Die Young – As the second episode of Hysteria! begins, Gene (Nolan North) checks on Linda (Julie Bowen) who is more concerned about Dylan. Meanwhile, Dylan (Emjay Anthony) is questioned by Chief Dandridge (Bruce Campbell) who wants to see the palm of his hand. Dylan tells him about his band and their concert last night. He claims he was trying to impress some people so he carved a pentagram in his hand. Dylan says the girl is into that type of stuff. Chief Dandridge asks him about Ryan Hudson. He believes Dylan was brought in because one of his officers is an idiot. Dylan really hopes they find Ryan. Chief Dandridge doubts he’s heard the news yet. Dandridge begins driving him home. He tells Dylan to keep his hand bandaged.

He also insists the girl in question isn’t worth it. Dandridge tells him to try a nice girl like his granddaughter Judith (Jessica Treska). Dylan goes inside and apologizes to his mother. Gene asks him to explain what happened in his room. Linda asks about the shirt. Dylan says he cut his hand when he smashed his guitar. Dylan insists he gets it. He is exhausted and just wants to go to bed. Gene tells him to stay there and take tomorrow to reflect. Faith (Nikki Hahn) wakes up when she has a nightmare. Tracy Whitehead (Anna Camp) is glad that she’s awake. Linda tells Dylan to come straight home after school because they have the service tonight. Linda can’t stop thinking about the attack last night. Gene tries to get her to open up about what happened. Linda insists she’s okay and just fell. Once she’s alone, she looks at the wounds near her ankle. Jordy (Chiara Aurelia) asks Dylan about jail.

Spud (Kezii Curtis) asks about the interrogation. Dylan isn’t eager to talk about it. He worries his arrest would be bad for the band if it got out. When they get to the school, they find out that everyone already knows. Tracy talks to Faith about her disappearance and being gone for four days. Faith explains that men in masks took her. Tracy says she’s going to speak to the police and fix this. Faith checks the closet and finds Ryan’s inhaler. She hides it in the Bible with other things. Faith thinks about the kidnapping. Faith finds a memorial on Ryan’s locker when she returns to school. Chief Dandridge takes questions during a community meeting. Perdita Shipley (Maria Sager) with the Happy Hollow Gazette asks what the police are doing to ensure safety. Dandridge tells them. Tracy tells everyone their parents were at a Satanic rock and roll concert.

She begins telling everyone about Dethkrunch. Tracy asks Dandridge if he’s talking to those responsible for the flyer. Dandridge insists he’s not going to start a witch hunt. Tracy suggests they’ll have to start doing things themselves. She invites everyone to join her discussion group at church on Thursday. Dylan and his friends question why everyone detests them now. Jesse Patton (John Henry Ward) approaches them to say he’s not afraid of them. Jordy gets up and proves otherwise. She says he’s going to stop this. Other students begin asking questions about Ryan and whether they were involved. They want to see Dylan’s hand. Judith says Dylan couldn’t have done anything to Ryan because he was at the drive-in with her and her friends on the night Ryan went missing. She makes Cliff (Elijah Richardson) back up her claim.

Ryan tells Judith that he smashed his guitar so they won’t have another show for a while. In private, he tells Jordy and Spud that he carved a pentagram on his palm to avoid killing a cat. Linda goes to the church to speak to Father Mathis (Jamie Flanagan) about her son. Father Mathis doesn’t think it’s a big deal. Linda tells him about feeling something dark in Dylan’s room. Father Mathis questions whether she’s afraid of her son. Jordy approaches Faith at Wallace High School to hang out. They talk about what happened at the school earlier. Faith wonders why people think Satanists killed Ryan. Jordy realizes Tracy doesn’t let her daughter watch television. She tells her how the murder was grizzly and ritualistic. Faith believes she’d be dead too if her mom found out about her and Ryan. When Faith returns home, she finds Officer Hartman with her mother.

Coach Mark Nelson (Ray Stoney) speaks to the football team about Ryan. One player belittles Cliff. Another tells him that they’re idiots. Cliff says he already knows that. Chief Dandridge visits Spud to ask him about the concert. He asks what the heck they’re doing. Spud insists whatever is going on here is way bigger than the band. He points out that the USGS said there was seismic activity in southeast Michigan last week. Spud thinks something big is going on in this town. Chief Dandridge tells Spud that Ryan is not conspiracy fodder. He tells him to go to the funeral and let it be real. Officer Hartman asks Faith about the masked men. She tells him they wrote a white van. She was held captive in a room like a basement. Faith says she felt like she was staring at herself the whole time. When she returns to her room, Faith remembers the figure that kidnapped her.

She remembers being in a room and possibly tied to a chair. Linda checks on Dylan who has an acoustic guitar. He doesn’t want to go because everyone looks at him like he’s a killer. Linda insists there is nothing to be afraid of. She hears a buzzing although Dylan doesn’t seem to notice it. They go to the funeral. Chief Dandridge talks to his daughter about Judith and how she’s handling it. Dylan apologizes to Jordy and Spud about his hand. Jordy insists what people say and think isn’t his fault. During the service, condolences are given to Aubrey (Brittany Wilkerson) and Rex (Drew Waters). Jordy has to check on Spud who says he’s okay. Aubrey sees the rash on Linda’s hand. When Dylan approaches, Aubrey says she heard a rumor. She tries to remove the bandage on his hand. Chief Dandridge tries to interview while others hear an odd noise.

Aubrey, Linda, and others see the pentagram. Aubrey slaps Dylan and calls him evil. A Jesus statue falls from the wall. Faith returns home and finds that Ryan’s inhaler has gone missing. Judith visits Dylan and tries to cheer him up. She says her dad is a pilot who flies all over the world. Judith admits her dad was never happy in Happy Hollow. He was bigger than this place and she is too. Judith gives Dylan a Les Paul guitar. She thinks people around there just want to see people crash and they’ve picked Dylan. She asks if he’s going to fall or fly. Judith knew he was bigger than this place the moment he did that to his hand. She has a few friends who might want into the cult when they’re back on their feet. Once he’s alone, Dylan worries about what he’s done. Tracy calls someone to say they need to talk about Faith because she’s keeping it to herself.

The man says it’ll be okay and he’ll take care of her. It appears the chair Faith remembers is in his house. Spud goes to the spot where Ryan’s body was found. He finds a deer strung up like Jesus. Then, he hears something behind him.

 

Hysteria! Review

The second episode of Hysteria was okay although a bit long-winded. The pacing is definitely very slow to the point that it’s questionable whether this needed eight episodes. Some performances aren’t great even from veterans who sound emotionless like they’re going through the motions.

Certain things in the show after really silly. There is definitely a disconnect from reality here. The music needs to be toned down a bit because it’s usually louder than the dialogue. The series is described as a horror-thriller, yet it really doesn’t fit into either of those categories. There’s nothing horrifying about it.

On the other hand, the pacing is far too slow to make this thrilling. Nevertheless, the show is watchable with the right expectations. In particular, younger audiences who aren’t looking for authenticity or believability will likely enjoy this more than others. Through two episodes, very little has actually been done making the pace the biggest issue.

This episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Hysteria can be found here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.