Breaking down key deaths in the final episode

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Teacup, streaming now on Peacock.

Everyone remembers the infamous teacup scene from Jordan Peele's Get Out. Missy stirs her cup of tea and Chris experiences a surrealistic body hypnosis in “the sunken place”. Peacock's new horror series, aptly titled Teacup, might be even scarier. In this show, the most terrible threat comes not from a single person or group, but from the monsters within us.

Produced by James Wan under his Atomic Monster banner, the series from creator Ian McCulloch (“Yellowstone”) is loosely based on Robert R. McCammon’s bestselling novel “Stinger.” “Teacup,” whose first season ended Oct. 31, follows a group of neighbors in rural Georgia who band together in the face of a mysterious presence that endangers their community and a murderous host who takes control of their bodies.

The series revolves around the Chenoweth family: James (Scott Speedman), Maggie (Yvonne Strahovski) and their two children Meryl (Émilie Bierre) and Arlo (Caleb Dolden). When we meet these characters, James and Maggie's marriage is rocked by the discovery that he was having an affair.

Shortly afterwards, a horse is found with blood mysteriously dripping down its face. Arlo ventures into the forest and returns changed, speaking of the danger that lies ahead; A stranger in a gas mask sprays a blue line across the city and warns with cryptic messages on a whiteboard. As these developments intensify, the Chenoweth clan is forced to seek shelter among their neighbors. This happens to be the family of the very woman with whom James experienced infidelity, which caused palpable tensions.

“We wanted to drop people off in the middle of this situation,” McCulloch says. “The idea that Maggie knows, but she doesn't know who – and who is the worst person to bring into her environment, other than the woman she's with [her husband] had an affair with?”

The group must work together to learn more about the menacing presence affecting their community. However, since the “assassin” can take possession of anyone at any time, the boundaries between the one who tells the truth and the one who tries to kill those around him quickly become blurred. By the season finale, almost all of the characters have turned on each other and are trying to figure out if someone can be trusted.

When the assassin enters Meryl in the finale, her parents successfully expel the creature from their daughter's body, but she chooses her father as the next victim. Under the assassin's influence, James attacks Maggie, who stabs him in the leg with a knife. As he releases the knife and tries to hit her again, James falls into a large freezer container. “We don’t have to win. We just need to lure you into a trap,” Maggie tells her husband before closing the lid and locking him in. James tries to scream and push the container open to attract the attention of others, who pile pillows over the container to prevent him from escaping.

Meryl is the only character who protests the rest of the group's decision. “He’s going to die, mom. He’s going to die,” she says as her mother holds her and the container stops shaking, signaling her father’s death. The scene ends with the remaining members of the Chenoweth clan: Maggie, Meryl and Arlo sobbing as they hug each other and fall to the ground.

“It was intense, emotional and wild,” says Speedman of his character’s fate in the finale. “I just feel like this is going to be a crazy ride – really satisfying on a genre and emotional level.”

McCulloch adds that James' death felt satisfying from a storytelling perspective because of the narrative arc his character goes through in the first season. He describes how James becomes proactive as a father and husband and his journey involves making amends for his past mistakes and making amends for himself in the eyes of his family.

“His redemption story ends before he becomes an assassin,” McCulloch says. “By the time we get to Episode 8, I think James has grown as much as he will grow.”

“[Ian McCulloch] “I really had a specific vision,” Strahovski says. “He wanted to explore character and relationships.”

McCulloch says that although members of the writers' room argued for James' survival, the showrunner always knew the character would die in the finale.

“James' story is a redemption arc,” says McCulloch. “Scott has done so much work over the course of the season to win people over and become a character you care about. I think taking that character away is a really good way for me to keep the audience on their toes.”