Cheezwiz

Same, of all the siblings, I'm liking him the least so far. Maybe there will be a twist later on that will change my opinion, but at the moment he sucks.

Wow this episode really got to me - so heartbreaking. Poor Nell. I had a feeling as I watched that the "bent-neck lady" would either be Nell herself or her Mother. But sending Nell back through time was a really effective - both horrifying and sad. Lately I've been feeling a bit wistful and sad about my own childhood, and I have had frightening episodes of sleep paralysis, so I could really relate to what was happening in this episode. For those who have never experienced it, Sleep paralysis is utterly terrifying - it really does feel like you might die, and that something malevolent is looming over you. I have woken up paralyzed to see a figure standing by my bed, or peering at me through my bedroom door. In other instances, it's felt as if another person has crawled right onto my bed and laid right on top of me. When this is happening, your body is frozen, and you want to scream in terror, but no sound comes out. I can really understand why people believed in the supernatural because of this phenomenon. It usually only happens to me when I fall asleep flat on my back, so I always try to curl up on my side when I sleep. This episode really put me through the emotional wringer - bravo to the actress for a job well done.

Yep! I'm not even that fond of kids, but I want to spend a day reading stories and colouring with that little guy - he's ridiculously cute, and his big thick glasses make him even more so! I'm super impressed with all the kid actors in this, they're all fantastic.

I recommend sticking with it - it does get better as it goes along, and you'll start to discern the different characters . I had the same problem in that I initially thought there were only four kids and had no idea who Theo was or where she came from. I was iffy after Episode 1, but have now just finished episode 4 and am now fully invested.

I found myself much more interested in the kid Luke's story than the adult Luke. I find stories about addicts really tedious, and this followed the usual template: rehab, get clean and hopeful temporarily, relapse, hit the streets, get desperate, hit family members up for money, piss everyone off, rinse, repeat. But the floating bowler hat man was ingeniously creeeeepy. And I'm sure we'll be seeing more of "Abigail" too. I thought the same thing - it would be more realistic if Luke wore glasses most of the time. Also the grown-up actor is a bit too hunkalicious, and doesn't really resemble the younger version of himself, whereas the other kids really DO look like their respective adult actors (especially the little girl who plays Shirley). So was Luke actually using and just hallucinating the whole episode with his rehab buddy? Or did he actually stay clean after being ripped off, and once again no one in the family believed him? I also couldn't make out the very last line that ended the episode - what did Luke say? Can anyone explain?

This was actually a really great episode. I'm finally getting drawn into the show - primarily because the kid actors are so, SO good. Much like the kids who were in the "Conjuring" movies, they elevate the material considerably. I was surprised at how compelling I found Theo's story, given that her character hadn't made much of an impression on me in the first two episodes. So she's not just a bad-ass barhopping lesbian, but a child psychiatrist. And we now know why she wears gloves all the time. I wonder what horrors she saw when she touched Nell's body. The story with the foster kid was both scary and sad, and the past story with the dumbwaiter was really well done too. The little girl who plays young Theo is really great, she's totally believable as a smart determined kid. I think this is the first time we actually saw a specific time-period reference relating to the younger versions of the kids, with the music video of Paula Abdul playing (around 1989 or thereabouts). The show is full of jump-scares, but they're mostly pretty good jump-scares. The smiley face creature Theo saw at the end of the bed was terrifying. That scene got to me in particular, because I've had episodes of sleep paralysis where it's felt like someone was tugging at my comforter & bed-sheets ((shudder)). The very end of the episode definitely hinted that the Dad may have been compelled by the house to harm his family in some way.

Oh man, I thought it was just me! I have to turn all the ambient lighting off in my apartment to watch this otherwise nothing shows up on screen!

I thought this was a bit weird as well - Timothy Hutton & Henry Thomas do indeed share a physical resemblance, but they are only about a decade apart in age. They could easily play brothers or half-siblings in some other film, but the time gap in this story is probably around 25 years or maybe even a bit more. They probably should have gone with an older actor to play Thomas's aged part. On a completely unrelated note, I had a huge crush on Hutton when I was a youngster (Ordinary People days). He's looking a bit rough, but not rough enough to be character who has supposedly aged as much as this one. It's also a bit odd watching Thomas, as all I can see is Elliott from E.T. each time I look at his face! I guess he hasn't played enough other iconic parts to put that role firmly in the past for me. But he appears to be aging nicely. Am totally with everyone else on the open casket thing. Those poor kids. I don't understand why that is even a tradition - it's so macabre. Also agree with the number of characters - I feel like there are too many of them. They should have stuck to four kids - Theo seems extraneous to me, but maybe she'll play a bigger part in future episodes.

First episode was reasonably entertaining. But because this really has nothing to do with the original novel, I'm kind of wishing they hadn't included any Shirley Jackson references in this, and had simply created a whole new haunted house story. Agreed! and I laughed out loud at your imaginary Hollywood pitch - because that's probably exactly how it went down! Still giggle-snorting! I think the casting of both the young kid and present-day adult actors is well done. And it's nice to see Henry Thomas again - he only seems to work very sporadically, and he's always been quite good on the rare occasions that I've seen him. The little guy who plays young Luke is adorable. I think the scene where he was drawing the scary girl in his treehouse was one of the creepiest so far. Were there any scenes showing Theodora as a youngster? I got confused when they introduced her as an adult, because I initially thought there were only four kids in the family: Steve, Shirley, Nell & Luke. I see that a lot of character names either reference the book, or Shirley Jackson herself. I guess the show-runners think these are fun hat-tip/easter-eggs, but I personally find it annoying. There were a couple of good scares, but I'm not actually finding the house itself that scary - there's something a bit sterile looking about all the production design, and I'm never not conscious that I'm looking at sets in this show. It's a shame they couldn't have found a real mansion with character to shoot in. I'm not blown away so far, but will keep watching because I'm really desperate for some spooky autumn fare.

Here's a really fun article about the construction of the dollhouse for the show. Apparently it wound up costing as much as a REAL house! And it was a nightmare to work on, because the interiors had to replicate the sets for the life-sized house, while those sets were in mid-stream construction. Yikes. http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/sharp-objects-amma-dollhouse.html

I'm late to the party, as I don't have HBO, so I watched the whole thing on iTunes. I didn't binge, as it was much too dark to watch more than one episode at a time - I needed short breaks here and there before diving in again, so I spread my viewing over a week or so. I personally enjoyed the whole show - the atmosphere, the creepy slow burn, the superb performances, and even the ending. As someone who also just finished watching "Castle Rock", which genuinely DID have a lousy unsatisfying ending full of cannon-ball sized plot holes, I didn't have many complaints about the way this show wrapped up. I agree with those who were annoyed by the quick cuts shown during the credits - that was an unfair cheat. I almost shut it off before I caught a glimpse of one and continued watching. I'm sure there were many people who don't read show forums who missed that completely. And as others have mentioned, I would have cut back on the arty shots of Camille driving around town - probably at least 30 minutes could have been devoted to adding a bit more coherent narrative, and a less rushed conclusion. The series as a whole could have been tightened up to 6 episodes. Detective man-candy didn't really do anything for me either, but I get that his character was supposed to be kind of a jerk. But apart from that, I thought the ending worked. Even though this was probably meant to be a psychological horror story more than a mystery, the clues were absolutely there all along. There was clearly something seriously wrong with Amma from the get go. I think because she lacked familial connection, and because Amma was so young, Camille really wanted to believe Amma's strange behaviour was due to Adora's warped ministrations, and general teenage brattiness, rather than a psychiatric problem. But there are several scenes where Amma reveals a cruel sadistic streak that is genuinely chilling. The young actress did a phenomenal job with that part - she was able to keep the audience guessing (is she just a really messed up kid, or is she a psychopath?). I figured Amma had to be involved somehow, but thought it would be in connection with Adora. Instead there were two separate crimes originating in the same household. When we saw Camille and Amma settling contentedly into their new city life, and there was still a full 10 minutes left in the show, I KNEW something really bad was about to happen/be revealed. Patricia Clarkson has been one of my favourite actresses for a long time, and this was bravura performance - I can tell she must have had a great time playing a monster like Adora. Clarkson was raised in New Orleans, so I'm sure she's well acquainted with fluttery attention-seeking Southern Belles, and probably had great material to draw upon. I also really enjoyed Elizabeth Perkins as Adora's blowsy frenemy - I wish we saw her more in film & TV roles - hopefully this will get her some attention and more work. I've always been a fan of Amy Adams - she gives consistently good performances in everything, and this was no exception. As creepy and disturbing as this show was (many people have mentioned it reminded them of Shirley Jackson, and I agree), I'm going to miss it. I am baffled that they're talking about doing a 2nd season, and can't imagine how they will pull it off. It should probably end where it did.

Yes, exactly - for me the series started off in such a promising way, and the tilt toward sci-fi is underwhelming for me. I have a major problem with alternate universe collision stories in that literally ANYTHING can happen, therefore nothing that preceded it in the story necessarily has to make sense. When ANYTHING can happen, NOTHING necessarily has to mean anything. Which is a great lazy way to write yourself out of a corner you've backed yourself into. I feel like alternate universe stories are sometimes the contemporary equivalent of "it was all a dream" tales. I will say the writers do seem to be making an effort to link things, as detailed by @freebie above (I liked the twist that the Kid was actually saying his own name, not requesting the services of lawyer Henry Deaver), but inside I'm just kind of sighing and thinking "oh man, really? that's where they're going with this?". Plus I get tuckered out trying to figure out multiple timelines. I know some people love deciphering this stuff, but I just... don't. I suspect with just one episode left, they're not going to devise a conclusion that will satisfy me, but major kudos to all the actors, the cinematography, locations etc. It was a well acted and classy looking show. Very curious to see what they come up with for next season.

I am utterly confused. The only thing I'm getting from this is that Castle Rock is a giant wormhole that scrambles people's timeline continuums and identities. This is how I'm feeling as well. Dealing with astrophysics & string theory in what I thought was supposed to be an entertaining horror series is kind of wiping me out. By the way, how many episodes are there supposed to be in total for this season? Ten? If so, I guess only one more left to wrap things up!

Chiming in to say thanks for the link to that neat little article. The illustration that goes with the article is hysterically funny! I'm just imagining what a great time the artist must have had creating it!

It is a funny quip, as John Cusack is now a veteran of a few King adaptations. If they do subsequent seasons of this show, it would be neat stunt casting if he wound up in a role. I think Ann has worked mostly in episodic TV, whereas John & Joan have mostly done feature films.

Me too! Man, this episode was daaaaark, but so well done - especially the young guard's rampage playing out on the security monitors. I guess Devil Boy was showing him a vision of the future earlier. I'm kinda bummed he didn't make it - I was hoping he'd get to blow the whistle on the prison conditions. I watched the end credits and realized one of my favourite movie composers, Thomas Newman, is scoring this show. Just top notch stuff all around.

Whoa! I somehow missed that! I thought the dog dug up a skull. Maybe I need to re-watch the first three episodes again.

Well hot diggity! Just finished episode 3. It's going to be torture to wait for weekly episodes to be released after this! Still loving the atmosphere and slow burn of this show, and how the various townspeople are starting to interrelate. It really DOES feel like a Stephen King creation to me, and since I've read just about everything he's written (save for his Dark Tower fantasy novels), it's a bit of a kick seeing all the little references tossed in here and there. Things I'm pondering: If Warden Lacey supposedly kept this "kid" locked up to protect the town from evil, why would he refer him to an attorney just prior to his suicide? Why would he unleash this on the town and then off himself? The scene of his brother's suicide in Ep. 2 is still haunting me. I'm going to presume that Pastor Deaver had to have been doing something awful to poor Henry, in order for Molly to have done what she did. Because the town looked so great on camera I looked up the filming locations, and it was indeed filmed in New England - Massachusetts instead of Maine though. Great job on that - it really adds to the whole feel of the show.

Really enjoying this so far - I've watched the first 2 episodes and am bit disappointed there isn't much discussion on here so far - it seems very promising to me. Stellar actors, great atmosphere (the whole "world" of Castle Rock looks exactly how I picture it in my head). I've picked up on a few Stephen King references, but I'm sure I've missed quite a bit. It's effectively creepy, and I'm interested in Henry Deaver's story - Andre Holland is excellent - he conveys so much with his eyes. I really hope the show will resolve some of the tantalizing mysteries and not wind up as an exercise in frustration like "Lost" was. One thing that I'm loving about this show is that in addition to supernatural weirdness, the story is working in some of the real-life horrors that affect small towns all over North America: rampant drug addiction, and economic hopelessness. Will take a look at episode 3 tomorrow, and then be all impatient for the weekly episodes! Interesting note: I read that if this gets renewed for a 2nd season, it will be an arc involving a whole new set of characters in Castle Rock.

Good analysis - I was initially puzzled as to why Ruth bothered messing around with Mark, since it's not like he was a great catch in any way, but this is a good explanation. And this episode also showed why Ruth is so passionate about doing her best with the wrestling show: not only is it a chance for her to use her acting skills, but she actually feels like she has a family surrounding her now. I think her life was very lonely before GLOW. Great acting by everyone in the show - the argument scene was amazing and raw, hospital montage with the candy was sweet, and Bash made me laugh out loud with his sotto voice "I can actually afford to pay for two more injured wrestlers". Just reiterating that I really don't want a Ruth/Sam romance and it looks like they might be heading there. Apart from that, the show is making me grin - I thought Season 2 started off kinda slow, but each episode gets better and better.

I've always been fascinated by Johnson as well - such a complex character full of contradictions: a master political manipulator, a crass bully who browbeat people around him, yet was also capable of displaying eloquence and sensitivity. Unfortunately when it came to foreign policy, he surrounded himself with yes-men. I think his heart was in the right place with regards to domestic policy, and his regret and guilt over Vietnam was genuine. Vietnam ultimately killed him.

Another really strong episode - from the episode title I could tell that something reeeeeally bad was going to happen to someone's leg! Now that Sam has toned down his assholish behavior, Ruth & Sam's scene together in the movie theatre wound up being really nice. They have good chemistry - not in the romantic sense (I really hope they don't go there), but in the supportive friend sense. Ruth is a frequent irritant who pushes Sam to be better, and Sam has often been there to help pick Ruth up when she's at her lowest. It was nice to see her brighten up if only temporarily. The AV kids were adorable! Also it was fun watching Sam smash the executive's windshield, because who among us has not fantasized about doing something similar to a corporate bigwig? Not sure where they are going with Debbie - she is really on a downward spiral, and it's getting harder and harder to sympathize with her. That little baby they cast as her kid sure is cute, and this is coming from a non-kid person! Also, yay Carmen!

This was a great episode. I was a bit surprised and touched by Bash's relationship with the family butler. It didn't occur to me that Bash was inexperienced hadn't really dipped into the man-pool - I had assumed that he went clubbing regularly with friends and was only closeted to his family. The butler knew what was up and was very kind. Also nice to see him paired with Carmen again, and that that they are genuinely supportive to one another. I like that they've made Bash a decent person rather than just a spoiled rich kid. Oh man, I knew what was coming with that whole bungalow scene, but it was just way uncomfortable to sit through. At one point I was actually worried that they had drugged Ruth's wine. So glad she was able to make an escape, but was not surprised by Debbie's brutal reaction. As others have pointed out, I don't think any course of action would have satisfied Debbie.

Agreed - it almost seems like she was misdirecting (assuaging?) her extreme guilt by being charitable to those OUTSIDE the family. Actually trying to console or help her son would have meant acknowledging awareness of the monstrous acts her husband committed - too much for her pitiful psyche to handle.

Excellent series, and beautifully acted by Cumberbatch, but so, so hard to watch. All throughout, I found myself cringing and sometimes peeking through splayed fingers, while at the same time trying to catch the often hilarious dialogue. The dark wit in this show was razor-sharp and kept me watching. It seemed that apart from his ex-wife Mary, and his friend Johnny, Patrick didn't really have much of a support network, which would have made recovery so hard. (Julia doesn't count because she was awful, and an enabler). Instead he seemed to be perpetually surrounded by his parents' horrible relatives and friends - Nicholas being the last one standing. I loved it when Patrick sicced the new-agey cultist on Nicholas. I was also happy when he decided not to hook up with the crazy woman who was kicked out of rehab, and returned to the clinic to finish his treatment. While I was watching it, I took the scene as real (and was silently cheering for little Patrick), but I think you are probably correct. I think this was how adult Patrick finally managed to vanquish the monster that was his Father. I also would like to read the books - I have seen a few brief excerpts in publicity for the show, and St. Aubyn's use of language looks beautiful. But it will take me awhile to work up to it, as the subject matter is so harrowing. On a completely unrelated note, until I watched this show, I had no idea geckos lived in the South of France!