Castle Rock

Castle Rock was supposed to have a progressive storyline across the seasons, but with only two seasons made we are ultimately left with more questions than answers. It is hard to narrow down the best scene as there are a few that distinctly stand out, especially in the first season. If we had to choose something memorable, we would choose the first season’s storyline. It was not only a complex weave of time travel and character development, it was the most interesting plot we’ve seen in a television series in a long while. It starts with us being introduced to the main character locked in the basement of Shawshank, the local prison. “The Kid” has an uncanny ability to wreak havoc and destruction wherever he goes, and but his existence is critical to the evolution of the town and its residents. The Kid (Bill Skarsgård) is not only a mystery, but a an enigma that spans the entire season until the very end.

Annie Wilkes (Lizzy Caplan) is our favorite character. The entire second season is about how Annie Wilkes slowly slips into madness. It humanizes Annie and we can see how a monster is created through a series of events that alter her perception of reality, her perception of herself and her belief in others. There are moments when we are rooting for Annie at the same time we know that she is truly losing her mind.

Castle Rock has plenty of scares to go around, but we have two that stay with you long after the episode ends.

In season one, Ruth Deaver (Sissy Spacek) is experiencing some issues with memory loss. During one of her episodes, The Kid (Bill Skarsgård) enters her residence and pretends that he is her husband. Since we’ve been introduced to The Kid, we’ve known him only to cause chaos wherever he is. Ultimately we are left with an absolutely terrifying feeling of impending dread as Ruth Deaver continues about her routine.

In season two, Annie Wilkes (Lizzy Caplan), suffering from severe mental illness, proceeds to murder her landlord in her kitchen with an ice cream scoop. Then calmly proceeds to clean up and dispose of the body.

We love the series Castle Rock but there are a couple of areas we would improve on. The storyline of The Kid in the first season is sometimes hard to follow. Between the Ruth Deaver (Sissy Spacek), Henry Deaver (André Holland) and Alan Pangborn (Scott Glenn), the storylines just get too hard to follow. Once you realize what is going on, it’s somewhat clearer but still leaves you with the feeling of “what the heck just happened?”.

In the second season, we follow Annie Wilkes and are introduced a little into the world of Salem’s Lot. Although the storyline was a bit stronger this season, we would have liked to see a little more development in additional Castle Rock characters outside the two main. With the show being cancelled, it looks like we’ll be waiting for answers to some of our lingering questions for quit a while.