SummaryDeath row attorney Henry (Andre Holland) returns to his hometown of Castle Rock, Maine after receiving a call from Shawshank in this psychological horror series from J.J. Abrams and Stephen King.
SummaryDeath row attorney Henry (Andre Holland) returns to his hometown of Castle Rock, Maine after receiving a call from Shawshank in this psychological horror series from J.J. Abrams and Stephen King.
What follows is a propulsive story that encompasses not only Annie Wilkes’ origins, but a haunted burial ground, the Battle of Mogadishu, reanimated corpses, and Tim Robbins growling through a sharp-cheddar Maine accent as Ace’s cancer-stricken father, Pop Merrill. ... Every revelation about the character feels both urgent and canon-correct. ... [Lizzy Caplan] does a remarkable job portraying Castle Rock’s reimagined Annie. Her performance is masterfully physical.
“Castle Rock” Season 2 hasn’t quite found the tour de force episode its predecessor did, but we’re still in the early goings. What’s here is still effective, affecting, and original — despite appearances. With more stories to tell, “Castle Rock” continues to prove there are many ways to tell them.
The show is thoughtfully written by showrunners Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason, who have a knack for character and an ear for Kingian dialogue, and the gifted cast gives it everything they have.
Mythology-rich details may bewitch Stephen King superfans, but for the average viewer this is a lot of lumps to be stuffing into too-small Spanx. Even so — recall the warning about anthology series — there is just enough mystery afoot to keep the viewer interested. Caplan, is unsettlingly good as Annie, giving a performance that can be emotionally poignant in one scene and petrifying in another, turning on a dime in an instant.
Opting for more recognizable, overt King references hasn’t enriched the show’s storytelling so much as clarified the gap between the author’s best work and this TV imitation.
I can't tell if the new season is over-reaching, under-reaching or if the Annie Wilkes of it all is just overshadowing the story to an unanticipated degree.