It all begins when the still-teenage Mae (Madeleine Arthur) escapes from a small rural community in Amon County, which worships Satan and arrives at a hospital in Remmingham, a more urbanized neighboring county, where she is treated by psychiatrist Suzanne Mathis ( Emily Deschanel). The girl has arrived with a wound on her back, a mark from the devil’s star, and she refuses to testify, which makes them decide to find her an asylum-home. However, Suzanne decides to help her and give her temporary accommodation in her house, which will bring conflicts with her husband and her three daughters.
However, the microcosm of the Mathis family does not seem to be a paradise either. Peter Mathis (Sam Jaeger) is a contractor who has left his trade to undertake a mansion design-build project, but can’t find a buyer, plus he’s up to his neck in debt and mortgage on his house. The eldest daughters Helen (Alisha Newton) and Jules (Xaria Dotson) are in high school and have a difficult relationship with each other, while the youngest daughter Dani (Naomi Tan) is adopted, but it does not represent a major problem because she only lives her childhood. with innocence, although it is a vulnerable part of the coming conflicts. Suzanne, who also had a very difficult childhood, has identified with Mae and therefore decides to support her, although the girl’s case is difficult, since she has fled because she was chosen to be sacrificed by the sect, which by the way is led by her father. , according to the tradition of a chain of offerings to the devil for his eternal life and the prosperity of his “children”.
Then comes Chicago detective Alex Lopez (Adrian Bellani) who, despite the budget restrictions of the Remmingham police, deploys a more in-depth investigation of Mae and will find the heart of the matter. the sect and its tentacles: its possible connections precisely with the Remmingham police, the strategic purchase of properties, its legaloid devices, the co-optation and control of the sheriff of Amon and the terrible rites. Then Mae’s life is in obvious danger and it will be necessary to protect her.
On the other hand, Jules is focused on gaining popularity at school at any cost, especially as a photographer for the student newspaper, only that Mae little by little begins to overshadow her because although they have already become very good friends (she has already been enrolled in the same high school), with tricks and other tricks he manages to show his marked back and thereby gain followers both for the Halloween party and for the celebration of the “queen of the harvest”, in addition to standing between Jules and the boy that she likes, the editor of the newspaper, hence Jules finally explodes against her. It is inferred that Mae has a definite strategy, but she does not make it obvious and appears so innocent and fragile that it leads to confusion, doubt and visualizing her as a victim because she is kidnapped by the sect and taken back to the community to be sacrificed, where Suzanne and Alex will try to rescue her.
The twists and turns in this story are multiple, but the main one is Mae’s relationship with Suzanne because the girl feels safe with her and sees her as a loving surrogate mother, since her blood mother has betrayed her and handed her over to Satan. So the refuge with the Mathis family is vital and Mae fights to stay there, despite the reluctance of the girls and Peter.
This series successfully mixes these two apparently different worlds, the traditional sectarian and the contemporary social. It explores social aspects such as the not-so-successful middle-class family, lesbianism, homosexuality, economic failure in an area very close to the big city of Cleveland, friendship, hypocrisy, the difficult couple relationship, fall traditions. and the typical student popularity of gringo teenagers, in addition to the demonic cult issue; yes, to a large extent it is a coming on age story with a shocking and moving ending.
To this we add very good visual transitions from one stage to another, disturbing camera angles and a certainly careful script, based on the novel of the same name. What did not add up very well was the casting because in the flashbacks of Suzanne’s youth there is a great visual discrepancy, if you see it you will easily notice it. But in general it does.