Entertainment
The Horror Series With 100% Rotten Tomatoes Score
By Britta DeVore
| Published
Them is an anthology horror series that uses familiar genre setups as a delivery system for something more grounded and uncomfortable. Each season tells a standalone story centered on a Black family or character being pushed into a hostile environment, where the real threat isn’t just supernatural, it’s systemic.
Them: The Scare was the second season of the show, but shares none of the characters with the first. Deborah Ayorinde returned to a different role following her breakout season. It topped the first season in every way. Them: The Scare sits on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive 100 percent on the Tomatometer.
The Structure Of Them: The Scare
The eight-episode series, which is available to binge now on Amazon’s streamer, is the second to come from the story started by creator Little Marvin, who developed 2021’s Them: The Covenant.
Them: The Covenant took place in the early 1950s, and focused on a black family who uprooted their life in North Carolina and struck out for the big city of Los Angeles, regrowing their roots in a predominantly white neighborhood. Them: The Scare pushes the story nearly 40 years into the future.
In this future, audiences meet Ayorinde’s LAPD Homicide Detective Dawn Reeve. While on her mission to track down the killer of a murdered foster mother, Detective Reeve’s life is made that much more complicated when a sinister force clings to her family and won’t let go. Both The Covenant and The Scare see their main characters calling Los Angeles home.
Like the first season, the show blends grounded violence with supernatural suggestion. It uses horror imagery to explore trauma, racism, and psychological collapse rather than relying purely on traditional genre scares.
Along with Deborah Ayorinde, Them: The Scare also features a call sheet that includes the legendary Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), Luke James (The Chi), and Jeremy Bobb (The Outsider).
A 100% Positive Response
Critically, The Scare marked a noticeable rebound for the series. The first season had drawn mixed reactions for what many saw as excessive brutality and uneven storytelling. Season two landed far more cleanly with reviewers.
Them: The Scare holds a 100% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with consensus describing it as a “marked improvement” that delivers more focused storytelling and sharper thematic execution. Some critics praised its performances and layered approach to generational trauma, while others still argued it struggled to fully balance its social commentary with its horror mechanics.
Audience response was more split, but generally positive. Viewer scores sit in the mid-to-high range (around the mid-80% level), with many calling it more accessible and engaging than the first season, particularly for its pacing and clearer narrative. At the same time, some viewers criticized the serial killer storyline as underdeveloped or the ending as underwhelming, continuing the show’s pattern of divisive reactions.
Will Them Get Season 3?
Right now, the future of Them is basically in limbo. There is no official Season 3 renewal, no release date, and no confirmation that more episodes are coming. The show was originally ordered as a two-season project, which means The Scare is the first time it’s had to prove itself on its own in terms of viewership and engagement.
At the same time, the creator, Little Marvin, has made it clear he has ideas and wants to keep going, so creatively, there’s no shortage of runway. The deciding factor now is purely business: how well Season 2 performed and whether Amazon thinks the audience is big enough to justify another anthology story.