The first season of "Castle Rock" was a bit of a jumbled mess, stringing together threads of Stephen King book ideas and seeing what would stick. Season Two narrows the ideas down a bit, but still ends up a muddled mess in the end. Its highs are much higher than S1, but the lows are also considerably lower.
For a very basic overview, this season focuses on three main plotlines:
-Annie Wilkes (Lizzy Caplan) battling her mental illness while simultaneously trying to start a new life with daughter Joy (Elsie Fisher).
-"Ace" Merrill (Paul Sparks) putting together a sort of un-dead army (reminiscent of 'Salem's Lot fare).
-Family drama stemming from "Pop" Merrill (Tim Robbins) and trickling down to his adopted children Nadia (Yusra Warsama) and Abdi (Barkhad Abdi).
Eventually all of these plots converge, though very much with a confusing "whimper" rather than any sort of definitive "bang". There is also mention/sightings of "The Kid" (Bill Skarsgard) from S1, but sadly nothing every really comes of it.
To be honest, the only reason I can give this second season even a middle-of-the-road ranking is because of the mid-season arc involving flashbacks to young Annie. Sarah Gadon gets a kind of guest-starring role in these episodes, and somewhat inexplicably they turn into legitimately compelling hours of television (every bit as good as something you'd see on more premier networks/platforms). I found myself completely invested in the proceedings until, in typical fashion, all that goodwill is suddenly grounded by the plotting of certain characters/events.
What this makes me conclude, ultimately, is that S2 of "Castle Rock" should have narrowed its focus even further, perhaps ostensibly onto the Wilkes family almost alone. All the material with the resurrected worshippers and the Merrill family drama is B-roll stuff at very best, yet far too much time is spent in those quarters. Had there been a clear focus on the Wilkes storyline all the way through, I think this could have been a much stronger campaign.
As it stands, however, I'm about out of patience with this show and what it seems to represent. The writers/producers have this treasure-trove of absolutely golden King material at their disposal, but time and time again they can't shape it into any meaningful configuration. There are glimpses here and there of potential (like the mesmerizing "The Laughing Place" and "The Mother" episodes), but ultimately there isn't any narrative thoroughfare to pull it all together and create meaning.
I'm guessing a third season will indeed happen based on the property value of the show alone, but at this point I'm not sure I'd be tuning in whatsoever.
For a very basic overview, this season focuses on three main plotlines:
-Annie Wilkes (Lizzy Caplan) battling her mental illness while simultaneously trying to start a new life with daughter Joy (Elsie Fisher).
-"Ace" Merrill (Paul Sparks) putting together a sort of un-dead army (reminiscent of 'Salem's Lot fare).
-Family drama stemming from "Pop" Merrill (Tim Robbins) and trickling down to his adopted children Nadia (Yusra Warsama) and Abdi (Barkhad Abdi).
Eventually all of these plots converge, though very much with a confusing "whimper" rather than any sort of definitive "bang". There is also mention/sightings of "The Kid" (Bill Skarsgard) from S1, but sadly nothing every really comes of it.
To be honest, the only reason I can give this second season even a middle-of-the-road ranking is because of the mid-season arc involving flashbacks to young Annie. Sarah Gadon gets a kind of guest-starring role in these episodes, and somewhat inexplicably they turn into legitimately compelling hours of television (every bit as good as something you'd see on more premier networks/platforms). I found myself completely invested in the proceedings until, in typical fashion, all that goodwill is suddenly grounded by the plotting of certain characters/events.
What this makes me conclude, ultimately, is that S2 of "Castle Rock" should have narrowed its focus even further, perhaps ostensibly onto the Wilkes family almost alone. All the material with the resurrected worshippers and the Merrill family drama is B-roll stuff at very best, yet far too much time is spent in those quarters. Had there been a clear focus on the Wilkes storyline all the way through, I think this could have been a much stronger campaign.
As it stands, however, I'm about out of patience with this show and what it seems to represent. The writers/producers have this treasure-trove of absolutely golden King material at their disposal, but time and time again they can't shape it into any meaningful configuration. There are glimpses here and there of potential (like the mesmerizing "The Laughing Place" and "The Mother" episodes), but ultimately there isn't any narrative thoroughfare to pull it all together and create meaning.
I'm guessing a third season will indeed happen based on the property value of the show alone, but at this point I'm not sure I'd be tuning in whatsoever.