SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers from the Season 1 finale of “Teacup,” now streaming on Peacock.
Everyone remembers that infamous teacup scene from Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.” Missy stirs her cup of tea and Chris experiences a surrealist body hypnosis into “the sunken place.” Peacock’s new horror series, aptly titled “Teacup,” may be even creepier. In this show, the most terrifying threat is not any singular person or group, but rather, the monsters inside us.
Produced by James Wan under his Atomic Monster banner, the series from creator Ian McCulloch (“Yellowstone”) is loosely based on Robert R. McCammon’s bestselling novel “Stinger.” “Teacup,” which concluded its first season on Oct. 31, follows a group of neighbors in rural Georgia who unite in the face of a mysterious presence endangering their community and an assassin-like host taking control of their bodies.
The show revolves around the Chenoweth family: James (Scott Speedman), Maggie (Yvonne Strahovski) and their two children, Meryl (Émilie Bierre) and Arlo (Caleb Dolden). When we meet these characters, James and Maggie’s marriage is reeling from the discovery that he has been having an affair.
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Shortly after, a horse is found mysteriously dripping blood across its face; Arlo ventures into the woods and returns, changed, speaking about the danger that lies ahead; a stranger in a gas mask spray-paints a blue line across town and offers warnings through cryptic messages on a whiteboard. As these developments intensify, the Chenoweth clan is forced to shelter with their neighbors. This just so happens to be the family of the very woman James’ infidelity occurred with, leading to palpable tension.
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“We wanted to drop people right in the middle of that situation,” McCulloch says. “The idea that Maggie knows, but she doesn’t know who with — and who’s the worst person you’re bringing into their environment, but the woman who [her husband] was having an affair with?”
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The group must work together to learn about the ominous presence affecting their community. However, because the “assassin” can possess anyone at any given moment, the lines quickly blur between who is telling the truth and who is seeking to kill those around them. By the season finale, nearly every character has turned on each other, struggling to identify whether anyone can be trusted.
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When the assassin enters Meryl in the finale, her parents successfully expel the creature from their daughter’s body, only for it to choose her father as its next victim. James, influenced by the assassin, attacks Maggie, who stabs him in the leg with a knife. When he dislodges the knife and attempts to strike her again, James falls into a large freezer container. “We don’t have to win. We just have to trap you,” Maggie tells her husband before closing the lid and sealing him in. James tries screaming and pushing the container open, drawing the attention of others, who stack pillows over the container to prevent his escape.
Meryl is the only character who protests the rest of the group’s decision. “He’ll die, mom. He’ll die,” she says as her mother restrains her and the container stops shaking, signaling her father’s death. The scene ends with the remaining members of the Chenoweth clan: Maggie, Meryl and Arlo sobbing as they embrace each other and fall to the ground.
“It was intense and emotional and wild,” Speedman says of his character’s fate in the finale. “I just feel like this is going to be a crazy ride — really satisfying at a genre level, and an emotional level.”
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McCulloch adds that James’ death felt satisfying from a storytelling perspective, because of the narrative arc his character undergoes throughout Season 1. He details how James becomes proactive as a father and husband, with his journey tied to making up for his past mistakes and redeeming himself in the eyes of his family.
“His redemption story ends before he becomes assassin,” McCulloch says. “By the time we get to Episode 8, I think James has grown as much as he’s going to grow.”
“[Ian McCulloch] really had a specific vision,” Strahovski says. “He wanted to lean into the character of it, and the relationships.”
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McCulloch says although members of the writers’ room made the case for James’ survival, the showrunner always knew the character was going to die in the finale.
“James’s story is a redemption arc,” McCulloch says. “Scott did so much work over the course of the season to win people over and to become a character that you cared about. I think then taking that character away, to me, is a really good way to keep your audience on their toes.”