The Fall of the House of Usher Review: A Sinister Modernization of Poe

Fans of Edgar Allan Poe will not be disappointed by Mike Flanagan’s modern gothic take on the sinister nature of Poe’s best works. The best thing about Flanagan is his ability to dive into the intricacies of the human condition and how complicatedly flawed humans are.

The Fall of the House of Usher is no different than his many other works in that he takes common threads of humanity and puts a thrilling, horrific spin on it. The scariest part about this limited series isn’t the actions of the Usher family but just how relatable these actions are to our own lives.

Flanagan uses this series to remind us that humans are selfish, flawed creatures that, more often than not, create their own despair.

The Worst of Humanity

On the surface, viewers look at Roderick, Madeline, and their descendants and see they are genuinely vile people who represent everything wrong in the world. However, when we dive a bit deeper into the lives and psyche of each member of this doomed family, we find a bit of truth to them.

Sure, 98% of us are never going to see the level of wealth that ultimately drowned Prosepero (Perry), Camille, Napoleon (Leo), Victorine (Vic), Tamerlane (Tammy), and Frederick (Freddie). However, the experiences they hold onto and the traumas they try their best to suppress are ones that almost everyone can relate to.

Instead of dealing with their past hurts and mental illness head-on, this entire family turns to drugs, sex, and alcohol to numb the pain of living. The concept of addiction runs steadily throughout this series, considering Roderick is being brought to court over his company’s drug, Ligodone, being highly addictive — a la the Sackler family. 

As the series dives into the story of Roderick and how each of his children meets their demise — within a two-week window, I might add — it becomes more apparent that The Fall of the House of Usher is a cautionary tale about the perils of greed, power, and pride. The Usher family leaders weren’t always these dredges of humanity we meet in the present day.

In fact, at one point, Roderick Usher was the poster boy for fighting for what is right and fair. Unfortunately, being knocked down a time or two by men more powerful than him and having his sister’s voice constantly in his ear created the man he became.

This is not to say there should be sympathy for anyone in this family except Lenore. Taking a tally of what these people can do makes their deaths much more satisfying.

Perry and Leo were spoiled brats who thought of only sex, drugs, and influence. Camille only cared about public image and would stop at nothing to make things “squeaky clean.”

Tammy and Freddie were entitled, bitter people who took their anger at their father out on others in the cruelest ways. Then there is Vic; she is probably one of the worst only because her dedication to being self-righteous and good led her to toss aside anything to reach her goals — human or animal.

Lenore Usher — The One True North

It takes talent to create a cast of characters that the viewers are supposed to care about. It takes even more when these characters aren’t worth rooting for — unless we are rooting for their deaths.

Flanagan manages to give us an entire family that is so slimy and reprehensible that we don’t want them around and a true north to guide us through the darkness and chaos. Not only that, he shapes and molds this character into one of the most complex of the entire cast.

Lenore starts off simply being this sweet young teen in the background of her father and his family’s business dealings. Then, as the deaths start piling up and her mother gets caught in the crosshairs, we see a young woman willing to risk it all for the truth.

One of the most decisive moments for her character comes during The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 8, “The Raven,” when Arthur Pym approaches her to media coach her about the situation with her parents. Lenore looks at Pym sternly and tells him that what she has already said will remain the statement because that is the truth, not the truth her grandfather wants the world to hear.

Auguste Dupin: I used to tell people, ‘There’s no such thing as a good Usher.’ But there was one, Annabel Lee Usher. And you drove her away.

Roderick Usher: Wrong. Lenore, she’s the best of us. And so like her grandmother too. All the best of Annabel Lee without, without the broken heart.

It’s the moment that we realize for once Roderick was right. This whole time, he’s been saying that Lenore is the best in the family, that she is a bright light.

That makes her death the only true tragedy amongst the piles of bodies of the Usher dynasty. She was good and wanted to create good in the world, unlike her family, who all said the same but failed tremendously to look beyond their selfish gains.

We do get a tiny bit of solace and comfort in the knowledge that her final act of public defiance has a ripple effect on the world in the future as Juno and her mother inherit millions and use the money for good instead of the legacy left behind by their spouses.

The Element of Poe

Aside from being a wonderfully constructed commentary on the horrors of the rich and powerful, The Fall of the House of Usher also serves as a love letter to Edgar Allan Poe.

Between character names Prospero, Lenore, Tamerlane, and Annabel Lee and elements within each descendant’s story, this series is everything a Poe fanatic could ever want. Flanagan takes a lifetime’s worth of work from Poe and translates it into the modern lens for viewers to see that the themes are still universally recognized despite the passage of time.

The recurring image of a raven everywhere the Usher family turns reminds us that these are the stories of Poe and that Roderick is recounting a tale of woe, grief, and despair. He is a man who has lived a life of wealth and power only to lose it all in the final hour and regret everything.

Throughout the series, Roderick is heard quoting Poe’s Annabel Lee, and when he finally confesses to Dupin that even Lenore has died, he does so by reciting The Raven. These reminders give viewers a deeper understanding of the stories at play.

Nothing Flanagan does with this series is a coincidence. There is purpose in every thought executed, every idea and concept explored. 

Looking at the deaths of each Usher gives insight into Poe’s works as well. Viewers who are familiar with Poe’s works will know the nature of death just by reading the episode titles. 

Perry dies after inviting a group of people to a party at a condemned building — much like the character of the same name in The Masque of the Red Death. Then there is Camille, who serves as a look into the dual nature of humanity and our more animalistic traits when she is killed, similar to the characters of Poe’s The Murders at Rue Morgue.

One of the best adaptations of Poe’s work comes from Victorine and Alessandra’s deaths. It is the modernization of The Tell-Tale Heart and is done in a way that is not only thematically beautiful but cinematically. 

The way Vic is driven mad by her quest for success with her mechanical heart device, only to cut open her lover and attach the device to keep her heart beating after death, is gruesome and tragic. It shows us that she might also have a touch of the CADASIL that her father is suffering from since it comes out that he, too, can hear the mechanical ticking noise.

Ultimately, this limited series does what it should and manages to terrify viewers with the truth. 

Stray Thoughts:

• Knowing from the start that everyone will die doesn’t take out the element of surprise for how each death will occur.
• Of all the “children,” I felt the most compassion for Napoleon despite his drug problem driving him over the edge.
• Camille is a dynamic character who is very reflective of a Young Madeline, and I love that the series successfully shows that connection.
• None of the Usher family members have “normal” sex lives, which is an exciting study into the effects of trauma on each person.
• Auguste Dupin serves the purpose of “the general public” throughout Roderick’s tale. It’s made even clearer by ending the series by telling Roderick’s grave that he can keep his confession, rationale, and apology because nobody wants to hear it.
• Pym is terrifying in that “crawls under your skin” sort of way. Mark Hamill knocks this one out of the park.

 

What did you think of this episode of The Fall of the House of Usher? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Fall of the House of Usher is streaming on Netflix.

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