The Changeling Series Premiere Recap: A Couple's Meet-Cute Sets Up One Terrifying Nightmare — Grade It!
In Apple TV+'s The Changeling, a man searches for his wife after she does something horrific following the birth of their first child. While we don't see the specifics of that truly disturbing event until a bit later, the premiere sets up one dark, twisted fairy tale that provides tons of mystery and intrigue from the jump.
The story begins in 2010 at the library where Emma Valentine (Clark Backo) works. After she deals with an unsettled homeless man, Apollo (LaKeith Stanfield) is smitten by her and asks her out. She declines, but that doesn't stop him from trying again and again and again. She eventually accepts.
In 1968, we see the meeting of Apollo's parents, Lillian and Brian. Thanks to Brian's persistence (which certainly rubbed off on his son), she finally agrees to a date nearly one decade later. They eventually move in together, where they welcome their first and only son. But by the baby's fourth birthday, dad disappears without explanation.
When Apollo is a teen, he falls in love with books and reading. Someone drops off a mysterious box to his doorstep. Inside are old keepsakes including a photo of his mother and a book titled, "To the Waters & the Wild." He opens to a page and reads, "Babies are a dream made real, but dreams are the fairies' favorite meal." His mom says the book was his father's.
But back to Emma and Apollo's first date. Emma tells him her parents died when she was just five. She remained in foster care until her older sister turned 18. She asks Apollo about his background and he says, "One sad story is enough for a first date." We jump-cut to a terrifying, dark, monstrous ghoul lurking in an apartment hallway. At the end of the evening, Emma says the reason she kept saying no is because she's moving to Brazil and doesn't know for how long. He says it can't be because, "I am the God Apollo and I command you to stay!" He yells out cartoonishly and she laughs before they share a sweet kiss.
In the midst of all the episode's time-jumping, Apollo tells Emma about a strange dream he's had since he was little. He hears a knock on the door, but when Apollo answers, it's the dark ghoul. The ghoul peels a black layer off his face, and it's Brian. But that's as far as the dream goes.
Some time after, Emma departs for her trip. Months later, she sends Apollo a message. She's heading back home and wants to know if he wants to see her again. That answer is a resounding "yes." When they meet, she tells him that while in Brazil, she ventured to a lagoon that she was warned against visiting. She found an old woman there who already knew her name and offered her three wishes "for your life." After the woman tied a red string on Emma's wrist, Emma got freaked out and fled. The woman warned her not to cut the string. So what does Apollo do? He foolishly cuts it off without a second thought. He tells her that with him, all of her wishes will come true.
And so they get married. Then, they have a baby, on the subway of all places. But as the new couple cuddles their newborn, flashes of violence litter the screen. The narrator (who is Victor LaValle, the author of the novel being adapted here) then repeats a line from the episode's intro. "Tell me your journey, each of you. Tell me your life's voyage and I will tell you who you are."
Intrigued enough to keep watching? Grade the premiere below, then let us know your thoughts in the comments!