Broken Fall
In the first episode of Devil in Ohio, a woman is running through cornfields in the dead of night when she appears to be being chased by something. She tries to stop a car that races by on the road, but fails. She drops her knife and steps into the road, eventually being brought to the hospital. ..
Suzanne Mathis, a doctor who’s called in to check on this patient, finds that she was restrained. The marks across her wrist suggest that she was recently restrained. This is a mystery town well known for some pretty shady and mysterious goings-on, so it’s likely that the girl was taken there against her will. Suzanne is able to determine that the girl is not from here and is most likely from another part of the world.
When the girl wakes up, she has some X-rays done but she doesn’t seem to be particularly receptive, experiencing strange flashes and not speaking to anyone. When the doctors try to do a blood draw, she freaks out, leaving it up to Suzanne to head in and calm her down. We later find out that her name is Mae but for now it’s time to flesh out the rest of the family.
Suzanne has three daughters, Jules, Helen and Dani, with the former two having very different trajectories at school. Dani is the popular kid, with friends to boot and generally stays away from her sister. Jules is somewhat of a recluse, and aside from her best friend Isaac, finds solace in her photography. Thankfully, she meets Sebastian, who offers her an opportunity to do an article in the school paper.
Suzanne’s husband Peter is in a difficult spot with work. The development project he’s been working on has fallen apart, and he doesn’t have the heart to tell Suzanne.
The sheriff of Amon County came to the hospital the next day looking for Mae. Suzanne refused to give up any information, especially as he appeared with handcuffs and a menacing demeanour. The Sheriff smiled faintly, thanks her for her time and eventually leaves.
Mae is in danger of being kicked out onto the street if she doesn’t have family to take care of her. Suzanne refuses to see a minor left with nothing and decides to take her in personally. Whilst Dani (Suzanne’s youngest) is pretty excited, Jules is less enthused, especially as she needs to share a room with her sister. The whole thing is temporary, at least until they can get Mae a foster home.
Mae says grace to the ruler of demons, our Lord. Amen. The whole family shrugs it off and continue to eat.
Detective Lopez arrives at the hospital looking for Mae. He has been assigned her case and appears to be more trustworthy than the other sheriff, whom we follow just after this. It is a brief scene but the camera moves across the inside of his caravan, showing off an upside down cross on the wall. ..
The episode closes out with Mae revealing that she has a pentagram carved into her skin. ..
The Episode Review
However, the show quickly starts to unravel as we learn more about the family and their secrets. The reveal of the father’s dark past is a powerful one, and it sets the tone for the rest of the season. We also get a great reveal of who Devil In Ohio’s antagonist is, and it’s a satisfying end to an interesting story.
The story of Mae and the sheriff is intriguing and the mystery is enticing enough to keep watching in a bid to find out exactly what’s going on. It could well be that Mae is part of some sort of cult and the sheriff guy is part of that, along with others in the town.
That’s just a guess at this point, but with only 37 minutes of the series premiere left, it looks like this thriller is going to be fast-paced and enjoyable. We’re hoping things pick up from here! ..
