As a seasoned horror enthusiast who’s spent countless nights huddled under blankets while watching the most gruesome of films, I must say, the premiere of Teacup has piqued my interest. The eerie atmosphere, the intriguing characters, and the hint of body-horror have all left me eagerly anticipating the unfolding storyline.
James Wan, a prominent figure in the horror genre, is renowned for his work on films such as Saw, the Conjuring and Insidious franchises, Malignant, and productions like M3gan and Night Swim. While he’s also dabbled in TV production with some lesser-known DC superhero series, a few forgotten projects like I Know What You Did Last Summer on Prime Video, and the short-lived Archive 81 on Netflix. Now, it’s exciting news that he’s contributing to a new horror television series premiering on Peacock just in time for Halloween. The intrigue lies in whether Teacup would have been more effective as a full-length movie instead of an eight-episode limited series.
To begin with, the initial two episodes of the series that Wan is overseeing, initially conceived by Ian McCulloch who’s known for his work on “Yellowstone” and “Chicago Fire”, show promising potential, although there are hints suggesting that the pace could potentially be a challenge. The series, titled “Teacup”, is adapted from Robert R. McCammon’s book “Stinger”. It’s important to note that I have not read this book myself, but given its description as a sci-fi thriller rather than an overtly horror story, it might not significantly impact the viewing experience. The characters and setting are markedly different from the source material, yet they share a common foundation: A collection of individuals are compelled to unite in response to an enigmatic danger. To avoid potential spoilers, I’ll save any discussion about the specific nature of this threat until the end of this summary for those who wish to remain as oblivious as the characters themselves.
In the story, titled “Stinger,” we find ourselves in a troubled Texas town called Inferno, plagued by gang conflicts. Contrastingly, our tale begins in a peaceful rural Georgia setting, on a small farmstead where a seemingly content family resides. However, beneath the surface of this idyllic life, there are deep-seated issues. The narrative starts not within the farm but in the woods nearby, where a woman, visibly traumatized, is struggling to free herself from zip-tie restraints by using a jagged rock. Her panicked mutterings are unclear but seem to suggest “Danger, murder may be imminent.” As she escapes and dashes towards the farm, a wolf-like canine watches on, hinting at an impending storm of trouble. Clearly, things are not as rosy as they appear!
Within the ranch, Yvonne Strahovski’s character from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Maggie Chenoweth, is trapping a wasp in a teacup to get rid of it from Arlo’s room. Her family comprises her teenage daughter, Meryl; Ellen, the pot-smoking mother-in-law; and her husband, James. The atmosphere is strained due to James’ recent affair, which Maggie remains unaware of. Maggie has been openly rude towards Ellen, while Meryl simply reflects typical teenage sassiness. The radio broadcasts strange noises and the animals, including a goat named Mr. Goat, seem unusually agitated, with one even running off into the woods. Arlo notices this and, unaware of his family, follows Mr. Goat.
The Chenoweth family notices that Arlo is absent when they’re preparing for dinner. Just as they begin searching for him, a car hauling a horse trailer quickly pulls into their driveway. The Shanleys, neighbors of the Chenoweths, unexpectedly arrived because Maggie, a vet, was needed to treat an injured horse named Scout. Their son, Nicholas, explains that he was riding Scout when suddenly it began hitting its head against the fence and bleeding. Concerned for Arlo, Maggie sets off with Ruben, the Shanley patriarch, to tend to the horse. The rest of the group, including Valeria, who exchanges a worried glance with James, takes on the task of finding Arlo.
As Maggie and Ruben manage to free a section of damaged fence from Scout’s collar (he’ll be alright!), James and Valeria are exploring the woods in search of Arlo. It turns out that they’ve been romantically involved, a fact known only by Maggie. Valeria is unaware that her lover is her neighbor, and Ruben remains oblivious to his infidelity.
In my film-loving perspective, I stumbled upon Arlo, not me, but someone else did. This fellow I met was the mysterious woman from the opening scene. She seized me and leaned menacingly close, her silent, chilling shriek a sight to behold, accompanied by an eerie rainbow taint in her eye that mirrored itself in mine, suggesting a sinister transmission. Later on, this enigmatic lady, seemingly liberated from the control she was under, met a gruesome end at the jaws of that colossal canine.
At the ranch, another vehicle has arrived. Inside are Donald Kelly along with his spouse Claire, plus two other neighbors nearby. They’ve stopped by to look for Duke, but it seems Donald has concerns about a large, fearsome dog that he believes might be rabid and poses a threat to the Chenoweth children. Despite differences in political views (as pointed out by James), they engage in an argument. Meanwhile, Arlo steps out from the woods, behaving oddly like the woman did before, repeating phrases such as “Run, run, hide. Must kill.” This behavior is unsettling to Maggie, especially since she notices marks on his arms where the woman had grabbed him.
The final scene shows a third vehicle arriving at the driveway of the ranch but not entering. A man dressed in a gas mask reminiscent of a horror movie character marks a blue boundary line using a spray gun without uttering a word. In the second episode, events take a turn for the worse as lights dim before completely losing power – affecting cars belonging to the Chenoweths, Shanleys, and Kellys. While Donald, the tough and armed, chooses to stay outside to investigate who sabotaged Arlo, everyone else rushes inside so Maggie can tend to her son and administer first aid.
Arlo seems to be under some strange influence, shifting in and out of it occasionally. This triggers a playful conversation among siblings, which leads Valeria to recall the story about James finding Meryl hiding in the oven. When Maggie hears this, her expression turns somber, as we discover later that the memory of Meryl going missing was such a painful event for her that she asked James never to share it with anyone else. The fact that James broke this confidence by telling Valeria implies that there may be more between them than just friendship, potentially explaining why James has been intimate with Valeria.
It seems that Maggie’s issues are minor compared to what’s happening with Arlo. He appears to be unwell and his odd actions cause him to inadvertently shove Nicholas into a wall. This incident necessitates Meryl tending to Nicholas’s head wound, which results in some awkward exchanges where he admires her and her family. Later on, Arlo brandishes a pair of small medical scissors at Maggie, repeating his ominous chants: “Run, hide, gunshot. Women, depart. Women, depart, depart, depart!
James and Ruben are about to mount their horses, planning to ride for assistance when they spot a car at the end of their driveway with its lights on. They rush towards it, but a masked man stops them, signaling them not to cross a certain line with a whiteboard. When they try to argue, he fires a gun into the air, causing them to halt their approach. Deeper in the woods, a man named Donald is making his way through fallen leaves while carrying an assault rifle, grumbling about what he considers “COVID-related nonsense.” (The name Donald might seem a bit on the nose…) He stumbles upon the remains of an unidentified woman, causing him to drop his weapon. Without his firearm, he becomes less confident and runs for his life as a fearsome dog pursues him. Donald exits the woods with the dog in hot pursuit, heading straight towards where James and Ruben are engaged in a tense standoff with the masked man. The dog leaps at Donald, but he manages to throw it off. The very instant the canine crosses a blue boundary, it starts to disintegrate into a revolting mass of bones and gore.
“Don’t cross the line,” the masked man reiterates with his sign. “Don’t trust anyone.”
Meanwhile, Ellen, Valeria, and Claire were conversing uneasily in the kitchen. Eventually, Claire decides to leave with Duke and seek help via her landline at home. Despite their warnings about potential danger, she ignores them all, including Ruben, James, and her husband, who rush towards her shouting not to cross the distinct blue boundary. She seems puzzled by their agitation. When Donald attempts to stop Claire from advancing further, they both lose their footing, and as soon as Donald’s hand breaches the line, it transforms into a gruesome, bloody mess. Claire suffers even more; her skin begins to peel off, and her chest explodes, revealing her ribcage before she stiffens in a grisly death tableau.
Within, Arlo retrieves a dictionary from the shelf and turns its pages until he arrives at the term “trap”.
Arlo cautions, “We must conceal ourselves.” When Maggie, unaware of the chaos outside, queries who ‘he’ refers to, Arlo clarifies, “It’s a voice inside my mind. It tells me we’re confined and should hide. We do this because it’s advancing, Mom. It’s approaching, and it destroys anything in its path.
This seems like an excellent conclusion to the episode, and I’m eagerly anticipating where the series Teacup will lead us next. We’ve been introduced to our characters, established some tense relationships that are ripe for conflict, presented a looming danger, and even added a touch of grotesque imagery. (Personally, I hope Teacup delves deeper than Claire’s demise, which, while gruesome, didn’t quite live up to the expectations set by a body-horror TV show premiering when The Substance is still in theaters. If you’re going to push the boundaries of body horror, you really need to deliver something truly unsettling!)
Despite the extensive buildup in the initial two episodes of “Teacup,” it doesn’t appear that a significant amount transpired. After witnessing an individual’s insides becoming their outsides due to crossing a line, I find myself questioning how “Teacup” will fill its remaining six hours. It seems like it might either escalate into extreme chaos (which may not be sustainable), or it will need to find moments to slow down (in which case, any scene of two characters having a quiet conversation might seem out of place, given the chaos outside). However, it’s conceivable that “Teacup” could manage this balance, but these premiere episodes give the impression they could have been condensed into the first 20-30 minutes of a 90-minute horror flick. I truly hope to be proven wrong!
Over the Line
Based on my understanding from reading about it, Stinger seems to revolve around two extraterrestrial characters. One is an alien rebel who accidentally lands in a nearby town, and the other is Stinger, an alien bounty hunter in pursuit of the first one. The masked man from Teacup and whatever’s inside Arlo could potentially represent these two entities, but given that showrunner McCulloch mentioned the series significantly alters the original book, it’s anyone’s guess at this point.
Could the title “Teacup” be symbolizing a small, seemingly insignificant object or situation that has larger, more complex consequences for the characters in this show? This interpretation arises from the fact that a teacup was used by Maggie to capture a wasp at the beginning of the series, symbolizing a “tempest in a teacup.” Additionally, Arlo’s reference to a “lighthouse” under a marble-filled teacup after singing with his mom might connect to this idea, as lighthouses are small structures that have significant roles in guiding ships through stormy seas. It is possible that the blue border surrounding the scenes represents the “teacup” that all our protagonists are enclosed within and must navigate through these seemingly minor incidents to find their way forward.
I’m relieved that Scout the horse is fine for now, but I fear that by the end of Teacup, his condition may worsen.
In simpler terms, Nicholas is quite an unusual person, yet I’m hoping he shares at least one joke in each episode, similar to what he did in the first two. His jokes include “What do you call a banana eating another banana? Canabananalism” and “What do you call a bird that’s too afraid to fly? Chicken.
In simpler terms, even though I’m not a homeowner, I believe the situation the masked man is in is similar to having a property dispute with a neighbor. Instead of deciding on boundaries for landscaping, he appears to be controlling access to another plot of land, but in a more dramatic and gruesome way – anyone who enters that other lot could potentially transform into a grotesque form and perish.
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2024-10-10 16:54