Return of Castle Rock scarily good
If the first season of Castle Rock brought joy to Stephen King fans, its second is pure Misery. Actually, that’s not quite true. This new series of this spookily excellent show (streaming on Lightbox) also alludes to other efforts from horror’s main man, such as Salem’s Lot, Pet Sematary and Needful Things.
But the show’s heart and poster girl is very much nurse Annie Wilkes (Lizzy Caplan). For years, she and daughter Joy (Eighth Grade’s Elsie Fisher) have moved from town to town as Annie uses her nursing skills to keep their finances afloat and steal herself a steady supply of the drugs she needs to keep the voices and memories in her head from taking over.
Annie had no intention of stopping in Castle Rock, Maine, but a car accident left the pair stranded until their vehicle could be repaired. Annie warns her daughter not to stray too far from their room. ‘‘This town is not good. I’ve heard things – massacres, kids disappearing.’’
She’s equally uneasy about the Stargazer’s manager, John ‘‘Ace’’ Merrill (The Greatest Showman’s Paul Sparks).
‘‘Nothing’s for free with a man like that.’’
However, Ace has his own problems. With the blessing of his uncle, Reginald ‘‘Pop’’ Merrill (Tim Robbins), Ace’s Somalian stepbrother Abdi (Captain Phillips’ Barkhad Abdi) is building a mall and community centre that threatens to take away business from Ace’s shopping complex. Angry and confused, he lashes out, searching for ways to undermine the construction. However, the Jerusalem’s Lot location may be enough of a curse.
Castle Rock is filled with clever writing, delightful callbacks to King’s book universe and terrific performances.
Caplan (Masters of Sex, Das Boot) is definitely the scenestealing star, channelling elements of Kathy Bates’ turn in the much-loved 1990 film adaptation of Misery while making this younger version of the character her own.
Meanwhile, after a somewhat abortive attempt to launch it as a movie franchise with 2007’s star-studded-but-soulless The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy has finally made it to the smaller screen (Neon and SoHo from November 5).
Set in a world ‘‘that is both like and unlike our own’’, this BBC and HBO co-production is the story of Lyra Belacqua (Logan’s Dafne Keen), a girl who has grown up under the protection of scholastic sanctuary at Oxford.
Wanting to save her from the all-powerful ruling
Magisterium, her uncle, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy), placed her there while he continued his exploration of the northern wilderness. On a return visit, it’s clear that someone at the college doesn’t want his work to get out, as he narrowly avoids an attempt on his life.
When he leaves again, Lyra is visited by the charismatic and mysterious Mrs Coulter (Luther’s Ruth Wilson), who offers her the chance of a new luxury life in London.
With its magical creatures, political machinations and marvellous opening titles, it’s clear His Dark Materials’ makers hope this will be the next Game of Thrones. And while its tone is less adult, judging by the opening episode, it also boasts an excellent cast, some impressive visual effects, and seems far more aligned to Pullman’s trilogy than the much-maligned movie.