The 'Fall of the House of Usher' Trump burn you may have missed
As complex as the titular family's structure, The Fall of the House of Usher has a lot going on in it – plenty of veiled references, Easter eggs, WTF moments, and clues – and that goes double for the final episode.
But hidden among all those twists and revelations was a sharp dig at the former president that you may have missed.
So, what exactly happened, and what specifically was it referencing? We've broken it down below.
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What's the Trump reference in The Fall of the House of Usher finale?
Verna, the mysterious woman played by Flanaverse regular Carla Gugino that haunts the Usher family is finally explained in the last episode. She's essentially an ageless demon who pops up throughout history to make bargains with potentially influential figures. Her core motive seems to be to inflict as much pain and suffering on the world as possible. In the final episode, she attempts to make a similar pact with Usher family lawyer Arthur Pym (Mark Hamill).
"What happens to you, when the Ushers are gone?" she asks him in the Ushers' childhood home, after he's unsuccessfully attempted to kill her. "You've enjoyed a sense of immunity throughout your life, but it isn't yours. It's theirs."
"Let me guess," responds Pym. "You can do something about that?"
"I can. Like I said to one of my clients, 'When I'm done, you can stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and it won't cost you a thing.'"
"Is his tab coming due anytime soon?" asks Pym. "Even I've got my limits."
What exactly is this line referencing?
Although Trump's name isn't spoken out loud, the former president is clearly the "client" mentioned in this exchange. This is made obvious by the comment about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. Back in 2016 during a rally, Trump made headlines after making a very similar remark.
"I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose voters," he said.
In this way, the episode is implying that Trump's rise to power was part of a pact with an evil demon. And the response from Pym — "Even I've got my limits" — is particularly pointed, given that he's one of the show's most brutal antagonists.
How to watch: The Fall of the House of Usher is streaming now on Netflix.
