'The Outsider': Is Richard Price's HBO series loyal to Stephen King's original horror thriller?
This article contains spoilers for Stephen King's novel and HBO's 'The Outsider'
Stephen King has made waves in eerie writing as he's conjured up characters that will have you sleeping with one eye open and bibliophiles will vouch for King. But with an HBO series, bringing the mystical murders of Flint City, Oklahoma, to life, is the novel a welcoming spoiler or is the series taking wide-angle off the original narrative?
The HBO series is directed by Andrew Bernstein, Jason Bateman and Charlotte Brändström, with King and Richard Price, serving as writers, and Bateman serving as an executive producer along with Price.
Following, 'It', 'It Chapter 2', 'Pet Cemetary' and 'Doctor Sleep', 'The Outsider' is the latest of King's books to make it to the screen and so far has managed to catch the attention of fans, both readers and non-readers alike. From the released five episodes of the upcoming 10-episode horror thriller, it seems as though the plotline has stayed fairly close to King's original narrative.
The story chronicles the days of Detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) who's heading the case of Terry Maitland, the local teacher that has abundant evidence against him for the killing of Frankie Peterson (Duncan E Clark). A gruesome, yet routine, methodical investigation ensues until Anderson is put up against Maitland's confirmed air-tight alibi.
In the book, Ralph Anderson's son Derek is at a summer camp away from the drama, while in the series, Derek's passed away due to cancer. This change was not made in haste as it fits the narrative and affects Anderson dealings with the case of Terry Maitland (Bateman). This brings us to another difference with Maitland being arrested for the murder of Frankie Peterson in a dramatic public approach in the series, while in the novel, the character is arrested in his home. There are, of course, minor, yet genius, differences when it comes to the fate and personality of some characters, their appearances and their names.
In the series, Anderson's self-reflection is what gets the case started, and dealing with the passing of his son, he becomes a shadow of himself with a dependence on alcohol. In the book, his stunt with a counselor is mentioned briefly and this is because, in the novel, his son isn't dead. Being the protagonist of the narrative, the novel bases Anderson to be of a larger stature describing him as being "big as a house" while his attributes in the show are not focused on his intimidating height as it is in the books.
These changes allow viewers to place the same narrative onto characters that seem rather novice, while the antagonist, the "tear-drinker" has a dark light shed on him and is the focus of the current season.
Another striking difference would be the way Terry Maitland passed away in the book. The fatal wound was one that was aimed at his stomach, not the one that hit his neck. While he's on the verge of dying, Anderson asks him to confess saying, "Terry, you are going to die. Do you understand me? He got you, and he got you good. You are going to die," but in the series, Maitland denies that he was involved in the crime on his own accord, in turn, leaving Anderson with guilt and motivation to crack the case.
Another character to take into account is Holly Gibney who isn't just part of King's 'The Outsider' narrative, but also part of the 'Bill Hodges' trilogy ('Mr Mercedes', 'Finders Keepers' and 'End of Watch'), which has been adapted into a series called 'Mr Mecedes.' In the trilogy, she is described as "a pale woman with grey bangs", but is played by Justine Lupe in the series, while in 'The Outsider' she's portrayed as a black woman played by Cynthia Ervio.
Other details that are different from Gibney's character include: In the novel, Gibney is obsessed with movies and is said to have 9,000 DVDs while in the series her skilled obsession includes identifying cars that drive past her. She is also depicted to have a fear of flying in the series, but its the opposite in the novel where she flies a lot.
It's a challenging task to take a 500-page novel with excruciatingly lengthy details of significant scenes and adapt them in a 10-episode series, but from the look of its fifth episode, we think they have the right idea. Still loyal to King's original murky horror, the series makes minor changes to character names, settings of scenes and duration of each scene.
The Outsider’ airs on Sundays at 9 pm EST on HBO.