If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: Henry prepares for his day in court; a coffin arrives in Castle Rock. (IMDB)
Writer: Scott Brown
Director: Michael Uppendahl
Rating: TV-MA
Running Time: 49mins
Airs: Wednesdays at 10pm on Space (Canada)/ Wednesdays on Hulu (United States)
It there was one theme for this week’s episode, it was that if you want something done right, you do it yourself. This was the case for two characters with each of their paths going in completely different directions. Another trend for the series thus far is to give us just enough new information with every new episode to keep us hooked and this was still the case here.
The biggest development revealed in the episode was who took Deaver but we still don’t know how or why (it seemed like he didn’t know or didn’t remember himself). Before that happened, he was preparing for a hearing in front of a judge to try and get Nick (our temporary name for the nameless man) out of Shawshank. Ever since finding Nick, Zalewski had become more and more disgruntled with Shawshank as he saw it for what it really was. He wanted to expose Shawshank, however, Deaver was more interested in getting Nick released than making a case against the prison.
While he was away, Pangborn signed off for the sending of Deaver’s father’s body somewhere else to be buried. As the two went to retrieve the body, Deaver shared his intentions for his mother which was to take her with him and place her in a home in Houston once he was done with his case in a week. Then Deaver became even more suspicious about Pangborn’s relationship with his mother, enough to accuse him of killing his father (although we know the truth). Unfortunately for Deaver, his mother was not interested in leaving Castle Rock. Her standing up to him was a strong scene between Holland and Spacek.
While preparing for the hearing, Deaver became interested in his own kidnapping. He found a lead on one of his old neighbors around the time of his abduction who also happened to have a sealed criminal record. Deaver tracked him down to a remote cabin near the lake where he was found. The score got increasingly tense. There, he found a box which looked like something where he could have been kept in. Once the owner arrived, he revealed himself to be the brother of the neighbor Deaver was looking for. It seemed like he had just missed the person he was looking for until the man had a missing police file on the case. Soon after, he admitted that he was the man who abducted him and claimed that he didn’t touch him. The look on Deaver’s face was something.
Returning home with this new information, Deaver confronted Pangborn about his work on Deaver’s missing person case. Pangborn claimed that Deaver’s father told him before he died that Deaver did it and Pangborn had simply been covering for him. Deaver chalked it up to Pangborn feeling threatened about Deaver’s involvement with Ruth. He then went to Strand (who heard everything because of her power) who reassured him. She also had a quick subplot involving selling Warden Lacy’s house to an unsuspecting couple while trying to hide the fact that it was a dead person’s house.
Perhaps getting frustrated with these new developments, Deaver called Zalewski and informed him that he was going to take Shawshank’s settlement offer and leave, thus going no further against the prison. This set Zalewski off, leading him to take a gun and shoot all the officers in the prison. Of course he ended up at the warden’s office with Deaver as the other officers killed Zalewski in front of him.
Overall, this was a great episode that moved the mystery just a little further and featured plenty of intense moments thanks to some excellent cinematography and a suspenseful score while offering some great performances all around. This series has been exciting to watch thus far and it has the potential to become even more exciting as the remainder of the season progresses. This slow burn is looking like it’s worth it so hopefully it doesn’t disappoint.
Score: 9/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
