The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Murder in the Rue Morgue
Denis Kimathi
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The Ushers are nothing if not predictable.
It's not clear what the root cause of their downfall will be, but if anyone were to take a guess, it would be their stupid predictability.
The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 3 dealt with the aftermath of Perry's disastrous orgy while Verna infused herself deeper into the Usher family to pick them off individually.
In the wake of Perry's death, the family moved to seek answers about how something like that could have happened.
By his admission, Roderick knew he was to blame for Perry's death because his carelessness and gluttony for profit had seen him overlook serious concerns, and even when the government intervened, he failed to demolish the house.
He had failed Perry on so many fronts as a father, and the building was the climax of that failure. He had plucked Perry from the obscurity of his life and thrown him to the wolves without any guidance.
Also, how could he when his children were spread worldwide, and he was busy killing people legally?
Pym found signs of sabotage but couldn't find the mysterious woman.
The other children's reactions to Perry's death were lukewarm at best or complete disinterest.
Toby: We're really sorry.
Camille: [blank stare]
Beth: For your loss.
Camille: [sigh]
Leo continued drugging himself while Camille saw an opportunity to spin the tragedy in favor of the family. Nothing gets people on the side of billionaires like a tragedy.
Circling back to Leo, he was working under the illusion that he had a handle on his drug usage, but finding out that you killed a cat and didn't even remember it has to be a new record.
If something good came from it, it is that the guilt had him being extra helpful around the house, but that can't even begin to cover killing Pluto, whom Julian loved very much.
Guilt is like cancer. It eats you from the inside, and the only thing you can do is to come clean.
But how do you even begin to come clean about murdering a cat?
Julian was a very strong man to live with someone who was half high all the time if he wasn't out cold. For a couple who seemed serious enough that a proposal was discussed, they didn't seem to have anything going on.
Did they even have sex, or had drugs destroyed Leo's libido?
Camille was dealing with her feelings while the cat killer was twisting and turning in his guilt.
How much do you have to hate someone that you plan to destroy their career for petty reasons?
Twisting Perry's tragedy for sympathy was not enough; she had to manufacture something else.
People like projecting their inadequacy to someone they think won't fight back, and Victorine was Camille's punching bag. She was everything Camille was and was not, so Camille hated her for it.
A theme seems to be emerging here. With Perry, it was carelessness and ill-intents, while with Camille, it is jealousy and lack of empathy.
Camille lacked any emotions and treated everyone as a means to an end. If you want a fake story aired, slide it to a reporter at Fox News. Your brother met a gruesome death? Show no emotion. Your assistants got tired of feeling like objects? Fire them. And don't forget to ask them for free work.
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, it's 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.
I wasn't sure who Verna was and what she represented, but getting these people was great of her.
Roderick continued his narration, taking us to the past to show how the current Roderick was born.
Rufus was not a good boss based on his actions in The Fall of the House of Usher Season 1 Episode 2, but his actions in this episode made him look like an actual awful human being. And awful human beings breed other horrible human beings.
Roderick thought of revolting against Rufus, but Madeline warned him against being rash.
Why be rash when you can just bind your time waiting for an opportunity and weakness to exploit?
The problem was that Roderick risked falling into Rufus' pattern and adopting his bad behaviors.
The Roderick from the past we saw thus was a stand-up guy who was only looking to provide for his family.
Slowly, he will get sucked into the capitalistic corporate ambitions, and seeing Roderick from the present, it doesn't take a genius to guess what happened to him.
Roderick: One thing I tried to teach them is the art of the pivot. When life hands you lemons…
Dupin: Make lemonade?
Roderick: No.
The man had an elaborate plan of monetizing lemons, the word "lemon," lemon seeds, and planting and growing lemons and anything else he could think of.
First, you roll out a multi-media campaign to convince people lemons are incredibly scarce, which only works if you stockpile lemons, control the supply, then a… A media blitz. Lemon is the only way to say "I love you," the must-have accessory for engagements or anniversaries. Roses are out, lemons are in. Billboards that say she won't have sex with you unless you got lemons. You cut De Beers in on it. Limited edition lemon bracelets, yellow diamonds called lemon drops. You get Apple to call their new operating system OS-Lemón. A little accent over the "o". You charge 40% more for organic lemons and 50% more for conflict-free lemons. You pack the Capitol with lemon lobbyists; you get a Kardashian to suck a lemon wedge in a leaked sex tape. Timothée Chalamet wears lemon shoes at Cannes. Get a hashtag campaign. Something isn't "cool," "tight," or "awesome". No, it's "lemon". "Did you see that movie?" "Did you go to that concert? It was effing lemon." Billie Eilish, "OMG, hashtag… lemon." You get Dr. Oz to recommend four lemons a day and a lemon suppository supplement to get rid of toxins 'cause there's nothing scarier than toxins. Then, you patent the seeds. You write a line of genetic code that makes lemons look just a little more like tits… and you get a gene patent for the tit-lemon DNA sequence, and you get a gene patent for the tit-lemon DNA sequence, you get those seeds circulating in the wild, and then you sue the farmers for copyright infringement when that genetic code shows up on their land. Sit back, rake in the millions, and then, when you're done, and you've sold your lem-pire for a few billion dollars, then, and only then, you make some fucking lemonade.
Roderick
The episode saw Verna infiltrate the lives of some of the remaining Usher children.
Tamerlane's sexual appetite had never gotten as much satisfaction as they did when Verna replaced their regular girl and played the role of Tamerlane with baffling accuracy.
Until now, I had not figured out what this type of sexual exploration was called and the motivations. I assumed it was narcissism, and I'll stick to that analysis.
The episode's highlight was Camille's death.
Like the good person she is, Verna gave Camille a chance to save herself, but Camille's inflated ego could not allow her to do that.
Through Verna, the show made much commentary about the reality animals face, especially our relationship with them.
You know, it was the Greeks who started it. Fourth century BCE. First experiments on animals. At least, documented. Pigs and goats. You know how many animals are used for testing in a year? More than a hundred million. Human beings doing this to so many other species. It's impressive. Medical research on chimpanzees was pretty much banned in 2015. I mean, they said exceptions could be made if the research was proven to be critical to understanding human disease. And if a sizeable donation was made to support the conservation of wild chimps.
Verna
It was the kind of speech animal rights activists would frame and put on a wall because of how well-worded it was and Carla Gugino's delivery.
Despite their lack of tangible results, Verna also got in with Victorine, who couldn't wait to have her on the trial.
What did you think of the episode? Do you think Tina and Toby were in love or were they tired of Camille?
How much did you the enjoy lemon monologue?
Hit the comments sections.
Denis Kimathi was a staff writer for TV Fanatic. He has watched more dramas and comedies than he cares to remember. Catch him on social media obsessing over [excellent] past, current, and upcoming shows or going off about the politics of representation on TV. Follow him on X.
