Them (TV series)

Them is an American black horror anthology series, created by Little Marvin and executive produced by Lena Waithe. The series stars an ensemble cast, which consists on Deborah Ayorinde, Ashley Thomas, Alison Pill, and Ryan Kwanten in the first season, and Pam Grier, Luke James, Joshua J. Williams and Jeremy Bobb in the second season, with Ayorinde returning in a new lead role. Its plot follows a similar narrative structure to American Horror Story, with each season following a different story with different characters.

The first season, titled Them: Covenant, had premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 9, 2021, and the second season, titled Them: The Scare, premiered on April 25, 2024. The first series drew a polarized response from critics and audience; while criticism was primarily for the handling of the series' subject matter, which was criticized as "exploitative" and "unnecessarily graphic", however, the screenplay, production values, and the performances of the cast (particularly Ayorinde, Thomas, and Wright Joseph) received widespread acclaim.

Plot
Set in 1953, THEM: Covenant follows a black family who move from North Carolina to an all-white neighborhood in East Compton during the Second Great Migration. The family's idyllic home slowly transforms into an epicenter of evil forces, next-door and otherworldly, that threaten to haunt, ravage and destroy them.

Set in 1991, THEM: The Scare centers on LAPD Detective Dawn Reeve, who is assigned to a new case: a gruesome murder that has left the most hardened detectives shaken. As Dawn draws closer to the truth, something malevolent grips her and her family.

Main

 * Deborah Ayorinde as Livia "Lucky" Emory
 * Ashley Thomas as Henry Emory
 * Alison Pill as Elizabeth "Betty" Wendell
 * Shahadi Wright Joseph as Ruby Lee Emory
 * Melody Hurd as Gracie Emory
 * Ryan Kwanten as George Bell

Guest

 * Dale Dickey as The Woman
 * Liam McIntyre as Clarke Wendell
 * Lindsey Kraft as Midge Pruitt
 * Pat Healy as Marty Dixon
 * Brooke Smith as Helen Koistra
 * Malcolm Mays as Calvin
 * John Patrick Jordan as Earl
 * Dirk Rogers as Miss Vera
 * Abbie Cobb as Nat Dixon
 * Max Barsness as Dale Pruitt
 * Kim Shaw as Carol Lynn Denton
 * Bailey Noble as Marlene
 * Derek Phillips as Sergeant Bull Wheatley
 * P. J. Byrne as Stuart Berks
 * Sophie Guest as Doris
 * Tim Russ as The Custodian
 * Ryan Kennedy as Gary
 * Christopher Heyerdahl as The Black Hat Man
 * Jeremiah Birkett as Da Tap Dance Man
 * Paula Jai Parker as Hazel Emory
 * Sheria Irving as Cynthia
 * J. Mallory McCree as Junius Emory
 * Anika Noni Rose as Ella Mae
 * Roland Johnson as Moe Irvin
 * Lisa Banes as Esther Haber (Banes' final television role before her death on June 14, 2021)
 * Michael Harney as Otto Haber
 * Peter Mackenzie as Mr. Stoal
 * Shaw Jones as City Planner
 * Van Epperson as Banker
 * Barry Livingston as Real Estate Commissioner
 * David Bowe as Mitch
 * Christopher Murray as Murray
 * Daniel Robbins as Man In Car
 * Scott Alan Smith as Fuller
 * Latarsha Rose as Arnette Beaumont
 * Samantha Sherman as Marjorie Wallinger
 * Kate McNeil as Dr. Frances Moynihan
 * Dominic Burgess as Roger
 * Nona Parker Johnson
 * Cranston Johnson
 * Melinda Page Hamilton as Elder Sara
 * Gene Silvers as Elder Luther
 * J. Paul Boehmer as Elder James
 * Summera Howell as Elder Cora
 * Kai Richard as Miles

Main

 * Deborah Ayorinde as Detective Dawn Reeve
 * Pam Grier as Athena Reeve
 * Luke James as Edmund Gaines
 * Joshua J. Williams as Kelvin "Kel" Reeve
 * Jeremy Bobb as Detective Ronald McKinney

Development
On July 28, 2018, Amazon gave the project a two-season order. The series was created by Little Marvin, who also wrote the script for the first season and was set to executive produce the show alongside Lena Waithe under their overall deals with Amazon Studios. Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, and Michael Connolly of Vertigo Entertainment were also announced as executive producers, with Vertigo co-producing the series under the company's deal with Sony Pictures Television. The first season is subtitled Them: Covenant, and the series will follow a similar limited semi-anthological structure to American Horror Story, with each season following a different story with different characters. Alongside the series order announcement, Waithe said:

"Little Marvin's script stayed with me for weeks after I read it. He's written something that's provocative and terrifying. The first season will speak to how frightening it was to be black in 1953. It will also remind us that being black in 2018 is just as horrifying. This anthology series will examine the cultural divides among all of us and explore us vs them in a way we've never seen before."

On April 1, 2019, David Matthews joined the series as showrunner under his newly announced overall deal at Sony Pictures Television.

A year and a half after premiering, the cast of the second season, titled The Scare, was announced.

Casting
On July 27, 2019, Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas were cast in the lead roles. Shahadi Wright Joseph, Alison Pill, Ryan Kwanten, Melody Hurd, Javier Botet, and Percy Hynes White were added to the main cast on October 3, 2019, alongside Derek Phillips who was cast in a recurring capacity. On December 2, 2019, Brooke Smith, Anika Noni Rose P.J. Byrne, Malcolm Mays, Jeremiah Birkett, and Sophie Guest joined the recurring cast.

For the second season, Deborah Ayorinde returns with the new additions of Pam Grier, Luke James, Joshua J. Williams and Jeremy Bobb as regulars, and Wayne Knight, Carlito Olivero, Charles Brice and Iman Shumpert will recur.

Filming
The series began production on July 8, 2019, with filming taking place between Atlanta and Los Angeles.

The set for the neighborhood was built on a lot in Pomona, California.

Release
The series had its world premiere on March 18, 2021, at the SXSW Film Festival as part of the Episodic Premieres section. The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on April 9, 2021. The second season premiered on April 25, 2024.

Season 1
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of the series has a 58% fresh rating from 50 critic reviews with an average score of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas' gripping performances help Them sustain a sufficient sense of terror, but its blunt and bloody approach undermines any social commentary in favor of more superficial horrors." On Metacritic, the first season of the series received a mixed rating of 57/100 based on 20 critic reviews.

The Guardian's Lucy Mangan gave the show 4/5 stars, writing that "What marks out this portrayal of 50s prejudice (not unworked ground) is that, thanks to magnificent performances from Thomas and Ayorinde, you get a great sense of the cost to victims: the sheer amount of mental energy it takes to navigate a relentlessly hostile world, the consequent exhaustion, the constant abrading of the soul."

In a mostly negative review, Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter said that "Them suffers from an overcrowded narrative and too many themes, making for an uneven, dizzying, at times overly dense viewing experience. From the violent neighbors and the history of black homeownership to the traumas that plague each member of the Emory family, the show takes on more than it can responsibly unpack."

Variety's chief TV critic Daniel D'Addario wrote that "In visual style and in the performances of the actors playing the Emorys, it captures a recognizable 1950s of the mind. A striking early sequence sees the family in integrated settings, being assisted by white employees at an appliance store and a soda fountain. The point is made, elegantly, that the Emorys have left behind the explicit bigotry of the American South for a place where the horrors are more insidious", but described the series as "surprisingly unimaginative".

Some critics took issue with scenes of graphic racial violence, particularly a scene in which a black couple is blinded with hot pokers and burned alive, calling Them "black trauma porn".

Season 2
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the second season of the series has a 100% fresh rating from 10 critic reviews with an average score of 7.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads "A marked improvement with a new story, effective frights and a keen commentary on generational scars, The Scare is a scream."