‘Them’ (2021) Season 1 Review
My thoughts on Season 1 of the TV series ‘Them’ (contains spoilers!)
I started ‘Them’, the anthology television series created by Little Marvin and streaming on Amazon Prime Video. And once I started it, I could not stop watching it. I guess in hindsight, the last 2 or 3 episodes could have been saved for the following day. In any case, my overall thoughts are that it was a very moving and excellent series which is definitely one to watch.
The series follows the Emory’s, a black family moving from North Carolina to an all-white community in Los Angeles during the 1950s. Over the course of the 10 episodes, it portrays the first 10 days of the family staying in their new home in East Compton. The premise appears to be horror, both supernatural and real and this floats throughout the episodes and at times seems a bit confusing on what the purpose or genre of ‘Them’ is. Is it a supernatural horror? Is it real-life horror? But if you look past all that, it is full-on horror at the treatment displayed towards a family whose only difference is their skin colour.
The acting is truly amazing by everyone involved, with special mention to Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas in the lead roles as the parents. They both command power and at the same time are constantly diminished by the racist society that surrounds them. The themes of hate, racism, injustice and fear run throughout the series. Most strongly displayed is the theme of hate; hatred for others different to yourself, hatred for your own self and hatred towards life itself are reflected through almost every character. The racism that the Emory family face is profound and it is often frustrating when particular negative characters do not get the comeuppance they deserve throughout the series. And although the repetition of negativity and despair may be a bit much for some, stick through it and keep watching till the end.
As it is not until the final episode, that everything is made clear. I believe the four supernatural characters that plagued each of the four members of the family were created to exploit their own personal vulnerabilities and the form each demon takes symbolizes each person’s insecurity.
Lucky’s demon is her grief and pain of losing a child and the trauma she faced from the intruders who raped her and killed her baby. She went through a most disturbing and agonizing ordeal which obviously left her in a world of despair. Before this, she was the one that held the family together and following this incident, she became a shadow of her former self. With no one truly understanding what she had gone through and with the culprits going free with no punishment, she suffers in silence while slowly going insane.
Henry’s demon is his regret at not being there for his wife and child when they needed him the most. His feelings of not being able to stand up to his racist employer, neighbours and society. The feeling of not being able to fight back. His demon plays on these vulnerabilities and encourages him to do this in a way that will end badly for him — inciting him to commit crimes which will land him in jail, away from his family and ultimately unable to protect them.
Ruby’s demon is her insecurity of not wanting to turn into her mother. Her lack of understanding of what really happened to Lucky and how her brother was actually killed, leads her to take the typical stance of the strained mother-daughter relationship, and she blames her mother for Chester’s death. She also has the insecurity of fitting in at school and in a society which doesn’t want her to be a part of it. Wanting to change herself to be the society standard of pretty — white and blonde, which her demon Doris the cheerleader represents.
Gracie’s demon is in a way a comparison to her mother, a teacher. The demon portrays obedience and the strict society conformities of the time. Gracie’s desire to make her parents proud and succeed are thwarted by Miss Vera (the demon), constantly shaming Gracie and leading her to be disobedient and distracting her from doing well in class and ultimately causing her to fail in her wish to make her parents proud.
All demons are forms of the devil, and in a way express the reality that we all have our own demons or vulnerabilities. Which are either brought on largely by society, our own beliefs, traumatic events and through the interactions we have on a daily basis. I believe the point that Little Marvin was trying to bring across is that you need to fight against your vulnerabilities and self-doubts, these are ultimately within you even if they are driven by others. You should believe in yourself and not let anyone allow you to believe anything different. To forgive yourself when there are moments in your life that have brought grief and pain, to take these as lessons learned and move on with life. You cannot dwell in the past and keep thinking about these tragic moments, as you will never move forward and your demons will keep haunting you.
Lucky was perhaps the most strongest, even though she ultimately had endured the most pain. Although each family member was affected by what happened to her and baby Chester that day, she was the one that was able to help each of them fight their own demons.
The ringleader of the demons, The Black Hat Man, who had made a pact with the devil to ruin the lives of any person of colour that came to East Compton. Was found to be the one targeting Lucky. His sole goal was to break black people from within. Displaying that he played on their own insecurities and drove them to constantly disbelieve in themselves.
Lucky in the end was the one that was strong enough to break The Black Hat Man himself and in turn he lost his pact with the devil and was sent to hell. The takeaway from this is that we can all send our own insecurities and anything that tries to break us and take away our power to hell — whether it is a person, the unrealistic social media standards or society ‘norms’ that are thrown at us on the daily, or any personal vulnerability. We have it within ourselves to take our power back and love ourselves just as we are. Fight through the pain and grief and believe in life and most importantly yourself.
Just like the Emory family fought back against their demons, the message I took from the show is taking back your power. Not buying into social media ideals or society conceptions that may be traditions or honestly ways to suppress you and inhibit your growth. Believing in yourself and your worth and not reading into the two cent opinions of people whose only goal is to bring others down and target those that are different or do not fit the so called norm. These people often have even bigger insecurities than you do.
‘Them’ can be a slow burn at times, but I think the plot twist at the end justifies the lead up and the ending brings a much needed message that we could all use with the way life is today. Don’t let whatever or whoever is bringing you down to win. Do not let anyone use your grief, pain or vulnerabilities to break you. Fight back and take your power back, break down your demons, know your worth and love yourself. In turn you will be free.
