FROM Season 4 Review
- Viktoria
- Jul 7
- 6 min read
Creator: John Griffin
Year of release: 2022 -
Country of origin: US
Spoiler status: Major spoilers ahead
Genre: Surreal & Uncanny Horror
FROM, the MGM+ marvel many don't know about, is one of the best horror shows I've watched in the past few years. It's got mystery, intensity, drama, and above all, spine-chilling horror. This year, we got to enjoy the penultimate season of this gripping tale. If this show knows anything, it's how to answer questions without actually answering them. It doesn't give away its secrets for free. You have to work for them, put the puzzle pieces together, and try to see the bigger picture. Does this mean we eventually come to understand everything that's happening on the screen? Absolutely not. Does this make the whole experience that much better? Most definitely. Because what is scarier than the unknown? Mystery gives horror a special kind of flavor that you'll be talking about long after the screen fades to black. But what FROMville mysteries are we left with after the Season 4 finale?
Let's dive into this postmortem and find out.
What is FROM?
For the ones who still don't know what FROM is, what are you doing reading about Season 4? You're going to spoil the whole fun for yourself!
I mean, if you like spoilers, then by all means, stay. But don't try to blame me later for ruining the show for you!
FROM is an MGM+ show that dives into the mysteries of a town that shouldn't even exist. Many people compare it to Lost, since those who arrive at this place can't leave and have no idea what is happening. To add to the troubles of these unfortunate souls, they are also hunted by humanoid creatures that always wear the widest smile, but can turn into nightmarish creatures in a matter of seconds.
In previous seasons, we were given quite a lot of clues about FROMville. It's a magical place created by a ritual, and the reincarnations of certain people keep coming back to try to right the wrongs of one of their previous lives. Magical portals, giant spiders, deadly cicadas, nightmares coming to life... This place really has all the necessary tools to make you hate your life. But the one thing everybody needs, and no one has, is a way home. The creators of the show have stated that many of the show's mysteries and clues have been hiding in plain sight from day one. Is it possible that the missing puzzle piece has been staring us right in the face this whole time? I don't have the answer to this question, but I have a feeling that the way out is more obvious than the fans think. Once it's revealed, we'll all be smacking our foreheads.
FROM Season 4
It feels like a lot of things have been revealed in the penultimate season of this nightmare.
Here are some of the revelations in no particular order:
Fatima's pregnancy ended up saving people
Jade and Tabitha found a way to learn more about their previous lives here
Smiley's back!
A new major baddie entered the chat
Elgin learned how to grow a spine
Acosta isn't all that bad
Jim is very bad at communicating... Even in the afterlife
Julie's superpower is making shocked faces at people
So what does all this mean for the story?
It means that we're nearing the end, and things are getting incredibly intense. With Fatima's newly gained control over the monsters, she managed to save Tabitha, Jade, Boyd, and Ellis from certain death. It might've been at her own expense, but she saved some of the (probably) key pieces of this puzzle. Did this place know what it was doing when it made her pregnant? Was it on purpose because it knew these characters would need someone to save them? Trust me, I keep asking myself this since the season finale, and I can't seem to come up with an answer.
In the meantime, Sophia, our brand-new shapeshifter resident, keeps on pouring gasoline onto the fire. Throughout the season, I kept thinking that she was the main villain. I mean, they literally showed us that she was cannibalizing the corpses of the previous residents. But is she really a villain or is she just a well-placed plot device that makes sure everything works out just the way it should? In my opinion, it's the latter. She could've killed everyone the first night she arrived in town, but she didn't. That alone should be a big clue.
And of course, we can't skip the two characters who are in the middle of all this. Throughout Season 4, Jade and Tabitha have been trying to find some answers in their own memory. Jade tried to open a gateway to his past selves using some type of mushrooms he found in the woods. Tabitha, in the meantime, was intensely staring at things, hoping that something would float back to her. Somehow it worked. And this is how we found out that in their previous lives, they weren't killed by the monsters, but by the other residents. This revelation was mentioned almost as something irrelevant, because as soon as it was said out loud, it was also brushed aside. Does this mean we can count on some good old-fashioned mutiny in Season 5? I guess we'll find out in about a year.
The Aftermath
Audiences across the globe are split when it comes to Season 4 of MGM+'s FROM. Some say that the show is now more mystery than horror, while others praise it for keeping the tone intense and scary. Where do I land on this matter? Somewhere in between. Even though I love this show to death, I can't turn a blind eye to some of its shortcomings. Some of the actors seem to either overact or underact. Harold Perrineau (playing Boyd Stevens) is overly energetic at all times, while Catalina Sandino Moreno (playing Tabitha Matthews) feels like a washcloth in most of her scenes. The energy they bring doesn't always match what a scene calls for. At times, the pacing slows almost to a halt, and the monsters aren't as present as in previous seasons. But the creators also gave us a lot of positives, like Fatima's side plot, Elgin's redemption arc, and the revelation that not everything in this cursed place is unkillable. In a way, they gave us hope. So even though the show does have some faults, I wouldn't say that they ruin the experience. If anything, they balance it out.
As for the upcoming final season, all I can say is that I can't wait for it to arrive. Season 4 left us with so many questions. What's up with Fatima's golem? And was her transformation permanent? How will they proceed with the bones they retrieved? What will happen now that the Bottle Tree has been pulled from the ground? And last but not least, where and what the hell is The Lake of Tears?
As I mentioned in the intro, this show is great at giving us answers without actually answering anything. This season unveiled some of the Town's deep, dark secrets to us, but in doing so, it revealed even more questions that remain to be answered. Some would argue that the show is stretched out, and it should've been done in three seasons. I understand where that's coming from. When something's over-explained, it loses some of its ability to scare. But this show does it perfectly. Whenever something's explained, a new unknown is introduced, leaving the plot just as mysterious as it was at the beginning. We're four seasons in, and we still don't have any answers for what's happening in FROMville.
Wouldn't you call this peak filmmaking?
Rating: 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️ (4/5)
Even though it's perfect to me, I'm aware of the issues the show has. Unfortunately, this means the season cannot get a perfect score. But don't take this as a discouragement! It's definitely worth your time, especially if you like screaming at your screen in hopes that the characters will somehow hear you. Give it a go and see if you can decipher all the clues and mysteries before the final season airs.
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