Watch the first episode of HBO’s Lovecraft Country on YouTube for free

You might as well watch the series premiere of HBO’s new horror show Lovecraft Country. After all, it’s free.

This past Sunday, HBO premiered Lovecraft Country, Misha Green’s bonkers new show that combines an unflinching look at Jim Crow-era America as seen through the eyes of several Black characters with a phantasmagoric celebration of monsters big and small, internal and external, bloody and bloodier. The premiere, “Sundown,” was a good watch, and the show only gets more interesting from here on out.

And you don’t have to take my word for it. HBO has made the whole episode available to watch for free on YouTube! Get to it:

This is an interesting strategy, and something I’ve seen more of lately. Showtime did something similar with Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, making the first episode of that show available to watch on YouTube a couple days before it actually aired on TV.

I don’t think this is a desperation move by HBO, since the premiere of Lovecraft Country got pretty solid ratings. I think of it more of an acknowledgement that the playing field has leveled. With Netflix, Disney+ and more out there, people simply have a lot more options when it comes to content than they did before, and everyone has to do what they can to get eyes on their stuff.

HBO is surely hoping to hook a few people with this taste, and hoping to pick up a few new subscribers, either to HBO itself or to HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s new streaming service. Feel free to watch above and decide for yourself. Why not? It’s free.

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