Well, people, do you believe in monsters?
FROM Season 1 Episode 2 asks its newest resident, Tabitha, that very question, as she struggles to understand how her life has been inexplicably changed forever in the span of a few hours.
The pilot wasn’t a fluke. From is your latest must-see series.
A great mystery will slowly let you in on the secret. And make no mistake about it, this is a great mystery.
Each new piece of information we glean here only deepens the puzzle and enriches the story overall. We could easily walk away more confused or frustrated that the answers aren’t coming fast enough, but the series is methodical, and this is a marathon, not a sprint.
In a world like From, we need these conversations between characters to bring the story into sharper focus so we can start forming our own opinions and theories.
We need to hear Donna break down the worst night of her life. We need Kenny to detail the night he thought his life could be changing for the better, only for it to come crashing down around him.
Not only do these conversations and interactions shade in the characters more, but they also help the audience understand what they’re seeing because A LOT is going on at any given moment.
Having this whole hour occur throughout the overnight hours makes it feel very pressured, like we’re just waiting for something to go wrong. And it heightens the stress even more than the pilot.
Boyd and Kristi stick with Jim and Ethan in the RV, working on Ethan and trying to stay alive. One of the most significant pieces of information this installment offers us is the meaning of the talisman. They seem to be the saving grace for the houses, but beyond that, no one seems to know why.
And that means that it’s a total guessing game as to whether or not it will work in the RV, but Boyd and Kristi have to try, right?
One thing that’s refreshing about this doomed tale is that people still have their humanity. It would be easy to shed that part of yourself when faced with an endless pit of fear and uncertainty.
Especially when it means putting your own life at risk; at this point, you’ve survived days, months, potentially years in a literal hell, and it would be so easy to turn your back on people you’ve never met if it means you get to see another day. But that’s clearly not what is going on in this town.
They have rules and boundaries, but when push comes to shove, they help each other.
Spending more time at Colony House lets us see the house in much more depth, and it’s definitely an acquired taste. Communal living isn’t for everyone, and we already knew there was a divide between the townsfolk and the Colony people that becomes crystal clear once the guys get Tabitha, Julie, and Jade to the house.
Tying them up seems excessive before you remember that these people are coming in with zero knowledge about this town.
You can’t risk them trying to run away or trying to make a break for it in the middle of the night. Essentially keeping them locked up until they can give them the rundown of what’s going on is probably the only play, but it still feels weird to watch.
These are all innocent people trapped in a nightmare, yet their first night feels inexplicably worst for being bound by ropes on top of it.
Fatima takes a liking to Julie right away and makes her feel welcomed and safe. If I have to guess, Julie will be more open to the idea of Colony House as a potential living space. Because that has to come, right?
It doesn’t seem like you can go back and forth between them.
Tabitha naturally has her reservations about everything she’s hearing from Donna that first night, but Donna makes a compelling case when she tells her story.
We already knew the monsters were deadly but listening to Donna explain what happened to her sister in such detail is such a visceral and disturbing scene. Hearing the tale is almost worse than seeing it because you can feel the pain in every word.
And to think that everyone has a story like this, or they’ve heard a story like this.
Kenny’s story was an absolute gut punch, and Ricky He put on an acting clinic every time he just talked and lived in the neverending cycle of horror that is both his life and everyone else’s stuck in this place.
You have to have some serious coping mechanisms to get up and out of bed every day and exist in this kind of controlled chaos. But everyone has a breaking point. Everyone hits a place where they can no longer paste on a smile and pretend like they’re not falling apart inside.
Kenny is hitting that point, and the minute he and Khatri had not one but TWO heart-to-heart conversations, I knew that something terrible was afoot.
Look, clearly, Sara is unwell. And the monsters have found a way into her mind. Or so that’s what we are led to believe.
To hear her tell it is to believe that she’s been coerced into committing murders that will instill greater fear into the town. Each murder just intensifies the panic, and if I had to guess, the reason they were able to achieve so many days without incident is due to keeping the ever-present dread as low as possible.
Anxiety is a given in this kind of environment, but if you can manage it and keep it from spiking too high, then you’re in much better shape. Multiple killings over a day will only send everyone’s anxiety through the roof because it’s going to start feeling like their efforts are futile.
And it makes you wonder where do things go from here?
We meet Victor here, and he’s a little creepy, but he seems relatively harmless right now. And he brings up the fact that two cars don’t typically show up simultaneously. And that has to mean something, but what?
Obviously, it’s not an answer I expect to get any time soon, but that’s another fascinating thing to note. Why NOW would two cars descend upon the town? And why NOW is Sara being haunted and forced to slaughter her own?
The questions won’t stop coming, but it only makes things more exciting.
Loose Ends
- RIP Binq-Qian Lu. And to the nurse as well.
- Ethan waking up and telling a tale about drawings and the lake of tears makes me wonder what his eventual connection to everything is going to be. For some reason, it feels like Ethan will be the key somehow. But the key to what? Your guess is as good as mine.
- The monsters are not threatening, yet they are at the same time. The little boy in the woods dressed in all white with the sly little smile was as threatening as any vampire or reanimated dead person you’ll see on television these days. And how is Ethan seeing him DURING THE DAY?
- Probably the best part of the series thus far, outside of the story itself, is the acting. The material is challenging, and the acting is excellent.
- Little things haven’t been touched upon yet, but have me SUPER curious. How are they getting food? And alcohol? These aren’t as pressing as, say, what the hell is going on with Sara, but inquiring minds would like to know!
I’m not sure we got many answers, but that’s okay. Things are flowing along, and the tension is ramping up, which is precisely what a series like this should be doing.
The answers will come in time, and I’m content to stay on this ride for as long as they’ll have me.
What new questions do you have this week?
What was your favorite scene?
What do you think is coming next?
Drop all your comments down below, and make sure to watch FROM online via TV Fanatic so you can join the conversation!
Whitney Evans is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.