Castle Rock: Past Perfect (Episode 8)

Episode 8, “Past Perfect”, finds us reeling from Alan’s death at the hands of Ruth Deaver.  Ruth is of course confused, as she thinks she has killed her dead husband, Matthew. Previous episode, “The Queen”, indicates that she is experiencing some sort of time dilation/shift that creates paradoxes in her home.

Molly saved Henry from the clutches of “The Filter”, and helps him home.  The man, Odin Branch, is seen dead.  But is he really? And where the hell is young Willie? Did Molly kill Odin? Could Willie have done it? Not sure, but I do know that Odin was hoping to “correct” Willie using the hot poker.  The same poker that was inserted in his eye. Maybe Willie wasn’t having that, and killed Odin. 

Henry seems to be just as confused as his mother, but wants to make sure his son isn’t affected. Wendell is placed on a bus to Boston but ends up coming back near the conclusion of the episode.

The central story of this episode is about Gordon and his wife, who’ve set up a murder themed bed and breakfast in town.  Gordon is mesmerized by the Lacy home, and even more so with the pictures of The Kid. Eventually a couple comes to stay the night, but is not really impressed by Gordon’s setup.  So, while the couple was having some very loud sex, Gordon loses control and murders them both. This is a point of no return for me, because the couple would have to end up dead.  It was just a matter of how.

It’s worth noting that Jackie Torrance is really keen on what’s going on in the town. She saves Henry from death just because she notices a bloody bracelet on the ground earlier that day. 

Let’s back up.  I want to touch on something important.

Death, as the lady cop pointed out, follows Henry.  The kids used to call him “The Black Death” when he was younger. Henry is taken aback by this, but relents and gathers his son.  Once on the bus and after Henry has left, a black bird slams into the windshield, kamikaze style.  Wendell begins to hear the sound of the schisma, which makes it clear that he’s inherited his father’s gift.  It’s also scary because we aren’t sure what will happen to Wendell and from his look, he is not aware either.  One thing is for sure, the schisma needs to be heard.

We get confirmation that The Kid is really as old as we think via the canvases in Warden Lacy’s home.  They all show The Kid in various poses and in various years.  One piece of evidence that’s particularly damning is the the picture of the sweater that Henry is wearing in his Lost Child photo.  The sweater looks just like the one The Kid is wearing in one of the paintings. Henry appears to connect the dots.

Gordon finds Henry in the picture room, and Henry tries to get past him. Instead he’s met by Gordon’s wife and a blade in the back.  In the scuffle, Gordon’s wife is also stabbed in the neck and dies quickly.  This enrages Gordon, and outside he pulls Henry out of his car.  The knife is dangerously close before Jackie delivers an axe to Gordon’s head, mirroring the damage on the mannequin.

In the end, Molly and the Kid meet.  He explains that he has seen her die.  It just further implies that The Kid is supernatural.   

Castle Rock Ep. 1 REVIEW

Kinda biased here. I love Stephen King. A long-time fan of his, for real. I haven't even read all of his books, but what I have read so far is amazing. The guy has this huge talent with creating characters, developing them and putting them in the direst situations.  Really, he puts breath in them like only a god can. And he's basically a God of the written word, Bible aside.

Saying that I have to say I'm not really surprised by the awesomeness of this new show, Castle Rock. It is not unlike Under the Dome or The Mist, however, it's very much different. I'll say that this show is much more ominous than the others and keeps its secrets quite well. I'm not saying that the other shows aren't good at that, just explaining that I'm more impressed by what's put forth in this latest iteration of King's stories.  

He seems to want to pull many stories together from the multi-verse he's created. That's awesome because maybe it will tie up some loose ends that have baffled people for years. (i.e. where is the Turtle or is IT really female?) That's gonna be a stretch, but that would be cool.

So in this first episode, we hit the ground running with my guy Dale Lucy, played by Terry O'Quinn, of LOST fame. He immediately commits suicide. I mean, it's within the first 10 minutes. And the way he does it seems really extravagant, like more of a show than anything. I don't think I've ever seen a suicide done in such a way in any movie. I'm still wondering why such a show of it?  Was he sending a message? It has to mean something.

Later on, we are introduced to the protagonist, Henry Deaver (Andre Holland), the adopted son of Pastor Matthew Deaver and his wife, Ruth, played by the great Sissy Spacek. Henry is now a lawyer that represents a specific set of clients, but has stayed away from Castle Rock. The Kid, played by Bill Skarsgard, who also played the most recent version of Stephen King's IT, is very convincing as the perceived antagonist. He speaks very little and seems so eerily confused that it completely sets the mood of the show from there. He asks for Henry by name when he is found locked away in a dark hole of a long-abandoned section of Shawshank.

Henry obviously has some issues coming home and is even hesitant about going to see his mother. It is obvious to me why, as his father disappeared around the same time he did, but wound up dead. Henry had no memory of what occurred, thus bearing the scorn of those that knew his father, and the quiet suspicion that he was responsible. 

Dennis Zalewski, a guard in the prison, is sympathetic to The Kid and skeptical of the new prison warden. He is the one who notices that The Kid has escaped and killed a few guards. Still, with no reason to be there and no records, it is likely that he would go free, anyway lest the prison be the center of a scandal. And we see in a flashback, the now deceased Lacy tell The Kid to ask for Henry Deaver when he is found.

Of course this sets us up for a thrilling chase for reasons and collaborators, which is a marvelous way to begin the series. I was really excited that Hulu decided to run this show, and I had been anticipating it ever since it was announced. I'm actually all caught up but I wanted to put this post down to center myself and others on what's going on, just for posterity's sake. That way, when something is confirmed, I can refer to this afterward.

JJ Abrams brought his A-game.  It's a great show and I hope you enjoy it! I'll be covering all the rest of the episodes from 6 to whatever from now until the show is finished!