While I enjoyed (and recommend) POKER FACE as the most entertaining television program of the year, hands down the most brilliant and addictive this year is THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, an eight-part mini-series on Netflix.
Loosely based on various works by Edgar Allan Poe, the series adapts otherwise unrelated stories and characters by Poe into a single nonlinear narrative set from 1953 to 2023. It recounts both the rise to power of Roderick Usher, the powerful CEO of a corrupt pharmaceutical company and his sister Madeline Usher, the genius COO of the pharmaceutical company, and the events leading to the deaths of all six of Roderick’s children. In each episode one of his children dies a most gruesome death, each in the manner of a victim in an Edgar Allan Poe story (which is why each episode is aptly titled “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” etc.). By the third death, Roderick Usher realizes his house is falling down... and it takes the superstitious Madeline less time to figure out who is responsible and why the family is being targeted.
The series is top notch from directing, writing, and acting and the ensemble cast shines with the performances of Carla Gugino (as a mysterious woman plaguing the Ushers) and Bruce Greenwood as an elderly Roderick. These two deserve an Emmy nomination for best acting of the year for a miniseries.
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| Carla Gugino as the mysterious woman. |
Each episode provides a bit of mystery that keeps you guessing what the solution is until the final episode. For the most part, you’ll figure out who the mysterious woman is before the big reveal, which will come as no surprise. But the fun is knowing what’s around the corner, even if you are a Poe enthusiast. The most brilliant aspect of the series is the writing – superb prose and a well-crafted story.
My recommendation is not to binge watch, but instead to watch one episode a day so you have time to dwell on the mysteries that remain unsolved until the final episode. If you are looking for a series that will keep you glued for days, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER on Netflix is brilliant. And I do not use the word "brilliant" for films or television programs loosely.
