When the horror anthology series Them: The Scare premiered on Prime Video in 2021, it was met with mixed reception. The first season currently holds a 58% on Rotten Tomatoes with some critics taking issue with the familiarity behind the horror sequences and the graphic depiction of racial violence. Vulture’s Angelica Jade Bastién slammed the show as “degradation porn,” and wrote “it does not truly care about Black people. It only knows how to wring terror from the pain we experience.”
Polygon’s Quinci LeGardye shared similar remarks in her review and cautioned people, “especially Black viewers,” to avoid watching the show.
On the other side, some praised Them‘s social commentary amid the horrific landscape. Mediaversity’s Deborah Mouton wrote, “The show gives room to see Black women support and be present for each other.”
So, which is it? Well, anybody who follows the horror genre knows that a horror television show or movie getting mixed reviews is nothing new. The genre has been greatly unappreciated, and frankly misunderstood, within critic spaces for decades. And on a greater scale, reviews are often shaped by personal experiences and interests, which differ among everybody because we’re all individual people — and that’s something that Them creator Little Marvin understands.
Going into Season 2, which premiered all eight episodes on Apr. 25, 2024, Little Marvin tells Decider that he stands by the show he made and welcomes critics to continue watching.
“Here’s the thing, part of the joy of getting to make things is that you put things out in the world and the way people respond to it the way they respond,” he told Decider over a Zoom call. “You can’t control that. The only thing you can control is “Did I mean it?”
Little Marvin adds, “With the three years passed, I can say with absolute clarity that we 1,000% meant the show that we made. I’m proud of that show. I’m proud of its fearlessness. And I’ve also been very heartened by how people have come back to it.”
Focusing on the positive, the show creator says that people who dismissed the series when it premiered have revisited it and “written beautiful messages.”
“I get messages all the time from people around the world who are like, ‘I’m watching it now and I kind of dig it.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, yes, as long as you come to it when you come to it, that’s all that matters,’” Little Marvin says. “But I will say, whether you’d liked the first season or not, this is a standalone season, and you’re able to enjoy [Season 2] on its own terms.”
Them Season 2, which is also being referred to as Them: The Scare, takes place in Los Angeles County in 1991 and follows Detective Dawn Reeve — played by returning actor Deborah Ayorinde — as she investigates the violent murder of a foster home mother and struggles with the community’s resistance to the LAPD following the assault of Black activist Rodney King.
Little Marvin says he’s “obsessed” with that time and is a “nerd of the ’90s.”
“I knew artistically and creatively I wanted to put [the show] then,” he explains. “I would also say socio-culturally, it was a fraught time in Los Angeles history. Our show takes place in the days after the Rodney King tape is released, and I knew that that would be an interesting, thorny, and complex environment to see a woman navigate the city during that tumult.”
In addition to Ayorinde, the season stars Pam Grier and Luke James as regulars.
Them Season 2 is now streaming on Prime Video in its entirety.
