YMMV / The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

• Accidental Aesop:
  • If you're hosting an event that relies on some special tech or equipment like a sprinkler system, make sure you test the system before the event to be absolutely certain that everything is working properly and there's no risk to anyone.
    • On that note, if you're given a job to do (such as disposing of chemicals or demolishing a building) then do it right away and don't leave the task hanging.
    • If you have a strange feeling that there's trouble ahead, there probably is. Get out of the situation while you can.
  • Corporations are so difficult to even attack, let alone bring down, that their power and immunity can seem otherworldly, even if they are still clearly run by human beings.
• Adorkable: Juno is delightfully awkward when she's trying to make nice to the other members of the Usher family, from accidentally talking about sex around Lenore to her attempting to support Tamerlane at her disastrous launch, with the result that she is very endearing.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: Has its own page.
• Anvilicious:
  • Verna muses about the evils of animal testing at great length before one of Victorine's test-subject chimpanzees attacks and mauls Camille to death. Madeline also goes on an extended rant about the destructive effects of capitalism and consumerism, and Verna gives scathing commentary on the selfishness and decadence of the wealthy, who could fix the world if they were willing to subsist.
  • "Goldbug" has an extended sequence implying that Verna made several deals in the past with notorious conservatives. In the final episode, Verna paraphrases a famous quote from Donald Trump, saying it comes from a former client of hers.
• Awesome Moments: After rescuing her mother, Lenore gives a statement to the cops that Arthur makes them tear up, ostensibly because she's a minor but really to protect the reputation of the Ushers and Fortunato. Lenore tells Pym—the Pym Reaper all her aunts and uncles are scared of—in no uncertain terms that he will not be dictating to her how to handle this situation, and marches right back over to give another statement. She manages to leave the normally unflappable Pym utterly stunned and powerless.
  Lenore: I don't care what's good for the family. Or the company. This is about my mom. And if you think you're coming near her with another pair of pliers, over my dead body, you fucking ghoul.
• Catharsis Factor: It's very satisfying to see the Ushers get picked off one by one due to how awful they all are (with the exception of Lenore). Special mention goes to Frederick, who gets a painful, drawn-out death courtesy of Verna because even she found his psychological abuse and physical torture of Morella to be utterly reprehensible.
• Crosses the Line Twice:
  • Camille firing her assistants after they want to stop having sex with her echos an all-too-common occurrence in real life business settings and is no laughing matter. However, her childish rant at them about how she liked to call Beth "Tina" because she finds it funny is so funny and well performed by Kate Siegel, it quickly became a meme on TikTok.
    Camille: I have specific needs. I have specific requirements for a particular and unique fucking lifestyle. I think it's really convenient that you two were excited when you signed your NDAs and consent forms and that you two fell in love, Tina, one month after I finish paying off your student debt, Tina?
    Beth: My name isn't Tina, you know that. My name is Beth.
    Camille: I don't give a shit, BETH! Damn it, Toby and fucking Tina makes me laugh, so at work you're FUCKING TINA! Why is that so— Ow. I have a fucking migraine. Fine, okay, oh, okay, you're in love. You're in love. Adorable little morons. You would think that spending this much time around Fortunato Industries would teach the two of you a little bit about brain chemistry, you dopamine-riddled little fuck puppets.
  • When The Reveal that Victorine killed Ali by accidentally throwing an ornament at her is horrifying, it becomes hilarious when the bodyguard outside the door asks what's going on, and Victorine covers up Ali's dying by shouting "have you never heard a woman get eaten out before?" and threatening to fire him for being a pervert. Ali's dying breaths do sound rather orgasmic to complete the moment.
• Draco in Leather Pants: Many viewers felt that Leo didn't deserve to die in such a horrible fashion, being the Token Good Teammate of the dysfunctional Usher children; and since it turns out he didn't even kill Pluto in the first place, he's being persecuted by Verna for no good reason. At the same time they tend to overlook that while Leo was somewhat nicer than his siblings, he was still entitled and selfish, profited from the crimes of his family even while trying to distance himself from the shadier sides of the family business, casually cheated on Julius at least once while treating him more like a possession than a partner and refused to take responsibility for his apparent actions, preferring to lie to his boyfriend and constantly throw money at his problems to make them go away.
• Fanfic Fuel: Who were the other people in Verna's bar on New Year's Eye 1979? Were they ordinary people who just wandered in for the evening, or part of the set-dressing since the bar vanishes when Roderick and Madeline leave after making their deal with Verna, or were they other potential candidates for deals who were specifically drawn towards the bar, just as the Ushers were?
• Fans Prefer the New Her: Madeleine removes her hairpiece towards the end of the series as a sort of Break the Haughty moment, revealing her grey hair underneath. Except Mary McDonnell looks even better with the 'salt and pepper' hairstyle, and her forehead suits the lack of bangs.
• Foe Yay Shipping: It is quite popular online to ship Verna and Madeline together, with the majority of fanfics for the show being centered around the pairing, despite the fact that Verna is killing her family one by one. It certainly doesn't hurt that they kiss in a flashback.
• Friendly Fandoms: With Succession. Both shows focus on a massively Dysfunctional Family of scummy, morally bankrupt rich assholes, with The Fall of the House of Usher having the extra caveat that said scummy, morally bankrupt rich assholes all get their rightful comeuppance.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Lenore. It's fair to say she's the kindest Usher in 2023 and is an outright Morality Pet for Roderick. Her death is not only one of the series' biggest Tear Jerkers, but even serves as an In-Universe one for Verna. When Lenore's time comes, Verna makes it as easy as she can. She explains how Lenore's decision to save Morella will save countless millions of lives and makes her death as quick and painless as possible. It is very clear she derives no joy from having to do this.
  • While it's by no means warranted given their nature, Dupin nevertheless expresses sympathy to Roderick for the deaths of his children. It is also shown that he had the highest regard for Annabel Lee, Roderick's first wife, due to her kindness and goodness.
  • In a way, the final confrontation between Verna and Pym is one, as Verna's reaction when he rejects her deal is the first time we see genuine happiness from her. Who or whatever she is, he won her respect.
• Incest Yay Shipping: Roderick and Madeline have a fair bit of this with the fandom due to their close relationship (especially when keeping the fact that they're fraternal twins in mind) and Madeline's disdainful relationship towards her sister-in-law Annabel. It helps that there was quite a bit of Incest Subtext between Roderick and Madeline in the original story.
• Jerkass Woobie: Though none of them are pleasant people, the Usher children (with the exception of Frederick) are somewhat sympathetic, especially due to their horrific fates being almost guaranteed before most of them were born. Leo and Tamarlane are this in particular, as the former is driven to insanity by the cat that he bought to try and make amends for killing his boyfriend's pet (which it turns out he didn't even do) and the latter has a mental breakdown and is reduced to a sobbing wreck as she realizes how awful she's treated the people around her.
• Karmic Overkill:
  • This version's take on The Masque of the Red Death involves 78 people being horrifically burned to death when the sprinklers are revealed to be acidic. Although Verna does tell Morella and the wait staff to get out of the building in advance, and we can infer that the guests being selected by Prospero aren't good people, the lack of on-screen Jerkass behaviour beyond hedonism can make their fate seem somewhat unwarranted. Especially since Prospero was filming them without their consent and with the intention to blackmail them later. The point seems to be that because they're rich they have done or condoned bad things in the same way the Ushers have and that is why Verna allows their deaths, but we don't actually know what any of those bad things are beyond the implication.
    • The addition of Prospero's partners seems overly cruel, as although they seem to know about and be helping with his plan, given that Prospero is physically abusive to them—the fork thing hardly seems like an isolated incident—it really seems like it's not their fault. Or at least, not their fault enough to make such an awful death deserved.
  • While Leo has many faults, including his unfaithfulness to his partner and the typical Usher entitlement, he's one of the nicest family members by comparison. While his death is rather quick and painless, his mental breakdown is quite hard to watch, especially as he's experiencing heavy physical pain, no matter if imaginary, for something he has not even done to start with; not to mention that Julius comes back home just in time to see him fall to his death.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Verna is the mysterious, supernatural being that haunts the Ushers throughout the story to make them "pay their dues." An ancient entity that offers "deals" to humans that grants them immense power, status and immunity in exchange for something they cherish, Verna presented this very deal to Roderick and Madeline Usher in their youth, promising them total power in exchange for their bloodline one day in the far future. When the time comes, Verna manipulates each and every one of the Usher family to her tune, using their personal flaws and wickedness to trick them into their own deaths, often in brutal, bloody ways. Though considering herself above human morality, Verna nonetheless arranges a particularly agonizing death for the sadistic Freddie Usher, and is sincerely mournful that Lenore, the only genuinely kind Usher, must also die according to the deal she made with Roderick. Verna's machinations result in the complete collapse of the Usher clan and their corrupt corporation, all while she never loses her affable, regal persona.
  • Arthur Pym, "the Pym Reaper", is a hardened attorney who witnessed horrors beyond human comprehension on a global expedition years ago, coming out as one of the only survivors through sheer will. Through Pym's tactical genius, the Ushers have evaded legal consequences for years, Pym always finding loopholes, bribes and blackmail to toss around that has resulted in none of the Ushers facing penalties for their litany of crimes. Far more coldly efficient and professional than the Ushers, Pym expertly tracks down Verna and gets the drop on her, only outdone by Verna because of her supernatural powers. Even when he witnesses what Verna can do, Pym remains calm and holds an intelligent conversation with her, ending with Pym being one of the few, if only, humans to ever reject one of her "deals", remarking that he refuses to let anyone have leverage on him. Pym gracefully turns himself into the police when the Ushers are beaten by Verna, earning the dark woman's respect as Pym silently accepts how his hand plays out.
• Moe: Lenore is the one good member of the whole Usher family who charms even Verna with her innocence. It makes her death, as quick and painless as it is, all the sadder.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Frederick's abuse of his critically injured wife already marked him as one of the darker members of the Usher family, but pulling her teeth out with pliers to "destroy her smile" is the moment that he loses all sympathy. It's telling that this leads to Verna directly intervening to give him an excruciatingly drawn-out death and his loving daughter, who can find good in even Roderick, refuses to mourn him.
  • It can be argued that Roderick crossed the line the moment he made the deal to eventually sacrifice his children in exchange for wealth and success. But, in the series, he finally crosses it when he poisons Madeline and "honors her" by removing her tongue and replacing her eyes with sapphires. Madeline, who's Not Quite Dead, finally turns on her brother and uses the last of her strength to kill him.
• Realism-Induced Horror: Tammy's Goldbug launch is especially horrifying because it plays into general fears of public speaking, particularly emphasizing how she's not used to being The Face, which is scary even without supernatural influence. Then she starts hallucinating that sex videos are playing on the screen instead, playing into the fear of revenge porn and how easily it can destroy public image.
• Signature Scene: The orgy-turned-acid-shower scene at the end of the 2nd episode in particular has stuck in viewers' minds, both for the jaw-dropping Body Horror on display and how it serves as a good taste of what the Ushers are in for.
• Squick:
  • "The Masque of The Red Death" shows an orgy gone wrong when, due to poor maintenance and carelessness, the people who attended the event end up getting doused in acid. And all while most of them are naked or scantily clad too. Ouch.
  • In "The Black Cat," part of Leo's Sanity Slippage that eventually culminates in their death is seeing dead animals littered throughout their apartment, with them even directly touching them by accident. They also get repeatedly scratched by the titular cat and we're treated to a close up of their injuries, including one that resulted from the cat scratching their eye. Then while they fight the black cat, we get to see a close up of said cat getting its eye gouged out. Oh, and earlier in the episode, we also see a cat's corpse. Probably would be best to skip parts of this episode if you're particularly squeamish about animal abuse.
  • Victorine's Sanity Slippage in "The Tell-Tale Heart" includes them carving their partner's chest open and placing a heart mesh around it and the audience gets to see said heart still beating even while it's in a corpse. Her partner's death throes being passed off as being eaten out might also be considered as such - would the sounds of her brain bleeding and her body seizing be attributed to giving or receiving the orgasm? How could you even come up with such a thought in the moment?... Nasty!
  • As deserved as it is, Frederick dies a slow, painful death of being bisected repeatedly by a crude pendulum fashioned out of debris from a demolished building, all while being unable to move or speak due to being paralyzed from nightshade.
• The Woobie: All of the significant others of the Usher family (Juno, Annabel, Bill, Julius, Morrie, Alessandra, Jenny, and Faraj). None of them are particularly bad people and they suffer either abuse, trauma, or even death for loving self-centered, egotistical and cursed people.
  • Special mention goes to Morella. She is chemically burned from head to toe, and then denied proper medical attention by her jealous husband who brings her home to medically torture her with a paralytic and rip her teeth out. On top of that, her daughter dies. At least she makes a recovery.
  • Alessandra is actually murdered by Victorine in a fit of rage and her last moments are bleeding to death while Vic tries to keep her quiet.
  • Annabel, the Pollyanna who had to watch her children become soulless copies of her ex-husband. This drives her to suicide.

---