Long Day's Journey Into Night

## Episode guide

**"Long Day's Journey Into Night"** is the first episode of the first season of *From* and the first episode of the show overall.

## Synopsis

*The Matthews' family road trip takes a horrifying turn when they are detoured to a small town from which they cannot leave. When their family RV crashes, Sheriff Boyd Stevens and other residents rush to save them before the sun goes down.*

## Plot

As daylight fades, Sheriff Boyd Stevens walks through the Town ringing a bell, signaling for people to return to their homes. Sara Myers locks up the Diner, and touches a talisman by the doorway, while a tabletop jukebox mysteriously turns on. At one house, Meagan Pratt plays on the swing set and asks her mother for five more minutes, but Boyd instructs her to listen to her mother. At the local Clinic, Kristi informs Deputy Kenny Liu and his elderly father, Bing-Qian, that it is time for him to go to the basement. Bing-Qian gets agitated, but Kristi calms him, and Gina helps the old man downstairs. As he exits, Kenny compliments Kristi’s skill in calming his father. He awkwardly lingers, clearly enamored with Kristi, but she instructs him to get home before locking up and checking the talisman. After watching the residents of a nearby mansion get inside, Boyd retires to his office, but not before checking the sign outside that reads “NIGHTS WITHOUT INCIDENT: 96.” Tom, the owner of a bar, tries to rouse Frank Pratt, Meagan’s father, from his drunken stupor, but gives up and leaves him passed out on the floor. Meanwhile, Frank’s wife Lauren anxiously waits at the door for her husband, and waits by the door while instructing her daughter to say her prayers. Upstairs, Meagan concludes her prayers when she hears an old woman knocking at the window, calling herself Grandma. Meagan says she is not supposed to open the window, but the old woman promises to keep it a secret. Lauren gets upstairs just in time to see Meagan open the window, and the old woman turns into a horrifying creature and attacks them.

The next morning, the Matthews family is embarking on a roadtrip in an RV. Inside, the elder daughter, Julie, plays with her younger brother, Ethan’s, toys, enacting a scene for him where one of them, Norman, succumbs to his wounds from a monster. Norman’s death agitates Ethan, who asks him to be brought back to life, but Julie refuses, prompting Ethan to complain to their mother. Tabitha chides her daughter and asks what happened. Ethan says that the monsters killed him, and Tabitha tells him that monsters aren’t real, which means that Norman is still alive, cheering her son.

In Town, a hungover Frank walks back to his house, where he sees a crowd gathered outside. He is then met by a furious Boyd, who slaps him and berates him for not nailing the windows shut when he had a small child in the house. Frank, realizing what happened, breaks down in tears while Boyd drags him upstairs to look upon the eviscerated bodies of his wife and daughter, causing him to break down even further. As Frank sobs on the floor, Boyd orders Kenny to lock him up. On his way out, he passes Father Khatri, who goes upstairs to presumably administer last rites.

On the road, Jim Matthews fondly recalls the first time he and Tabitha drove up to meet her parents. The two reminisce about the car he had back then, and how her parents did not end up hating him. Jim says it reminds him that things weren’t always the way they are, and Tabitha tells him not to try and do that. They then come across a lone Fallen Tree blocking the road. They inspect the tree, finding it odd that there is only one fallen tree. Soon, the family is frightened by the appearance of a flock of crows, who loudly squawk overhead. With no way of moving or getting around it, they get back in the RV and try to circle around.

On the outskirts of Town, Boyd approaches Donna, the leader of the group at the mansion known as Colony House, who scolds him for going against their agreement by coming there. Boyd asks to see his son, and is invited inside. Upstairs, Ellis, Boyd’s son, is sketching his girlfriend Fatima, who is modeling for him. Ellis praises her beauty when Boyd walks in, and Fatima enthusiastically greets him before leaving him alone with his son. Ellis sullenly asks his father why he’s come and Boyd explains the deaths of the Pratt women. An irritated Boyd tells Ellis that he should come to the funeral service before leaving.

Back on the road, the Matthews struggle to find the highway, and have no cell reception. Eventually, they make it into Town. As the funeral for the Pratts is concluding, the townspeople notice the RV arriving and Boyd and Kenny go to talk to Jim, who asks for help getting back to the highway. Boyd tells him to follow the road up the hill and he’ll see it. As they drive, Julie tries to scare her brother by telling him that groups of crows are called murders, and that they’re going to peck at him in his sleep. Jim angrily tells her to stop, while Tabitha says that she thinks the birds were ravens, groups of which are called “an unkindness,” and pointedly looks at her daughter. However, the road leads them back into the center of town, freaking them out. Sara finds her brother Nathan as he heads to the Barn to feed the livestock, and mournfully remarks how the worst part is when they still expect to find the road that leads to home. The Matthews try to rationalize what’s happening to them, but return to the center of Town.

Jim then makes a U-turn and heads in the opposite direction, while Boyd tells Kenny to get the spike strip. However, on the way back the Matthews encounter a speeding car heading their way and swerve to avoid it, going down a hill and the RV turns over on its side, while the other car crashes into a tree. The driver of the car finds Boyd and Kenny on the road and informs them of the accident. Boyd rushes to the accident and orders Kenny to get Kristi and help. Kenny brings him to Kristi, who hands the driver, Tobey, off to Gina, while Boyd finds Jade, the second passenger in the car, who is clearly out of it, and cuffs him to his car. Boyd finds the RV  and begins helping the Matthews out of the RV, but Tabitha is knocked out and Ethan’s leg has been impaled by a table leg. Kenny, Kristi, Khatri and Ellis arrive to help the crash victims. Boyd successfully retrieves a panicked but otherwise unharmed Julie, while the others work on helping Jade and the trapped family members.

At the clinic, Sara brings recently awoken Tobey a glass of water and tells him that things will be ok and that he should rest.

Tabitha is successfully retrieved from the RV, but Kristi says that it will take at least an hour to safely remove the table leg from Ethan’s leg, while Kenny informs them that they have 40 minutes until dark. Boyd and Kristi decide to stay in the RV overnight with a talisman. Jim, Tabitha and Julie try to stay, but Boyd tells them that the woods are not safe after dark and pleads with them to head to town, but permits Jim to stay.

Meanwhile, Sara observes Tobey as he wakes up again and asks if everyone is okay. Sara answers that she doesn’t think so and Tobey begins panicking. Sara shushes and kisses him, calming Tobey before telling him that it isn’t his fault before stabbing him in the neck, killing him.

At the RV, Boyd tells his son that if the guy cuffed to the car gives him any trouble, he should cut him loose before thanking him for coming. Ellis tells his father that he knows his plan is suicide, but Boyd tells him to just take care of the family. Nearby, Tabitha tells Jim she can’t leave, saying her baby is inside the RV and they’ll just get Thomas out and leave. Jim reminds her that it’s Ethan that’s stuck and Tabitha breaks down in tears, explaining that her head just hurts. A crying and frightened Tabitha tells Jim that she doesn’t trust the people from Town but Kenny arrives and says the need to leave. Jim enters the RV, where he helps Kristi prepare to remove the table leg from Ethan while Boyd prepares the RV by blocking all the windows and exits and hanging the talisman. The rest of them head back to Town on the truck, but the tires are popped by the spike strip Kenny had laid down earlier, so Khatri and Ellis lead them to Colony House.

Inside the RV, Ethan begins seizing, and Kristi has Jim hold him down. Night falls completely, and Boyd peeks outside the window and sees dozens of Creatures surrounding them.

## Cast

* Boyd Stevens - Harold Perrineau
* Jim Matthews - Eion Bailey
* Tabitha Matthews - Catalina Sandino Moreno
* Jade Herrera - David Alpay
* Donna Raines - Elizabeth Saunders
* Father Rudra Khatri - Shaun Majumder
* Victor - Scott McCord
* Kenny Liu - Ricky He
* Kristi Miller - Chloe Van Landschoot
* Fatima Hassan - Pegah Ghafoori
* Ellis Stevens - Corteon Moore
* Julie Matthews - Hannah Cheramy
* Ethan Matthews - Simon Webster
* Sara Myers - Avery Konrad
* Nathan Myers - Paul Zinno
* Tian Chen Liu - Elizabeth Moy (credit only)
* Bing-Qian Liu - Simon Sinn
* Frank Pratt - Bob Mann
* Tobey McCray - Colby Conrad
* Meagan Pratt - Isabella May Martin
* Lauren Pratt - Ann Doyle
* Gina - Jessica Barry
* Tom - Reid Price
* Old Lady Creature - Sara Campbell

## Credits

* Plot summary was written by TV Fanatic
* Promo images created by Epix/MGM+ and gathered by TV Fanatic