Diksha Sundriyal
In Apple TV+’s ‘Down Cemetery Road,’ an art restorer named Sarah gets entangled in a government conspiracy when she starts looking into the disappearance of a young girl named Dinah. Her quest begins as a simple desire to check on the girl at the hospital after her house is destroyed in an explosion. Instead of meeting Dinah, she encounters mysterious and intimidating people, one of whom attempts to kill her. Eventually, it turns out that the explosion and Dinah’s disappearance are connected to a government program, which is where the name of the drug “histropine” pops up. Its mysterious nature raises many questions about what it does and where it comes from. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Fictional Histropine Unravels a Shocking Government Secret
Histropine in ‘Down Cemetery Road’ is a fictional drug that was created to serve the plot of the show, based on the book of the same name by Mick Herron. Sarah finds out about it when she sees Downey relying on it for his life. In real life, there is no histropine, but the name sounds very similar to atropine. It is known to be used to treat pesticide poisonings and certain types of nerve agents. Its additional uses include treating slow heart rate in some cases and decreasing saliva production during surgery. In the show, histropine is used by Downey to treat his neurological condition, which arises due to the chemical burns he sustained while serving in Afghanistan.
What’s shocking is that the chemical weapon that he and other soldiers in his unit were exposed to was released on them by their own government. It was a secret experiment in which the government was testing the potency of histropine, an experimental drug. They needed guinea pigs for their experiment, so they turned towards the soldiers. The chemical led to severe burns on soldiers, and most of them died because of it. The ones who survived, like Downey, became permanently reliant on keeping themselves alive. At the same time, they also posed a danger to the government because they could expose its secrets to the public. The mystery in ‘Down Cemetery Road’ hinges on the government agency’s search for Downey, who seems to be the only remaining soldier now.
This is why Amos and Axel Crane were hired to track down Downey and others like him, and shut them up for good. Because no one else is supposed to know about histropine, they created a website with that name. If anyone searched for histropine, they would land on the website, and the agency would be notified. This is what happens when Sarah tries to find out why Downey is taking the drug, and her search is flagged by Amos’ girlfriend, which leads the assassin right to Sarah and Downey’s door. Thus, the drug becomes a vital clue through which Sarah, and elsewhere, Zoe, find out exactly what is going on and why people are being killed left, right, and center.
Read More: Is Rufus Dead? Did Ken Nwosu Leave Down Cemetery Road?
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