What to know about YAGA: premiere date, cast, story, and where to watch

# Quick summary

# Premise and tone

The series follows Rapp, a private investigator (Noah Reid), who arrives in the small coastal town of Whittock to find Henry Park (Hudson Williams), the heir to a powerful fishery who has gone missing. Rapp's investigation draws him into the lives of townspeople who keep dangerous secrets and into contact with Katherine (Carrie-Anne Moss), a magnetic university professor, and Carson (Clark Backo), a wary local detective.

# Casting and character notes

• Carrie-Anne Moss plays Katherine, described as enigmatic and attracted to younger men. Her casting is a focal point of early coverage.
• Noah Reid is Rapp, the private investigator whose arrival sets the plot in motion.
• Clark Backo plays Carson, the local detective resistant to outside help.
• Hudson Williams portrays Henry Park, the missing heir whose disappearance is the central mystery.

Early promotional images and the sneak peek highlight a charged dynamic between Moss's character and Williams's, and the casting pairs an established actor with a rising performer.

# Release plan and distribution

• U.S. streaming: AMC+ — two-episode premiere on October 23, weekly episodes thereafter, two-episode finale on November 27.
• Canada: the series was developed for the streamer Crave and premieres there on October 23 as well.

The project also had festival visibility: a world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival was scheduled prior to its streaming launch.

# Creative background and positioning

YAGA reworks Baba Yaga, a Slavic folk figure that can appear either as a monstrous witch or a helpful old woman, into a contemporary story about power and secrecy. Kat Sandler, who created the original stage play, wrote the adaptation. Early promotion and trailers emphasize mood — fog, coastal isolation, and a slow unraveling of who in town is telling the truth.

Publicity has framed the show as part of a current trend toward psychological dread and folklore-inflected mysteries, targeting viewers who prefer atmosphere and plotting to straightforward horror.

# What to expect when it premieres

Expect two short, tightly paced episodes to set up the mystery and character relationships, followed by weekly half-hour installments that mix small-town procedural investigation with escalating supernatural suggestion. The season runs for eight episodes, making it compact and focused on resolving the central disappearance while revealing the town's hidden power structures.