Going into Hysteria! I was worried that it would end up like many other media regarding its depiction of heavy metal in the ’80s. Yes, there were albums called The Number of the Beast, bands took advantage of the fact that the devil is scary to sell records, and people were scared of the unknown. It’s not really that much different today, but I’m pleasantly surprised to say that Hysteria! doesn’t follow down the same tired path of painting heavy metal as the villain. Looking at other movies and shows like Trick Or Treat and Black Roses, those movies might be fun, but in the end, heavy metal is the bad guy. In Hysteria!, heavy metal is the catalyst for what the townspeople think is bad, but it ends up that their own hysteria is the issue.

Here’s the official synopsis for Hysteria! from Peacock.

When a beloved varsity quarterback disappears during the “Satanic Panic” of the late 1980s, a struggling high school heavy metal band of outcasts realize they can capitalize on the town’s sudden interest in the occult by building a reputation as a Satanic metal band, until a bizarre series of murders, kidnappings, and reported “supernatural activity” triggers a leather-studded witch hunt that leads directly back to them.

What starts off as a mystery as to who was behind the murder of a star QB quickly morphs into a look into what panic and dysfunction can do to people and a town. You add to it a new band that’s taking advantage of the “bad” press of being a satanic heavy metal band. Hysteria! is so interesting because it morphs as you watch it. The question of who murdered the teenager becomes secondary to the relationships and characters.

Look, the real reason why Hysteria! hooked me before I watched it, and what kept me watching was the idea that Bruce Campbell would play a small town sheriff and the heavy metal aspect. Not only does it meet any expectations of that premise, it adds to it. The other characters surrounding that kernel to get you to watch as a horror/heavy metal fan are the true highlight. Hysteria! features performances from Julie Bowen, Bruce Campbell, Anna Camp, Nolan North, Emjay Anthony, Chiara Aurelia, Kezil Curtis, and Nikki Hahn.

With some titans of acting on the roster, the newcomers are where Hysteria! shines. Dylan (played by Emjay Anthony) acts exactly how you would think a teenage boy would act in this situation. He’s incredibly personable and relatable. His friends Jordy (Chiara Aurelia) and Spud (Kezii Curtis) are put on the back burner a bit in the middle of the season, but they’re forces when it comes to the ending episodes. Judith (Jessica Treska) is as manipulative and cunning as the most popular girl in school that suddenly puts her attention on Dylan.

Add into that the drama that parents and older people are getting into like Linda and Gene Campbell (played by Julie Bowen and Nolan North), the overbearing Tracy Whitehead (played by Anna Camp) and her daughter Faith (played by Nikki Hahn), and Chief Dandridge (played by Bruce Campbell) who has to sift through all the real and unreal things that are happening in his town.

One place where Hysteria! leaps into all-time territory is the needle drops. For a show about heavy metal music, you’d think they would go with surface level stuff. No, they don’t. At multiple points, I was shocked at how awesome the choice of music was on the show. Each of the episode titles is named after a heavy metal song, like “Die Young”, “Hysteria”, “Mother”, and “Heaven’s On Fire”. I was disappointed that the episode “Can I Play With Madness” didn’t feature that Iron Maiden song, but you do get some Maiden earlier in the season. Whether it’s the end credits or an almost satanic sex ritual featuring “Poison” by Alice Cooper (which made this writer stand and applaud when it happened), the music of Hysteria! is just as important as anything.

Where Hysteria! falls a bit short is in the horror elements and the middle of the season sinks just a bit. The show’s horror bits are played but end up falling a bit flat. There are some nice moments, like a weird rash going through the town’s adults and the devil monster of the series. The explanation for everything makes them feel like they were for naught. It does show that the true horror of the era was not, in fact, the devil but something much closer to home, though.

The season’s middle episodes focus on the other characters, including an entire episode about Tracy and Faith. This is a nice way to hammer home that Tracy is much more important to this plot than first thought. Her character and the performance from Anna Camp are integral. Everyone knows parents who were like this. They partied a bit too hard when they were young and are now petrified that their children will follow in their footsteps; so they clamp down. It’s a fantastic performance, but it gets lost because the episode only focuses on them; you’re wondering what the other characters are doing during it.

I was most delighted by the fact that Hysteria! doesn’t lean into the fact that outcasts and heavy metal music are the evil. The evil is panic. Evil is derived from wicked people who are pushing wicked ideas on others. It’s not the nerds starting a band trying to find out who they are as people. For that fact, and much more, I cannot recommend Hysteria! any more than I do. It’s a fantastic season of TV that’s entertaining, thrilling, and enthralling.

If you’ve ever been an outcast, a nerd, had overbearing parents, or just lived through being a teenager, Hysteria! will resonate with you. Hysteria! airs on Peacock and USA Network simultaneously on October 18th with new episodes each Friday.

For more on Halloween, make sure to check out Fright-A-Thon.

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