A twin brother and sister get separated in childhood. The sister, however, is raised by a decent family and goes on to become a police officer. The brother, sadly, gets the short end of the stick and eventually turns into a psychopathic serial killer. The second season of Prime Video’s Them, titled The Scare, can be summed up with just this much, but there is an obvious horror element playing at large. The “scare” in the title points to this supernatural entity, which consumes the brother and tries to do the same with the sister. In this article, we’re going to put the ending of the show under the microscope and also look into the themes of this season. There will be major spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t watched it yet, please stop reading this article at this point.
Spoilers Ahead
What Happens in the Ending?
We don’t get to see a chaotic reunion between Dawn and Edmund as Edmund slits his own throat with the police barging on his door. Simultaneously, he gives himself to the red-haired Raggedy Andy doll, aka the entity. Ghost Edmund then torments Correy at Dawn’s house before abducting Kel and taking him to the Mott residence. Realizing her son is in danger, Dawn tries to rush to save Kel, but she faces a roadblock in the form of McKinney, who, being a racist idiot, now wants to arrest her for all the murders. However, she does take care of McKinney for good and goes to face Edmund. At the Mott house, Edmund takes Dawn on a trip down memory lane to their horrific childhood to make her remember everything. It gets clear to Dawn why Edmund would put Bernice Mott’s disfigured body under the sink. It is also revealed that Dawn and Edmund are, in fact, the children of Ruby Lee Emori, i.e., the elder daughter of the Emori family from the first season. Dawn does manage to convince Edmund of the fact that none of what happened to him was her fault, which is the truth, sadly. Just when you think the happy picture of Dawn having lunch with Correy and Kel is where this story is going to conclude, the tap-dance man from season 1 is thrown at you. If you are looking for more detail, you can check out the recap of Them: The Scare.
Is abandonment the central theme of Season 2?
Most definitely, abandonment and the effect it can have on a child is the main theme of Them: The Scare. Although it seems like the story of a police detective trying to find a psychopathic killer at first, the moment you know Dawn and Edmund are twins, you realize the story is actually very personal. From what we hear from Athena, it is quite clear that Edmund was a troubled child from the very beginning. Bernice Mott, being the abusive piece of garbage she was, traumatized the little kid in his childhood. When he finally found a home with the Reeves, that was also taken away from him. Athena can’t exactly be blamed for not wanting to have Edmund around after what happened to William, but if she had been a little more careful and not sent him back to Mott, things could have been different. Although the story never quite explains at what point Edmund got adopted by Doctor Gaines and his family, it can be assumed that he was beyond any fixing by then. Still, what if Doctor Gaines had tried to be a little more patient with the boy? Maybe then he would have had some kind of chance at survival—who knows!
Unfortunately, though, Edmund ended up completely alone and miserable, and that ate him up. The only person he ever truly loved was Dawn, who was taken away from him. What he did in order to get back to her is not at all justified, and he paid the price in the end. But when you think about the kind of life he had and the suffering he had to endure, it is rather heartbreaking. Edmund did find his way back to Dawn, but he was already too far gone by then, as he had killed Donovan, his first victim. What was really needed to save Edmund was love and proper care, which he never got in his sorry life. The character was destined to be abandoned, which would lead him to his tragic fate in the end.
What Is the Impact of Racism in This Story?
Racism and political commentary are very important subject matters in the black-horror subgenre, and Them: The Scare is no exception. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if I said Edmund might have had it a little better if he were not black. However, it is Dawn who faces most of the racial abuse, mostly thanks to Detective Donald McKinney, her colleague at the LAPD. McKinney, being a white supremacist, is clearly the face of racism here, which I consider to be a bold move by the show. It’s not that McKinney is the only person who tries to heckle Dawn, but considering the very personal nature of this story, it is quite essential to have a proper villain. Racism has always been an issue in America (and the entire world), and the more you go back in time, the more it becomes evident to you. Being a white cop in the Nineties’ LA, McKinney had a lot of privilege and power, which allowed him to be the monster that he was. From getting away with the murder of Lamar Watkins to needlessly harassing Kel only because of him being Dawn’s son, McKinney’s behavior in the show is exactly what you would expect from an entitled racist. It was satisfactory to see him die at the hands of Dawn in the end, but even that doesn’t seem enough considering the amount of terrible things the man has done.
And finally, what exactly is “the scare”?
Even though Them: The Scare shifts gears and fully embraces the supernatural by the end, a lot of the horror in this story actually stems from the inside. The evil in this show is not the red-haired Raggedy doll but society. Despite not remembering her childhood, Dawn’s trauma is still there with her, and even though she has managed to fare better than her twin, her life is not a bed of roses as well, with men like McKinney around. Not to mention, the past action of assaulting a CI keeps coming back, haunting her, even though she knows for a fact that the man was absolutely terrible. In the case of Edmund, loneliness gets the best of him, and in the end, he gives in to evil. Dawn’s circumstances made her strong enough to not give up on the “scare,” while Edmund had no other choices but what was left for him. Being the child of Ruby, who also had a horrific time in season 1, he was doomed from the very beginning as he probably inherited some kind of a curse from his mother. In a way, “Scare” is the representation of the darkness inside us. Sometimes in life, though, we just don’t have the means to beat it.
Will There Be A Third Season?
The show hasn’t officially been renewed, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t get another season. And it can be said that racism is again going to play a huge role in whatever story we see. Considering the first season was based in the fifties and the current one is based in the early nineties, we are probably going to get a story set in the present time unless the creators have something else in mind. There will also be ties with either of the seasons or both seasons. We can also expect Deborah Ayorinde to return in a different role.
