‘Hysteria!’ follows the mysterious disappearance of a young varsity quarterback from a small town in Michigan named Happy Hollow. Subsequently, Satanic Panic grips the town’s population as they hear rumors of occult and supernatural events lurking in the shadows. The first two episodes depict how the show’s central protagonists, Dylan Campbell, Jordy, and Spud, utilize the growing fears within the secluded town to rebrand their struggling metal band into a Satanic metal band. Unfortunately, it leads to a whole series of problems as Dylan becomes the target of a terrifying witchhunt led by the town’s population, who are scared beyond their wits! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Dylan Loses Himself in the Euphoria of a Dangerous Crush
Following high school quarterback Ryan Hudson’s disappearance, the town of Happy Hollow is gripped by a fear of all things Satan. In particular, people are terrified after seeing a Satanic pentagram plastered on the walls of the Hudson house. Meanwhile, high school outcast Dylan Campbell watches on in jealousy as Ryan’s missing reports become the biggest sensation in town. However, things change after his longtime crush, Judith, starts showing an interest in his passion for heavy metal music. Dylan convinces Jordy and Spud to flip the image of their unappealing band, Dethkrunch, into a more occult-inspired music band after Judith tells him that Satanic stuff is “cool.” Subsequently, he alters the band’s main symbol to a pentagram and starts dressing in darker clothes, all to impress his crush.
Although it begins innocuously, his infatuation with Judith becomes murkier the more the narrative progresses. She grows closer to him and clings to his every word, trying to egg him to become a person who embraces the darker side. At one point, Jordy tells Dylan that because he has an inherently good heart, Judith might be playing him. She also showcases doubts over Judith’s timing in getting close to Dylan, especially how she had ignored him for months before. However, Dylan is blind to any of her concerns because Judith showers him with the type of attention he has craved all his life. As such, he is happy to receive her affection endlessly. At the end of a band performance, Dylan goes to extreme lengths by carving a pentagram into his palm with a knife to live up to Judith’s adulation.
His attempts at embracing Satanism leave him open to scrutiny by other townsfolk, who start judging his outpouring of Satanic admiration as somehow connected to Ryan Hudson’s disappearance. When Dylan returns from his music gig after carving the pentagram into his skin, he feels disgusted with himself and runs away from home. He is flagged down by a local police officer and interrogated because of the Pentagram symbol on his hand. The officer takes it as a connection to Hudson’s case. Thankfully for Dylan, the local police chief, Dandridge, also the grandfather of Judith, is a rational man who sees no connection between Hudson and Dylan beyond the superficial stuff. However, the man’s granddaughter might, as she reveals to Dylan at the end of episode 2, that she is part of a cult.
Linda’s Growing Fear of Her Own Son
Amidst the chaos descending on Dylan’s life, his familial situation also takes a difficult turn as his mother starts growing fearful of his newfound association with Satanic imagery. Although Linda and Gene Campbell trust their son to do the right things most of the time, the atmosphere around Happy Hollow changes drastically in the wake of the Hudson case. For Linda, her anxieties start growing as she witnesses her son embrace a type of culture she finds hard to connect with. Over time, she starts seeing terrifying visions and hallucinations of Dylan, who becomes more of a distant figure to her. The worst happens on the night Dylan returns home after his music gig, the same one when Linda receives news about Ryan Hudson’s dead body being found in the woods.
Hearing some strange noises, Linda heads to the basement and finds Dylan’s belongings trashed and a bloodied shirt lying on the floor. She realizes that her son has run away from the place, wondering why he did so. Subsequently, her worst nightmare comes to fruition as an invisible horror starts flinging her away from the basement and attacking her mercilessly. It eventually carries her over to the living room and throws her on the coffee table. She later wakes up and is traumatized by what happened to her, having no rational explanations for it. However, as time passes, Linda starts believing that everything stems from her son and he is the root of whatever monster attacked her in the house. Her fears are only exacerbated further when she sees the pentagram etched into Dylan’s hand at Ryan’s funeral.
Faith Returns Home But Holds On to a Secret
While most of Happy Hollow is fixated on the disappearance and eventual murder of Ryan Hudson, no one mentions the name of Faith Whitehead, the girl Ryan was with the night he was abducted. The masked men also kidnapped Faith, but she later found her way back home to her mother, Tracy. It seems as if Tracy has been acting like her daughter is still attending school, making everyone believe that Ryan was alone when he went missing. Upon returning, Faith starts recalling specific details about her abduction, which she discloses to the local police. However, she holds on to one piece of secret: her relationship with Ryan. She fears that if she reveals it, her puritanical and deeply religious mother will kill her.
At school, Faith learns about Ryan’s death and also seems detached from all the witch hunt talks surrounding the Dethkrunch metal band. Jordy befriends her at school and becomes the first person to learn the truth about Faith’s relationship with Ryan. She does not have many friends at school and likely grew up under the strict regime of her mother. However, at the end of episode 2, a sinister connection arises when Tracy calls up an unknown figure to vent about her daughter’s well-being, fearing that she is not being entirely truthful. The man is seemingly lurking in the same place Faith was held during her abduction. Thus, there may be a much bigger conspiracy involving Tracy, who might have been the instigator behind Faith’s disappearance. In fact, her off-putting nature suggests there is more to her than meets the eye.
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