So I watched Devil in Ohio. And I have some thoughts.
I don’t know, the way characters treat each other in this series just strikes me as weird. For example, Isaac and Jules apparently have been friends since like the third grade, but it was so fragile. The moment Jules makes friends with Mae he acts all upset about it. And on Halloween, I know they have a tradition, but they could literally watch the movie the next day or something, and it wasn’t like Jules was discluding him; she invites him to the bonfire with her, but he acts like this is some friendship ending event. And then, when she asks for a ride home, where he KNEW there would be alcohol there, he told her no, leaving her to fend for herself, knowing she was probably drunk at night, and he never apologized for that, instead she had to apologize for what, branching out?
And then Jules with Mae, that just kind of sucked; the dad to actually. They acted like they were best friends, and yeah Mae was obviously possessive of their friendship, but what did she do besides help her photography and take a picture of Isaac from her wall? Yes, Mae did have some potential toxic behaviors in their friendship, but she just left a cult and has no idea of regular social boundaries, so they could have had a conversation with her to let her understand, but no. And in the end, that’s not even what Jules got mad about, it was because Mae decided to branch out, same thing with Jules and Isaac. Mae goes to the mall with some people without Jules, and Jules acts all weird about it. And then they wear the same costume, because as stated Mae wants to copy Jules, but Jules takes this strangely personally. And then Sebastian, Jules’s crush, asks Mae to the dance and that’s enough for Jules to decide their friendship is over? Mae even told Jules she wouldn’t go with Sebastian to the dance when she learned Jules had a crush on him, but Jules didn’t care, and now Jules and Isaac are calling Mae a narcissist? She definitely has some problems with attachment and how to form healthy bonds, but I wouldn’t say narcissist. Jules was just pissed that Mae started having connections outside of her, and that inconvenienced her.
And then with the dad, he obviously didn’t care much for Mae since the beginning, which okay, fair, he’s not obliged to think of Mae as his own daughter or something, and with where they are financially due to his house thing taking in another child probably isn’t the best. But he could at least see her for what she is; a traumatized, cult programed child. One thing that made me a bit upset, was when he was asking about the fire and if she knew about it, it seemed like he literally triggered a trauma response in her, as she went to her knees, clinging to his feet and mumbling. Instead of consoling her or something, he goes into the house, telling Suzanne later that this was suspicious behavior or some shit. Like, my guy, you, a older man was accusing her of something, and it made her want to beg for forgiveness, and the leader of her cult is an older man, fill in the dots.
Then towards the end they’re acting like it’s Mae’s fault that their family is in disarray? But it’s not? Mae didn’t do anything till the flower thing at the end to see if Suzanne would come for her. What’s the worst thing that happened to this family due to Mae’s presence? The parents had a small disagreement about scheduling and who would drive who to where? And yes, the cult is now interacting with the family, but that’s not Mae’s fault, she’s the victim of this cult who is literally trying to kill her, but the family is acting like Mae is masterminding all their minor inconveniences. Yes, Suzanne got a little too involved in the investigation of Mae, but Mae never asked this of her, this was Suzanne’s decision. And what, they had to stay in a different place for the night because Mae was about to be KILLED by the cult? She’s dying, and they couldn’t give less of a shit, victimizing themselves, not even slightly worried about Mae. When Jules and Peter were talking it was all like ‘Mae shouldn’t have come here’ ‘yes but it wasn’t just her fault honey’ like, can you not, she’s kind of reliving her trauma right now while you are all fine. Three arguments with your wife, a shared Halloween costume, and the family is in shambles? And then in the end, they decide they can’t bare to stay with Mae so they end up living separately from their mom? This random hatred for Mae just seemed so out of place when she hasn’t really done much to them besides exist. That’s really it; they’re upset at her for existing in their home, for existing near them when people are trying to kill her, a child.
And then with the ending, it was nothing out of character for Mae; it’s been established she has problems knowing how to keep lasting bonds with people. It was very self destructive of her to want confirmation for love so badly that she willingly brought herself back into the cult to die just to see if they come for her. That’s kind of sad, and makes for a very unhealthy relationship, and Mae should see a therapist. In fact, Suzanne is literally a psychiatrist, and she never addresses any of this previous, less extreme behavior within Mae. I want Mae to understand she can reach out to other people and not go to such extreme measures, but when she started doing that when she went to the mall with other girls without Jules, Jules got all upset about it rather then encourage her, so that probably didn’t help.
I don’t know; maybe this is just me projecting my love for the found family troupe.
