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The Fall of the House of Usher (miniseries)

2023 American television miniseries

The Fall of the House of Usher (2023) is an American streaming television miniseries airing on Netflix, loosely adapting the works of Edgar Allan Poe into a narrative about the corrupt CEO of a pharmecutical company and his family.

A Midnight Dreary [1.01]

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Roderick Usher: Cognac?
C Auguste Dupin: No, thank you. Listen, I'm sorry. For your loss. Your losses, rather...
Roderick Usher: Henry IV Dudognon, Heritage Cognac Grande Champagne. Most expensive in the world. This bottle was four million Euros at auction. Produced since 1776, aged in barrels for more than a hundred years, the bottle itself is dipped in 18-karat yellow gold, inlaid with 4,100 high-quality diamonds. A single pour probably costs twice your annual salary. Have a glass. See what a few years of your worth tastes like.
Madeline Usher: The company is the family, and we expect you to defend it with your life. And if anyone, anyone comes after us, we will exhaust our arsenal until the threat's neutralized.
Frederick Usher: By neutralized, do you mean sued into oblivion, taken out of the Board, out of the will, on the streets...
Madeline Usher: Neutralized. Like dead.

The Masque of the Red Death [1.02]

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C. Auguste Dupin: Was it ever going to be enough? Over the years, I've talked to a lot of people who have taken your drugs. Soccer moms with headaches. Accountants with carpal tunnel. Kids with sports injuries. Their docs prescribe them Ligodone, pitch it like extra strength Tylenol. Fast forward a year, they're shooting up heroin behind dumpsters. Or they're dead.
Roderick Usher: Don't be naive. I'm not responsible if people abuse Ligodone. This is an old and boring argument. Do you know how much Ligodone my wife takes every day? She's fine.
C. Auguste Dupin: Wasn't your wife a heroin addict before you met?
Roderick Usher: She is a success story from every angle, I agree.
C. Auguste Dupin: You knew the extended-release formulation created abuse potential. You knew it was highly addictive. You marketed it non-addictive anyway because you wanted more than the hundreds of millions you were pulling before Ligodone hit the market. That wasn't enough for you, so that's my question. Was it ever going to be enough? How much money would make you say, "We did it"? Does that number even exist?
Roderick Usher: That's an idiot question. Course not.
Perry Usher: You like it?
Verna: I do. The music. The lights. The beautiful flesh. So pretty and soft. But the smells of it. All that sweat, the perfumes, the lotions, the musk. Sex, yes. But with a dash of Rome. Tell me, and don't lie. Is it everything you wanted it to be?
Perry Usher: Not yet. Almost.
Verna: Nearly realized is the sweetest. It's better, I promise, in the moment just before than in the moment after. That is the truth of this world. But you did it. And it's everything you imagined. And there's still time.
Perry Usher: To what?
Verna: To stop it. Things like this, all things, in fact, have consequences.
Perry Usher: Not this. I mean ... That's the whole point. You didn't read the invite?
Verna: There are always consequences. Take you, for instance. Someone, a long time ago, made a little decision, and then another, and then a big one, and then one of absolutely no importance. And then by and by, you were born. On that day, you were the consequence of a harmless choice made by someone in a moment where you didn't even exist. And that choice defined your whole life. You are consequence, Perry. And tonight, you are consequential.

Murders in the Rue Morgue [1.03]

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Roderick Usher: It was the sprinklers. You see, he tied them into the tanks on the roof. But they weren't there to hold fresh water. We repurposed them when we closed the lab, tucked some unfortunate material away to avoid the EPA fines. The idea was we'd come back for it when no one was looking and dump it. Medical byproduct. Highly acidic. From a, uh, less than legal development process. Absolutely in violation of multiple environmental regulations. But we couldn't. We had to keep it. We couldn't ship it out because it was so fucking corrosive. I mean, we shouldn't have had it at all. And the fines would have come with charges. So, it was bad. And those tanks were barely up to the task. It was already eating through the tanks and the pipes. We only had another few weeks before we had a real fucking mess on our hands. So we were going to take it out while the building was being demolished, hide the extraction behind the demolition. With all the material going in and out of the demolition site, no one would notice.
C. Auguste Dupin: Jesus, Roderick.
Roderick Usher: And my son would have understood this if he'd paid a minute's fucking attention to the family business. But no, he went off and hired some friend's cousin's friend's friend to hook onto the main line, and they didn't test it. A horrible accident.
C. Auguste Dupin: Except for one thing. There's one thing in there that doesn't jibe with the "horrible tragic accident" story.
Roderick Usher: So you caught that, did you?
Camille L'Espanaye: Perry's dead, the family's fucked, you're the frontline of my PR campaign, and you just took an edible?
Leo Usher: You want some?
Camille L'Espanaye: I mean, yeah, I want some.
Roderick Usher: When life hands you lemons...
C. Auguste Dupin: Make lemonade?
Roderick Usher: No. 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 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, 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 that isn't "cool" or "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 a little more just like tits. And you get a gene patent for the tit-lemon DNA sequence, you cross-pollinate. 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.
Leo Usher: I'm not part of the whole Usher pharma-bollocks. I make video games. You know?
Camille L'Espanaye: You don't make video games. You give money to people who make video games. You don't make shit. It's like how "Froderick" is this Roderick Usher cover band, and he's playing the hits, but it's sort of off-key. And Tammy is just Goop with a big golden bug sticker on it. And it's not even her face on the product. It's "BILLT," the fucking fitness clown. And Vic's heart mesh isn't even her heart mesh. It's the surgeon's. That's why she's fucking the surgeon. And you're, like, this amazing, I don't know, like Xbox Gatsby. And I just spin. Dad decided that I belong in a room of smoke and mirrors. And I'm like a ceiling fan. And I spin, and I spin, and I spin, and I don't go anywhere. Ushers don't make stuff. None of us do.
Verna: It could have happened quiet. Peaceful. In bed. But I get it's got to happen like this. I'm sorry. It's not personal. It wasn't with your brother either. It's just, well... Here we are.
Camille L'Espanaye: Fuck it. I got mine.

The Black Cat [1.04]

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The Tell-Tale Heart [1.05]

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Roderick Usher: Who was it, by the way? I mean, things all got so ... well, you know how they got, I guess it got lost in the shuffle. But it doesn’t possibly matter now, Auggie. Just out of curiosity, who was it? Who was your informant? Come on. I get why you didn't answer that day. But now, Auggie, it’s done. It's all over.
C. Auguste Dupin: There never was an informant.
Roderick Usher: Oh, I'm impressed, Auggie. I didn't think that you had it in you.
C. Auguste Dupin: Come on. There's no ethics whatsoever to your defense, and I'm supposed to run my case by the book. There's even more scrutiny on me because you're so damn unscrupulous. So, yeah, one time, one time I play your way!
Roderick Usher: Relax, Auggie. I mean it. It was good. This would've been a fun one. I'm just as sorry as you we couldn't play it through. Watching you shit on your own principles would have been worth every fucking penny.
C. Auguste Dupin: Oh, fuck you.
Roderick Usher: Drag me, you fucking honey badger! We finally got you off your white horse and down here in the mud!
C. Auguste Dupin: I shouldn't have pointed at the kids. But, Roderick, if I’d thought for a moment they'd start dying...
Roderick Usher: Easy there.
C. Auguste Dupin: No. Let's play in the mud. You're right. I pointed at the kids. Figured it would stir you all up. Pressure the fault lines. Maybe even pitch you against each other. Hell, you might eat each other alive but, hey, it could finally crack the fortress. Let you all knock it down from inside. But, Roderick, I didn't imagine for a moment the kids would start dying. Figured you might torture them a bit. But I never imagined in a million years any of them would end up dead.
Roderick Usher: You really stepped it this time. Why, if it weren't for you, they would all still be alive today. [trails off, having a vision of the dead Victorine] Auggie, let me relieve you of that burden. No one died for your lie. So don't carry that. You see, one had nothing to do with the other, so just ... You can let that go. The mind of guilt is full of scorpions, and I wouldn't wish their sting on anyone. Never waste your time on guilt or shame. Their alchemy is a savage cross to bear.

Goldbug [1.06]

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Roderick Usher: Oh, isn't it beautiful? It's fit for a queen. Queen Twosret, actually. Pharaoh of Egypt, 19th Dynasty. Two giant sapphires were placed in Twosret's head when she was mummified, in place of her eyes, to give her power and sight in the afterlife. Now that's how you send off a goddess. Priceless, they said. But you have to ask the right questions. Not, "What do the sapphires cost?" But, "What does the Supreme Council of Antiquities cost? What does the Coalition to Protect Egyptian Antiquities cost? What does the Minister of Antiquities cost? What does the Secretary General cost? What do the Egyptian National Police cost?" Answer those questions, one at a time. And in just a few years, those "priceless" sapphires are a birthday gift for my sister. I reached through time, and ripped the eyes out of a Goddess with my pocketbook and some patience. Does that make me a God?
Roderick Usher: I saw it with my own eyes. She did it herself. I saw Victorine push the knife into her own heart. And no ... No one helped her with her girlfriend. That much was clear.
Madeline Usher: Four deaths in a row is not a coincidence. We don't need to know how it's happening to know it's happening. We are under attack and if that doesn't snap you out of this, remember, Vic had a board seat. [Roderick looks up] Now you're listening. Yes, brother dear, has it not occurred to you that if these coincidences keep happening, that family firewall you've always talked about is being dismantled one brick at a time? We could lose control of the board. That woman from the bar, if we don't find her, if we don't stop her right fսcking now, you won't have a family left.
Roderick Usher: How much do you know about Arthur Pym?
C. Auguste Dupin: I expect he's the kind of man you call if you, I don't know, accidentally kill a prostitute and need to dismember the corpse?
Roderick Usher: No, he's not nearly that boring. Do you remember the Transglobe Expedition? '79 to '82? Circumnavigated the globe? UK to the South Pole, to the North Pole, and home again. Around the world.
C. Auguste Dupin: I remember. One hundred thousand miles. Across the Sahara, swamps and jungles of Mali and the Ivory Coast. Unexplored crevasse fields in Antarctica. The Northwest Passage, graveyard of so many famous adventurers. And then, into the hazards of the Artic Ocean. I remember it, Roderick.
Roderick Usher: Arthur was there. He was barely 25. He put law school on hold to elbow his way onto the expedition, and he saw the fucking world. While you and I were dicking around with our petty little dramas, digging in the basement at Fortunato, Arthur Gordon Pym was bending the planet over and taking his piece. The things he saw. And he'll talk about them too. To a point. He always stops telling it as he gets to the North Pole. It used to be a fun game when the kids were growing up, trying to finish Arthur's story. I like to think he killed someone. I like to think he's eaten human flesh. I like to think he took a piss on the tip-top of the world.
C. Auguste Dupin: A guy can dream...
Roderick Usher: He told my kids that the Earth was hollow. And I don't even know if he was lying.
C. Auguste Dupin: He was lying.
Roderick Usher: He told Tammy the Earth was hollow. And that he found an island at the top of the world, that he called "Ultima Thule." And that it was the realm of beings who lived beneath us. Out of time. And out of space.
C. Auguste Dupin: Cute.
Roderick Usher: We didn't send a private investigator to find that woman. We didn't send the police, we didn't send a hitman, we didn't send a mercenary. We sent Arthur Gordon Pym. Of course he found her.
Verna: No one can take being shot down, scorned, and attacked 24/7 like you do to yourself. And if you could hear that, you'd know. It's your last chance to be perfectly still. And breathe before the inevitable. Sweetie, you might not believe me, but this part has nothing to do with you.
Tamerlane Usher: I fucked it all up. I've ... I fucked it all up. I fucked it all up. I fucked it all up. I just, I just want...
Verna: Some sleep?

The Pit and the Pendulum [1.07]

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Frederick Usher: I heard Tamerlane killed herself with a fireplace poker and, I swear to God, I can't ... I can't figure out what that means. I mean, how do you ... How do you even do that?
C. Auguste Dupin: Annabel Lee. You know, I've thought about it over the years, because I've got a good sense for people. I ask myself what went wrong. What malfunctioned with me back then to make me trust you? And I figured it out. It was her. I trusted her. So I trusted you. I mean, if that woman loved you, if she trusted you? Fucking fool to lose her the way you did. As much as I lost after what you did (and I lost a lot, damn near everything) it sustained me a bit knowing you lost her.
Juno Usher: You're a monster, you know that? I married a monster.
Roderick Usher: No, my dear. I'm Victor Frankenstein. You're the monster. You are my perfect creation. What was left of you after that accident was a corpse on a slab. And Ligodone was the lightning. I threw the switch and you sat up, and look! It's alive!
Juno Usher: I thought that you loved me.
Roderick Usher: You are a miracle. Your body just soaks it up. Like nothing I've ever seen. Like my drug is water and you're a flower. You are the most perfect and beautiful thing I've ever seen. You know, a huge part of you is Ligodone. How could I not marry you?
Verna: Do you know what your brother would have been? A poet. That's where his talent was. A broke poet, sure, but frankly, is there another kind? He and I share that as well. We both understand that language, in its highest expression, is musical. So, some clarity for you. What's a poem, after all, if not a safe space for a difficult truth?
Verna: You know, I could have done this just about any way I wanted to. Could have had a heart attack in your car. Coke would have teed that up nicely. Could have been hit by a bus. But then you had to bring her home. And you had to grab the pliers. I'm gonna head out. I've got an appointment with your dad. He did you wrong, Freddie. You only ever wanted to be loved by him. You only ever wanted his approval. And it's still no fucking excuse.

The Raven [1.08]

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Roderick Usher: It's really you.
Verna: I'm sorry I couldn't accept your resignation. I tried to explain that to your sister. That she wasn't going to change the math. She had it in her head that...
Roderick Usher: That if I die, this stops?
Verna: Which is bad faith, isn't it? She tried to "loophole" me.
Roderick Usher: Name your price.
Verna: Oh, sweetie...you are funny. The numbers are already locked in. There are only a few more transactions left. And listen. There's the opening bell. Rung today by a representative of Fortunato Incorporated.
C. August Dupin: Your own sister cut off your head. That's what did it in, you know. My boss said we'd already won once you were on the plate. No point in pushing the case. The dragon was slain. I told him he was wrong. He says, "Roderick Usher lost his children, and his company too. What else do you want?"
Roderick Usher: What else did you want?
C. August Dupin: Justice.
Roderick Usher: And what does that look like?
C. August Dupin: For what you've done? I don't know. I suppose I'll know it when I see it.
Roderick Usher: I hope you do. See it. I'm pretty sure you will.
Annabel Lee: "He's rich." When people asked how you took them, how you convinced them away from me. "He's rich," I'd say. "He's rich." And you don't understand what that word means. They were young. They only knew appetite, and "Here," you said, "come with me. Gorge yourselves." How could I compete with that? You didn't feed them, though, did you? You starved them. Less and less of them came back each time until one day, they were empty. They were siphoned. You started filling them up with ... What did you fill them up with, Roderick? What did you have to fill them with? Because you weren't rich, were you? I thought you were a rich man all this time, but I ... I see you now. I look at you, and I see you. The poverty of you.
Roderick Usher: Annabel...
Annabel Lee: Maybe this is a kindness in disguise. Maybe they died in their childhoods.
Roderick Usher: It faded like a dream. And by the time we got home, it didn't feel real at all. And a day or two later, we were so worried about someone finding Gris, we both kind of blew it off. We were drunk, maybe we were stoned, we remembered it differently. It was a folie a deux, a delusion shared by two, and then we never talked about it again. They never found Gris, the cops never came, and the Board voted me in. And the work began. Ligodone began. And over the years it was just...a weird dream. Nothing more.
Verna: There's a file. Camille L'Espanaye was very good at what she did. She had a file on everyone. Even you. It barely scratches the surface, but the surface alone will get you twenty 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 Gordon 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 Gordon Pym: No. I have no collateral. Collateral is leverage, and I won't be leveraged. No man or woman has ever 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 to you.
Lenore Usher: Grandpa, I say this with love. Let it go. Let it all go. You've got more money than you'll ever be able to spend. Than I'll ever be able to spend. Let's put it to work. Try to fix things. Let go of Fortunato, and Ligodone, and the bad stuff. We did bad stuff, Grandpa. Our family did bad stuff. It's not too late to fix it.
Verna: There is a lot about my job I love. But there are moments like these that bring me no joy. I hope you know that. Let me tell you a story about your mother. See, she recovers very well now that she's in the clinic. Takes three years, more than 100 skin grafts, physical therapy, reconstructive surgery. But she endures it. She's strong. Her battle scars become armor. She inherits a sizeable fortune when Fortunato collapses. She puts it to work immediately. She gives most of it away, domestic violence and abuse charities, but keeps enough to start a non-profit. She sets up chapters all over the world. She calls it the Lenore Foundation. After her daughter. And she saves a lot of lives. Would you like to know how many? Dozens in the first year. Then hundreds. Thousands soon after. And then a major burst of growth. 600,000 five years in. And in a decade, it's millions. More than 3,000,000, in fact. Then, it gets hard to count. Because the people she helps help others who help others and others. And so on and ... This is the part I really want you to hear. You did that. When you got her out of the house, when you defied your father, you did that. You saved those people. That choice you made echoes through millions of lives. I thought you should know that.
Roderick Usher: I guess we've finally come it, haven't we? A world without pain! That was the whole point! Nobody can stomach a little discomfort. It hurts. It hurts, and they cry and cry, and I took it away! I reached in and snuffed out those flames in their backs, in their joints, in their heads and their hands. I waved my wand, and it wasn't enough! It was never enough! They just kept wanting more! More and more...
Verna: Oh honey, don't kid a kidder. Did you drive here like that? When was the last time you drove your own car? And tonight, you do it barefoot? Good for you. You know, I've worked with a lot of truly influential people over the years. But when it comes to sheer body count, you're in my top five. Take a look. Those are your bodies. They'd each be alive today if it weren't for you. A new one every five minutes just in the States, but open it up to the world? Why did you come here tonight on your way home? Your real home. Was it to say goodbye? One last look at your great tower? Your pyramid? That's your true monument, Roderick. Out there. It's a wonder of the world. And it's eternal. That's your legacy.
Madeline Usher: The fucking people. The fucking people out there, Roderick. You don't want Ligodone, don't buy it. You don't want to get addicted, don't abuse it. They're mad because we made it available and desirable. Hey, newsflash: it's our only fucking job. These people, they want an entire meal for five dollars in five minutes, then they complain when it's made of shit and plastic. McDonald's would serve nothing but kale salad all day and all night long if that's what people fucking ate. It's available. No one buys it. Sure, we'll get around to funding AIDS research, and diabetes, and heart disease, just as soon as we figure out how to keep our geriatric dicks harder for a few minutes. What's the market share on wimpy dicks, Roderick? 60, 70 percent of the healthcare industry? Pentagon spent $83 million on Viagra last year. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court, the fucking Supreme Court does its part. Tears the autonomy, rips the liberty away from women, shreds not just their choice, but their future, their potential. We turn men into cum-fountains and women into factories, cranking out, what? An impoverished workforce, there for the labor and to spend what little they make consuming. And what do we teach them to want? Houses they can't afford. Cars that poison the air. Single-serve plastics. Clothes made by starving children in third-world countries. And they want it so bad that they're begging for it. They're screaming for it. They're insisting upon it. And we're the problem? These fucking monsters. These fucking consumers. These fucking mouths. They point at you and me like we're the problem. They fucking invented us! They begged for us! They're begging for us still. So I say, we stand tall and proud, brother! The bill's come due. Let's not hide here in the basement like we've got something to be ashamed of. No, not us. You and me, against the world. I don't care if it's Death herself. If she wants Madeline fucking Usher, she's going to have to look me straight in the eyes.
Roderick Usher: I promised my confession. Here it is. I knew. Deep down, in the Witching Hour, I knew. I knew I would climb to the top of the tower on a pile of corpses. We told them it was about soothing the world's pain. That's the biggest lie we told. You can't eliminate pain. There's no such thing as a painkiller. Imagine if we put that on the bottle. I bet I still could've sold it.
C. Auguste Dupin: I don't fucking care why you did it. We don't want your confession, or your rationale, or your explanation. So take all that with you, why don't you? Goodbye, Roderick. I'm going home. To my husband, my kids, their kids. I'm the richest man in the world, you know that?

Cast

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