It's officially Yagaween with the two-episode premiere of the chilling supernatural drama series Yaga on AMC+ (in the United States), Crave (in Canada), and other streamers around the world. Based on the play of the same name by creator and showrunner Kat Sandler, the series tackles a retelling of the Baba Yaga folktale with an all-star cast, beginning with the disappearance of Henry Park.
Yaga episode 1 begins with narration from Baba Yaga herself explaining what people say about her over harrowing imagery of the coastal town of Whittock. We make into the woods at night as a man is screaming and seemingly being burned alive. That's clearly something we're working our way toward as we return to real time with Detective Charlie Rapp (Noah Reid) taking a helicopter ride.
Outside Henry Park's mansion, Sergeant Carson (Clark Back) catches grief from her boss Eckert (Patrick Gilmore) for reading romantasy while waiting for Rapp's arrival. He finally lands, and even though he trips, Billy (Sam Krochmal) seems impressed with him. Rapp works for the Park family and they have sent him to join the search for their missing son Henry (Hudson Williams).
Rapp asks Billy hang some of the "missing" posters he had made for Henry, but Carson isn't so sure that Henry's actually missing. The college student hasn't been heard from in three days and took out $15k in cash before he vanished. Carson believes he's jetted off to Europe, but she and Rapp begin by questioning his lookalike roommate Logan Casey (also Hudson Williams).
Rapp and Carson begin their investigation into Henry Park's disappearance
Logan welcomes Carson and Rapp into the house, and Rapp notes that he and Henry look as if they could be related. Logan and Henry met at the beginning of the school year, and Henry offered Logan to live with him since he was living at home and on scholarship. He produces Henry's podcast and plays the music for his house parties, which frequently have themes (like underwater mythology and floral), costumes, and masks. They also have a housekeeper named Lucia.
Carson and Rapp poke around Henry's room upstairs, taking note of the wall of Polaroid photos, one of which features a strange triangular symbol. Logan explains that Henry had taken his girlfriend Pam Russell to Europe in the past, but that wouldn't be the case now since they broke up the previous week at a local diner called Sandeson's. That was the last time Logan saw Henry.
A couple of Henry's luxury André Millëre watches are missing from the case, which could be something. Rapp finds a chicken foot attached to a string on the bedpost. Logan calls it a private joke and quickly asks to wrap up the questioning. Apparently, he's heard all about Rapp from Henry. So, Rapp knows Henry, and Carson is familiar with Logan after helping his mom with an abusive family member.
Next, Carson and Rapp head to Sandeson's and they continue to argue their differing opinions on Henry's whereabouts. Rapp heads inside the diner to grab coffee. As he reaches the counter, he sends more text messages to Henry. Rapp orders coffee and muffins and asks teenager Lily Sandeson (Georgia Acken) if she's seen Henry. She has an odd reaction to seeing his photo on the flyer.
He asks to hang some flyers, and Lily admits she'll have to ask her mom first. Rapp buys friendship bracelets Lily made and heads back outside to give Carson her coffee. He got her order wrong, but she insists she'll drink it anyway. She also refuses to wear the bracelet Rapp bought her. Their next stop is the campus university to meet with Pam Russell (Ezra Franky).
They catch Pam while she's running and ask her questions about Henry, when she last saw him, and the money he took out of his account. She asks if he's dead considering all the questions, but she claims to not know he was missing. Pam tries to play hardball and flirt with Rapp before finally explaining that she broke up with Henry because he cheated in spite of their open arrangement.
Meeting Katherine Hargrove and a mysterious flaming chicken
Pam lists all the different people Henry slept with, which includes someone called the Boner Beast, one of Henry's teachers that he interviewed for his podcast. While driving through back roads, Carson confronts Rapp about flirting and undermining her authority. As they bicker, Carson runs over an animal in the road. It's a chicken, which Rapp kills with his bare hands when Carson refuses to use her gun. Something (or someone) in the woods appears to be watching them.
Carson brings Rapp to his hotel, and after his apology, she agrees to his invitation to have a drink together. Rapp checks into his room and flirts with the front desk clerk Angel (Emilija Baranac). Carson watches from outside. Before dropping his stuff in his room, Rapp fires off one more text message to Henry. Rapp imagines the dead chicken on his bed, but he's brought back to reality by Carson honking her horn. In reality, it's just a towel folded as a swan.
Rapp and Carson share a beer at a local bar and continue to clear the air after their tense day. She's agreed to take the case seriously now. Carson excuses herself to take a call from Eckert, giving Rapp the chance to meet Katherine Hargrove (Carrie-Anne Moss) across the bar. He sends her a drink then quickly makes his way over to sit with her and introduce himself.
She calls all of his questions boring until he asks what excites her, which she answers with sex and bones as a callback to the books she has written. Their conversation about bones turns sensual like Rapp has been overcome by a siren song. Carson returns to the bar and upon seeing Rapp with Katherine, she looks disappointed and walks right back out.
Rapp notices that Katherine's wearing the same André Millëre watch as Henry, and she calls it vintage and a gift when Rapp asks. Her hand trails up his thigh just as he receives a text message from Carson. He also gets a message from Angel, and Katherine packs up her things to end their steamy introduction. Back in his hotel room, Rapp has sex, but it's with Angel.
She has the symbol from the photo in Henry's room tattooed on her hip. They're interrupted by three loud bangs at the door and croaking. Rapp opens it to find a chicken that's on fire nailed to the door. Upon hearing the elevator ding, Rapp quickly runs downstairs to meet who did this, but the elevator is empty. He runs outside the hotel, but there's no one to be found. Rapp gets three consecutive text messages from Henry, all reading "stop looking for me."
Watch new episodes of Yaga on Fridays on AMC+ (and other streamers in your area).
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