DISCLAIMER: This recap of The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 5, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
It’s time for “The Tell-Tale Heart” portion of this series. It feels fitting to give this particular adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe‘s short story to Victorine (who exists in another short story of Poe’s, “The Premature Burial“). T’Nia Miller acts her ass off in Vic’s swan song. The episode is a heart-pounding (hee hee), pulsating, edge-of-your-seat outing. Even though you know the outcome, it’s as engrossing as it is horrific.
Ready to delve into “The Tell-Tale Heart”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with young Roderick (Zach Gilford) and Verna (Carla Gugino) discussing the meaning of ravens in society. While the Bible states they’re a portent of evil, Verna claims not every culture views them as bad omens. Roderick and Madeline (Willa Fitzgerald), who’s dancing, are distracted by a police cruiser with its sirens blaring. Thankfully, the officer doesn’t enter the bar but drives on. Madeline orders Roderick to hit the dancefloor so they don’t look suspicious. She chats with Verna about resolutions and not letting men hold sway over her. If Madeline were rich, she’d figure out how to live forever.
The ball finally drops, and the group celebrates the arrival of 1980. Roddy kisses his dance partner while Verna and Madeline smooch. Interestingly, Verna is entirely covered in shadow. Earlier, she notes that the Usher twins’ lives will change course permanently that night. And they do. Side note: give Madeline a girlfriend, you cowards.
Later, we see present-day Roderick (Bruce Greenwood) chat with Dupin (Carl Lumbly) about the former’s marriage to Annabel Lee. Wasn’t he happily married in 1980? And what precisely is Roderick confessing to? Roddy urges Dupin to be patient; they’ll get there in due time. Next, we’re at the funeral service for Perry, Camille and Leo. Roderick and Madeline are joined by Juno (Ruth Codd), Lenore (Kyliegh Curran), Freddie (Henry Thomas), Tamerlane (Samantha Sloyan) and Bill-T (Matt Biedel). Tammy asks Madeline about the trio of crying women across the aisle from them. Madeline explains they are the mothers of the deceased.
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Fun fact: the priest recites “Spirits of the Dead” by Poe as scripture. Roderick turns around and sees the clown jester from the first episode on the balcony. Then, the skinless ghost of Perry stands inches away from Roddy’s face. Shaken by the sight, Madeline and Juno help Roddy walk down the aisle after the service. Meanwhile, Arthur Pym (Mark Hamill) coaches Julius (Daniel Jun) on what to say to the press after witnessing Leo jump off their balcony.
Then, the remaining Usher kids — Tamerlane, Freddie and Victorine (Miller) — hang out at a private bar with their bodyguards in tow. Since the Usher heirs have started dropping like flies, the three oldest have enlisted the aid of bodyguards for protection. Protection from what they don’t know. Perry, Camille and Leo seemingly died in tragic accidents, although Camille was snooping around R.U.E. Vic believes they should band together during this turbulent time; however, Freddie and Tammy view themselves as superior to Vic because they grew up with Roderick. Superiority complex, these two. Vic storms out.
Later, Lenore asks Morella (Crystal Balint) questions, which the latter answers in blinks. Freddie tells Morella’s doctor that he plans to take her home, even though she’s still at the beginning of her healing journey. Morella’s doctor insists that she stay in the hospital. But Freddie’s gonna Freddie, so he pulls the “Do you know who I am?” card. He promises to hire specialists to care for her daily.
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Meanwhile, Vic returns home to Alessandra (Paola Núñez), who’s unhappy that Vic signed her on for the heart mesh human trials without her knowledge. Alessandra wholeheartedly believes they’re not ready for human trials. However, Roderick is insistent. Vic works her charm to persuade Alessandra to be on board with it all. They have the perfect candidate (Verna), too. But it doesn’t work. Alessandra discovers Vic forged her signature on falsified data, which is the modus operandi for the Usher family.
Alessandra calls Vic a “monster” and claims she’s out. Vic reminds her wife that she signed various NDAs. She can’t leak what she knows to the press. Alessandra challenges Vic to sue her into oblivion; she doesn’t care. She’s going to tell the world about the crimes of the Ushers. Alessandra storms out. Enraged, Vic lobs a marble figurine in Alessandra’s direction. We don’t hear it land. The screen cuts to black. Uh-oh.
The following day, Vic leaves a few voicemails on Alessandra’s phone, pleading with her wife to change her mind. Suddenly, Vic starts hearing a peculiar ticking sound. Well, a ticking mixed with the steady beat of a heart. She can’t find the source of the noise, though. Madeline visits her. However, she can’t hear the noise. Madeline impresses the importance of getting the heart mesh device up and running in humans.
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Next, Dupin and Pym meet with the judge. Before the judge enters his office, Dupin asks Pym why he works for the Ushers despite knowing of their crimes. Pym claims he wouldn’t be where he is today without Roderick Usher. Pym asks the judge for a continuance (a delay) in the trial, considering three Ushers have died in a week. Dupin objects to this. He emphatically states the Ushers have evaded prosecution for decades. This is just another opportunistic tactic—however, the judge sides with Pym.
We return to the conversation between Roddy and Dupin. Dupin drops a bombshell and something I initially suspected: there is no informant. There was never one. Roderick is impressed. He didn’t think Dupin had it in him to play dirty. Roderick has another hallucination. He sees blood spreading on Dupin’s chest and an emphasized heartbeat—the tell-tale heart.
Then, we’re back in the past. Young Madeline meets with Rufus Griswold (Michael Trucco). She tries to persuade Rufus to rely more on Roderick while mapping out a viable future for Fortunato. After all, she’s a genius who’s all about algorithms and developing advanced tech. Of course, Rufus wants to screw her and only sees her as a pretty face. She rejects his advances. Rufus also puts Roderick down for employing his sister to fight his battles. Trucco is so adept at playing a sleazeball.
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Later, Madeline reunites with Roderick, Annabel Lee (Katie Parker) and Dupin (Malcolm Goodwin). Dupin proposes they steal Fortunato’s files before everything gets computerized or lost during the construction Rufus wants to do. Then, they can expose Fortunato’s crimes, falsified data and forged signatures. Roderick and Madeline are on board with the proposed theft, while Annabel objects to it.
Next, in the present, Madeline, Roderick and Pym meet in Roddy’s office. They look at another photo of Verna from around when Leo died. Madeline states she knows that face, and Roderick does, too. She orders Pym to double the security for the remaining Ushers. Madeline presses Roderick to recall New Year’s 1980. Roddy claims they were high and drunk. Madeline wonders if he screwed the “pretty bartender” all those years ago, and another heir is running around, killing the other kids.
Meanwhile, Verna meets with Vic to discuss the impending human trials. Vic still hears the chirping/heartbeat sound. After Verna departs, Vic trashes her office, searching for the source of the noise. She also leaves another voicemail for Alessandra. Later, Lenore and Freddie chat in the room where Morella will stay while she recovers. Lenore objects to what Pym has told her to say to the press. Freddie explains that Pym has protected this family over the years. (He references a phonebook here, which I don’t think someone as young as Lenore would get.) Plus, sticking to the script is even more imperative with a killer on the loose.
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Then, Tammy gets paranoid at home when she hears a sound outside her door. It’s only her security guard, though. Tammy and Bill-T have a massive fight about delaying the launch and Candy. Tammy’s jealousy seizes control, along with her desire to run things her way. The launch will go forward as planned. Tammy states coldly that Bill-T was merely a means to an end. She selected him as her husband so she could mold and manipulate him. Love doesn’t factor into the equation. Sloyan kills it in this scene. She’s so good.
Meanwhile, Roderick sits in the basement in front of that brick wall. We hear a metallic clinking noise emanating from behind it. Roddy talks to it. He thinks it’s impossible that Verna could be his child. He returns to his office and begins brainstorming how to take his own life. Perhaps an overdose of Ligodone. Maybe he could stab himself in the gut with a fancy sword. What if he lept out of the window? The fall would end in the blink of an eye at this height. I love the simulation of him falling out of the window, punctuated by the gorgeous score by The Newton Brothers.
Ultimately, Roderick refrains from taking his life. He heads to Vic’s house to chat about the heart mesh device. He notices she has music playing at full volume to drown out the sound. When she turns it down, she asks her father if he hears it, too. He does, which makes sense, given his connection to Verna. He wonders what it is. Vic emphasizes that the device works. She knows it does. That’s when we see Alessandra walk to the front door in the background.
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It’s time to fill in the blanks. That night, when Alessandra stormed out, culminated in tragedy. Unsurprisingly, Vic throwing the marble figurine smacks Alessandra on the back of her head. She collapses, blood pooling out from around her head. She cannot speak. Vic panics, realizing what she’s done. Unfortunately, Alessandra dies.
Then, Vic’s back in the present. She acknowledges that she forgot what transpired that night. She looks down at her hand, which holds a bloody scalpel. Roderick wonders where the noise is coming from. He barges into a side room to discover Alessandra’s bloody corpse propped up against a wall. Her chest is wide open. We see the heart mesh device on her heart, pumping it. Obviously, she’s still dead. That’s the source of the sound that’s been plaguing Victorine.
Roderick is bewildered and shocked by the sight. Vic insists the trial can work. They just need a better heart. Suddenly, Vic stabs herself before him, intending to offer her heart for the trial. She dies. Roderick sobs. RIP, Victorine.
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How will Tammy and Freddie die? What happens to Annabel Lee? Who is the clown jester to Roderick? Only time (and more episodes) will tell.
The Fall of the House of Usher is now streaming on Netflix.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
Bylines in: Tell-Tale TV, Culturess, Sideshow Collectibles, and inkMend on Medium.
Critic: Rotten Tomatoes, CherryPicks, and the Hollywood Creative Alliance.
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