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There are two things that immediately drew me to the new series Chapelwaite, the first series produced by EPIX Studios, and they were Stephen King and Emily Hampshire. Make that three, because the full length trailer for the series was pretty epic as well. But the premiere itself … well, it drags a bit because there’s a lot of set-up.
When we first meet Charles Boone (Adrien Brody), it’s the late 1800s and he’s captaining a ship somewhere in the Pacific. He’s got a wife and three kids, and why they’ve chosen to live on the sea isn’t clear. But Mrs. Boone takes ill and dies, with Charles regretting not staying on ‘the island’ but she insisted on taking to the sea, and now Charles is planning to take his children back to the land. More specifically his family’s home town of Preacher’s Corners, Maine. With the passing of a relative he claims to have barely known, he’s inherited the property which includes the family sawmill business.
Arriving, one would assume several months later but no one looks worse for the wear (or older), Charles and his children are greeted at the house by a very stern housekeeper who basically hands him the keys, gives him a brief rundown, and brusquely turns down his offer to stay in his employ. She wants nothing to do with that house anymore. The reason for his inheritance is because his relative died under mysterious circumstances (he committed suicide, which the housekeeper confirms to Charles but it’s all too scandalous to speak about in public in this Puritanical town) after the death of his daughter, who is said to have fallen down the basement steps. Charles isn’t going to let these stories scare him away, but the chilly reception from the town is causing problems for the children, who need a governess for their education (they’ve already been pretty well educated already). And there’s also the issue of his middle child, the younger daughter, who can speak but hasn’t since her mother’s death. And there are also vague stories around town about a plague brought on by Boone’s family.
Charles goes to acquaint himself with the workers at the sawmill, but is also greeted with disdain by the crew. Only one man, who has been doing the accounting, gives Boone a friendly greeting. Charles tells the men he wants the mill up and running and turning out hundreds of pieces a day … or they’re all fired. For their trouble, they’ll get a raise. At the house, a young woman from town arrives, Rebecca Morgan (Emily Hampshire), and offers her services as the governess. She impresses two of the children and Charles, and is given the position. Things are going well until she decides to give the children a spooky fun All Hallows Eve, but things turn a bit ominous and the basement door is mysteriously opened. Charles attributes the odd sounds in the house to rats in the walls, but whatever Rebecca may have welcomed into the house definitely is not a rat. Suffice it to say, the children are terrified and Charles has a talk with Rebecca about the extra-curricular activities which she apologizes for.
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Rebecca also suggests the family attend church, something Charles is against after the less than welcoming attitude the townspeople have given them so far. But she persists, saying it would be good for the people to see the whole family together and they’d certainly change their minds. Except they didn’t. In fact, they were basically told they were not welcome in the church at all. The Boones and Rebecca storm back to the house, but we have to begin to wonder if Rebecca expected this outcome, especially when we see her at home with her mother having a discussion about her job. But not the governess job, for it appears Rebecca may be a journalist (or author) who is planning to write something about the family. So her motives for taking the governess job are not as pure as she had made it seem.
We still don’t know exactly what the ‘plague’ is that the Boone family brought to town, but there is a spooky, sickly young girl who keeps popping up but we don’t know if her condition is any relation to the ‘plague’. Things, however, finally take a turn when a bunch of drunk, riled up men from the sawmill decide they don’t want to work for Boone … and they don’t want him in town, period. So one of them loads up a cart with jugs of fuel with the plan to burn the house to the ground, quite possibly hoping the family will perish along with the house. But on his way there he encounters a strange man in the middle of the road. The man strikes the horses drawing the cart, killing them, then attacks Boone’s almost-attacker, setting the man on fire with his own fuel.
But who was the attacker, and is he trying to protect Charles and his family? Perhaps we’ll find out more next week. As a premiere, it wasn’t the most gripping until the very end but that one little scene was enough to bring me back for another episode. And if you’re wondering about the Stephen King connection, the show is based on King’s short story ‘Jerusalem’s Lot’ which is basically a prequel to the more well-known ‘Salem’s Lot. If you are familiar with that story, and have seen the trailer for this series, it looks like the ‘plague’ everyone speaks of is actually vampirism. Fingers crossed!
What did you think of this episode? Tell us in the comments section below!
Chapelwaite airs new episodes Sunday at 10:00 PM on EPIX. Episodes are also available on the EPIX app. Subscribe through Apple TV channels using our Apple TV Plus affiliate link.
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