Journey to the sleepy little town of Castle Rock
When I first discovered Stephen King’s writing, one of the things I enjoyed was he how connected these seemingly disparate stories into a fairly cohesive universe.
It wasn’t something you saw much in fiction, outside of comic books, and it helped make his world more lived in. Somewhere in there, a man could break out of prison and live the rest of his life happily in Zihuatanejo.
Somewhere else, a different man was killed by a demon-possessed industrial laundry press. Or sometimes, a vampire would move into town. Or sometimes, a cloven footed creature would mow your lawn. It seemed that anything and everything could happen. Yet, throughout each new narrative, there are references to other stories.
Whether King meant these as honest storytelling tools or simple rewards to faithful readers is immaterial—they exist and they make reading his work entertaining. This was long before cinematic universes, where everything is a teaser for a later story. King was just having fun.
Castle Rock, a new show on Hulu, is exactly the kind of fun Stephen King would like. It’s not based on any King book, but instead on his universe and characters, telling an original story in a place where darkness resides: Maine.
The series is an anthology, hopefully meaning that each season with tell and resolve a single story, before moving to the next one. But rest assured, those who watch from the beginning will be well rewarded.
The story is reminiscent of “The Howling Man,” an episode of The Twilight Zone about a man locked in a cage (if there’s any doubt, pay attention to what’s showing on the TV screens in the first few episodes).
In Castle Rock, there is a man (Bill Skarsgard) locked in a cage. There’s also the specter of Shawshank prison Warden Lacy (Terry O’Quinn), who killed himself shortly before the caged man was discovered.
And there’s Henry Deaver (Andre Holland), a lost soul from the town of Castle Rock, Maine, who disappeared as a boy and was subsequently blamed for his father’s death. Henry left his home long ago to defend the rights of death row inmates, but is called back when his name crosses the mysterious caged man’s lips.
Throughout the show, there is a strong cast of characters with their own secrets, their own motivations, their own connection to the unknown. Overall, Castle Rock is a mystery, one that isn’t eager to reveal much about where it’s going.
It’s packed with references to the King universe for fans to discover, but even those unfamiliar with the stories are likely to be drawn into the narrative unfolding onscreen.
The cast itself is as much a reference to Stephen King and his adapted works as anything found in the show’s writing. Movie fans will remember Sissy Spacek from Carrie. Bill Skarsgard is the pandimensional It and Chosen Jacobs played a young Mike Halon. It’s as much fun pouring over the cast credits looking for connections as it is watching the show.
However, this kind of thing might ultimately be the show’s undoing. Allusion works well so long as it’s kept in the background. But if every episode becomes a vehicle for elbow pokes and sideways glances, the air might go out of the story. There’s only so much “did you catch that?” a show can do before it alienates those new to the universe and bores those that are familiar.
For whatever reason, the current entertainment world is obsessed with nostalgia, much to the detriment of original ideas. If Castle Rock becomes a revolving door of Steven King references and inter-world connectedness, people might stop caring.
Thus far, however, Castle Rock has avoided overusing allusion. Most of the references are off-hand comments or quick cuts to “blink and you’ll miss it” newspaper clippings that have nothing to do with the overarching story.
This is the way King used them and seems to be the way the show does as well.
There are six episodes available now, with ten planned for the season. The show has already been picked up for a second season, so more is on the way. There’s not a lot of great episodic television right now. Castle Rock is worth a look.