Today is the day. MGM+ has finally released the new supernatural horror series The Institute on its platform, and book lovers who devoured Stephen King’s chilling novel are in for a gripping adaptation of the bestselling story about a secret facility where kidnapped children with special abilities are subjected to horrifying experiments.
Typically, streaming shows release their episodes all at once. However, MGM+ decided to release new episodes of The Institute on a weekly basis. On July 13, only the first two episodes were released, and we're here to give a full recap of what all takes place in the premiere episode.
Major spoilers are ahead from The Institute episode 1!
Luke is taken to the Institute
The first episode opens with a 14-year-old boy named Luke Ellis taking a test alongside other students at a high school. Luke is such a gifted teen genius that even his principal has been having in-depth conversations with him about his future beyond high school, specifically attending MIT. Luke discusses this with his parents later that evening, while having dinner at a pizza restaurant. While talking, he unintentionally moves the pizza pan lying on the table with his mind, causing it to fall to the ground. It appears that Luke has some telekinetic abilities. A mysterious woman nearby watches him closely.
Back at home, Luke spends some time scrolling on his laptop before setting it aside and heading to bed. Once the house falls silent with everyone asleep, the mysterious woman from earlier, now clad in all black and accompanied by several others, quietly breaks into the house. While the others keep watch, the woman goes into Luke's room. As she stands over him, Luke begins to open his eyes. Just as he makes eye contact with her, she sprays him in the face with a substance that makes him go unconscious. He's been kidnapped!
Luke wakes up the next morning in what appears to be his room, but after opening up the curtains, he quickly realizes that he's not at home. While venturing outside his room, he encounters another teen girl named Kalisha. Kalisha gives him the rundown of where he is. She explains that they're in a secret facility called the Institute, located in Maine. Then, she asks Luke if he's a TP or TK. A TP is a person who has telepathy, and a TK is a person who has telekinesis. Luke tells Kalisha that he has mild telekinetic abilities, while she tells him that she has telepathy.
Here's more about the Institute that Kalisha explains to Luke:
- There's no contact with the outside world, including family.
- Ms. Sigsby runs the facility, while Dr. Hendricks handles the medical aspects.
- There's a front half and a back half of the Institute. The front half is where Luke, Kalisha, and other children with special abilities are. During their time in the front half, they are given many tests and shots. The back half is where the kids go after they graduate. However, it's unclear what goes on over there because kids from the front half do not have contact with the back half.
After Kalisha explains everything she knows, she kisses Luke unexpectedly. The Institute's head of security, Stackhouse, approaches them and tells Luke to go get dressed because he will be meeting with Ms. Sigsby. As Luke is being led to Ms. Sigsby's office, he runs into the mysterious woman who kidnapped him. However, he's unable to talk to her because Stackhouse and his guard drag him away.
Here's what Luke learns from Ms. Sigsby about the Institute:
- Ms. Sigsby tells Luke that the work he and the other children at the Institute are involved in is crucial and will help save the world.
- The kids at the Institute are essentially treated like adults, but they must still follow the established rules. The main rule is to follow whatever the staff tells them to do without question or pushback. Each kid there is given a certain number of shots and tests, and they must comply with all of them. That's another rule.
- Once a kid comes to the end of their service at the Institute, their brain will be wiped of their memories there and they'll be sent home.
Later, Luke is escorted to meet another staff member at the Institute. The man orders him to sit in a chair while he readies a strange-looking device. When Luke refuses to comply, the staff member hits him, forcing Luke to reluctantly sit down. He then attaches a metal piece to Luke’s ear using a staple-like tool. It looks like a tracking device. During this scene, Luke also learns that children can earn tokens for being cooperative, which they can use at the vending machines to get snacks and treats.
Luke meets other kids with special abilties
Kalisha comes to get Luke from his room later on that day to have dinner with the other kids. She also has the metal piece attached to her ear. However, it's unclear what it does and what it's for. Kalisha then kisses Luke again, and afterwards explains the reason for why she did it. She explains that three days after she arrived at the Institute, she was placed in quarantine for a bit. While she doesn't explain what she has, she tells Luke that she might still be contagious. So, that's why she kissed him. She explains that if he gets whatever she got, then he'll be able to stay in the front half for a little longer.
Kalisha and Luke finally arrive in the cafeteria, where Luke meets more kids who possess special abilities. Two of those kids are George and Iris, who are both telekinetic. During this conversation, Luke learns that there are TP negs and TK negs and TP pos and TK pos. Negs mean that you're unable to use your abilities at will, while pos means you can. George then shows Luke his telekinetic abilities by spilling a glass of water with his mind and making the water levitate.
Another kid then enters the cafeteria and sits with them. His name is Nick, otherwise known as Nicky. It's unclear if he's a TP or TK, though. Unlike the others, it seems like he hates being at the Institute the most. During this conversation, we learn that the youngest kid at the Institute is 10 years old and the oldest is 19 years old.
Tim finds himself in a small town
While everything is going on at the Institute, the show also introduces us to a man named Tim Jamieson in a different location. Tim is a former Boston police officer with a troubled past. He was supposed to be heading to New York for a new job position, but decided to turn it down and make a fresh start somewhere else. He ends up in Dennison River Bend, Maine, where he works for the local police as a "night knocker."
While patrolling the city at night, he comes across a strange older woman camped out listening to the radio. She seems to know things about him even though he's never met her in his life until now. Before Tim is able to walk away, the woman suggests that he listen to a man named George Armin. She also warns him that there are a lot of things going on in the world that he wouldn't believe. Tim isn't sure what to make of this information. Later, he runs into the woman again while on his way to work and decides to help her with her things.
Could Luke and Nicky be teaming up?
It seems that way! At the very end of the episode, Luke ventures outside the Institute to the playground where he runs into Nicky. Nicky sits on a bench, having a smoke break. He asks Luke if he'd like to play a game of chess. Luke ends up winning, and then Nicky makes the suggestion that they join forces to try to escape the Institute. Although Luke doesn't give him an answer, it looks like he's thinking about it.
Elsewhere in Maine, Tim does his nightly patrol. At Ms. Sigsby's house, she makes herself some dinner before she takes a hot metal rod and places it on her calf muscle. It leaves a burn mark. Other burn marks could also be seen on her calf muscle. That's weird...
Here's more of what happened in The Institute episode 1:
The morning after Luke’s abduction, the mysterious woman meets with Stackhouse, who briefs her on her next assignment. Another recruitment, or rather, abduction. During their conversation, it becomes clear that Luke’s kidnapping didn’t go entirely as planned, with subtle hints suggesting that something may have happened to his parents during the operation.
Later, the woman meets up with her romantic fling, Kate, at a bar. She takes Kate back to her apartment, where they sleep together. But later on that night, the woman is brutally killed by Kate. The woman was about to reveal to Kate what she does at the Institute, but Kate shoots her in the back of her head with a gun. Kate then calls Stackhouse and lets him know what she just did, and to send a cleaning crew. It appears she also works for Stackhouse.
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