The Raven
- Episode aired Oct 12, 2023
- TV-MA
- 1h 16m
In 1980, Roderick and Madeline seize a chance to cement their fortune--for a price. Decades later, the remaining Ushers reckon with the consequences.In 1980, Roderick and Madeline seize a chance to cement their fortune--for a price. Decades later, the remaining Ushers reckon with the consequences.In 1980, Roderick and Madeline seize a chance to cement their fortune--for a price. Decades later, the remaining Ushers reckon with the consequences.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAt one point, Verna says, "As I said to one of my clients, you could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and it wouldn't cost you a thing.". This is a near-direct quote of former President Donald Trump during a campaign speech in January 2016.
- GoofsAt the end of the series, Roderick's headstone reads "1950-2023", but in the first flashback from 1953 Roderick and Madeline are older than 3.
- Quotes
Verna: What happens to you when the Ushers are gone? Which is imminent, by the way. You've enjoyed a sense of immunity throughout your life, but it isn't yours. It's theirs. Just reflected.
Arthur Pym: Let me guess. You can do something about that.
Verna: I can. Like I said to one of my clients, when I'm done you can stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody, and it won't cost you a thing.
Arthur Pym: Is his tab coming due any time soon? Even I've got my limits.
Verna: Fortunato Pharma will be dissolved in a bankruptcy settlement. The family trust will turn over 4.5 billion, including federal settlement fees paid in installments over nine years.
Arthur Pym: It's a pretty sweet deal.
Verna: It's a fucking Christmas present. It's a slap on the wrist that comes with a blowjob.
Arthur Pym: And you can make this happen?
Verna: Oh no. This will happen without me. Humanity will shit that bed themselves. Corporate justice in this world is a punchline.
Arthur Pym: Then... what are you offering?
Verna: There's a file. Camille L'Espanaye was very good at what she did. She had a file on everyone. Even you. Barely scratches the surface, but the surface alone will get you 20 to life. It gets found, or it doesn't. So you can either ride the phoenix out of Fortunato's ashes, or you can watch it fly away from a federal prison cell. This I can do.
Arthur Pym: What are you asking in return?
Verna: What do you have, Arthur, in this life you've built for yourself? What assets have you acquired? I'm not interested in money, property, or stock options. True assets. What have you got? No spouse. No children. No familial connections. At least, none that you care about. But everyone loves something. And in that love, there's collateral.
Arthur Pym: No. I have no collateral. Collateral is leverage. And I won't be leveraged. No man or woman has leveraged me in seventy years of life. And I'm not going to cede that ground, not this close to the end. So, thank you for your consideration and for your generous offer. But I think I'll play out my hand, if it's all the same time to you.
Verna: Fair enough. Thank you. This has been a pleasure.
- ConnectionsReferences Alice in Wonderland (1951)
- SoundtracksThe Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald
Written and Performed by Gordon Lightfoot
Special kudos to Mary McDonnell and Mark Hamill, who have been spectacular throughout the series, standouts in a very strong cast. But I hope they paid McDonnell a lot of money considering her final scene, which was so over the top as to be downright farcical in a cheap haunted house way and really does not wrap up Roderick and Madeline's story appropriately.
Pym gets a better denouement. That seemed right for the character and contrasted with the way the other characters went out.
Overall, this series isn't as good as Flanigan's best, but is worth watching all the way through. Choosing to mash up Poe with the opioid epidemic was probably not smart. The trouble is, the opioid epidemic may be bad, evil, disgusting, deplorable, etc. But not horrifying because horror requires an element of surprise.
When a priest tries to end death and suffering in the world, as in Midnight Mass, and it has terrible results, that is horror because we don't expect that. But when corporate a-holes do evil things for money, that's not a surprise at all.
I've seen good premises ruined by bad execution (the Star Wars prequel movies spring to mind) but this is the opposite: good execution expended on an iffy premise.
- nerrdrage
- Mar 14, 2024
Details
- Runtime1 hour 16 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix