American Gothic

In the premiere episode, the mysterious death of Merlyn Temple, a traumatized young girl, sets off a series of events that leaves some townspeople questioning the motives of their charming sheriff, the last person to see her alive. Dr. Matt Crower, a newcomer to Trinity, takes Merlyn's younger brother, Caleb, under his wing when he realizes the sheriff has taken an intense interest in the young boy. Determined to come to terms with the loss of his sister, Caleb runs from the doctor's care and tries to find his own way back home. Meanwhile, Gail Emory, Caleb's cousin, is drawn back to her hometown by a strange vision of her young relative's troubles.

Fleeing deep into the woods from Sheriff Lucas Buck, young Caleb takes refuge in an eerie, abandoned hunting lodge and is terrified when he discovers a dying man who has been tortured and is being held prisoner there. The spirit of Caleb's dead sister, Merlyn, encourages him to help the pathetic man, one of Sheriff Buck's enemies, who has been kept prisoner by Selena Coombs. At Merlyn's funeral, Caleb learns that his father is dead and his cousin, Gail, has come to Trinity to protect him.

Sheriff Buck calls in a favor from the local judge who is overseeing Caleb's custody hearing, hoping to ensure his favored status, but he doesn't stop there. A beautiful mirror given as a wedding gift to Crower's co-worker, Dan Trulane, begins to have a strange effect on Dan's new bride.

Carter Bowen panics when Sheriff Buck wants his teenage daughter to work for him as payback for an old favor. When he refuses, his life begins to unravel. After his wife is mysteriously injured and Buck sends a lecherous former acquaintance to taunt his naive daughter, Carter realizes he is in over his head.

Gail may have pushed Sheriff Buck too far when she accuses him of foul play in the death of his former girlfriend, who was with him just before her car mysteriously drove off a bridge. Buck, meanwhile, gives Caleb a warped lesson in competition when he presents him with a "special bow" and arrow for his archery contest, and Deputy Ben Healy tries to handle his domestic troubles without the sheriff's help.

Selena reaches out to Caleb and tries to help him with his schoolwork. She begins to spend extra time with him which bothers Lucas. Selena also tries to reconcile with her father who is the reverend at the local church. Ben tries to sort out his animosity towards Lucas by visits to the psychiatrist, Dr. Perry. As usual, Lucas finds out that Ben has been telling the doctor a few things that he doesn't want known and threatens Dr. Perry with a secret from his past.

When Jack Drey, a South Carolina state police lieutenant, throws his weight around in the investigation of the disappearance of his adulterous brother-in-law, Hack Weller, Sheriff Buck becomes wary. Drey suspects that Weller's obsession with Selena might have driven a vicious Buck to kill him. Gail solves part of the mystery at the Trinity Natural History Museum, where she learns more about skeletons.

Sheriff Lucas Buck gets revenge -- in his own chilling fashion -- on four men who move to Trinity and set off a crime wave. The four Northerners, who move into Mrs. Russell's boardinghouse where Caleb and Dr. Crower live, intend to set up their own protection racket. They drown a businessman, threaten Caleb's life, and beat Deputy Ben Healy before Sheriff Buck decides to step in to enforce his own special brand of justice.

Dr. Matt struggles with his alcoholism and the death of his family. Lucas tries to push him over the edge by offering him a drink and forcing the bizarre memories of his wife and daughter. Eventually, Lucas tries to have Dr. Matt relieved of his duties at the hospital. Caleb is bothered by his strange neighbor, Mr. Emmett.

Artie, Ben Healy's brother, holds-up a local store in Trinity for a cheap watch. Ben and Lucas respond to the robbery and Ben accidentally shoots Artie. Artie, injured but still conscious, takes Lucas hostage. Lucas persuades Artie to go to the hospital to have the bullet removed and Artie insists that afterwards an ambulance takes him to the base by 11:00 p.m. Artie has a bomb on him that is set to go off at 11:00 p.m.

Gail's friend Kristy is about to give birth to a baby girl after suffering two miscarriages. Merlyn observes Kristy's happiness and grows angry over the fact that she has missed out on life. Then she discovers that she can "borrow" the spirit of Kristy's unborn child and reappears as Halle. She meets a motorcycle-riding young man and has her first experience with love.

Through dreams and visions, Lucas allows Gail to learn bit by bit what happened to her parents. She learned that her father was abusing her and her mother was having an affair with Gage Temple, Caleb's father. Her father found out about the affair. Gail then learns that her mother had become pregnant by Gage and that Gage had planned to kill her father by setting a fire at the newspaper building where he worked.

Radio talk show host Mel Kirby approaches Lucas for help in bringing his show to television. When Lucas refuses Mel and his co-anchor wife, Mel vows to ruin Lucas. Meanwhile, a depressed Caleb decides he wants to give Merlyn a second funeral -- by throwing a party for the dead.

Lucas may have corrupted the local priest, Father Tilden, and he may be able to take his revenge on townspeople who cross his path, but not even he can control the seemingly miraculous activities of the dead Merlyn in her role as gothic avenging angel, determined to make Lucas answer for his many crimes.

A sudden, mysterious bleeding illness quickly spreads through Trinity, causing death and devastation, as well as the arrival of a new doctor. As the townspeople fall victim to the plague, Matt suffers a breakdown and Lucas turns to Dr. Peele for help. After a romantic encounter with Lucas, Gail is suddenly stricken. Meanwhile, Caleb appears to be immune to the epidemic's bloody "evil force," as Merlyn hovers and watches the horror with dispassion.

Dr. Matt decides to re-investigate the murder of Merlyn. He also is curious when a woman checks into the hospital as Mrs. Smith. Matt soon discovers that the woman is Lucas Buck's mother and is dying because she has a brain tumor. She begins to tell Matt all about the evil of Lucas and how she wants to kill him. Matt becomes even more obsessed with destroying Lucas than ever before.

Lucas and Caleb forge a bond when facing matters of life and death. After Caleb is electrocuted and dies at the hospital, Lucas steps in and brings the boy back to life. The pair's celebratory fishing trip is interrupted when they encounter murderous kidnappers, who have abducted the head of a tobacco company. While they are trapped in a cabin, Lucas teaches Caleb a lesson that gives him special sensory powers.

She leads him to a house which turns out to be the place that Judith Temple used to help abandoned children. With Gail they discover drawings from the young children as well as several drawings of Lucas done with a great amount of love by Judith. Merlyn is trying to make Ben aware of the truth about her mother's death.

Upon Gail's announcement, she faints in Lucas' office and is taken to the hospital where she is told that she is pregnant. She knows (and so does Lucas) that it is Lucas' child. Gail threatens to have an abortion and even attempts to kill herself because she knows that she is carrying the evil offspring of Lucas Buck.

Lucas calls on the ghost of the Boston Strangler to come to Merlyn. Lucas leaves town to attend a convention and Albert De Salva (aka The Boston Strangler) decides to do more than just try to kill Merlyn.

Yancy can't find certain files and believes Lucas has them. Billy and Selena go to Lucas' house to look for the missing files and end up making love in Lucas' bed. After their moments of passion, Billy continues the search for the files, but ends his search when Lucas suddenly returns home. Caleb is getting more enthralled with the notion of being Lucas Buck's son.

Merlyn discovers that Lucas is not dead when she goes to the grave to question Lucas about Caleb's behavior. Because Lucas is not dead, the full potential of his evil powers are not yet recognized. Billy discovers from medical tests that Lucas is not dead. He and Ben dig up the casket before Lucas suffocates. Lucas does not want anyone to know that he is still alive. Meanwhile, Caleb is trying to find out the full potential of his powers.