The sins of thy father. A man of conscience fears not to repeat these sins. Not to fall prey to the blood his body pumps each second. But like the laws of nature, a man is bound to follow a loop. He is fated to weave the same patterns. To take birth, to grow, to eat, to sin, and to die of “Grief.” Epix’s television series, Chapelwaite, begins with a similar conflict.
A man under a spotlight, Captain Charles Boone (Adrien Brody), had a horrifying childhood. His father, Robert, tried to bury Charles alive to make a sacrifice. Terrified by Robert, Charles never settled on the land. He kept running until he started his own family. Now Charles faces an inescapable question, “will he also turn out like his father?”
The horror television series, Chapelwaite is based on the short story “Jerusalem’s Lot” written by ace horror fiction author Stephen King. Hence, it is easy to ascertain what drama lies ahead. Let’s dig deep.
‘Chapelwaite’ Episode 1: Recap
Narrating the incidents of Massachusetts, Chapelwaite opens with Charles Boone’s childhood. In the middle of the night, Charles’ father, Robert, digs up a grave and tries to bury Charles. Robert warns him of impending danger, “The Worm.” Before Robert can commit his sins, Charles’ mother shoots the unstable man. She commands Charles to run far away and never return.
Thirty-three years later, Charles (Adrien Brody) is a ship captain on the Whaler Narwhal. He travels with his family, an ill wife, and three children, Honor, Loa, and Tane. Charles receives a letter from his cousin, Stephen, who leaves behind a sawmill and the house in Maine in Charles’s name. After Stephen’s death, Charles is the only living member of the royal family. Charles’ ill-wife requests him to settle down on land for their children’s education. After his wife’s death, Charles acknowledges her word and fulfills her last wish. The ship sets course for New London, while during the voyage, Charles communicates his lineage in Chapelwaite.
Charles and his family arrive at the sleepy town of Preacher’s Corners, Maine, and settle down in their alluring grand mansion. Chapelwaite’s former maid, Mrs. Cloris, informs Charles about Stephen’s suicide after the tragic death of his daughter, Marcella. As whip-poor-wills haunt the outdoor ambiance, Charles enlights his kids with his family’s ancestors, i.e., Stephen’s father, Philip, and great grandfather, James. The Boone family were inherently copper miners, and now their mill belongs to Charles.
While everything feels relatively stable for a night, Charles soon finds an eerie cellar room with leather cuffs and worms crawling out from the wood cracks. Charles ignores these details to stay positive about his decision to settle down on Earth. But, the people of Preacher’s Corners are bewildered with the return of another Boone.
A Family with a Reputation
The town’s constable, George informed Charles about the town’s hatred towards the Boone family. While George didn’t trouble the new arrival with details, he subtly threatened him to sell off the mill and the house and leave the land. Charles also learned about Stephen hanging himself to death and how the town celebrated after his demise.
Charles failed to find a suitable governess for his kids with such a negative reputation circling the family’s name. It was when an adventurous writer, Rebecca Morgan (Emily Hampshire), takes up the job in the hope of unraveling some titillating stories about the Boones’. Rebecca’s late father was Philip Boones’ lawyer. Thus her mother warned her on taking the job, but Rebecca was as ardent as the protagonist, Charles.
Without much ado, Charles smoothly managed the mill and the workers. At this juncture, Charles inquired ledge-maker Able Stewart about unpaid bills charged to the family’s old mining town, “Jerusalem’s Lot.”
‘Chapelwaite’ Episode 1 Ending, Explained – The Jerusalem’s Lot
In Stephen King’s short story, the dead town of Jerusalem’s Lot brings forth the critical conflict of the entire drama. As the series progresses further, the mystery around it will unravel on the course. The layer connects to Philip Boone, who established the mining town. Thus, the historical sins will play a prominent part.
During the climax of Episode 1, Charles and the kids visited the church on a Sunday morning. The head members, Alice Burroughs and her father, Samuel Gallup, respectfully asked Charles and his family to leave the premises at the congregation. Samuel called Charles’ family a plague to the town. The blame agonized Charles’ pride and left the congregation in anger. Later, he apologized to Loa for being rude and blamed himself for her mother’s sickness. Charles urged his family to leave their home island, and in the course, Loa’s leg withered with rickets and procured a limb.
Earlier insulted by Charles, a worker at the mill, Daniel Thompson, bribed a fellow, Edward at the bar to ambush the new Boones’. Edward took the bribe and traveled to Chapelwaite with lamp oil tanks to burn them. Though before he could commit the felony, a mysterious man with a deranged face burnt the executioner. His identity and motives will be explored and revealed in episodes to come.
After her mother’s death, Loa finally spoke and criticized her father for hiding something from them after days of silence. Well, there was something Charles had been hiding all along. The history of his father’s sin and his fear of worms. Charles often hallucinated about worms, and his father warned about their outbreak. What is “The Mysteries of the Worm,” and how will it affect the lives at Chapelwaite? Further episodes will be able to translate better.
Chapelwaite is a Horror Fiction Television series created by Peter and Jason Filardi.
