The reign of Stephen King continues with Castle Rock, a new television series brought to us by Hulu and it features the town so often incorporated into King’s work.
Castle Rock is a psychological-horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse. The series combines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland. The fictional Maine town of Castle Rock has figured prominently in King’s literary career: Cujo, The Dark Half, IT, and Needful Things, as well as novella “The Body” and numerous short stories such as “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” are either set there or contain references to Castle Rock. Castle Rock is an original suspense/thriller — a first-of-its-kind reimagining that explores the themes and worlds uniting the entire King canon, while brushing up against some of his most iconic and beloved stories.
THE PLOT
Castle Rock centers on Henry Deaver, a defense attorney whose sole purpose is getting inmates off death row. He left Castle Rock behind as young boy after his adopted father was killed under questionable circumstances. But now, some of those residing in Castle Rock hold Deaver responsible for what happened. Deaver returns to Castle Rock involves the infamous Shawshank Prison. When a nameless inmate (Bill Skarsgård) is found in a cage within an abandoned part of the jail, Deaver is asked to provide counsel.
THE CHARACTERS
Henry Deaver (André Holland)
A death row attorney with a unique and complicated history in the town.
Shawshank Prisoner (Bill Skarsgård)
A young many with an unusual legal problem.
Ruth Deaver (Sissy Spacek)
Ruth Deaver is protagonist Henry’s mother. Ruth is a retired professor whose memories might be the key to Castle Rock’s strange past.
Alan Pangborn (Scott Glenn)
Retired sheriff Alan Pangborn has appeared in at least five of King’s stories and novels, many of which are set in the titular town. Pangborn has most famously appeared in the novel The Dark Half and Needful Things.
Jackie (Jane Levy)
The town’s death-obsessed self-appointed historian.
Molly Strand (Melanie Lynskey)
A woman with a rare medical condition who’s barely scraping by as a real estate agent in a town where every third property is the site of someone’s worst nightmare.
Other characters include Zalewski (Noel Fisher) who’s described as “a Shawshank prison guard who finds himself embroiled with the discovery of a dark and mysterious inmate”, along with Dale Lacy (Terry O’Quinn) as “a pillar of the community in the town of Castle Rock.”
The series stars André Holland (A Wrinkle In Time), Melanie Lynskey (Togetherness), Bill Skarsgård (IT), Jane Levy (Suburgatory), Scott Glenn (The Defenders), Noel Fisher (Shameless), Terry O’Quinn (Lost), and Sissy Spacek (Carrie). Executive produced by Sam Shaw, Dustin Thomason, J.J. Abrams, Mark Lafferty, Ben Stephenson, Liz Glotzer, and Stephen King.
The 10 episode season of Castle Rock premieres July 25th on Hulu.
