In the Shocking 'From' Season 3 Premiere, the Frombies Bring Their A Game

By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 23, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | September 23, 2024 |

A frequent (and apt) way to describe MGM+’s From is that it’s basically Lost crossed with Stephen King (and adding a Maine location in the season three premiere only highlights the latter). Another show it reminds me of—and one that it may prefer not to be compared to—is The Walking Dead, particularly the earlier seasons set in the prison and in Alexandria.

From, like Alexandria, is essentially set in a closed community. Instead of being threatened by zombies, the residents of this town, the “Fromsians, are surrounded by monsters that combine elements of zombies and sirens. In both cases, the monsters are deadly if they get inside, but they prove surprisingly inept when it comes to door mechanisms (in the case of From, it’s because talismans protect homes unless the creatures are otherwise invited in).

However, in the season three premiere, the Frombies figure out door latches! It’s a whole new ballgame, as demonstrated when the Frombies open the barn and let all the animals out in the middle of the night. This act could be devastating for a community that relies on milk and eggs from a dwindling number of farm animals. (I could have sworn someone mentioned in the first season that they were magically replenished, much like the town’s electricity, which seems to come from nowhere.)

The chaos of the animals being let out escalates further when Boyd leads the townspeople in an attempt to corral them back into the barn during the dangerous nighttime hours when the Frombies roam. Thankfully, the speed at which the Frombies move seems to relate inversely to the amount of plot armor the character they’re chasing has. Despite dragging animals, which have no apparent sense of urgency, the townspeople manage to evade the Frombies. But once Boyd and Tian Chen Liu (Kenny’s mom) get the animals inside and locked the gate, they turn around only to find that the Frombies are already inside.

The Frombies are evolving! They’re becoming more clever and sadistic. Instead of killing Boyd, which they easily could have done, they chose to break his spirit by making him watch them brutally kill Kenny’s mom. This seems to be part of a larger pattern: the monsters appear to feed on the despair and hopelessness of the townspeople. The monsters feed off hope, and breaking Boyd would be a huge victory for them.

Meanwhile, the other major plotline is set in Camden, Maine, which is decidedly not shot in Camden, Maine, no matter how many picturesque sailboats are in the background (Nova Scotia plays Maine here). At the end of last season, the boy in white pushed Tabitha out of a lighthouse, and she awoke in Camden, seemingly back in the real world. She made a tearful phone call to her mother, confirming that she is, in fact, back in reality. But how can Tabitha rescue the rest of her family from what feels increasingly like a pocket universe akin to the one in Riverdale?

She needs to follow the boy in white, who leads her — and Victor’s lunchbox — to a man who seems to be Victor’s father (or perhaps his brother). This man isn’t interested in talking to Tabitha but is very intrigued by the lunchbox he hasn’t seen in decades. Does this man somehow hold the key to returning to the town or freeing its residents? Well, you don’t cast Robert Joy in a throwaway role, so he figures to play a crucial role.

Elsewhere:

— The crops are rotting, and there’s only enough food left for about a month, making the farm animals more critical than ever. That asshole Randall tried to steal a goat for himself but was stopped by Victor, who brandished a gun. Later, however, Randall redeemed himself by saving Julie and Ethan from the Frombies.

— Jade is losing his mind. His beard is more unkempt than last season, and the place is clearly taking a toll on him. Maybe the old man Boyd encountered last season is a future version of Jade — sort of From’s Face of Boe.

— How sweet (and tragic) was it that Ethan wanted his baby goat, Alma, to die first so she wouldn’t have to “watch her friends die,” just like Boyd had to watch Tian Chen Liu suffer. Friends don’t let friends watch them die!

— Kenny and Jim went out to look for Tabitha, but after encountering strange statues spending the night in a random hut, they decided to return home the next morning. The statues have a very Pet Sematary feel to them.

As always, the biggest question remains: Will From be able to resolve its mysteries before it is canceled?