The Fall of the House of Usher: Our Initial Thoughts on Episode 1
Well, we didn’t see this one coming! The Fall of the House of Usher is inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe, which follows the downfall of the mega-rich Usher family and their disgustingly corrupt pharmaceutical company. Considering it’s based on a work by Poe, it was a surprise to learn that this retelling takes a walk in the rainbow family park, making the LGBTQ+ community proud with representation. So, naturally, we’re tuning in to see what all the hoopla is about. Here are our initial thoughts on episode 1 of The Fall of the House of Usher.
The episode opens with the Usher family patriarch Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) employing the services of his rival – the Assistant U.S. Attorney C. August Dupin (Carl Lumbly) – to finally tell the truth about how his six adult children all died. Color us intrigued, The Fall of the House of Usher has our attention.
Full disclosure fam, as this is based on a short story by Poe, that should tell you all you need to know about the genre of this mini-series: it’s gothic and definitely displays horror elements. Some of us in this office are scared easily, and we enjoyed this episode immensely, so we think you’ll be okay though.
As the meeting between Roderick and the attorney kicks off, he tells Dupin that his mother died when he was young, and he and his sister buried her in the backyard. Except, she came back to life, dug herself up zombie-style, and killed the CEO of Fortunada Pharmaceuticals. He was the father of her two kids (even though he was married to someone else) and Roderick, being the heir, ended up running the company.
Viewers also learn that current-day Roderick had (past tense because they’re dead) six children to five different mothers, but he claims them all and treats them like his kids, unlike his own father. Our initial thoughts are that this patriarch has some skeletons in his closet and might be about to find out what they are all about.
The first appearance of queerness also comes at this moment. We learn that the Assistant U.S. Attorney is gay, and has a husband, children, and grandchildren. Score one for rainbow representation!
As they’re introduced to viewers, it’s obvious that the Usher siblings have some family tensions that dictate their behaviors and their relationships. Daughter Victorine LaFourcade (T’Nia Miller) raises our second rainbow flag of the episode. She appears to be some kind of scientist and is in a relationship with her female (also-scientist) coworker.
When we meet son Napoleon Usher (Rahul Kohli), he has a girl in his apartment, but then he gets a phone call and makes her leave out a window entrance because his significant other is coming in through the door. Also queer, Leo is in a live-in relationship with a man. That’s two for two Usher siblings for Team Rainbow so far!
This is also about the same time that we learn that Roderick is married to a woman who is young enough to be one of his kids. Juno (Ruth Codd) is an interesting, apparently recent, addition to the Usher clan. This whole arch just screams messed-up family drama a mile off.
It’s clear that Daddy Usher is up to no good, and there is a rat among the Usher siblings. Fortunada Pharmaceuticals (and ergo their dad) is in red-hot legal trouble. Like the stand-up father he is, Roderick calls a family meeting and puts a 50 million dollar reward on the table for the sibling that can figure out who is the rat among them and which one of them is talking to the Feds.
Our initial thoughts tell us this isn’t going to end well, fam. Considering all the Usher siblings are now dead, we’re pretty sure we’re not too far off in our assumptions.
The timeline of this episode jumps around all over the place, but fear not, it’s extremely easy to follow. In the last scene, Roderick is walking out of the funeral of yet another of his children, and viewers are offered several morsels of information.
Roderick sees the dead figures of his children and his mother, when he leaves the church at the end of the funeral, he goes to get in the car waiting for him and is met with a paranormal entity that only he can see, and as he is passing out on the sidewalk, a black crow watches over him as he lays on the ground, his nose bleeding out.
All the Usher kids – queer or otherwise – seemed equally messed up and seem to be lugging around their own bags of skeletons. We are here for an epic family scandal, but especially one of this nature.
Definitely gothic with a splash of horror elements, our initial thoughts on The Fall of the House of Usher is that you should all be watching this show right now. It’s got an all-star cast with lots of familiar faces, episode 1 contains five queer characters that we could confidently identify, and the storyline is mysterious AF!
Although we only spotted two queer Usher siblings, the jury is still out on a couple of the others, as far as we are concerned. We’re expecting the reporting of more queerness from the Usher family as the episodes unfold.
We are enthralled and making a bowl of popcorn to begin watching the remaining episodes. We are here for this queer, gothic mess of a family and all its mysterious intrigue.
Our full-season review of The Fall of the House of Usher will proceed upon completion. Two thumbs up from us so far. Drop by our socials and let us know if you’re watching too!
The Fall of the House of Usher is available to stream on Netflix. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!
Featured Image: Courtesy of Netflix
