When I was younger, I honestly believed that bad people who do bad things will get their comeuppance in due course. I used to repeat this mantra to my husband ever so often. He was either wiser or just plain cynical because he was sure that wasn’t always the case.

Older and a tad wiser, I must concede than comeuppance, retribution, punishment, accountability are rare occurances. Particularly for people and companies with money, might and influence. Factually and anecdotally, there is enough evidence of people who do bad things, continue to merrily do bad things, and surreptitiously and/or openly get away scot-free. And, to add insult to injury, pretences are made of acting against alleged wrong-doers via piddly fines or worse, a slap on the wrist.

‘… in many parts of the world, there are entire groups of people who are not really subject to the rule of law, as they are able to evade punishment even if caught breaking the law. Who these groups are, and how large they are, varies from country to country. De facto immunity from punishment can run with class status, kinship, wealth, ethnicity, or status as a political elite[1].

So true. These ‘special’ people are the powers that be and/or have the ears or pockets of people in/with power. Well-heeled, they walk the halls of justice lawyered-up and bold faced. Formidable, they have ways/channels to discredit, scare people and/or witnesses and those who don’t toe ‘their’ line.  Influential, they have a phalanx of supporters, who believe them and in them, regardless of the truth and facts. Prominent, they have genuine and orchestrated cheerleaders. Intimidating, they are not easy to shake or break.  

The poor and marginalised, meanwhile, are prosecuted before you can say boo for any, and all offences. This is true. A local newspaper reported that a self-employed father of six was sentenced to five months’ jail for stealing groceries including two five-kilograms packets of rice. He stole to feed his family.

“The offence under Section 380 of the Penal Code provides for a jail term of up to 10 years or a fine, upon conviction. During mitigation, the unrepresented accused asked for a lenient sentence saying that this was his first offence and that he was the sole breadwinner of the family[2].

I am not condoning stealing under any circumstance. What I found fascinating was how clear cut the case was. The stolen grocery bill totalled RM664.70. A month in jail for every RM132.94 stolen x 5 months. His haul was not fancy hand bags or luxury cars. Just necessities. However, when the thievery is in the millions and billions, the cases become hazy and nailing the so-called perpetrators becomes almost impossible. There are many big-ticket cases that are pending with no end in sight, while the alleged offenders go about their daily lives – on the outside.

In this world, I now know that there’s no such thing as just desserts. In the Netflix-world, there is. At least in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’ Yes, I know. It’s fiction. I figured if you can’t get the baddies in the real world at least you can get them really good in the make-believe world.

‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ is a narrative of the all too familiar vices that are so prevalent in the world today. Personal and corporate greed, power with impunity, pride, arrogance, entitlement, apathy, and questionable ‘family ties and values.’ And, the unsurprising golden rule of the megarich Usher family – “He, who has the gold, makes the rules.”

Briefly, Roderick Usher is the suave but immoral CEO of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals. His evil twin is the wealth-and-success-driven Madelline Usher. Roderick has six children, borne of different mothers, not wives, except for the oldest two, Frederick and Tamerlane. The balance of the brood comprises Victorine, Napoleon, Camille, and Prospero.

The first episode starts with the funeral of three of the Usher children. The following episodes detail how Roderick and Madelline obtain their power and richness by bartering their souls. The duo knowingly peddle painkillers with false marketing claims that result in many deaths. Finally, the ghastly demise of Roderick’s six adult children, who are themselves ghastly, not-at-all-nice people.

I’m not a fan of torture, decapitation, grisly murders and/or anything that is squeamish or painful to watch.That is normally my cue to walk over to the kitchen or ask my husband to fast-forward the offending scenes. Not this time. I surprised myself. I did not flinch nor feel sad when not one of the Usher-clan remained standing at the end of the eight-part mini-series. I think I might have even felt a sense of relieve that the bloodline is no longer alive to cause further damage, death, and misery. Finally, comeuppance, if not in the real world at least in the world of make-believe.