![]() While eventually Roderick could have used this to simply move his way up, he and Madeline had other plans. While under testimony, he went against what he said he would do, saying instead that Dupin was harassing him, that Fortunato did no wrong, and this his signatures were never forged.īy doing this, Roderick was briefly arrested for perjury, but earned goodwill with both Griswold and the larger Fortunato community he was willing to take one for the team. The final episode finally reveals what Roderick and Madeline did-and were running from-all those years ago, and how they first got involved with Verna in the first place.Īfter an episodes-long arc where the younger Roderick, Annabel Lee, and Madeline plotted to work with Dupin to bury Fortunato (where an ambitious Roderick worked in the mailroom) and its asshole CEO Rufus Griswold (Michael Trucco) for forged signatures and other misgivings, Roderick turned on Dupin. What past, you ask? What deal did Verna make with Roderick and Madeline, and why did it result in the entire Usher family dying? Roderick refuses to believe it, but Madeline knows that this is their past coming back for them. She shapeshifts, and knows everything, always letting the Usher children know exactly what the universe needs them to know before their time is up.Īn interesting aspect to Verna is that she is physically appearing in these places Roderick, Madeline, and lawyer/fixer Arthur Pym (Mark Hamill) find her in photos that aren't only in the present, but date back to past centuries, always looking exactly the same. Throughout the rest of the series, Verna continues to show up-more than 40 years later, always looking exactly the same as the day she met them. She's first present tending bar when Roderick and Madeline stop in on New Year's Eve 1979, and we don't know what's going on with them, but we know they're nervous about something. ![]() But Verna (which, if you notice, is an anagram of RAVEN) represents some kind of devil or adjacent otherworldly force, a harbinger of death who exists only to tempt and test the ethics and morality of those who need testing. Who (or what), exactly, she is, is never quite defined. Who is Verna in The Fall of the House of Usher, really?Įven before the final episode of The Fall of the House of Usher, it's abundantly clear that Verna (Carla Gugino) is no mere human being. ![]() That includes some of Roderick's hallucinations, the banging throughout the season from the basement of his childhood home (which he keeps saying is Madeline, and that Dupin for some reason never questions), and why, exactly, all of this is happening. But things aren't always as they seem the final episode takes us inside everything that lingers, bringing everything full circle. We also learn, through a series of flashbacks, about how Roderick (played in younger form by Zach Gilford) rose to power within Fortunato, egged on by his duplicitous and cold sister, Madeline (played by Mary McDonnell in the present and Willa Fitzgerald in flashbacks).Īs we approach the finale of The Fall of the House of Usher, after learning of Frederick's (Henry Thomas) grisly death in the penultimate episode, it would seem that we've finally caught up with the present, where Roderick sits, drinking expensive cognac and speaking with Dupin. We learn about the violent and untimely deaths of each of Roderick's children-whether from Annabel Lee (Katie Parker) or "bastards"-and how in every case, it was their own failings that led to their demise. It's through this framework-Roderick telling stories to Dupin-that we learn just about everything that has happened to the present point. attorney who has been on his tail for decades. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly), an assistant U.S. The very first episode of the show sets things up: Roderick Usher (Bruce Greenwood), the patriarch of the rich, famous, and powerful Usher family and the CEO of the morally corrupt company Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, has just seen all six of his children die over the course of a week, and is ready to give his "confession" (whatever that may mean) to his longtime rival, C. The framing of The Fall of the House of Usher is a simple and classic one. And luckily for us, that all comes to fruition and then some. But, still, a few lingering things remain that need to click in order for the series-based on the collected writings of Edgar Allen Poe-to really all fall into place. ![]() The following story contains massive spoilers for The Fall of the House of Usher.īY THE TIME you reach the final episode of The Fall of the House of Usher, the latest of Netflix's horror limited series from writer/director Mike Flanagan, there have been a lot of scares, a lot of violence, and a lot of lore.
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