Now that we’ve been introduced to the Ushers, it’s time to see them laid to rest one by one. The Fall of the House of Usher Episode 2 revolves around Prospero Usher, aka Perry, the youngest son of Roderick. Prospero, the egotistic, proud son, who came into his wealth not long ago. Perry’s debaucherous ideas aren’t really to the taste of the twins, and they’ve already turned down his idea. But you’re only young once, and Perry takes it upon himself to show the Ushers what he’s really made of and that the numbers will add up. Every episode is titled after a different short story written by Mr. Poe himself; this one is called The Masque of the Red Death. A story about a wealthy man named Prospero who tries to escape a plague by locking himself up in his abbey and holding masquerade balls.
Spoilers Ahead
Auggie’s Fight Against Fortunato
In The Fall of the House of Usher Episode 2, we get to see a young Auggie stand up for himself against his white boss and never take a step back from doing the right thing. He plans on bringing Fortunato down, with or without help. His whole argument is that “Ligodone,” the great pain relief medicine, is addictive, causing more harm than good for the people of the world.
Perry’s “Madness”
According to Roderick, all his children were a little bit strange, but Perry was the weirdest of them all. He had violent tendencies and didn’t care for much other than fulfilling his sexual desires and proving himself to his father as a worthy son of the Usher family. Being the youngest of the illegitimate children, there is extra pressure or hate directed towards Perry from the rest of the family. He feels unwelcome in many ways, making it more important to prove to them all that he’s a worthy heir. After Auggie claimed there was an informant in the group, Frederick decided to blame Perry, being the youngest of the lot. Interestingly, the two of them have inherited similar traits from their father, none of which are particularly good. Perry is supposed to shadow Frederick at work, and he ends up making a mess in an important meeting. There are some Fortunato factories that should’ve been destroyed a little while ago, but it seems they’re still standing tall. This gives Perry the idea to use one of these buildings as the spot for his big first party. And, as you can guess, the theme he chooses is masquerade.
Victorine’s Heart Device
It seemed Victorine’s work was the most important to Roderick at the time because he had heard from his doctor that he was very ill, similar to his mother, with an illness called CADASIL, a disease that is inherited and has symptoms such as dementia and psychiatric problems such as depression. Victorine is working on a device that could be the cure-all. A mesh that can keep the heart pumping. Roderick believes it can help him too, so he pushes Victorine to get her work done faster.
Preparations For The Masquerade Party
Perry loves the space he’s picked and makes the decision to use the sprinklers in the building to shower rain at the perfect time for everyone to feel overexcited. Perry also gets Leo, his only half-brother whom he feels any kind of connection with, to give him some connections for drugs to make the party impeccable for the uber-rich. There’s no water supply to the sprinklers, though, and Perry gets an illegal source to fill up the large tanks on top of the building to get the sprinklers going.
Whoever Has The Gold, Makes The Rules
Those are the words Roderick saw in the office of Rufus Griswold, Longfellow’s replacement. Roderick has a plan to share a new drug with Rufus, a drug that cures all pain in the world. Ligodone he calls it, and it’s opium coated with some other stuff. This during the opioid crisis could be a huge deal because he claims it’s a non-addictive, no-side-effect drug that can cure all pain, whatever the level of illness. Rufus doesn’t like the idea and basically tells Roderick to go back to his position in the mail room. On the other hand, Madeline has also quit her job because, as a woman, she isn’t taken seriously. There’s a strangeness in the air between Madeline and Annabelle Lee, Roderick’s wife. They don’t seem to quite like each other. In 2023, Madeline works on an AI virtual version of Lenor; something Roderick can’t understand is “so cool”, but she thinks it’s revolutionary. Madeline, too, fears Perry may be the informant.
Perry’s Dig At Frederick
Now, the hate is not one-sided when it comes to the oldest and the youngest. Perry’s big plan is to invite his sister-in-law to his “party” so he can show his brother how much he’s valued in the family. Perry gives Morelle a new phone to use for the invitation to the masquerade. She seems strangely interested under the veneer of “how dare you”.
The Whole Family Has Interesting Desires
Camille seems to be bedding her (far too young) assistants, ironically after saying her father is old enough to be his wife’s grandfather. On the other hand, Tamerlane is a fan of role-playing and invites a woman over to play her part as she watches on. Camille is the marketer of the family; she’s not the face of the Ushers, but she sure knows what everything is doing to make sure the media knows only what they need to. She has her assistants detail every little thing that goes on with the rest of the family for her.
The Masquerade
Morelle actually chooses to come to Perry’s party (oh woman, bad decision). She tells her husband and daughter that she’s going to hang with the girls and isn’t sure when she’ll be back. While Perry is excited to have all the fun in the world and mint money for exclusive entry to his parties, his big secret is that he has cameras everywhere, and all the important people that come to these things will get blackmailed later for more money. A sustainable business deal? We’re not quite certain, but Perry seems to think it’s a foolproof plan.
Does Morelle Leave The Party?
At the end of The Fall of the House of Usher Episode 2, Perry finds a mysterious woman in a red cloak and a skull mask at the party. He curated the guest list himself, so he’s certain he doesn’t know who she is. She heads into one of the bedrooms set up for everyone at the party, and Perry follows. We know that this woman is Verna, and she asks Perry if this party is everything he’d hoped it would be. She makes him feel understood and important, telling him that it’s often the moment right before you achieve something that is the most memorable, not the moment after. She suggests Perry still has time to stop it all; she says every little decision has consequences, and Perry himself is one. He doesn’t quite understand what she’s getting at, but he’s really captivated by her beauty. Maybe this was Verna’s choice for him, but he doesn’t care much for those. Verna leaves Perry with the hope of more fun later in the night. He heads out to enjoy the night, right before the sprinklers are about to go off.
Verna, on the other hand, tells all the wait staff to head out; she basically whispers it into their ears and disappears. They head out and lock the doors too, letting nobody in or out for the sprinkler show. Verna tells Morelle to leave too, but she doesn’t quite get the memo. When the sprinklers go off, there’s a rain of blood rather than water. Everyone present in the room begins to burn because of the contaminated water. In the end, Verna returns, giving Perry what you could only call a “kiss of death,” calling him a beautiful boy with his face fully melted away. She puts her mask on his face and walks away. Who would’ve thought that the partying like there’s no tomorrow could be the reason for your death?
