Unsteady on ‘Castle Rock’
HAVE you ever watched a TV show and then found yourself unable to make up your mind about it? That was me, earlier this week. Given my proclivity for whodunits and horrors, I decided to watch Castle Rock. Seeing JJ Abrams and Stephen King listed on the executive producer credits fuelled my curiosity further.
This psychological horror starts with Dale Lacy (Terry O’Quinn from Secrets and Lies and The Blacklist: Redemption), who, on his last day as the warden of Shawshank State Penitentiary, commits suicide. And he chose to do it in the most brutal way – by self-decapitation.
Around the same time, “The Kid” (played by Billy Skarsgård) is discovered in a cage in a longabandoned section of the prison. When he is questioned, he says two words: “Henry Deaver” – who, it turns out, is a criminal law attorney specialising in capital punishment cases. He grew up in Castle Rock, Maine, before moving to Texas. Henry’s (André Holland) departure was spurred on by the townsfolk, who suspected him of being involved in the death of his adoptive father. There are other secrets in that closet, though. Then there is Molly Strand, played by Melanie Lynskey. Of course, most viewers will remember her as Rose in Two and a Half Men. This time around, her character is sobering. Aside from being the owner of M Strand and Associates Real Estate, she is a sort of empath. While Theresa Porter (Ann Cusack) tries to contain the situation as the new warden of the prison, gutsy but green correctional officer Dennis Zalewski (Noel Fisher) anonymously calls Deaver.
Amid the chaos around the discovery of “The Kid” are flashbacks to occurrences in some of the key characters’ lives, 27 years earlier, which undoubtedly has bearing on the current chain of events.
By the way, Sissy Spacek is also in this show. She plays Henry’s estranged adoptive mother, struggling with the onset of dementia. Back to my point, though, I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about this show. It’s interesting. But that can be fobbed off as me being indifferent, which I’m not. At least, I’m not trying to be. I will say this, though, I can’t wait to catch a few more episodes to formulate a definitive opinion. Who knows, it might grow on me … or not. Either way, there is a second instalment on the cards.
■ Castle Rock airs on M-Net (DStv channel 101) on Mondays at 10pm.