Castle Rock (2018)

:

Season 2
  • Network: HULU
  • Series Premiere Date: Jul 25, 2018
Season #: 2, 1, 1
User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 21 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 21
  3. Negative: 2 out of 21
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User Reviews

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  1. Davrosdaleks1
    Jan 4, 2020
    6
    Half of this I rather liked, but the other half didn't work for me.

    Let me cover the overlapping parts first. What I like about this season is that the pacing is a lot better than its predecessor. It took a cue from season 2 of Fargo and added a higher character count in order to fill things up. However, I did miss the more eerier and crazier feel from the first. Don't get me wrong,    Half of this I rather liked, but the other half didn't work for me.

    Let me cover the overlapping parts first. What I like about this season is that the pacing is a lot better than its predecessor. It took a cue from season 2 of Fargo and added a higher character count in order to fill things up.

    However, I did miss the more eerier and crazier feel from the first. Don't get me wrong, the threat in here is decent and scary.

    I felt that like the last season the ending was weak.

    Now I'll focus on the two halves: I liked the part involving the residents and community of Castle Rock. We are introduced to complex drama and tension within an extended family and a growing struggle between Ace Merrill (Paul Sparks), who has inherited his uncle's business hold on the town, and his uncle's foster son Abdi Howlwadaag (Barkhad Abdi), who along with the town's Syrian immigrants are building their own economic area. There is just a lot of strong backstory to this.

    Tim Robbins plays Pop Merill and he hands down has the best role. It's too bad you don't see Robbins in stuff a lot these days. Merrill is a great character, an intelligent man and the most powerful in town, who is having everything slip from his fingers.

    What I wasn't fond of were the parts with Annie Wilkes (played by Master of Sex's Lizzy Caplan), the antagonist from Stephen King's Misery. The problem is that this known character doesn't work that well when given an expanded role and becomes a main focus. The show tries to replicate her traits from the film with Kathy Bates, but they are limited. I got tired of seeing her repeatedly say the word "dirty-birds" and getting unreasonably upset with people. Her storyline didn't have as much going for it, except for the episode on her background which was really well done. You can tell where things are going pretty early on. It doesn't help that more focus is given to Wilkes than the rest of the cast.

    I can see some people liking this more than me. Just temper expectations.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

95
#95 Best TV Season of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Nov 6, 2019
    50
    The clash between grounded psychological horror and bump-in-the-night monster mania delivers fewer shivers than shrugs of confusion. [28 Oct - 10 Nov 2019, p.9]
  2. Salon
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    Oct 29, 2019
    70
    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.
    Read full review
  3. Collider
    Reviewed by: Dave Trumbore
    Oct 23, 2019
    80
    This cast starts off strong as we get two competing narratives that quickly meld together in ways that only King and Castle Rock can pull off.
    Read full review
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