This past week, I watched the next couple of episodes of Chapelwaite (Epix, 2021): Episode 4, “The Promised” and Episode 5, “The Prophet.” 

One of my big takeaways from my first viewing of these two episodes is just how quickly the tone and the premise of the series changed: while the opening episodes were steeped in uncertainty and the question of Charles Boone’s (Adrian Brody) reliability, with these episodes’ supernatural revelations, it turns out that all he has feared is actually true, a realization which dovetails with his hallucinations rather than displacing them. There’s still plenty of rural prejudice, racism, and the complexity of generational trauma to contend with, but also vampires. 

The range of vampire representations in “The Promised” and “The Prophet” provide an interesting range of perspectives, from the straightforward and expected monstrosity of Philip Boone (Julian Richings) feeding on Mary Dennison (Trina Corkum)—complete with wonderfully Gothic top hat—to the slow reveal of Stephen Boone’s (Steven McCarthy) true nature in his conversation at Chapelwaite with Loa (Sirena Gulamgaus), and the decrepit horror of Jakub (Christopher Heyerdahl) in Jerusalem’s Lot. The patterns of feeding and predation are also quite different from one another, from what seems like fairly opportunistic feeding with Mary, manipulation and corruption with Loa, and the ritualistic behavior of Jakub and the community in Jerusalem’s Lot. Even though we now know for sure that we’re dealing with vampires, their behavior and motivation differ significantly enough to keep uncertainty and tension high. These variations call to mind the vampires of King’s ‘Salem’s Lot (1975), of course, but also Donald Callahan’s categorization and description of the different “types” of vampires in later books in King’s Dark Tower series, so I’m really interested in seeing how these representations develop and intersect with some of those other vampiric threats throughout King’s canon. 

The theme of the truth beneath the surface was very productively furthered in these next two episodes, including the tunnels that run beneath the Boone land from the barn to the house and the footsteps on the cellar stairs. There is also the added component of the concealed rooms and tunnels behind the walls of Chapelwaite, which develops not just subterranean but also parallel dangers, and keeps the complicated Boone family history literally just a few inches away at all times, inseparable from the present threats. 

I was on the fence about how much I liked or trusted Rebecca Morgan (Emily Hampshire) in the series’ early episodes, but was pretty definitively won over when she pursued the vampire Philip Boone not just once, but twice. Honore (Jennifer Ens) and Able (Devante Senior) continue to reach elevated levels of badass-ness, and Mrs. Cloris (Gabrielle Rose) clearly has more dark secrets to share. 

And then there’s poor Loa, whose ultimate fate remains to be seen, though I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for heartbreak and horror.