'Castle Rock' Season 2 Episode 10 Review: Misery reigns supreme in a brilliant finale that promises a new beginning
The second season of 'Castle Rock' ends where it began and where it's most comfortable — a close look at a blissful mother-daughter relationship.
This was one of the strengths of the show, and the writers exploited it to the best potential in the last breathtaking episode of this nerve-wracking rollercoaster that has been this season.
Keeping to its brilliant unpredictability, 'Castle Rock' delivered a finale that kept us on the edge of our seats till the very end. The theories, assumptions and much speculation fell waste, and the writers are allowed to look smugly at their stunned viewers.
In a plot similar to Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot', the possessed army of the dead is smoked out by a couple of dynamites, laid carefully by Nadia (Yusra Warsima) and Abdi (Barkhad Abdi).
Augustine (Paul Sparks), who has been waiting for Amity to return after 400 years, has a bit of an unpleasant surprise coming his way.
The supernatural elements of the story are seemingly wrapped up in a rather hasty manner and there is a promise of a new beginning. But we forget, this is 'Castle Rock', where the demons tear you up from inside. These personal fears are more intimidating than the villains waiting to capture your soul.
The murderous ghosts were just the side-characters of this psychological horror-show, giving the little nudges and pushes here and there. In the words of a notorious villain that we all know so well, "Madness, is like gravity. And all it takes is a little push."
Annie gets that tiny push. The Angel's work is not done yet and isn't clearly restricted to just the ill-fated town. Annie Wilkes's daughter Joy is not the same after the events and the idea that her daughter is still possessed, courses through her like poison.
The disturbing events from the town have taken an iron-clad hold over Annie's fraying mental health. It feeds on Annie, and she finds it difficult to resist the darkness. In the trajectory that takes her to 'Misery', she begins to read Paul Sheldon's book to Joy, who could really care less.
Indeed, Joy has changed, but all she wants is to escape and just heal. The child has been through emotional and physical hell, as she found out she's not her mother's child, and that her real mother is now dead, not to mention all the eerie supernatural stuff that happened to her.
Elsie Fisher has shown tremendous growth as an actress with 'Castle Rock' and has brought out the internal struggles of Joy beautifully.
More than the Angel's pervasive influence, it's Annie's thoughts that torture her. In a fit of flaming impulse, she submits to her character in 'Misery' completely, only to realize how fatefully wrong she was.
Yet, why face reality, when you find an excuse to escape it? And so, she does. At the end of the episode, Annie sits at author Paul Sheldon's book reading, with rapt attention, and talks to Joy cheerfully. And you know that Annie has finally reached her breaking point. There's no coming back for her.
In the earlier episodes, the show tried to take on action-sequences that didn't work in its favor. Luckily, in this episode, the focus was zeroed in on the emotional development of characters, as they took painful decisions.
Pop Merrill makes a short, yet whistle-worthy comeback that does not seem contrived in the least. And once again, he makes a sacrifice, which is engineered by a very reluctant and tearful Nadia.
'Castle Rock' has explored the concept of flawed, twisted and uncomfortable love. But, it's still love, in a strange way, isn't it? It's what prompts Pop Merrill to take drastic steps, it's what compels Annie to run into a house of satanic people, just to make sure Joy is safe.
Yet, this kind of love comes at a very heavy price. Even when the storytelling seemed weak in the show, the phenomenal acting by the cast carried it through, with special reference to Lizzy Caplan as Annie Wilkes and Tim Robbins as Pop Merrill.
Lizzy has portrayed all sides of Annie's character, her love and affection for her daughter that knows no boundaries, her nervous and panicky chatter, as well as the murderous woman she becomes when her daughter's life is at stake.
Tim Robbins was under-utilized at the beginning of the show, but he made sure that to pull out all the stops later. And so, Hulu's 'Castle Rock' comes to an end.