‘Devil in Ohio’ Review: A Confusing Cult-Themed Thriller Lacks the Narrative Connection
Netflix’s new limited miniseries Devil in Ohio follows a young girl who escapes from a religious cult. This thriller is an adaptation of Daria Polatin’s novel of the same name, in which she serves as the creator and writer of the show. It highlights religious and cult abuse, abusive families, and the aftermath of dealing with trauma as an adult. Devil in Ohio begins with an interesting premise, however, the narrative structure and character journeys aren’t consistent, as the series tries to draw parallels between the characters.
The series begins with a young girl (Madeline Arthur) running through the corn fields with a knife in her hand at night. She is taken to the hospital and put in the care of a psychiatrist, Dr Suzanne Mathis (Emily Deschanel). The nameless young woman isn’t responsive to Suzanne’s questions but when she finds an upside-down pentagon carved on her backside, she realises that the young girl escaped from an abusive home. Eventually, Suzanne gets through and learns that her name is Mae Dodd. After Mae opens up about herself to Suzanne, she discovers that the young girl is from the neighbouring Amon Country, an isolated Amish community with its own jurisdiction. When the hospital is unable to find a proper foster home for Mae, Suzanne suggests that she can stay with her family.
Unfortunately, Suzanne’s family is not so thrilled about welcoming a stranger into their homes, since they have their problems. Her husband, Peter (Sam Jaeger), the real-estate agent turned freelancer renovator, is drowning in debt after the buyer backs out of the deal. Her daughters, Jules (Xaria Dotson), Helen (Alisha Newton) and Dani (Naomi Tan), find it hard to deal with the disruption in their family. As Mae tries to fit in at school and with Suzanne’s family, she slowly exerts her influence on the family and tears it apart. Meanwhile, Suzanne works with Alex Lopez (Gerardo Celasco), the detective in charge of Mae’s case, and deals with a troublesome Amon county sheriff, (Bradley Stryker), who looks for the young girl.
Devil in Ohio shows Mae’s experience with religious abuse and her upbringing that drastically changes the trajectory of her life. The details reveal themselves as the series progresses to make the viewers feel sympathetic toward her traumatic experiences. Mae is conditioned to believe that the outside world is full of sinners who don’t understand their way of life. What befell Mae’s lap, which was the reason why she escapes, is revealed slowly. However, even when Mae goes through something as traumatic as religious trauma, she is an unlikeable character. Underneath her exterior, Mae sabotages Suzanne’s family and infiltrates her daughter’s life by imitating them. There are endless hints of Mae’s possible ulterior motives and trauma, but they are revealed right at the end of the series. These problems cause the series finale to be rushed and too weighty with too many inconsistencies, which makes it hard to root for Mae.
On the other hand, Suzanne tries to save everyone, including Mae. Devil in Ohio tries to find some connection between Suzanne’s past traumas and Mae’s current problems, but the show doesn’t consistently explain why she makes hasty judgments. As a character, it makes sense that Suzanne wants to remove Mae from her abusive home; she too was previously abused by her stepfather. Suzanne’s scars on her wrist are similar to Mae’s carved-up pentagon on her back. Even when the show uses flashbacks to find parallels between their trauma, they seem to lack the narrative connection; and most importantly, the emotional link.
Devil in Ohio is a mixed bag. Suzanne’s decisions are deeply uncharacteristic and her trauma only serves to take Mae’s story into account. Even with the fascinating cult-themed thriller, the show doesn’t attempt to dive into the genre’s mystery and the darkness of religious cults. The characters, especially Suzanne, are set up unrealistically and her flaws exceed the importance of her family. The “perfect” version of Suzanne doesn’t exist at the end of the series. Devil in Ohio has an issue with the characters’ journey and by the end of the show, it’s difficult to feel sorry for their outcomes because of the decisions made by Suzanne.
