NOS4A2 follows Victoria "Vic" McQueen, a young working-class artist who discovers that she has a supernatural ability to track the seemingly immortal Charlie Manx. Manx feeds on the souls of children, then deposits what remains of them into Christmasland—a twisted Christmas Village of Manx's imagination where every day is Christmas Day and unhappiness is against the law. Vic must strive to defeat Manx and rescue his victims—without losing her mind or falling victim to him herself.[1]
The immortal 135-year-old Charlie Manx lures a child from his home in Here, Iowa into his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith bound for Christmasland, a magical place "where every day is Christmas and unhappiness is against the law". Meanwhile, Victoria "Vic" McQueen, a Haverhill, Massachusetts townie discovers her supernatural abilities when she is able to portal through an old covered bridge that was demolished long ago.
After crossing the Shorter Way bridge into Here, Iowa, Vic meets Maggie, a medium who uses Scrabble tiles to seek answers to the strange happenings. She explains that like her, Vic is a Strong Creative, a chosen one to find lost children who were kidnapped by Charlie Manx. Meanwhile, Manx visits Haverhill to find Vic but instead recruits school custodian Bing Partridge, who is eager to work in Christmasland and help Manx "rescue and recover" kids from their bad parents.
Vic visits her dream art school RISD with her wealthy friends. Her dream seems out of reach without financial aid, so on Willa's advice, Vic forges her father's signature on a tax return. Back in Haverhill, Manx senses the presence of a Strong Creative, an old woman in the town's psychiatric ward, who used her roller skates as her "knife" to portal. With Bing Partridge's help, Manx tries to track down Vic by the Shorter Way bridge, but meets Vic's young neighbor, Haley, who is looking for her lost cat, Mittens. Later, Bing, while wearing a gas mask, gasses Haley's mother with sevoflurane and kidnaps Haley.
Bing's childhood in Sugarcreek, Pennsylvania with his abusive father and his submissive mother comes into perspective about his adult life as a serial killer. As a teenager, when his father insults him for hanging the Christmas lights too slowly, Bing kills him with a nail gun. When his mother finds out, he mistakes her motherly behavior for romantic affection and ends up raping and killing her, as well. Bing, easily influenced by Manx, re-creates his crime by doing the same with Haley's mother, Sharon. The Shorter Way leads Vic to Bing's house where she discovers the evidence of her kidnapping in the basement. Later, Vic finds her corpse buried in dirt with a nail through her skull. Manx asks that he and Vic meet in person.
Manx lays out his plan for Vic; come to Christmasland and serve as a mother to all the kidnapped children. However, Vic vows to find it and burn the whole place down. Maggie finds the Wraith and the vanity license plate, but when Maggie touches the car, Manx senses it. The Wraith's ignition starts up and slams into Maggie. Vic is questioned by Tabitha Hutter, the detective on the case and she tells her the truth about Manx and his Wraith. Hutter suggests that Vic should be committed to a psych ward. After a little prodding from her dad, Vic signs a voluntary commitment form.
In 1954, Saugus, Massachusetts, young Charlie Manx proposes to Strong Creative Jolene, a carhop at a drive-in. He wants to take her to Christmasland to be a family with all the children he's saved, but she refuses. In the mental ward, Vic is placed in the same room with an aged Jolene, who tells her about Manx. They're transported in Jolene's new knife, a wheelchair, to the Dark Tunnels, Jolene's Inscape where missing child posters dot the walls. Before she dies, Jolene uses her ability to destroy the Wraith's engine, which turns Manx into an old man. In order to leave the hospital, Vic tells the doctor that she made everything up. She asks Maggie, who was discharged earlier, to team up again, but Maggie is done due to her incident with the Wraith. She tosses her Scrabble bag into the trash and returns to Iowa.
A vulnerable Manx finds himself dying and without the Wraith running. After Vic's mother sells her bike, Vic is without her knife and needs to access the Shorter Way to find Manx. She reaches Maggie but she's is no help and is abusing her pain pills. Vic heads to Bike Week with her father to look for another dirt bike, but cannot find one to connect with. Over the course of the episode, Vic continuously gets calls only she can hear from the kidnapped children from Christmasland, including one who calls herself "Millie Manx". Manx and Bing arrive at a scrap yard in Nebraska that has Wraith parts. The proprietress calls Sheriff Joe to report them but, before the local police can respond Manx kills her, and taunts her for being a bad mother and taking her son and grandson many years ago. A sober Maggie wakes up in Joe's home to find his squad car's lights flashing outside. Manx kidnapped Joe and took him to Christmasland to play a deadly game of Scissors for the Drifter.
In the aftermath of Joe's disappearance, Maggie initially turns to her mother for consolation, but can't bring herself to return due to the strict rules. Maggie's Scrabble bag strangely returns and confirm Joe's death at the hands of the Christmasland children. In response, Maggie proceeds to binge on drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile, Vic receives word that she's been accepted into RISD and is invited to a party hosted by Willa. Vic's mother and father briefly reunite at the party, with Linda showing concern about Vic being ready for a college education. After the party, Vic and her mother have an argument which ends in Vic storming out of the house before being captured by Bing. Luckily, she manages to escape from Bing's clutches and, after a phone call from Maggie, recovers her bike and saves Maggie from an overdose. In a bar, Charlie Manx meets with another Strong Creative named Abe and proposes the idea of having Vic be a mother to his children. Abe, however, strongly disagrees, proposing that Manx kill Vic due to the extent of her abilities.
Craig attacks Bing in his house to avenge Vic's abduction. Vic and Maggie arrive to find the house empty. Bing brings Craig to Manx, who questions him about Vic's purity. Vic travels The Shorter Way to Manx's house, where she finds the Wraith with Craig locked in the back, and one of Manx' children hunting her. Manx tosses Vic's bike into the bridge, destroying it, and then burns the house down with Vic trapped inside, but she narrowly escapes. Maggie convinces Detective Hutter that her powers are real and directs the police to find Bing in his old workplace, but they are too late.
Craig escapes his constraints in the trunk of the Wraith and sabotages it by punching a hole in the fuel tank with a crowbar. Vic flags down a biker named Lou Carmody and seeks help in a gas station in what she learns is Colorado. The Wraith pulls up outside the gas station in the same moment. Craig escapes from the trunk into the car, where the child attacks him. Lou holds up Manx at gunpoint, but Manx takes the gun from Lou. Vic sets fire to the Wraith, causing Manx to age horribly. The Wraith explodes, killing Craig. In the hospital, Vic learns that she is pregnant, and that Manx is in a coma. Hutter visits Maggie, and they ask the tiles where Bing is. At Craig's funeral, Vic tells her father that she's pregnant and leaves the town for good. Vic vows to Maggie to find Christmasland and rescue the children. Six months later, Bing is seen working at a dentist's with access to more of the gas. Vic is with Lou and hears Haley inviting her to Christmasland. An automechanic starts the Wraith, causing Manx to wake up from his coma.
Eight years on, Vic discovers Charlie is dead. Maggie takes a risk and consults her tiles. Bing hunts down the destroyed Wraith but hits a roadblock. Millie discovers new aspects of Christmasland.
Charlie Manx fights for his life. Millie Manx determines to never let the lights go out in Christmasland again. Bing receives a long-awaited call. Wayne McQueen, attempting to understand his mother, walks headlong into danger.
Vic McQueen takes the Shorter Way to Haverhill. Lou and Wayne face a terrible threat in her absence. Charlie Manx engages an old friend for a mysterious favor. Millie Manx confronts the past.
Vic and Chris take the Shorter Way to a junkyard; Chris loses his temper; Bing leverages a secret to seek forgiveness; Vic, Lou, Maggie, and Chris hatch a plan; Tabitha impresses her boss.
Vic and Maggie embark on a dangerous journey. Charlie Manx confronts his deepest fears. As her world falls apart, Millie must choose between freedom and her father.
After taking Wayne to the Sleigh House, Vic returns to Christmasland for Maggie; Lou and Tabitha realize that smashing the ornaments returns the kids to normal. Badly weakened, Manx chases Vic and Maggie onto the Shorter Way bridge, but Vic drops the Wraith off the bridge and into the static below, finally killing Manx. In the aftermath, Wayne and the other kids struggle to adapt to normal lives while Millie, who refuses to break her ornament, intends to rebuild Christmasland and get the kids back. Vic, Lou and Wayne move back to Haverhill while Maggie starts searching for others like herself against Vic's wishes. Manx's body and the wrecked Wraith wash up in Haverhill a month after his defeat and Manx is cremated and the Wraith crushed to ensure his final end.
Production
Development
On December 8, 2015, it was announced that AMC had put a television series adaptation of Joe Hill's novel NOS4A2 into development. It was reported that a search was underway for a writer to pen the adaptation. Production companies involved in the series were set to include The Tornante Company and AMC Studios.[25] On May 31, 2017, it was announced that AMC had opened a writers room for the series. Jami O'Brien led the writers room and executive produced alongside Hill.[26]
On April 10, 2018, it was announced that AMC had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes. Additionally, it was reported that O'Brien would serve as showrunner and that Lauren Corrao would be an executive producer.[1][27][28][29]
On March 30, 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere on June 2, 2019.[3]
On July 20, 2019, while at San Diego Comic-Con it was announced that AMC had renewed the series for a second season.[31] The second season finished filming in January 2020[30] and premiered on June 21, 2020.[32] Ratings saw a massive drop during season two, running at about half what they were during season one.[30] On August 31, 2020, AMC canceled the series after two seasons and adapting the entire storyline of the original novel.[33]
Casting
On June 27, 2018, it was announced that Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Virginia Kull, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach had been cast in main roles.[34] On July 5, 2018, it was reported that Jahkara Smith had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.[35] On August 28, 2018, it was announced that Karen Pittman had been cast in a recurring role.[36] On September 13, 2018, it was reported that Zachary Quinto and Ashleigh Cummings had been cast in the series' two lead roles of Charlie Manx and Vic McQueen, respectively.[37] On October 12, 2018, it was announced that Rarmian Newton and Darby Camp had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.[38] On December 17, 2018, it was reported that Ashley Romans would appear in a recurring role.[39]
Release
Marketing
On December 20, 2018, a promotional image from the series was released featuring Zachary Quinto in character as Charlie Manx.[40]
Premiere
The series held its world premiere during the 2019 South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, in March 2019, as a part of the festival's "Episodic Premieres" series of screenings.[41] The first episode premiered on AMC on June 2, 2019. While AMC broadcast the episodes over a nine-week period, it made the entire series available for online streaming immediately on its AMC Premiere platform.[42]
Reception
Critical response
For the first season, review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 69% approval rating with an average score of 6.6/10, based on 29 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though Nos4a2 strains to build the necessary atmosphere to pull off its ambitious premise, it does capture the spirit of Joe Hill's singular work and provides a new psychopath for Zachary Quinto to sink his teeth into."[43]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 47 out of 100 based on nine critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[44]
For the second season, review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 75% approval rating with an average score of 5.37/10, based on 8 reviews.[45]
