Castle Rock (Season 1)

So while in the past I have not a huge fan of Halloween or horror, I am finding myself more and more interested in the genre, especially as I read and consume more Stephen King products. Castle Rock was a show that when I heard about it, I knew it was something I was going to get into, and yet it's taken me close to a year to actually getting around to finishing the series. To its credit, I'm finding I do that with a lot of things I like. I just finished Breath of the Wild and I think that game is one of Nintendo's Masterpieces. I think part of it is the fact that I want to savor every bit of it because I enjoy it so much. The other aspect might be that this is a really slow show.

The unique thing about Castle Rock is the fact that it is an original story set in an unoriginal setting. The story is set in the middle of Stephen King's fictional town of Castle Rock and makes reference to his environments and plot driven circumstances while maintaining a new and original plot.

The story has quite a few plot points but the main story is centered around a young man (played by Bill Skarsgard) found in the basement of Shawshank Prison. The new Warden and the employees at Shawkshank figure out that he was kept there by the previous warden who recently killed himself (played by Terry O'Quinn)  He has no identification, he barely speaks, and the only thing he does say is the name Henry Deaver.

Enter Henry Deaver (played by Andre Holland), a native of Castle Rock with a mysterious history. He's a lawyer who comes back into town when the mysterious young man in Shawshank says his name. While in town, Henry decides it is time to settle some of his hometown affairs, like taking care of his dementia ridden mother (played by Sissy Spacek), and dealing with the side effects of remembering his father's untimely death.

Now a lot of that comes from the first episode or so and I have to warn you, while I was able to explain that in a paragraph or two, this show takes a couple of episodes to lay the groundwork for this show to really take off, and that doesn't really happen until the last 3rd of this season.

I didn't even mention the former sheriff of the town (played by Scott Glen), Henry's antisocial neighbor (played by Melanie Lynskey), and the most fan pandering character ever created, Jackie Torrance (played by Jane Levy).

And that kind of show double edged sword that is this show. On one hand, the concept of the show is really unique because it is a continuation of the Stephen King cannon without being just another adaptation or reboot. On the other hand, in order for it to work, it really relies on call backs to previous King stories for what seems like no reason other than to appease fans of King's novels.

But I'll get to the fan pandering in a little bit. I want to talk about the merits and downfalls of the show on its own outside of the King references.

Right off the bat, there are A LOT of characters in this show. Now that's not all bad. Almost all of the actors from Andre Holland to Scott Glenn, to especially Sissy Spacek give fantastic performances and it really is a great cast.

The downside is, because there are so many characters, there are so many plot lines, so many stories that need to be rounded up, and on top of that, the show's pacing is really, REALLY slow.

There are fantastic episodes, especially in the latter part of the season that really delve deep into the psychology of the characters and make it really worth the recommendation I'm going to give it, but I have never struggled to work my way through a show more than this one because I had to stop and start again multiple times to get through this show because it is quite a slog at times.

And while I love the idea of a Stephen King TV show, they REALLY string out the mysteries in this show, to the point where I was 8 episodes in and I was just starting to figure out SOME of the mysteries.

And what's more, they don't resolve it all. Usually it takes a few days of mulling over a movie or TV show to point out some of the lost threads, but Castle Rock has a lot of questions that never really go answered. To it's credit, the important ones do get answered, but it's so strung out over 10 episodes with so many characters (some of them have no purpose whatsoever) that it's easy to lose track of why these characters are spending so much time in such a haunted place like Castle Rock.

I'd say after episode 7, I was one hundred percent on board and knew for sure that I was going to be finishing this series in the next day or so. The episode "Queen" just feels wholly original and probably progressed the plot more than the previous 6 episodes had up until that point. A lot of that is due to Sissy Spacek and Bill Skarsgard's performances. But saying to people you have to hold out until episode 7 is a hard sell.

Don't get me wrong, there are great episodes prior to that and there's a reason I got to this episode this time, but there was a point in both the times I tried to finish this series beforehand that I just had to take a break because I was a little bored.

And part of that is due to the over-saturation of Stephen King call backs in this show, especially in the first episodes that are supposed to be providing context on the original characters. Maybe there wasn't enough content to fill up the first few episodes so they filled it in with blatant Stephen King references, but that was something I kind of had to roll my eyes at.

I bet that I didn't catch them all but I will give you a pretty blatant example that drags this already pretty intriguing show down, and that's the character of Jackie Torrance.

This character is ultimately pointless. She has very little to no impact on the story at all besides having an uncle who it is heavily implied is Jack Torrance from The Shining. That's it.

Now the caveat with that is, I really like Jane Levy in this show. It didn't matter how pointless her character was, Jackie Torrance is a funny, intriguing character that I wanted to have a purpose in the show. I honestly would watch a show totally focused on her character if it led to something interesting and purposeful, but I still have no idea why she's here

And she's a prime example of some elements of this show being in there for the sole purpose that, we're making a Stephen King show, we have to make as many "AHa!" moments for the fans that add absolutely nothing if you don't know those references.

This show surprises me though.

For all the laughable Stephen King references and tropes, for all the slow episodes in the beginning, and the spinning of the wheels you have to do to get through it, the last 4 episodes really shine and it really reminds me why there is so much to love about the work of Stephen King and this world that he creates.

So that's what makes this show such a difficult sell. It's there, I know how it ends and I know it's leading up to something, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone saw the first few episodes and realized it wasn't for them.

I'd say the middle third of this show (episodes 4-6) is probably the weakest. It just kind of spins the wheels because its not quite time for any kind of reveal yet, we just have to sit in suspense until episode 7 or so before the mysteries can start to be solved.

The first few episodes (episodes 1-3) are good and take their time setting up the characters. Its kind of mixed bag when you realize that a lot of it is just King references and strung out set up, but I get the feeling that with a second watch, that set up means more.

And the last four episodes (7-10) are very, VERY good. Sure there are some elements that still don't totally add up, but the episodes are suspenseful, cerebral, and really make you happy that you stuck it out.

So a mediocre first act, a slog of a second act, and a banger third act make up a show that I'm glad that I watched but I know has some flaws.

There are definitely moments from the middle act that I enjoyed, and there are elements of the first and final act that were pretty slow, but I do think Hulu did a pretty good job with their original series here.

I've done a little bit of reading on the second season the show has been renewed for and it seems like its going to rely a little more on King property rather than follow the story set up in the first season. I'm cool with it being an anthology show because everyone talks about doing it but nobody really has the courage to do it.

I just hope it doesn't rely too much on existing property and instead keeps up the original stories while using that unique environment created by King.

We find ourselves in an interesting time for Streaming Services where there is such a huge market and only so many services one can access.

It's timely that Disney just announced a bunch of shows for their Disney + slate starting to stream in November, but it also just announced that they wouldn't be streaming any rated R content, probably leaving that content to Hulu.

And that's where I have some hope for the old guard of services like Hulu and Netflix because they can start being the place for content that Disney won't stream. While I'm excited for The Mandalorian and all the Marvel series coming up, it is pretty telling that Disney is leaning heavily on properties that are well known and liked. While I can't ding Hulu (and yes I know it falls under Disney) for wanting to stick with something people are familiar with, I want to see more original content because it is very clear it's not going to come from Disney +.

Is Castle Rock the ideal place for that kind of original content? Probably not, but I would like it to be a unique compromise. Instead of following pre-established characters, do something new with the world and have that be the jumping off point for original content.

But more likely, it will just lean into the Stephen King lore until it's just as much of a franchise as the MCU, because this is the lizard people simulation we live in.

But those are my conflicts thoughts on Castle Rock. What did you think? Are you excited for the second season? Is it a show that seems like it will continue to be a rehash of nostalgia, or do you see the opportunity for fresh hybrid content to come from it? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter, @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films and TV shows I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for Reading!