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WARNING! This article contains major SPOILERS for The Fall of the House of Usher episode 8!
Summary
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The Fall of the House of Usher
reveals that Verna has been involved with many historical figures, including Mark Zuckerberg, Gina Rinehart, Brett Kavanaugh, Rupert Murdoch, the Trump family, and the Vanderbilt family. - These photos suggest that Verna has been the source of wealth and power for these individuals throughout history, implying that obtaining massive wealth is the equivalent of making a deal with the devil.
- The inclusion of these recognizable figures highlights the corrupt and sinister nature of wealth and power and the lengths people will go to obtain them.
In The Fall of the House of Usher, Verna is revealed to have been involved with many historical figures, primarily tycoons and politicians. The Netflix series, created by popular filmmaker writer, Mike Flanagan, is loosely based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, including the short story of the same name. The series depicts the fall of a corrupt pharmaceutical CEO, Roderick Usher, as his heirs begin to die in wicked and mysterious ways. Carla Gugino plays shape-shifting demon Verna in House of Usher, an enigmatic character from Roderick’s past who begins eliminating his heirs.
After trying to piece together where they recognize Verna, The Fall of the House of Usher episode 6 finally sees the family’s lawyer Arthur Gordon Pym bring ominous answers. The results of Arthur’s investigation include photos of Verna with various business magnates and politicians across several centuries. The photos reveal that the wealthy Usher family is just one of many dynasties Verna created, with the wealth and power of these real historical figures being results of her deals. The Fall of the House of Usher explores the idea that obtaining massive wealth is the equivalent of making a deal with the devil, and that the many recognizable figures in the photos are Verna’s other “clients.”
15 The Koch Family
The first photo reveals Verna standing with the Koch family, specifically David Koch. Koch Industries is a multinational conglomerate corporation, and is the second largest privately owned company in the United States. David Koch and his older brother Charles, the company’s CEO, are some of the wealthiest people in the world, with fortunes upward of $50 billion. The family and company are known for funding conservative political campaigns, and for attempting to block climate action.
14 Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is a very well known figure in pop culture and world news, constantly making headlines as the CEO of Meta and creator of Facebook. The second photo shows Verna taking a stroll with Zuckerberg, implying the notorious figure made a fateful deal with the shape-shifting demon when he was in college.
13 Gina Rinehart
As mentioned by The Fall of the House of Usher‘s character Verna, Gina Rinehart is a mining magnate and another of the world’s wealthiest people. She’s the CEO of Hancock Prospecting, a company founded by her father. As the Netflix horror series references, Gina Rinehart once abhorrently suggested that labor costs could be cut because there are Africans who are “willing to work for less than $2 a day” (via NPR). Rinehart has led a life filled with controversy, including not believing and spreading misinformation about climate change.
12 Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Kavanaugh’s photo was likely recognizable for many American viewers, who know him as the Supreme Court Justice controversially appointed by Donald Trump. When he was appointed to the position in 2018, multiple women came forward with accusations of sexual assault, which were assessed in a Senate hearing. Kavanaugh made it into his position regardless, and dealings with Verna could explain why, at least in the world of The Fall of the House of Usher.
11 Mitch McConnell
The next photo shows The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Verna standing next to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been in the U.S. Senate since 1985. While working as a senator, McConnell has accrued a personal wealth that has been estimated at $35 million, and has been the leader of the Senate Republican Conference since 2007. McConnell has also played a part in voting not guilty in Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.
10 Larry Ellison
Verna is also shown standing next to Larry Ellison, co-founder of the Oracle software company, in Mike Flanagan’s Netflix horror show. Ellison was the company’s CEO from 1977 to 2014, but has since served as its CTO. Larry Ellison is one of the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of over $100 billion. Ellison has faced controversies for giving funds to 2020 election deniers (via Forbes), as well as privacy violations for collecting information from billions of people.
9 Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch is one of the most well known magnates in the world, as the owner of Fox News, as well as hundreds of other news outlets. Notably, HBO’s hit series Succession is loosely inspired by the Murdoch family and the media conglomerate owners’ history. The Fall of the House of Usher, which has also drawn comparisons to Succession, shows Verna in the background of a photo behind a younger Rupert Murdoch. This is the first photo to reveal that Verna has been around for some time, as it’s from the 1980s and she looks exactly the same.
8 The Trump Family
Another older photo shows Verna standing next to Donald Trump, his father Fred Trump, and Fred Trump Jr. The Trump family rose to influence through real-estate in the 20th century, then Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States in 2016. Even the younger version of his face was likely easy to spot for most viewers, as he’s become one of the most polarizing figures around the globe in recent years. Verna even makes a reference to an infamous Donald Trump quote shortly before The Fall of the House of Usher‘s ending, stating she had a client who could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone” and it wouldn’t cost him a thing.
7 The Getty Family
The next photo shows Verna in the background even further back, with prominent oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. Getty founded the Getty Oil Company in 1942 and lived until 1976, making the photo quite old. Getty was one of the wealthiest men in the world in the 1950s and 1960s, around the same time that The Fall of the House of Usher‘s flashback timeline begins.
6 Prescott Bush
The last name Bush was likely recognizable to viewers, as Prescott Bush is the father of George H. W. Bush and the grandfather of George W. Bush, the 41st and 43rd Presidents of the United States. Prescott Bush paved the way for both presidencies as a United States Senator for Connecticut in the 1950s. However, The Fall of the House of Usher suggests the Bushes’ power originated from Verna.
5 William Randolph Hearst
The next photo shows Verna standing by William Randolph Hearst in the 1940s. Hearst was a newspaper mogul who developed one of the largest media chains of his time. His methods of “news” included sensationalism and yellow journalism, influencing the inflammatory style of media in modern America. Hearst Communications still runs magazines like Cosmopolitan and Esquire, and is a major partner for The Walt Disney Company.
4 The Rockefeller Family
John D. Rockefeller was an oil tycoon that lived from 1839 to 1937, an incredible lifespan for that era, allowing him to become America’s first billionaire. Rockefeller was a co-founder of Standard Oil, which would eventually lead to Chevron and ExxonMobil. The Fall of the House of Usher includes a photo with Verna standing alongside him and his family, proving she was the reason for their unprecedented wealth.
3 Edward L. Doheny
Like Rockefeller, Edward L. Doheny was an American oil tycoon, known for setting off the petroleum boom in Southern California. Doheny was implicated in one of the largest scandals in American history, the Teapot Dome scandal. The scandal saw ties between business magnates and politicians in the form of bribes, making it one of the most well known instances of government corruption. Considering the corrupt depiction of The Fall of the House of Usher‘s Ligodone drug and Fortunato Pharmaceuticals company, Verna’s fictional association with Doheny fits this theme.
2 The Vanderbilt Family
The next photo sees Verna in the background among members of the Vanderbilt family. The Vanderbilts were major tycoons during the Gilded Age due to their vast railroad empire. Like the Ushers, the Vanderbilt family’s wealth heavily deteriorated in the mid-20th century, and was actually referred to as the “Fall of the House of Vanderbilt.” In Flanagan’s Netflix show, this definitely seems like something Verna would’ve been involved in.
1 John Francis Queeny
As pointed out in the series, the oldest photo views Verna with John Francis Queeny in 1901, over 120 years before the demise of the Usher family. Queeny was known for founding Monsanto Chemical Works, a company involved in agricultural biotechnology and chemicals. The company was bought out in 2016 for $66 billion (via NPR). While the oldest photo of Verna dates back to 1901, The Fall of the House of Usher suggests she has been giving “clients” vast wealth and power for much longer.
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