“Early in his life, had a conversation with somebody who promised him an effortless life in return for something that he didn’t quite believe could happen,” Greenwood told Netflix of is character's story arc. Rodrick reveals that after plotting to betray a young Auggie (Malcolm Goodwin), then a Medicare fraud investigator, by lying about Fortunato's illegal business practices, young Roderick (Zach Gilford) and Madeline (Willa Fitzgerald) carried out the final phase of their plan to take over the company by drugging and subsequently burying then-Fortunato CEO Rufus Griswold (Michael Trucco) alive inside the basement wall of Fortunato headquarters-a nod to Poe's 1846 short story 'The Cask of Amontillado.' Auguste Dupin and Bruce Greenwood as Roderick Usher in The Fall of the House of Usher Eike Schroter-NetflixĪs Roderick nears the conclusion of his story, which jumps back and forth between his early years working at Fortunato and the events that led up to each of his children's deaths, he finally arrives at the fateful night that changed everything, New Year's Eve of 1979. Throughout the evening, Roderick is tortured by visions of his dead children-who appear to him as he relays the gruesome ways in which each of them met their end-while banging sounds that he says are coming from his twin sister, Fortunato COO Madeline Usher (Mary McDonnell), can be heard emanating from the home's basement.

The overarching narrative of The Fall of the House of Usher loosely follows Poe's 1839 short story of the same name, with Roderick recounting his decades-spanning tale to Auggie inside his decrepit childhood home. Auguste Dupin (Carl Lumbly), to come hear his confession following the deaths of all six of his adult children (by five different mothers)-Frederick (Henry Thomas), Tamerlane (Samantha Sloyan), Victorine (T'Nia Miller), Napoleon (Rahul Kohli), Camille (Kate Siegel), and Prospero (Sauriyan Sapkota)-in the span of a week. The story centers on Usher family patriarch and Fortunato CEO Roderick (Bruce Greenwood), who, as the show begins, calls up his longtime rival, assistant U.S.

Inspired by the work of Edgar Allan Poe, House of Usher traces the downfall of the uber-wealthy Usher family and their corrupt drug company, Fortunato Pharmaceuticals. It's the how and the why of their deaths that plays out over the course of Mike Flanagan's new horror anthology series, now streaming on Netflix. įrom the start of the first episode of The Fall of the House of Usher, we know that all of Roderick Usher's children are dead. Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Fall of the House of Usher.

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