'Castle Rock' Season 2: The real horror lies in deprived and lost childhoods in this Stephen King universe
Two teenagers see their mother get shot in a war-torn land. Another is starved for companionship. While the second season of 'Castle Rock' doles out its fair share of terror and scream-worthy moments, the real horror lies in the deprived and lost childhoods of the main characters, Papa Merrill's foster children Abdi, Nadia, and Annie Wilkes's Joy. Admittedly, it is a bit uneasy to watch a swarm of murderous body-snatchers who are slowly assimilating in their town but that still isn't as uncomfortable as the realization that distressing and deceptive parenting is the real evil in the grim town of Castle Rock.
It's the children, who are suffering. Distraught childhoods at the hands of haphazard parenting is a common theme in the Stephen King universe. From Al Marsh who was a potential sexual assaulter in IT to an abusive mother in 'Carrie', Stephen King has usually used a child as a protagonist, specifically a child who has been through the worst at the hands of their parents. Sometimes, the scars show, and sometimes, the child has learned how to conceal them.
Yet, the sad part is that many a time, most of the time, the parents have good intentions. Paranoid Annie Wilkes isolated her daughter from everyone else, but still loves her and is willing to do anything to protect her. She hasn't realized the damage she has inflicted on Joy by cutting her off from the world. In the latest episodes of 'Castle Rock', Joy is slowly realizing the necessity of friends in life and there's even a veiled hint at sexual feelings towards her friend, Chance. Joy has never experienced such interactions or closeness before and begins to embrace the girlhood that she was robbed of. Her relationship with Annie is put to a test, as she begins to question her mother's strange ways and wonder who she really is. This leads her to take drastic decisions by tying her mother to the bed and interrogating her. 'Castle Rock' moves away from the conventional horror at points and highlights the pain of strained relationships and torn lives.
Meanwhile, Pop Merrill was the one who shot Abdi and Nadia's mother, when he was stationed in Somalia. Out of sheer guilt, he chose to adopt the children. Secrets like this can never be hidden and Nadia discovers it and relives the horror of watching her mother die in front of her. There's no justification for the years of deception and lies.
These turbulent and broken childhoods at the hands of well-meaning but deceptive parents form the backbone of the second season of 'Castle Rock.' The monsters are not the body-snatchers. It's the ones that grow inside people, when they're alone and cheated of a life they deserve.