Plot: Frederick is hell-bent on making Morella pay for her mistakes, not realizing that Verna is closing on in him.
The seventh episode tries to bring in some much needed twists to the story that eventually gives a glimpse into how ruthless the Ushers can be.
So far, there had been little revealed about the Ushers and if they truly deserved the punishment Verna was dishing out.
Titled 'The Pit and the Pendulum', the story is based on Edgar Allan Poe's work published in 1843.
This time, the protagonist is a prisoner charged with crimes not stated during the Spanish Inquisition.
He awakens in a dark cell and struggles with identifying his surroundings. When he accidentally stumbles and falls, he finds there is a pit in his cell.
When the prisoner falls unconscious and awakens again, he finds his room has a little bit of light now and that he is tied to a wooden frame with a razor-edged pendulum swinging above him.
As the walls grow closer, the prisoner gets desperate and uses the rats in the cell and leftovers from his meal to attract the rats to his binds. The rats chew through the ropes and the prisoner is able to get free before the pendulum slices through his chest.
The pendulum suddenly retracts and the walls grow hot and move closer towards him, forcing the prisoner towards the pit.
Just when he is about to fall, an arm pulls him to safety.
The seventh episode of The House of the Fall of Usher, adapts this story as well as incorporates the theme well into the storyline.
The story gains momentum in this episode and focuses on the eldest Usher. Choices are given and decisons are made in penultimate episode of The Fall of the House of Usher.
The episode cements the show are the finest horror series on Netflix.
THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM Plot
Roderick informs Frederick of Tamerlane's death and how he must take charge of tearing down the facility where Perry died.
Morella awakens to find pictures of her and Frederick all over the room. Frederick tells her about his disappointment regarding her decision to be unfaithful to him by attending Perry's party. He tells her about how when he first met her he fell in love with her smile and her stating that he looked like he needed a friend. Frederick tells her that she was right and that he had needed her which is why her beytayal hurts.
He demands to know where her wedding ring is as he injects her with more drugs.
Finally, he tells her that in order for them to move on and heal from this incident, he needs to be brutal just once so he doesn't have to be cruel everyday. And since her smile is what got them together in the first place...
Thankfully, we are spared from the gruesome scene and all we get to see is the blood on the pliers and blood around Morella's mouth.
Lenore approaches Frederick and asks to meet her mother but he refuses to let her see her. Lenore believes her father is up to something and wants to see the doctors he promised would come to the house. Frederick lies about the doctors coming in when Lenore is not at home. Frederick leaves after warning his daughter to not disturb her mother.
After he leaves, Lenore goes to see her mother and is horrified to discover what her father has done to her.
In the past, Dupin is duped by Roderick who claims in his testimony that he has been harassed by Dupin. He accepts responsibility of the documents as well and claims those are his signature.
Annabel is shocked to find Roderick being arrested and Dupin walking away in a huff. Madeline assures Annabel that Roderick will be out by evening.
Annabel is disgusted to find out that Madeline and Roderick had been plotting to rise up the ranks in the company.
In the not too distant past, Madeline visits her childhood home and confronts Verna who smugly tells her that she was the one who helped Madeline find her.
Madeline wants out of the deal that was made during that fateful new year's. Verna tells her that isn't how things are going to work. A deal is a deal.
Meanwhile Juno is distressed after being injured and being called a junkie by her stepkids. Perhaps she has also seen how substance abuse has destroyed the family. She consults her doctor and seeks advice to get off the Ligodone that supposedly has no side effects nor is it addictive.
The doctor relents and tells her she needs to get off the Ligodone slowly.
Juno then meets with Roderick and tells him about her plans to get off Ligodone. He discourages her and lets it slip that he was never in love with her but with the way her body readily accepted the Ligodone.
Juno is shocked and wants out. Roderick tells her she either spends three years getting off it or keep using if she doesn't want to endure the horrible withdrawal symptoms.
Juno says she rather spend three years in hell rather than a lifetime of hell with him.
Roderick is dumped.
Frederick goes to the facility where Perry was killed and tells the demolition worker that he needs five minutes to look for something. He wants to search for the wedding ring.
Once inside, Frederick pees on the floor and insults Perry before suddenly collapsing.
Verna appears and tells him that while he was taunting Morella she had influenced him to put some paralytic drug in the sachet he had gotten from Leo. Morella may have seen Verna influencing Frederick too.
Verna tells Frederick that she was considering showing him some kindness by letting him die of an overdose in his sleep or perhaps in a car accident. But then he just had to bring Morella home and torture her. And use the pliers. Verna tells him that it was his cruel use of pliers that prompted her to guve Frederick a cruel death.
Frederick lies on the ground, his pants open as a final act of humiliation. Verna lays next to him as the worker gets the all clear sign from Verna's magical ventriloquism act.
The building begins to come down and a sharp pendulum begins to swing dangerously close to Frederick. Now we have seen Frederick give Roderick plenty of jump scares in his present time.
In fact, as Roderick narrates the story to Dupin, the pendulum clock begins to swing and a kid Frederick comes to see him only for him to suddenly be sliced in half.
We know what Frederick's fate is going to be.
Verna says her goodbye as the pendulum slices through Frederick's abdomen, spilling out his intestines. Frederick can do nothing but watch helplessly.
Later, Pym enters Frederick's house to do some damage control. He tries to get Lenore to salvage Frederick's reputation because he was the last Usher on the board who could decide Roderick's fate and the company is at risk of falling into shambles.
Lenore doesn't care. She gives her statement to the police about Frederick being an abusive husband.
Madeline comes to see Roderick who is at the basement of the company, staring at a wall. Madeline tells him that she tried to talk to Verna to get out of the deal but she refused. Now with Frederick dead, Roderick is next. She gives him Ligodone and advises him to drink alcohol with it and overdose so that his death will be painless.
Roderick does exactly that and collapses. Madeline walks away but Verna comes in after and awakens Roderick.
She tells him that there is no way he is getting out of the deal that easy.
The episode ends.
This episode has nicely set up the finale and has upped the curiosity as to how Roderick will meet his end. And what about Madeline.
In the present, Madeline is unseen but heard by Dupin who keeps wondering why she's making such a ruckus.
And why does Lenore keep texting Roderick. What is that about and why is Roderick ignoring her?
The finale answers all these questions including telling us about the deal the Ushers struck with Verna all those years ago.
Scare Scale: 4.5/5
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