‘From’ Just Lost Its Most Underrated Character

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for From Season 3 Episode 7.

One thing that From certainly doesn’t lack in is characters. It’s often difficult to keep track of who’s who in this underrated sci-fi horror series, with many names going unnoticed while others are seared into our brains. Up until a few episodes ago, the name Tillie (Deborah Grover) would’ve flown straight over our heads. She (quite literally) danced into From on the bus at the beginning of Season 2, but was very quickly dismissed as the eccentric old woman. Season 3, particularly Episode 7, uncovers a more compelling side to Tillie, making her sudden death that much more tragic. While her murder propagates an interesting storyline, Tillie is an underrated character whose levity and light will be sorely missed as the series delves further into the pitiless dark.

‘From’ Season 3 Explores Tillie and Fatima’s Friendship

Arriving in From Season 2, Tillie immediately makes an impression as she dances in the rain while the rest of the commuters find shelter near the diner. Without a second thought, she is labeled a slightly kooky older character, especially when we find out the reason she was on the bus was to travel the country to different racetracks and bet on horses. Her terminal cancer diagnosis further clears this up; she’s close to death, so, of course, she doesn’t care what life has in store for her. To some extent, she is fairly forgettable, but her relationship with Fatima (Pegah Ghafoori) places her in the limelight and even under scrutiny.

Tilly first piques our interest towards the end of Season 2, when she somehow recognizes that Fatima is pregnant, even though she is showing no signs. But it is in the third season that her name and face really begin to register with us. Tillie is the first person to find out about Fatima’s craving for rotten vegetables, and instead of being repulsed, she embraces it and even empathizes with Fatima using her own experience with strange pregnancy cravings. Her lack of judgment makes her more endearing, as she becomes a safe space for Fatima’s fears, even when she tries to introduce tarot cards.

Some have found this slightly creepy and have even suggested that Tillie is part of the supernatural evil of this place, as she knew about Fatima’s pregnancy and encouraged her cravings to strengthen the perhaps demonic baby. But Episode 7 reveals Tillie’s philosophy of life, which explains her almost overly empathetic approach to Fatima. It also alludes to why she is so eerily calm about Elgin’s (Nathan D. Simmons) hallucinatory dilemma this season, as she even glimpses the kimono woman yet continues to crochet alongside him on the couch — she’s strange, but in the best way.

Tillie Reveals Her Motivations in ‘From’ Season 3 Episode 7

As the mystery surrounding Fatima’s pregnancy exacerbates throughout From Season 3, Tillie’s undulating support for the nerve-wracked soon-to-be mother is explained in Episode 7. In a strained conversation with Ellis (Corteon Moore), Tillie speaks about how her terminal diagnosis shifted the way she perceived death. Instead of treating it like the end of her journey, she considers death as the beginning of a new one, or at least a pit-stop in the middle of one. This means the prospect of imminent death doesn’t prevent Tillie from doing exactly what she wants, and she sums up why she is helping Fatima in the most succinct and compelling way: “I am old and have cancer, and like a good love story.” Who can argue with that?

After being fairly forgettable for a season, Tillie makes an indelible mark on us in Episode 7 through her touching interaction. But it is also interesting to compare the parallels between Tillie and Fatima from Season 1. Tillie’s attitude echoes the more carefree lifestyle the residents of Colony House had in Season 1, particularly Fatima. Her philosophy on death is also reminiscent of Fatima’s words to Julie (Hannah Cheramy) about going high enough for a nightmare to look like a dream. With Fatima herself steadily spiraling into a shadow of frayed nerves, Tillie quickly becomes the pure, wholesome, and lovable beacon of light in this cold, merciless universe.

Tillie Died Too Soon in ‘From’ Season 3

As per usual, in the episode where Tillie begins to truly come to life, she is brutally killed off in From. The end of Episode 7 sees an overwhelmed Fatima instinctively stab Tillie with a pair of shears and weeping over her body as life seeps out of her. Narrative-wise, Tillie’s death as a vehicle for the evil entrenched in Fatima’s storyline makes perfect sense. But tonally, Tillie’s absence from the show will leave a gaping hole. With Fatima struggling with her own supernatural issues and most of the town in psychological shambles, Tillie was one of the last light-hearted and almost bubbly characters around. She was the breath of fresh, perhaps slightly head-scratching, air we needed occasionally as we waded through the doom-laden gloom of Fromville.

Her final words simply drive this home, as she upholds her compassionate attitude right until her last breath. She urges Fatima to run away after being viciously murdered, encouraging the overstimulated woman to escape culpability. Being able to not only retain that level of generosity after being murdered but also recognize that it wasn’t Fatima necessarily in control makes Tillie more ironically level-headed than most of the townspeople we know. She deeply contrasts the townsfolk who sharpened their pitchforks after Sarah’s (Avery Konrad) stint in serial killing, straying from the arbitrary herd mentality and instead empathetically acknowledging the unique conditions of this place.

As more accusatory and contentious relationships begin brewing and overpowering the town, it really is a shame to lose Tillie so soon after connecting with her. There doesn’t seem to be anyone to fill in the shoes of frivolity that Fatima and Tillie have left, suggesting that the rest of the season will ramp up in serious overtures and horror.

From Season 3 is available to stream on MGM+.

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