The Devil’s Hour, on Amazon Prime, is an atmospheric British thriller about a social worker, Lucy Stevens, neé Chambers (Jessica Raine) who wakes from nightmares every night at 3:33AM, the so-called “devil’s hour”. She has a young son, Isaac (Benjamin Chivers), who is a silent, emotionless automaton, and who is, frankly, creepy. While awake, Lucy is plagued by flashes from her nightmares…or is it her memory? Or the future? As she shuttles between her son’s seventh psychiatrist and her soul-draining job, Lucy is barely keeping it together. Meanwhile, Di Ravi Dhillon (Nikesh Patel) and his partner DS Nick Holness (Alex Ferns) are working on murder cases that have an unknown connection. Throughout the series, there are scenes of Lucy having a frustrating conversation with a cryptic prisoner, Gideon Shepherd (Peter Capaldi). Eventually, all three of these plot lines will meet for a bonkers reveal that will have you googling, “Devil’s Hour ending explained.”
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The Characters
Lucy is extremely likable, although we have to wonder how she’s holding it all together. Her mom, who is a schizophrenic, lives nearby, and doesn’t always recognize Lucy. Isaac, while docile enough, is spooky, whispering dialogue to conversations that only he can hear, and showing no emotion or reaction to physical pain. Lucy is recently separated from her husband, Mike Stevens (Phil Dunster), who is so freaked out by his son that he doesn’t want anything to do with him. When Lucy tells him, after he spends the night but bolts before having to encounter Isaac, that she’s changing her name back to Chambers, Mike tries to re-insert himself into their lives, even babysitting Isaac, but he struggles to hide his true nature. DI Ravi Dhillon, who lives alone, is a smart detective, but is extremely squeamish around blood, about which his veteran partner, DS Holness, razzes him. Nevertheless, they are friends, and make a solid investigating team. However, Holness’ temper does get them into trouble with a local gang. As for the Gideon Shepherd character, I literally can’t say anything more because of spoilers.
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Our take on The Devil’s Hour
I confess that I had the wrong idea about this series, so I didn’t bother with it for a long time. Based on the marketing, I thought Peter Capaldi was the devil, or at least had that particular delusion of himself. But that’s not at all what is going on. When season 2 was announced, (for Oct 2024), I decided to revisit it. Suffice it to say that you’ll have to have faith in my and others’ reviews, and just start watching The Devil’s Hour. The visuals are very haunting, to the degree that I had a nightmare after watching it. It does get a bit draggy in episodes 4 and 5, there is some silliness, like people walking into dangerous situations without backup, and things can get confusing, but overall, it’s an enjoyable, complex plot that you really have to pay attention to. In fact, I had to go back to episode one to remind myself of certain details, and I take notes! You’ll think you have it figured out, but there are still some crazy reveals in the final episode. If you like atmospheric narratives that are puzzles, The Devil’s Hour is for you.
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