Hysteria – As the opening episode of Hysteria begins, it is 1989 in a small town called Happy Hollow. A teen girl, Faith, makes out with a boy inside. Ryan Hudson (Brandon Butler) pulls at her underwear only to be stopped. She says he could’ve asked if what he heard from Jesse Patton was true. They continue talking about it until Faith (Nikki Hahn) hears a noise. She worries that her mother is going to catch them together. Faith throws a cassette outside her window. Ryan hides in the closet and uses an inhaler. There is a loud pounding on the door. Someone in a mask bursts through and grabs Faith who fights back. Ryan helps her and tells her to run. Ryan removes the mask before he’s punched. Faith is grabbed by another masked person outside. Both are removed in a van. Dylan Campbell (Emjay Anthony), Spud (Kezii Curtis) and others try to get everyone at the school to come to Dethkrunch live.

Spud thinks they should cancel the show, but Dylan isn’t eager to do that. Jordy (Chiara Aurelia) notices Judith nearby. Dylan seems obsessed with her. Judith ignores Dylan who is bullied. A teacher learns that Ryan is absent. At home, Dylan listens to his mom, Linda (Julie Bowen), and dad talk during dinner. His dad, Gene, complains about him locking himself in the basement. During a news report later, Susan Branch (Jennifer Yun) talks about a teen boy’s disappearance in Happy Hollow. Dylan says Ryan Hudson was in his class. They see a pentagram painted on the garage door. Ryan’s parents speak to the public. An earthquake occurs during the news broadcast. Dylan and the others rush outside to see what is going on. They see something in the distance that concerns them. The next day, Dylan talks to Spud and Jordy about the incident. Spud suspects it was aliens. He goes on to explain that the media helps cover these things up.

Dylan wonders if anyone would notice if he went missing. His friends find out that he is jealous of a missing person. Dylan wonders why he matters more than any of them. At Carol’s Style Salon, Linda works and speaks to clients about the incident and Ryan. Deb is told they mixed blood in with the spray paint used on the garage door. Linda is told that satanic cults are very common. She refuses to believe there are satanic cults everywhere. Cassie Dandridge (Jessica Luza) goes to the church where she finds out that Abigail (Jennie Page) hung up a flyer in her bar. Cassie talks to the woman in charge about her kids. They begin telling her about Satan and how the smurfs use black magic. Cassie doesn’t want to believe Tracy Whitehead (Anna Camp). Tracy insists it’s not too late to fight back. She asks Cassie to join them, but Cassie isn’t interested in helping.

Judith speaks to Dylan in class. She asks if he knows who did it since she believes Dylan and his friends are Satanists. Judith thinks it’s cool. Dylan decides to get fingernail polish and turn himself into a goth. His friends laugh at him when they pick him up. Dylan goes to the bathroom to quickly change his look. Judith tells him he has a nice manicure. They talk about Motley Crue. Dylan ends up inviting Judith to his show. She agrees to come. Dylan worries that they won’t have enough attendees. Cliff (Elijah Richardson) gets upset when he sees the flyer so he attacks Spud. He claims his teammate is missing because of people like Spud. Dylan tells Cliff to leave him alone. He tries to scare Cliff by telling him about the satanic stuff they do. When the teacher arrives, they separate. Cliff says he’ll be at their concert. Others begin taking flyers. Office McCabe (Daniel Lengel) tells Chief Dandridge (Bruce Campbell) that a patient escaped Smith’s Grove Sanitarium.

The chief tells him it was a prank call before he finds Ryan’s jacket and a necklace. Meanwhile, Dylan convinces Spud and Jordy to become Satanists for the sake of their music. Jordy refuses. She insists he’s only doing this for Judith. Dylan says no one notices them and he’s tired of being invisible. Jordy agrees as long as she gets to be in charge of their style on stage. Chief Dandridge gets more information about Ryan. He tries to find out whether Ryan was a member of any religious group. Tracy claims God isn’t welcome in their schools so he couldn’t be. Dandridge claims they’re welcome to start a club in the state of Michigan. Tracy gets upset when she sees flyers for Dylan’s band. At night, Dylan helps his mom with the dishes. He asks her about being popular and having a lot of friends in high school. She says she thought she had a lot of friends, but they started to disappear after graduation.

Linda insists he’s going to be fine. She urges Dylan not to let Gene see his fingernails. Dylan drops the flyer as he leaves. Linda looks at it. She joins Gene to watch a television show about Satanists, including Ricky Ward (Johann Mikaiel). Linda seems worried about what she sees. Gene changes the channel. Linda continues thinking about it all night. She even has a nightmare. Linda picks up the phone later and tells Dylan he has a call from Judith Sanders. She wants to know if she can bring her friends tonight. Dylan is surprised to learn that Cliff is actually coming. Linda asks him about taking his guitar to the movies. She thinks it might be a good idea for him to stay home. When asked why, Linda shows him the flyer. She grounds him until Monday. Dylan ends up leaving home anyway. He catches up with Jordy who gives him his outfit. Jordy asks Dylan to be careful with Judith because she doesn’t trust her.

She tells him about his outfit and why he’s the ringmaster. Spud arrives with t-shirts only to find out it features the Star of David and not a pentagram. Dylan and Jordy go on and on about how that’s a hate crime. They take the band and perform for a small audience. The crowd loves them. Jordy admits she thought Dylan’s idea was dumb but it worked. Judith interrupts to introduce Dylan to Tonya (Aline O’Neill) and her boyfriend Fred. A drunk Cliff wants to know why no one heard of Dylan and his friends until now. Judith wants to find someplace quiet. At home, Gene tells Linda he believes she’s overreacting about Dylan. She asks if he feels different. Linda feels like there’s something over her shoulder everywhere she goes. She asks Gene if he feels like that too. Dylan continues hanging out with Judith.

He ends up telling her that he doesn’t have a little sister. Dylan confesses he’s had a crush on her for a while now. They end up kissing until Cliff interrupts with a cat. Cliff wants Dylan to show them how the animal sacrifices are done. He pulls out a knife. Tonya tells Cliff he’s sick. Cliff wants to see Dylan back it up. Judith tells Cliff to do it. She can tell there is something special and dark about Dylan. She wants to see where that comes from. Dylan tries to show them how it’s done. Judith keeps urging him to do it. The cat ends up jumping down and fleeing. Dylan is panicking by the time he gets home. In a flashback, he tells Cliff that he doesn’t answer to him or anyone. He says he answers to one and only one before slicing his hand. At home, Dylan has a pentagram on the palm of his hand.

He remembers Jordy telling him he has a good heart. Dylan gets upset and removes all the posters from his walls. Then, he smashes his guitar and amp. Linda wakes up and learns that Ryan’s body has been found. Police are calling it a vicious, ritualistic murder. Linda begins looking for Dylan and finds the mess he left. The light above her begins flickering before she is tripped by something invisible. Linda is dragged up the stairs and flung against a wall. She finds herself levitating. She’s thrown into the table. A news report talking about Satanism coming to Happy Hollow. A police car stops Dylan who is on his bicycle. The cop asks to see his hands. Dylan says he’s sorry. Tracy hears something outside. Faith is at the door.

 

Hysteria! Review

The opening episode of Hysteria! tried to set up an interesting story driven by Satanism, music, and murder. The series takes place in the small town of Happy Hollow in 1989. A football player, Ryan, and his girlfriend, Faith, go missing. Ryan is later found deceased in what police call a ritualistic killing.

Dylan Campbell and his friends, Jordy and Spud, are regularly overlooked and ignored at school. When Satanism becomes the talk of the community, Dylan decides to use that to promote his band and win the heart of his long-time crush, Judith. However, that will backfire when Judith urges him to kill a cat.

Dylan carves a pentagram into his palm before being stopped by a police officer. There’s a good chance that he’ll become the focus of the murder investigation. As for Faith, she returned home to her mother, Tracy Whitehead, who is very religious and actively campaigns against Satan.

The idea itself is interesting and the soundtrack is great for fans of the genre. The story definitely has potential although the series is ultimately hindered by its weak execution. For starters, the cast isn’t nearly as strong as it could be. The core cast is obviously too old to be playing high school kids. Some are downright annoying sadly.

The opening episode was really long-winded and really didn’t achieve much with its time. There’s a good chance this will be three or four episodes too long when all is said and done. The good thing is that viewers can conveniently ignore the god-awful music performed by Dylan’s band without missing anything.

The story is supposedly set in Michigan, but it’s filmed in Georgia just because the tax incentives there are more generous. The show doesn’t seem like it is set in 1989 either. The special effects certainly aren’t spectacular considering how bad it looked when Linda was attacked near the end of the episode.

The story is easily the best part although it’ll probably be stretched very thin and it’s also full of clichés. Nevertheless, this is easily watchable but probably best for teens. The opening episode scores a 5.75 out of 10. Recaps of Hysteria! can be found here.

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