Rely-Upon – As the fourth episode of Devil In Ohio begins, Suzanne (Emily Deschanel) walks through a cornfield while yelling for Mae (Madeleine Arthur). Someone in black with a Zodiac Killer symbol shows up behind her before she screams and wakes up. She tells Peter (Sam Jaeger) that she must’ve overslept, but she is allowed because it is Saturday. Suzanne has a book about cults in the bed with her and the Zodiac killer is on the front cover. Peter tells her about Dani’s wishes for her birthday party. Jules is worried about taking photos tomorrow and has been using Sebastian’s name in every other sentence. Peter believes Mae is still sleeping. Sebastian (Evan Ellison) contacts Jules (Xaria Dotson) to see if he should stop by tonight for the column selection. Mae talks to the shrine outside while saying she thinks this is where she is supposed to be. At the hospital, Suzanne thanks Adele (Marci House) for reminding her about the shift since she forgot to put it on her calendar.
Adele mentions that Miss Clarkston is supposed to take risperidone once a day, but Suzanne wrote twice a day by mistake. Suzanne apologizes and blames it on having a lot on her mind. Detective Lopez (Gerardo Celasco) gets off the phone and snaps pictures of a group of people nearby. The guys get into a white van nearby. Suzanne continues reading about the cults until she receives a call from Dr. Hawkins who knows about the patient with the upside-down pentagram. Suzanne explains she is the girl’s guardian and she thinks she might’ve escaped from an insular cult. Once Suzanne tells her about Amontown, Dr. Hawkins insists she cannot talk about this over the phone. She hangs up before discussing talking another time too. Suzanne looks at the book which is written by Dr. Pamela Hawkins (Lossen Chambers). The book says she is a professor of sociology at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio.
While taking pictures of Mae’s dolls, Jules tells her she’ll have to show her how to make them. Mae tells her that only the elders had keys so the set she has is her first. She also says it was nice of Suzanne to give her a phone since it wasn’t her birthday or anything. Once Jules snaps Mae’s picture, she begins wondering if she never had her picture taken before. Jules tells her to come on and they’ll raid her mom’s closet. Lopez follows the white van down a side road. Suzanne picks up Dani (Naomi Tan) and says she needs to run an errand in Cleveland. Dani wants to pick up toe shoes for her birthday. She asks if Mae is coming to her party because her mom spends a lot of time with her. Suzanne believes some people just need a little extra attention sometimes. When Lopez runs into a barrier, he gets out of his car and walks past. He sees a punch of white vans and people standing around them. He takes more pictures of them.
Mae tries on Suzanne’s clothes while Jules takes pictures of her. Jules gives her a little flower to hold, but it brings bad memories for Mae who doesn’t want to hold it. Someone seems to be watching them as they take other pictures. After that, they go into the darkroom to develop the photos. Dani sits outside while Suzanne goes into Pamela’s office to talk about the girl from Amontown. Pamela admits it’d be safer to talk in person since you can never tell about those people. Suzanne tried to find anything she could about Amontown, but it just sounds like an urban legend. Once she asks if it could be a breakaway cult, Pamela says Amontown would be a perfect example of a breakaway cult. They’ve been isolated for a century with little being known about the community. In the 1960s, a folklorist claimed to have interviewed a member until the cult elders found out and destroyed the recordings. They called themselves Sliocht an Diabhail.
In Gaelic, it means “The Devil’s Own”. They’re organized by something called the Book of Covenants and no one ever leaves except Mae. Pamela believes Mae is vital to them based on the way she was marked. She is convinced they’ll try to take Mae back and it’ll be a low-profile attempt. Suzanne must find someone else who left the cult to show her there is a way to lead a life away from it. Until then, she will be vulnerable to hidden triggers that could make her come back. Pamela mentions that religious artifacts, ceremonial props, and symbols could be possible triggers. Plus, there is a full moon coming up. The cult’s ideology is still stuck in Mae’s head.
Gina Brooks (Eva Bourne) joins Detective Lopez. She is a police tech who finished her training and is now waiting for an officer spot to open up. He tells her about the sigils and how the upside-down pentagram represents Satan. He shows her Chenor and calls it the wish granter. Gina agrees to help him. Lopez tells her about the pig farm close to where Mae was found and how he followed their van to some compound. Gina suggests they could be migrant workers, but Detective Lopez doesn’t think so. She is asked to pull whatever she can find on the five farms in Amon County. While Suzanne drives, she notices a white van in her rearview mirror. She nearly crashes into an oncoming car because she is so distracted. Then, she looks back and notices that the van is gone. Once they get home, Dani tells Peter about the toe shoes she got from Arabesque. Peter tells Suzanne about Fisk backing out of Windemere.
He is now working with Cheryl to try to sell the property. Suzanne tells him about an anesthesiologist at work who is looking for a place. Peter says Cheryl has it before asking if she went to Cleveland. Suzanne walks in on Mae and Jules as they’re busy trying to pick out the best photos. She sends Jules downstairs so she can apologize to Mae for not being here. Suzanne reveals she started at a new school when she was Mae’s age. She left home and went to live with her grandma Helen because home wasn’t a safe place for her. When Mae is asked if she knows anyone else who left Amontown, she says there was a boy named Enoch. He tried to leave so Lucifer punished him and struck him down. Although she didn’t see it, the incident happened during Taurids when stars fall from the sky. Suzanne realizes she is talking about the meteor shower. Mae was seven at the time and Enoch was older.
Since Enoch broke the chain, they wouldn’t bury him and desecrate their land with his body. Once Suzanne asks if she thinks Enoch was being punished and struck down, Mae admits she doesn’t know anymore. Sebastian comes over to see Jules later that night. He invites her to come with him to the next screening. Mae joins them with the photos and says Jules did an amazing job. Later in bed, Mae and Jules talk about him and why people take so many pictures. Mae mentions that she was always busy at home and loved tending the garden, but she broke the chain. She says they rely-upon so everyone suffers when someone breaks the chain. Jules believes they’re just fine without her. Mae says she loves plants before telling her about all the things they can do. Jules asks her to remind her to never make her mad, but Mae doesn’t think she’ll ever do anything to make her mad. Mae agrees to let her sleep with her tonight.
Jules lays back down and tells her how she used to sleep on the floor in Helen’s room when she was little. When she’d get scared, Helen would hold her hand. Mae reaches out her hand to hold it. Both repeat rely-upon. Next, Suzanne calls Detective Lopez to tell him about Enoch who ran away during the Taurids meteor shower nine years ago. The elders told everyone that he died, but they never held a funeral for him. Suzanne believes he could still be alone. If they can find Enoch, he might be able to help them with Mae’s case. Alex says it will require going through a lot of files, but he’ll look into it. Mae and Jules talk at the school. They check out the column about Mae. They don’t know how the picture with a part of the pentagram for in there. Jules apologizes that her scar is showing before other girls come up to ask what happened to her back. After she says her family was strict, she is asked how she got away.
Mae says she broke the shame. The other student tells her she is so brave and calls the column fire. Mae gives Jules credit for the pictures so Victoria (Janelle Beadall) suggests Jules could take some class president campaign photos for her. Victoria wonders if Isaac will let her. As Victoria begins walking away, Jules agrees to take her photos. She tells Mae she can’t believe this is happening. Peter shows off Windemere. Cheryl tells him that Mallory and Tim Waldroop are very interested. Suzanne spends time with Lopez and tells him she has to save room for cake because it is her youngest daughter’s birthday today. Alex doesn’t have any kids right now. It is only him and his dog Clark. The only downside is that he has to share custody with his ex-fiancée. In Chicago, he was working on a human trafficking ring and was making headway until evidence started disappearing. When he told his boss someone was paid off, he was told to drop it.
He didn’t so he was sent down here. He immigrated from El Salvador when he was five and spent most of his time in Chicago. Although he always wanted to be a detective, his mom wanted him to be a priest. Suzanne says her stepfather was a cop in Pennsylvania. While she doesn’t talk to him, she suspects he is retired now. Before she leaves, she notices pictures of white vans sitting on Lopez’s desk. He says it is a van he followed from an Amon County farm down Route 917 until he turned down a dirt road at mile marker 64. It wasn’t far from where Mae was found. He thinks they’re using the vans to transport workers to farms. A girl at school asks Jules about her social media accounts before Sebastian joins her. Although she didn’t mean to include the picture of the scar, Sebastian calls it genius since great artists always push boundaries. He asks her to stop by the Regal office so he can give her a staff pin.
Jules tells Isaac it was everything she wanted. They plan for Dani’s party. Jules wants to find a song to perform that Mae knows because she doesn’t want her left out. Isaac tells her that her problem is caring so much about what others think. He turns down the karaoke offer and suggests her 15 minutes of fame are only because of Mae. During Dani’s party, her friends ignore her and instead want a picture with Teddy. Jules is surprised so many people have liked Mae’s picture on social media except for Isaac. Mae learns that Victoria has invited them to a kickback this weekend. When Suzanne finds out about the scar picture, she gets upset and concerned. Mae confesses she put the picture in the envelope because she wanted everyone to see what a good picture Jules took. Suzanne tells Jules to delete it and she’ll call the superintendent to get it taken care of. Peter learns that some man paid so they get to stay for another hour.
A white rose is placed on the bed in one of the family’s bedrooms. Helen checks on Jules in private and tells her Mae may not be the friend she is looking for. Helen encourages her to be careful, but Jules thinks she is just trying to ruin her friendship. She claims Helen has been ashamed of her ever since she started hanging out with Teddy. She acts like she is a dirty secret instead of a sister. At home, Suzanne tells Mae to knock on her door if she needs anything. Mae apologizes for getting Jules into trouble but just wanted people to see how special she is. They agree they’ve never had a friend like them. Mae stays downstairs while Jules heads to her bedroom. Peter says Cheryl thinks they should have some people interested in the house soon. Suzanne also talked to a friend about it, but Peter says he has it. Gina tells Lopez that each of the five farms is owned by a different corporation that has no other assets.
Alex calls them shell corps. They all have the same primary contact William Untermyer Esquire who is Malachi Dodd’s lawyer. Malachi is the majority owner of each company. All the land in Amontown has had the name Dodd on it since the town was established in 1922. They bought out the rest of the county before incorporating it in 1954. They have their own jurisdiction. Sheriff Henry Wilkins is the entire Amon County Sheriff’s Department. When Alex connects the lines on the map, it creates a star like the one on the pentagram. He says Mae is the daughter of the leader.
Jules hears something. When she looks out the window, she quickly runs outside. Mae walks with the white rose in her hand while repeating “the chain shall not be broken”. Jules comforts her outside while Mae cries that she doesn’t want to go back. Someone watches them from a car as Mae drops the rose and goes inside with Jules. Two men are shown in the white van outside before the episode ends.
Devil In Ohio Review
This episode of Devil In Ohio went off the rails a bit since it had too much filler. Certain scenes were good while others could’ve been removed without hurting the story at all. Some of the performances could be better while the school scenes are annoying at times. The series likely would’ve been more successful and impactful had it just focused on what viewers really care about and that is Mae’s history.
It is hard to believe this is set in a small, rural town somewhere in Ohio for a handful of reasons. Whether this will be a memorable series will likely depend on the success of the finale and the final revelations. Until then, it sits in the middle between great and terrible. The episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Devil In Ohio can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support our work at this link.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
