‘Castle Rock’ Season 2: Stephen King references and Easter eggs in first three episodes explained
Hulu introduced us to the uneasy world of Castle Rock in 2018, with numerous Stephen King elements in place. The first season was uncomfortable and dreary and kept you permanently on edge, while you waited for the axe to fall. While the season’s storyline took its own course, the second season draws inspiration from Stephen King novels, including iconic characters like Annie Wilkes and Pop Merrill.
There are many more such Easter Eggs in three episodes that have dropped.
Episode 1: Let the River Run
When we first meet Annie, she is decorating her nurse’s uniform with pigs. In King’s novel, ‘Misery’, Annie has a pet pig that she names after her favorite character, and that statue pig plays a role in her death.
Annie and her daughter Joy are looking for the ‘The Laughing Place’, which is a concept taken from Joel Chandler Harris’ ‘Uncle Remus’ tales, that Annie refers to in the novel ‘Misery’.
Just the same way ‘Misery’ begins with a car crash, the second season of ‘Castle Rock’ begins with a car accident as well.
The Merrill family owns the junk shop called ‘Emporium Galorium’, which is a crucial location in ‘Needful Things’ that also makes its presence felt in ‘Pet Semetary’.
Episode 2: New Jerusalem
Annie kills Ace Merrill off, or so she believes. However, that doesn’t work out for her, as she dumps his body in a haunted construction site and he comes back to life. This is a reference to ‘Pet Semetary’, which is a burial ground that brings the dead back to life.
After attempting to dispose of Merrill’s body, Anne finds herself in a long tunnel that ends up at the Marsten House, which is crucial to the plot of ‘Salem’s Lot’.
Episode 3: The Ties That Bind
Joy’s new friend asks her if she wants to go hunt for a dead body. This is a reference to the plot of ‘Stand By Me’, where teenagers go hunting for a dead man. In King’s story, Ace Merrill follows the kids, while in the episode, it is Ace who the kids are hunting.
In an attempt to wrest the truth out of her mother, Joy ties Annie to the bed and drugs her. This is exactly what Annie does to author Paul Sheldon in ‘Misery’. Joy even asks Annie, ‘Are you ready?”, which is the same thing Annie asks in the novel, “Are you ready for the next chapter?”
Ace says he has been in the town of Derry, a reference to the town that was haunted by the murderous clown Pennywise from Stephen King’s novel ‘It’.
At the Marsten House, a real estate agent mentions Hubie Marsten, who had murdered his wife just before the events of ‘Salem’s Lot’.
The next episode of 'Castle Rock' will release on October 30, on Hulu.