The Changeling episode 1 recap: family matters and dangerous prophecies

The newest Apple TV Plus show is here, as The Changeling debuted on Friday, September 8 with three episodes at once, and you can use our guide on how to watch The Changeling if you want to check it.

If you've already seen the first episode, then you'll know that the show focuses on LaKeith Stanfield's Apollo, a man with a fairly troubled past who needs to rescue his family from peril.

The first episode is a slow burner, so much so that by the episode's end, the actual plot of the show hasn't even begun yet. But it sets up our main character and his family, which could end up being very important.

So here's our The Changeling episode 1 recap. The episode jumps around in time a lot, and we've reorganized lots of the events so we're not jumping around in timelines as much as the show is.

The deep distant past

We begin with our narrator (Victor LaValle, who wrote the book that The Changeling is based on), telling us about an event from 1825. A boat load of Norweigan expats fled to America in search of religious freedom, and only made the journey with help from 'something'.

In 1968, a parole officer called Brian West visits one of his parolees, but is taken by the receptionist. He keeps visiting, and when the parolee is re-arrested he still keeps going to see this woman, and by 1977 she's agreed to go on a date with him. That's persistence.

These two go on the date to see Rocky, but when he asks her about her past, she gets a flashback to her home country. She's driving with her brother and sister, and when soldiers stop them, the brother gets shot. They drive away but the brother eventually dies.

Some point later, the two have a child. This is Apollo, who we already know in the show but will meet in this recap later. By the time Apollo is four, Brian disappears, though the young boy has recurring dreams of his father returning and peeling off a mask.

By 1988 Apollo is in school, and his mum's boss gives her books to give to him, which develops his love of reading. In 1992 he fails to find a job in a bookstore, but eventually, he becomes an antique book trader.

Apollo meets his wife

In 2010 in Queens, an adult Apollo (LaKeith Stanfield) is in a library, when a homeless man asks the librarian Emmy (Clark Backo) for the keys to the toilet. Apollo admire how she handles herself, and asks her on a date. She says no, but inspired by the persistence of his dad, he keeps asking her. Eventually, she says yes.

At their date, Emmy tells Apollo that her parents died when she was five, but when she asks him about his parents, we get a flashback to the mask-wearing dad monster. Later, she explains that she rejected his date offers because she's going to Brazil. At some point in the future, she indeed leaves.

While she's away, he buys some old books and finds a postcard from Alaistair Crowley which could be worth a lot of money.

Eventually, Emmy returns, and Apollo waits at the airport through many delayed flights for her to return.

Once back, Emmy tells Apollo about an adventure she had: at some waterfalls, she finds a creepy old lady. The woman ties a bracelet around her wrist and tells her to make three wishes: once the bracelet is cut, the wishes come true. Apollo decides to cut the bracelet off of her, telling her that he'll make her dreams come true.

Three wishes; two granted

Apollo and Emmy marry, and later, she announces that she's pregnant.

At dinner at a fancy restaurant with one of Emmy's friends, the pregnant woman is very close to birth. When she goes to the toilet, this friend tells Apollo two things.

Firstly, two of Emmy's wishes have come true: she's met a caring husband and has a healthy baby. She hints at the third wish by telling Apollo this second thing: a gallery in Norway is showing a nude photo of Emmy. Apparently, when she was in Brazil, she made friends with a photographer and, when he wasn't looking, took a naked photo of herself. Apparently, in it, she looks like a "sorceress".

Emmy is closer to labor than she thought, and her waters break. Apollo tries to get her home or to a hospital, but they end up having to get the metro. During transit, there's a blackout, so Emmy has to give birth right there. It's successful, and she has the baby, but afterwards we get some ominous flash-forward images: people are in captivity, or being tortured, or burning.