“I have always been interested in micro communities and the dynamics of small groups,” proclaimed screenwriter Daria Polatin (Jack Ryan, Heels). “What are the buy-ins to those groups – biological family, chosen family, friend groups, social groups or even school?” These buy-ins are part of social and behavioral adaptations that we’re all part of. If these buy-ins are taken to the extreme, the group may be referred to as a cult. This is what Mae Dodd (Madeleine Arthur) escaped when found by Dr. Suzanne Mathis (Emily Deschanel) in Polatin’s new limited TV series Devil In Ohio.

These cult buy-ins often rely on the forfeiture of control and include “ways of dressing, phrase of speech, the way you wear your hair that people adopt to be a part of that group.”

Buy-ins insidiously reduce one’s personal choices, but a cult reduces them to near zero. “In a cult, you’re giving over to the ideology whether you’re aware of it or not.”

It all began many years ago when Daria Polatin wrote a TV pilot about a girl who left her community and returned several years later to find it had turned into a cult. The writer gave her script to a manager/ producer friend Rachel Miller who later become an executive producer on Devil In Ohio.

Daria Polatin

The TV pilot triggered a true story Miller heard about a cult in Ohio and asked Polatin to write a book titled Devil In Ohio in 2017 which was fictionalized and dramatized from Miller’s brief.

Despite the five year gap between the book being published and the TV series being produced, the story didn’t lay in a drawer. They circulated the book to studio and network buyers and sold it to Netflix in 2018. Then Polatin began writing the pilot and developing the series with the network. So, the project was always in continual development.

For the book version, Daria wanted to lean into the YA slant of the story. “I had always known that the story was going to be told through the lens of two teenaged girls – Mae and Jules (Xaria Dotson) Dr. Mathis’ daughter who felt pushed out.”

Polatin then had a child. As a new mother, she tilted the focus toward Dr. Suzanne Mathis when the show moved into series. “I had the visceral protective instincts that go along with motherhood.”

Escaping a cult is the stuff many films and television shows are made of. “The thing about Devil In Ohio is that Mae escapes with a pentagram carved in her back. That’s a very visual and visceral experience.” That sparks the mystery of the cult.

Constructing A Cult From Scratch

Daria Polatin undertook extensive research into all kinds of cults. Daria and her writing team created their own cult based on it. “We created our own ideology to create our own unique cult. We wrote our cult bible – The Book of Covenants, and we wrote our own scriptures and hymns.”

One of the more unsettling aspects of Devil In Ohio is “that it could happen to you. A cult is just a town away. It’s that community that’s a little odd and you don’t know too much about it.”

A cult is one step removed from the weird house at the end of your street

Devil In Ohio utilizes various symbols to illustrate the cult. “We used a small selection of sigils – the Chenor and Digdin sigils.” Polatin said. “Sigils are a way of externalizing and visualising the ideology.” The Chenor sigil is the Granter Of Wishes. “It’s part of the ideology that indicates that suffering and sacrifice will be rewarded.” The greater the pain, the greater the rewards.

Although initially pitched as a YA vehicle, in the book, theDevil In Ohio TV series is ultimately presented through Suzanne’s point of view. “The plot of the series is still about Mae. Will she go back? Is she a force for good or evil.” The wider question is why Suzanne brings Mae home. “What is in Suzanne’s psychology that pushes her further and further to protect Mae at the expense of rupturing her family?”

Suzanne came from a troubled family. “She’s behaving how she wanted to be saved at Mae’s age by projecting onto Mae. She’s blinded by that spot in her subconscious – the difference between who she is and who she thinks she is.”

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you’ll call it fate – Carl Jung

“To that end, Suzanne has done a lot of work on herself and became a psychiatrist. But she’s locked off a painful part of her traumatic past.” Suzanne needs to face her traumas and realize how detrimentally her behaviour is affecting her. She needs to let go and allow Mae to move on.

Who Is Mae Dodd?

“Mae is a survivor. She has an internal instinct that prompts her to escape the cult. She’s seeking shelter, salvation, and protection.” As the series progresses, her intentions are questioned. Is she trying to ruin the Mathis family? “Is she a victim or a perpetrator?”

Mae is simply trying to survive and find her place. Any tension in the Mathis family, and specifically with Jules, is an unintentional consequence of that.

Mae and Suzanne’s key driver is to escape their past without necessarily resolving it. “This raises the question of whether you can actually escape your past or are you always doomed to repeat the patterns you’ve learned?”

You can take the girl out of the cult, but can you take the cult out of the girl?

Mae has so much depth and groundedness to her character. “She keeps us intrigued and we play it until the last seconds of the show,” added Daria.

As the relationship between Suzanne and Mae unfolds, Devil In Ohio explores themes of worthiness. “In one defining scene, Mae says to Suzanne, ‘Your kindness is too much.’ Suzanne responds, ‘You deserve it.‘” This rattles Mae because she’s never felt worthy of protection and love. Suzanne continues, “It’s not your fault your family is broken. You deserve to be loved.” Suzanne struggles with the same issues with her own mother during a period of domestic abuse in her youth.

Devil In Ohio is a delectable genre blend of family drama, mystery, psychological thriller. “We also have the creepy cult lurking in the shadows desperate to get Mae back,” opined Polatin.

Dr. Suzanne Mathis (Emily Deschanel) & Mae Dodd (Madeleine Arthur) Photo by Ricardo Hubbs/Netflix

Daria Polatin describes her show as an eight-part movie that becomes one piece of art at the end.

“All the pieces connect. There are clues and Easter eggs running throughout the series waiting to be discovered. I see it as weaving a tapestry with different threads, colors, and textures.”

The pace of Devil In Ohio is deliberately slow. “While we’re doling out the mystery in small doses, we’re continually moving the characters forward.” The drama and character storylines propel the narrative, while the mystery is neatly threaded throughout to give it some breathing room.

“I wanted the audience to feel that they are Suzanne trying to figure out what’s going on.” Suzanne comforts and nurtures Mae until she starts opening up about the cult.

Alex Lopez (Gerardo Celasco) brings out the ‘True Detective’ aspects of the show as he too tries to figure out the mystery behind Mae.

Daria Polatin began her writing career as a playwright before transitioning into television writing. Her work spans a variety of genres. “I’ve written for Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Hunters (Al Pacino hunting Nazis), Castle Rock and the wresting drama Heels.” This wide range isn’t an issue for Polatin so long as all her writing is focused on character and their psychology.

The genre is the lens and setting of the story, so it doesn’t matter what it is.

Daria’s background in playwriting has informed her writing style. “I try to put as much of that on the page for the actors. Give as much depth, specificity, and complexity so the actors have strong legs to stand on. I strive for the most rigorous emotional authenticity that I can. I get beneath the surface into the discomfort.”

Once she does this, she adds another character to react to that discomfort. “When your unconscious feelings come out, they’re not always pretty or easy and you need to reconcile that.“