Review of Netflix’s new series: Devil in Ohio
Netflix has done it again, releasing a new limited series added to its already extensive catalog of original content. I’m going to take you through the premise, and whether it’s worth the space in your already packed watch list.
Devil in Ohio takes place in, you guessed it, the state of Ohio where cornfields and corn-husk dolls are abundant. An adaptation of the book of the same name by Daria Polatin follows the Mathis family as they navigate the challenges of having a new and unexpected family member. Dr. Suzanne Mathis, played by Emily Deschanel (Bones), is a psychiatrist at the local hospital. She is urgently called into work when a young girl has been picked up on the road in the next county over called Amon. The girl had flagged down a truck driver, and he had called the police to bring her in. The girl says nothing while in the hospital. Dr. Mathis arrives at the hospital, and the nurse brings her into the girl’s room to reveal that she has had an upside-down pentagram carved into her back. The girl is a minor, so they have to figure out the next steps for her care and police involvement. After Dr. Mathis speaks to the girl to try to plead with her to tell them her name and anything else that could help them help her, she says that her name is Mae, played by Madeleine Arthur (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before). Learning her name is a good start, but the hospital and the police would need more information to try band help bring whoever did this to Mae to justice. The rest of the series is a roller coaster, to say the least; as it chronicles what happens when Dr. Mathis gets too close to Mae, bringing her home to live temporarily, and the strain that it puts on her family and the downright sinister events that unfold because of it.
Netflix has this show tagged as both ominous and suspenseful. While both are true, another word that would also accurately describe Devil in Ohio is psychological. Some nice twists occur throughout the show and pairing that with some great acting it makes the whole series easy to watch. And with eight episodes an easy binge. If you like shows that make you pay attention and are full of emotion with some comedic moments, then this is something that you should add to your watch list. There has been no word yet on if a second season will be happening, but it seems like it would be safe to say that we have not seen the last of the Mathis family, or of Mae.
Fair warning though: the ending will probably make you angry.