Carrie-Anne Moss gives a brief lesson about the folk character Baba Yaga in AMC’s first teaser trailer for “Yaga,” released Saturday by AMC at a San Diego Comic-Con panel. 

Moss plays Katherine, a university professor who appears to have an affair with Hudson Williams’ Henry Park, whose disappearance is at the center of the thriller-mystery. The trailer introduces scenes from the eight-episode series as Katherine explains the myth of Baba Yaga, a Slavic folk character likened to a witch. 

“There’s versions of her all over the world,” Katherine said. “Sometimes she’s an ugly old witch who lives in a disappearing hut on chicken feet. Sometimes she’s a wise woman, an enchantress, a healer. Sometimes she helps a hero on his quest. Sometimes she tests him. Sometimes she kills him. Sometimes she eats him. Sometimes she fucks him. But she always has a name.” 

Her lecture concludes with a clip of actor Sheila McCarthy—in an unnamed role—whispering the name “Baba Yaga.”

“Based on the hit play by showrunner and writer Kat Sandler, ‘Yaga’ follows Rapp (Noah Reid), a private investigator who arrives in a small coastal town to investigate the disappearance of a young heir to a powerful fishery, Henry Park (Hudson Williams),” a synopsis of the series reads. 

“He finds himself at odds with an apprehensive local detective, Carson (Clark Backo), a charismatic university professor with a taste for younger men, Katherine (Carrie-Anne Moss), and a labyrinth of enigmatic suspects, secret lives and ancient magic.”

The series airs in October.

About the writer

Danielle Haynes is the co-founder and co-editor of Booked & Screened, covering book-to-screen adaptations, film and TV development. As a folklore nerd, she’s super excited about this one.