What’s better for fans of Hudson Williams, aka Shane Hollander from Heated Rivalry? TWO Hudson Williams! The actor plays a double-role in Yaga, an 8-episode mystery-horror series from Kat Sandler, who adapts her own play.
Yaga: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Dark waters lapping at the shore. “You say I am old, old as the earth,” a woman with a Ukrainian accent says in voiceover. “You say I live alone in the woods, in a hut on chicken feet…”
The Gist: Someone’s gone missing in sleepy Whittock, an island community in British Columbia: Henry Park (Williams), the handsome guy-about-town heir to a local fishing industry dynasty. While Sergeant Carson (Clark Backo) thinks Henry just jetted off to Europe or something, the arrival (via helicopter) of Charlie Rapp (Noah Reid), a brash private investigator employed by the Park family, indicates concern.
A more immediate concern: what’s with this dude? Rapp does that notices-little-details thing PI’s love to do. But he’s also a total horn dog, who’d rather flirt with Carson than respect her position and local knowledge. Rapp also isn’t revealing his full story, at least not publicly, not from what we see in his phone. But in the meantime, these mismatched investigators are looking into Henry and where he might have gone.
Since Yaga begins with an unsettling voiceover from someone unseen, as the camera flies over dark expanses of treetops and fixates on glowing infernos in the forest, we sense something lurking from the get-go. (Mysterious references to bloody chicken parts add to this.) But Yaga is also doing conventional small-town mystery stuff, with characters who clearly know more than they let on. How is it that missing local rich boy Henry has a “roommate” who looks exactly like Henry, only he wears glasses? And speaking of characters, where does Dr. Katherine Hargrove (Moss) fit in? Jealous of the local college professor’s relationship with Henry, his ex-girlfriend calls her the “boner beast,” and Hargrove’s first meeting with Rapp is full of seductive suggestion.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The scenery and isolated community and general Canadian-ness of Yaga brought us back to Sterling Point. But we also thought of Yellowjackets, with its secrets among women and its flair for the grotesque.
Our Take: “Did you know that your spine is designed for slow, deliberate movements — bending, arching, rippling?” Yanking out a private investigator’s spine isn’t part of Dr. Hargrove’s description, but in Yaga, it’s all about the delivery, so we think this Charlie Rapp better, um, watch his back. There’s obviously something strange happening in Whittock, and with its strong references to Eastern European folk tales, we anticipate Yaga driving past its typical superficial mystery stuff to reveal darker, more supernatural realities.
Performance Worth Watching: Carrie-Anne Moss, of course!
Sex and Skin: Definitely. Whittock’s a randy island. Rapp isn’t in town a day before he’s hooking up with Angel (Emilija Baranac).
Parting Shot: “Now it’s time to listen…” the creepy voiceover returns to conclude the first episode of Yaga, as Charlie Rapp receives texts from someone we won’t spoil.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Yaga is possessed of some mildly disorienting “Someone is watching you” fear while it doubles as a missing persons mystery. We want to know what will be revealed in this little island community.
Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.
