate policy.

[00:55:50] But also there's a lot of divisiveness between the family where they all kind of look down on each other for one reason or another. Yeah. I'm anxious to learn why they all seem to hate each other or dislike each other.

[00:56:10] They're snide remarks back and forth to each other, flipping each other off from across the table, accusing each other of being the informant, all those things. And it's like if they put up this persona of being such a tight knit family, Madeline

[00:56:26] was very much like, the company is the family. None of you would be here without it. And we don't turn on each other. They were absolutely shocked that one of them could turn on the family. They seem to have a very strong sense of family.

[00:56:47] So to see them all kind of bickering, they hate the new wife that could be the age of their grand or his granddaughter. You've got some of the illegitimate kids who are her bickering. And none of them are really that good of people, right?

[00:57:08] They all seem to have some kind of crappy personalities about some of them. So it's very interesting. And I love that. I love that. I mean, it's great to have flawed characters and stuff. So I'm interested to learn more. It was a really great introduction to these kids.

[00:57:28] Looking at my points, I think I've got all my major points covered. So I just have some notes and I think a few Easter eggs too. So do you have more points that you wanted to cover? Yeah, just the kind of Flanagan family reunion, the casting.

[00:57:49] So it's not even a point on the episode necessarily as far as just talking about the cast and seeing everybody back together. Like you mentioned, it does feel like a family reunion in a way. So yeah, just kind of go over some of those.

[00:58:04] Like she mentioned, Carla Eugino. She's done a lot of stuff. So yeah, just see her as Verna, this mysterious character. But then Kylie Curran, which is the granddaughter Lenore, the daughter of Freddie and Mirella here. She was Abra in Dr. Sleep.

[00:58:20] So I love seeing her again in The Flannelverse. I think it's our first TV series. She was so good. Ruth Codd is back from Midnight Club, which I love seeing her. Anya was a big highlight of that show.

[00:58:37] So she's here as Juno, Roderick's new young wife, who none of the kids are fond of because she seems to be younger than all of them, except for maybe Perry. Like this is weird. I don't like it. So he's not a returning member of The Flannelverse,

[00:58:58] but I have to point out Mark Hamill, like he did as the Pym Reaper family attorney. Arthur Pym is just I love seeing Mark Hamill in this. So that's glad he's here. I mentioned Bruce Greenwood, Roderick Usher. I think this is yeah, he's returning to The Flannelverse after.

[00:59:14] This might be his first series as well. He was in Gerald's Game and Dr. Sleep, but I think this might be the first series. Maybe yeah, I'd have to go back and look. But yeah, you're probably right. Another Dr. Sleep poll, Carl Lumbly, who plays August, Augie Dupin.

[00:59:31] He was Doc Holleran in Dr. Sleep. That's right. Totally forgot he was in that. Yeah. Golly, a lot more people than what I thought. Yeah. More casting of the Usher kids. Our good close personal friend Henry Thomas, as we like to joke about. That's right. Frederick. Our bestie.

[00:59:50] Yeah. Freddie Usher. Kate Siegel as Camille. The wonderful, fantastic, unmatched Raul Coley as Napoleon Leo Usher. Samantha Sloyan is back as Tamerlane Tammy Usher. Tania Miller. God, I loved her in Blind Manor, so it's so good to see her back as Victorine Lafossade.

[01:00:12] Sorian Sapkoda, making his return from Midnight Club as Perry Prospero. And then Matt Bedell is back as Bill T, Tammy's partner. He's another kind of YouTube, social media kind of influencer kind of guy. Don't have a lot on him yet, but love Matt Bedell in these.

[01:00:36] We get Annabeth Gish coming to play Eliza, the mother of Raul Coley. Madeline. And then you mentioned Robert Longstreet as William Longfellow. Longstreet is a Longfellow. Camille's assistants, I guess. We get them in just quick one little scene, but Aya Furukawa and Igby Rigney, both from Midnight Club.

[01:01:01] And Igby Rigney was also in Midnight Mass as Riley's younger brother. Yes. And then speaking of Riley from Midnight Mass, Zach Guilford as the young Roderick there at the New Year's bar. Love him!

[01:01:19] And also younger Madeline there was an interesting pull back from the Flanniverse that I did not recognize at first and had to look up is Lulu Wilson, who played young Shirley in The Haunting of Hill House.

[01:01:31] And I think this is the first time she's been back in the Flanniverse since that. And she's grown up quite a bit since then. It's crazy to think it's been that long since Hill House came out.

[01:01:38] She went from one of the young kids to a full adult actress in this series. It's like, okay. Yeah. Oh, how everyone's grown. How it's weird to think how much time has passed since then. It feels like yesterday.

[01:01:55] But yeah, so just pointing out like it was this first episode was a lot of me like the Leonardo DiCaprio like meme pointing at the screen like, and them and that one. Yeah. Hey, look, look right there. Look right there. Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh. Yeah, that's hilarious.

[01:02:10] It was. This seems to be one like the series like with probably the most of like his former or not former, but you know, people that have been in his other series or movies before. So yeah, it was a lot.

[01:02:32] Like I said, the list is probably shorter of people in this at least his first episode so far that haven't been something. Yeah. Just created. It's awesome. What about notes? I've got a few little things. You can go first either way. I'm good with either.

[01:02:58] Okay, well, I think we've covered a few. So let me run through the list here. We've talked about Roderick's condition or mystery condition. We don't know what's going on there. Talked about Roderick and Madeline's dynamic. They're very interesting between them two. Curious to see more of their relationship.

[01:03:19] Talked about Madeline in the basement that I definitely called that. I was like, what? Like that's why is she in the basement? What a weird throwaway line. Don't leave us. And to not be brought up or mentioned again, you know.

[01:03:34] I thought it was interesting during this conversation with Dupin that he keeps getting these text messages from his granddaughter, Lenore, and he's constantly ignoring them. I don't know if that means anything or not. And that's of course assuming the messages that he's getting are really from her.

[01:03:55] Was he just saying that? But if they are from her, why is he ignoring them? Is that going to? I don't know. Just seemed kind of weird. We kept getting these text messages and it kept being brought up. So again, I feel like so many things are intentional.

[01:04:10] Everything is intentional in these series. I kind of laughed when Frederick, you mentioned him bringing, Frederick Usher bringing up The Departed. And he seems to be a big fan of this movie. I've heard, I don't know what it is.

[01:04:26] I've heard so many references like, oh my gosh, people just really put this movie on a pedestal. And I just, from hearing that and then hearing that in the series, how he brings it up and apparently it's his favorite movie as well.

[01:04:40] So I thought that was just kind of funny as a throwaway. And I love The Departed, don't get me wrong. I'm not besmirching it by any means. Other movies exist. Yeah. I was just like, oh, he's one of those that really think very, very highly of that film.

[01:04:57] Mm-hmm. You mentioned the quote, pain and suffering were the kisses of Jesus. I thought, wow, that again, just the words, just like, you know, poetry. I have a few Easter eggs and a lot of them are referenced to Poe because obviously he's

[01:05:21] definitely a huge influence on this series. Oh yeah. And a lot was taken from his work. Some Easter eggs, the eulogy. So if you caught the opening scene of the series for the three children that he was

[01:05:39] bearing in that service, the remarks from the minister were from different sources of Poe's work. Two of them are poems. One's called For Annie and it was, thank heaven the crisis, the danger has passed and the fever called living is conquered at last.

[01:05:56] It was from that poem and Spirits of the Dead, when he says the line, the spirits of the dead who stood in life before thee are again in death around thee. And then the other two are from short stories, one from, called The Premature Burial and

[01:06:13] one from The Imp of the Perverse. So definitely getting some Poe dialogue in here. August DuPin, so that his name comes from the investigator in Poe's 1841 short story, The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Fortunato is the name of the, obviously that's this pharmaceutical empire that the Usher

[01:06:44] family controls. That is actually from an 1846 short story, The Cask of Montaedo that we talked about. That's where that name comes from. William Longfellow, who fathered Roderick and Madeline with Eliza, that name comes from,

[01:07:10] oh sorry, so this, that person was, oh he was a contemporary, sorry let me backtrack. William Longfellow was a contemporary who Poe famously accused of imitating other poets to create his success, leading to what is sometimes referred to as the Longfellow Wars according to Flanagan.

[01:07:28] So that's where that comes from. Eliza Usher, who played the mother of Roderick and Madeline, who was played by the amazing Annabeth Gish, she is named after Poe's own mother. Her name was Eliza.

[01:07:46] Arthur Pym, he gets his name from Poe's only complete novel, 1838's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. I won't talk about any of the stories or what they're about.

[01:08:00] If y'all want to read them or go look into them, you can do that, but I'm not going to go into what they're about, but just kind of talk about the stories. And then John Neill, who played the judge, who was played by Nicholas Lee, which took

[01:08:14] me a hot minute because I didn't recognize him with the facial hair, but Nicholas Lee I know very well from The X-Files. He played Alex Krejcik from The X-Files, so it was cool to see him. But his name was John Neill, the character.

[01:08:30] He was the one presiding over the case. He is named after an influential critic who helped raise Poe's profile. So it's cool how all of these characters' names from the series have come from either Poe's works or somehow intertwined with his life.

[01:08:51] And I'm sure we're going to see a lot more. Oh yeah, it's only one episode. Lots of stuff you can think about. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we got seven more episodes and that's what Mike Flanagan's great at is all those Easter eggs. So that's all I've got.

[01:09:09] What have you got? Just a few other little things. Mark Hamill's screwed up little tight scrunched mean mug face in the court was just really fun. I liked that. Let's see, yeah, at the funeral Roderick is sitting and seeing Verna up at the top and

[01:09:30] then the flash of the dead children at the end. But then the very beginning episode, other than the Pink Floyd bit, is we see these little glimpses of their deaths in different colors and different things.

[01:09:42] It was really interesting to start there and then learn what we do with the sheep. She's here. Also, she calls him Grampus, which that's a new one for me. Yeah, never heard that one before, but OK.

[01:10:00] Something I found interesting is we get the pictures and names of all the Usher kids that died. And I actually paused on each of the news clippings as it showed each of them just to see if I could find some fun stuff.

[01:10:16] And so there's a couple of things I pulled from it. We have Freddie Usher reports of a collapse at a construction site, a demolition of a building where there was not supposed to be anybody there and he was the lone person still inside for one reason or another.

[01:10:32] Tammy Tamlin Usher was found in her home dead. Victorine Lafourcade was an apparent murder-suicide in her home with her partner, Alice Osborne. Was an apparent murder-suicide in her home with her partner, Alessandra. Napoleon Leo Usher, the gaming prince found at home dead by what was ruled as suicide

[01:10:53] by leaping off of his balcony. His partner, who was unnamed in the newspaper clipping, claims that Leo darted past him and leapt over the railing. Camille Lespanae or however you pronounce her last name.

[01:11:10] All we get on hers is just gruesome incident and then Prospero Usher is also just short and vague, just says dies in freak accident. But I did pause on those just to see what I could find on those.

[01:11:24] That's great because I only looked at the big bolded headline and they all just seem to be like mysterious or freak accident or whatever and I love that. I didn't take the time to kind of like zoom in there so that's interesting and yeah weird. Weird and mysterious.

[01:11:46] Yeah you mentioned the priest or whatever at the funeral that it was poems and quotes that he was speaking which makes for a very strange funeral speech. By the way, I was just like man this is morbid for what's supposed to be. But I thought so appropriate.

[01:12:10] Yeah oh definitely. Yeah it is fitting. Yeah lastly and I feel like we're going to see more of this probably even in the next episode is just that very ending. Roger goes to get into his car and there's this like evil court jester looking thing

[01:12:24] that's sitting there that scares him and then his nose starts bleeding and he collapses backwards on the sidewalk staring up at the raven. It's time but then of course the first thing I think when I'm looking at the raven I'm going nevermore.

[01:12:39] Yeah you know we're going to hear that. Oh yeah. Yeah that's pretty much all the extra notes that I had. I love it. That was so good. Yeah I loved all of the weaving in of dialogue from pose poems and stories. It fits this series.

[01:13:03] It fits I think just this theme and of course being inspired by poet makes perfect sense. But yeah I mean I'm like yeah what he's saying during the funeral and such was and when Roderick's

[01:13:16] voiceover when we see him and Madeline like carrying their mom down the stairs burying her in the backyard and he's reciting it too the same as like what the minister is at the funeral service and it was just perfect. Yeah it's dark. It's morbid.

[01:13:31] But yeah that's why I love it. Very appropriate. That's awesome. And you said that one was something titled like the premature burial or something right which exactly what happened there. Yeah yeah absolutely. All right anything else that we want to say about this episode for the moment anyway?

[01:13:58] That's it I believe. Okay all right well that sounds like a good stopping point. I think now would be a good time to get into our listener feedback. All right so we were able to get some listener feedback even though we didn't give anyone

[01:14:20] that much time to submit the feedback we were able to get some from y'all so we really really appreciate that. If you didn't get a chance to leave your feedback for episode one in time feel free

[01:14:32] to go ahead and leave it anyway and we'll catch it on the next one. You know it never matters if we see anything for a previous episode we'll read it so definitely feel free to come back if you didn't get it this round.

[01:14:48] Peck you want to kick us off? All right this first one comes from Lara Willie Swink who says resubscribing to Netflix just for this. I'm yeah I bet you and a bunch of other people uh Lara that's hilarious. Worth it.

[01:15:02] It's totally worth it I think I said that too I was like it's worth it do it. Lindsay Schlich says yay I'm so excited for this one bit of a slow start for me but these shows often start a bit slow for me.

[01:15:14] I enjoyed the backstory with younger Roderick and Madeline with their mother very creepy and the interview with the DA is also intriguing. That was the only hidden ghost I saw in the episode the mother moving behind the DA. Do we know if there are more?

[01:15:29] The family is incredibly unlikable hopefully some of them are at least enjoyable later on. The judge in the trial that's Krychek right? Oh Lindsay I love that you got that yes you're right. She goes on I looked on IMDB and he's not listed but I swear it's him.

[01:15:47] I've missed you guys so glad to be back on this show with you. Oh that's nice we're happy to be back and happy you're back with us Lindsay. Yeah good to hear from you feels normal things are back. Yeah got the whole whole crew back with us.

[01:16:03] This one comes from Maureen Favo says the discussion between Roderick and Dupin in that room is exactly as I envisaged it when reading Fall of the House of Usher. Flanagan nailed every sense of that story also the music and sound effects are amazing. Agreed.

[01:16:17] Jessica Dugett says I'm so excited to hear about it I've been hooked on the podcast since Hill House and Bly Manor. Oh thanks. Thanks. And welcome back we're happy to be doing more Flanagan for you. Yeah.

[01:16:33] And then of course we got an email from Daphne always good to hear. Yay. Says hi Rima and Peck welcome back so glad to have the podcast back and for you to be covering this adaptation of one of my favorite Edgar Allan Poe short stories.

[01:16:48] Since this went into development I have wondered how he would bring this story to life in a series. It's wonderful to see all the familiar faces from not just his Netflix series but also films. He's also utilizing actors from other science fiction series Nicholas Lee from The Judge

[01:17:03] as the judge is cry checking the x-files. Also love the reappearance of the Raven throughout. I think this episode set the table for what we are about to see throughout the next seven episodes. Can't wait to listen to you dissect it. In Flanagan we trust Daphne. P.S.

[01:17:17] See you both very soon. So excited. Thank you Daphne. All right. Thank you all so much. As I was saying we didn't give you all a lot of time to leave feedback for this episode

[01:17:32] so please feel free as you're watching to go ahead and leave feedback for this episode and I'm going to I haven't done it yet. I need to do that hopefully after we wrap up here soon is get posts out for all the

[01:17:46] episodes because then we got all of our bingers out there. So be sure if you're binging hey take a take a minute and go go leave us some feedback. We'd love to hear what you think about all of these episodes so I'll be sure to get

[01:17:58] those put out. But thank you everyone that was able to get something for us today. Yeah. So next on Strange Indeed next week we're sorry I said next week. I don't mean next week. I mean next episode of Strange Indeed.

[01:18:16] We are going to be covering episode two of the fall of the House of Usher but it's going to be a little bit before we're able to get back together to record.

[01:18:25] We both have some travel coming up and it's most likely going to be I think Tuesday the 24th. Do I have that that right? Before we have our next episode. So apologies in advance.

[01:18:44] I really you know it's like knowing that we're going to have a little bit of a gap between episodes one and two. I know folks binge these series they move on very quickly and y'all are always looking

[01:18:58] for our coverage each week and you're already very patient with us because we do take it episode one episode a week by week instead of like doing them all at once like other podcasts do.

[01:19:08] So I know we're asking a lot of you but we really hope that you guys stick with us and be patient as you know we get through some travel and be able to get back together to record.

[01:19:19] Yeah we were so excited to get this you know back to the show and I know all of you were and then it just kind of works out that like preset travel plans that were already like

[01:19:27] right here as soon as it's like oh guys like we're going to that's why we're recording like the day it dropped because like we got to get ready to like prepare and stuff for traveling and then it's like man we're gone for a week.

[01:19:38] Yeah yeah so we're all getting together it's our yearly or annual trip that many of us do some are leaving earlier than others and some are staying a little longer than others and

[01:19:50] everyone's plans are a little different but we are all kind of merging there in the middle to do our annual visit with the Zeds. So super excited for that super excited to see you Peck again because gosh I haven't

[01:20:05] seen you since yeah the finale trip last year for The Walking Dead around it was around the same time a year so really excited to see everyone so yeah excited for that but apologies that it's also going to delay our coverage unfortunately.

[01:20:20] But we will be hanging out in the house with like 20 other podcasters and Zedheads and yeah it's just it doesn't really work to try to do more ain't nobody getting nothing done we're all together like that so yeah but we will be getting together the minute we get

[01:20:37] back we'll be back on our normal typical recording schedule so yes I hope that y'all hang with us a little bit of patience and and we'll be back at it so thank you.

[01:20:55] Well yeah so if you want to write in leave us a message again so you have a little extra time even for feedback for this first episode if you didn't get it in or we go ahead and get

[01:21:03] like Remo was saying feedback for the second episode or all the way up through you know the finale all of these we have separate posts for those on Facebook if you find them so you

[01:21:13] can find us on Facebook you can find us everywhere but then if you need all those links just go to podcastica.com you'll get where you need to get to us. And while you're there be sure to check out our other shows very you know we were just

[01:21:27] talking earlier about Run For Your Lives you and Daphne have certainly continued even though you and I've been on a break I'm churning out some content anything you want to tease for us this week?

[01:21:37] Yeah this week's episode so we'll be coming out on Friday this weekend whenever you're listening to this our next one coming up is the second half of our double dip this season where we kind of do

[01:21:48] two movies back to back that are similar either remakes or something like that so this time we are doing Pet Sematary so the 1989 Pet Sematary came out last week so we're releasing our episode

[01:21:59] on the 2019 remake this weekend. Nice. So you can check that out yeah. Well we love some Stephen King. Yeah absolutely. That's awesome yeah there's a lot going on at Podcastica of course there's the

[01:22:13] coverage of one of the Walking Dead spin-offs right now the Daryl Dixon spin-off right now that Jason and Lucy have been covering. Which has honestly been so good I'm really enjoying it.

[01:22:25] I really need to get caught up I've fallen off just a little bit doing other things so I but I I've enjoyed what I've seen so far which I'm happy for I've always loved Daryl he was always one of

[01:22:38] my favorite characters from the show so I'm happy to hear that it's doing well because I didn't really love Dead City all that much to be honest with you so I'm glad to hear that it's doing really

[01:22:48] well. So yeah check out their coverage for that show Penny and some friends have been covering they're doing a Buffy re-watch and covering some episodes from that show so that's really cool I

[01:23:01] know there's a huge following for all the Buffy fans out there. Yeah. Wheel of Time I think also just wrapped so check out our coverage for that not ours like mine but Podcastica. Yeah I think

[01:23:15] Greg and Veronica are covering that on Podcastica. Yeah that's been great so yeah check everyone out go when you click on podcastica.com check out all of the great podcasts past and present. Yes

[01:23:29] sure and make sure while you're there any of those shows that you enjoy or find and especially Strange Indeed you can leave reviews and subscribe ratings all of those good things that help

[01:23:39] promote us and get us out there to even more listeners we really appreciate that. We do please and thank you. Well all right that is our show thanks for listening everyone. Until next time

[01:23:52] I'm Rima and I'm Peg and Laura Willis Swank is Strange Indeed. It felt good to say that again.