Three families are threatened by a mysterious force in rural Georgia in the new Peacock series, Teacup, from executive producers James Wan and E.L. Katz.
There’s something odd going on in Teacup. The series opens with a woman frantically trying to free her zip-tied hands in the woods. She’s being observed by an aggressive dog, but also appears to be sporadically possessed and speaks in tongue (credit the great sound design for preceding these moments with static, frequency and/or dropped diegetic music).
The dog in the woods isn’t the only animal behaving odd. At the Chenoweth farm, vet Maggie (Yvonne Strahovski) has noted the horses are acting funny, a thought that is confirmed when neighbours Ruben Shanley (Chaske Spencer), his wife Valeria (Diany Rodriguez) and teenage son Nicholas (Luciano Leroux) show up for an emergency house call with their injured horse, Scout.
It turns out that the animals aren’t the only ones with problems. Writer (and showrunner) Ian McCollough does a solid job of slowly introducing character drama into the proceedings: there’s noticeable tension between Maggie and her husband James (Scott Speedman) and it extends beyond the recent decision to have his mother Ellen (Kathy Baker) move in. Over time it comes out that James and Valeria are having an affair, that Ellen does so much pot because she has MS, and that there was a scary parenting incident in the past when Maggie and James’ now-teenage daughter Meryl (Emilie Bierre) briefly went missing.
This information all unfolds organically as the strange events escalate around the farm. First the power goes out. Then Maggie and James’ pre-teen son Arlo (Caleb Dolden) disappears into the woods and encounters the infected woman from the opening scene. He comes back mute, muttering the same mysterious phrases, and even warns his mother than there’s a man’s voice in his head telling them to hide.
This occurs at the same time McNab (Rob Morgan), a mysterious figure wearing a gas mask and brandishing a can of spray paint, arrives. He wields a gun and, using a white board to communicate, warns the group not to cross a line he marks at the property line. Initially it seems as though this odd figure is the threat, but when the other member of the group Don Kelly (Boris McIver) throws the rabid dog across the line, the resulting body horror makes it clear something else is at work.
Then Don’s wife Claire (Holly A. Morris) crosses and the threat is not just confirmed, but horrifically cemented in place. Considering the slightly slower pace of the show and its emphasis on mood, the shift into full-out gore in the final moments of episode two is a welcome and surprising change.
After two episodes, it is clear that Teacup is principally focused on the mystery of what exactly is going on. McCollough is doing a good job of introducing bread crumbs to satisfy attentive viewers, up to and including the moment when Arlo uses a teacup to cover a handful of marbles to visualize their situation. The uncertainty of what is happening differs from the series’ source material, Stinger by Robert R. McCammon, whose premise immediately reveals the mystery (FYI: spoiler-averse viewers should avoid reading the book’s log line).
Ultimately this is a stronger choice for the TV series. Teacup immerses both viewers and characters in a central mystery that will be solved collaboratively over the show’s run and immediately aligns the audience with the characters in trying to figure things out.
For now, there’s more than enough teasing intrigue to justify an investment in the show, particularly with ~30 minute episodes. And while the cast (many of them genre faves) don’t have much to do just yet, it’s safe to assume their baggage will get unpacked in the weeks to come.
All in all, there’s plenty to recommend about Teacup, so keep an eye out for weekly coverage moving forward.
Teacup airs weekly on Thursdays on Peacock