S02.E01: Let the River Run

[nodorothyparker]

MOD NOTE: The first three episodes will be dropped in the same day.  There will be separate threads for each episode.  Please be mindful which thread you're posting in to avoid spoiling your fellow posters.

 

Airdate 2019.10.23

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A nurse gets waylaid in Castle Rock.

[Wicked]

I will never look at an ice cream scoop the same way.  I really enjoyed this episode, wish I had time to watch the second one now.

[Token]

Now, THAT was good!  I hated season one, never really knew what was going on, and nearly didn’t tune in for season two.  I didn’t know that season two was going to be a completely new story.  I’m go glad I watched because it was great!

[Anela]

That was really good. I wasn't sure what to expect, either.

[Wicked]

I've watched the first 3 episodes and really enjoyed them all.

[cdnalor]

Annie's takedown of Ace was absolutely brutal and took me completely by surprise.  If she learned how to do that in nursing school, that course should be registered as a martial art.

After she left the decrepit house, did she return to the work site and fill that huge hole by herself?  That seems unlikely even for someone as manic as her.  Where would she get all the dirt?  

The odd way Annie walked in the early scenes with her arms straight by her sides reminded me of certain nerdy girls from my school days.  I also find some of her speech mannerisms and expressions oddly familiar and her overuse of "dirty bird" almost makes me laugh.

I'm so used to only seeing Tim Robbins in clips from "Shawshank Redemption" that I was struck by how old he looks here.  Then again, he is 61.

[Cheezwiz]

This was really well done - very suspenseful. I almost skipped Season 2 because I got so frustrated with Season 1 (despite the good acting).

As long as we don't slide into alternate universes, timelines and wormholes this season, I think we should be good.

On 10/24/2019 at 7:33 PM, cdnalor said:

I'm so used to only seeing Tim Robbins in clips from "Shawshank Redemption" that I was struck by how old he looks here.  Then again, he is 61.

Same - I haven't seen him in anything for a few years, so I didn't even recognize him at first. Although I knew he was in this, it was a bit of a shocker when I finally realized which character he was playing. He now looks older than his former much older partner Susan Sarandon. I think she's 12 years older than him. She now looks 12 years younger!

That ice cream scoop. Gah.

[Lily H]

On ‎10‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 10:33 PM, cdnalor said:

I also find some of her speech mannerisms and expressions oddly familiar

I thought the actress did a fantastic job channeling Kathy Bates' version of Annie Wilkes. She nailed her mannerisms and inflections so perfectly, it really was like watching the same woman, only younger.

[cdnalor]

3 hours ago, Lily H said:

I thought the actress did a fantastic job channeling Kathy Bates' version of Annie Wilkes. She nailed her mannerisms and inflections so perfectly, it really was like watching the same woman, only younger.

Having never seen that movie, I wasn't aware that she was doing that.  I'll have to see if Netflix has that movie.

[tennisgurl]

Well now I now what song with be stuck in my head this weekend! And I will never look at ice cream scoopers the same way again. 

That was really good, I liked it a whole lot. Lizzie Capland really nailed the speech patterns and mannerisms of the Kathy Bates version of Annie Wilkes, especially her slightly awkward way of walking and her constant stream of "dirty birds". I am excited to see what happens next!

Last season started off really strong and had a lot of elements that I really liked, but fell apart at the end, so I hope that these season can keep this level of quality up. And maybe we can check in on Jackie Torrence and see how her Overlook Hotel project is going...

[TexasGal]

On 10/23/2019 at 9:35 AM, Wicked said:

I will never look at an ice cream scoop the same way.  I really enjoyed this episode, wish I had time to watch the second one now.

I really didn’t see that coming.  Yikes!  Especially the expert level extraction afterwards. 

[nodorothyparker]

Holy hell with the ice cream scoop.

It's been so long since I saw the original Misery that I'm struggling to remember much about how Annie Wilkes is portrayed as far as specific mannerism, but good gods is she being played as Very. Very. Intense. here.   I kept trying to figure out if the actress's eyes naturally look that dilated or if they're doing some effect.  She seriously had me backing away in my chair during her tirade at her daughter.  Poor kid.  

I'm interested to see what they do with the Somali immigrant population story as that's a relevant story in a lot of economically depressed small towns, and I guess I'm supposed to think Tim Robbin's Pop Merrill's character fostered the brother and sister?  Dr. H really surprised me by being so sympathetic to what was essentially a large scale drug theft.

[Clanstarling]

On 10/26/2019 at 4:59 PM, TexasGal said:

I really didn’t see that coming.  Yikes!  Especially the expert level extraction afterwards. 

I laughed really hard at the extraction.

15 hours ago, nodorothyparker said:

  Dr. H really surprised me by being so sympathetic to what was essentially a large scale drug theft.

I think she wouldn't have been if Annie had been stealing opioids and such. Also, she was predisposed to like Annie because she'd done such a good job with the whiteboard.

This single episode had more moments I enjoyed than the entire last season. And I didn't even mind the alternate universe/timelines stuff. I just disliked the ponderous pace. I held off watching for a while, but had nothing to do so I gave it a shot even though I'm wasn't fond of the Annie Wilkes character in the book and movie. Mostly I watched because of Lizzy Caplan, and then I was happily surprised by Tim Robbins, and Barkhad Abdi from the Captain Phillips movie.

[Ilovepie]

On 10/28/2019 at 6:10 AM, Clanstarling said:

This single episode had more moments I enjoyed than the entire last season. And I didn't even mind the alternate universe/timelines stuff. I just disliked the ponderous pace. I held off watching for a while, but had nothing to do so I gave it a shot even though I'm wasn't fond of the Annie Wilkes character in the book and movie. Mostly I watched because of Lizzy Caplan, and then I was happily surprised by Tim Robbins, and Barkhad Abdi from the Captain Phillips movie.

I agree - we just started watching last night, and I was instantly engaged in this story. It took us months to finish the first season due to the slow pacing! I love what Lizzy Caplan is doing here, and I love Tim Robbins too. He does look older, but I think age looks good on him. I do kind of love the casting of Stephen King alumni in this show.

That ice cream scooper scene is going to haunt me for sure - so brutal and gross. I can't say I'm sorry that Ace has already been dispatched though - good riddance!

[BonnieD]

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I thought the actress did a fantastic job channeling Kathy Bates' version of Annie Wilkes. She nailed her mannerisms and inflections so perfectly, it really was like watching the same woman, only younger.

Spot on, and I did a Misery rewatch last season Halloween so I can verify that. Good job, Lizzie.
Misery the movie is one of my fav Stephen King adaptations. It really holds up well.
 

Agree with everyone, this season is superior to the first so far. Like season 2 Fargo vs. season 1. I'm usually pretty good at reading the signals and guessing the next event but I let out a totally shocked "yip" at the ice cream scoop in the throat. Wowza!!! Well done, show.

Love the Easter eggs all over the place. Had to look up why Ace Merrill and Pops Merrill sounded familiar. Respectively, Stand By Me and Needful Things.

[JasonCC]

  D

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r. H really surprised me by being so sympathetic to what was essentially a large scale drug theft.

I think she wouldn't have been if Annie had been stealing opioids and such. Also, she was predisposed to like Annie because she'd done such a good job with the whiteboard.

Yes, I also got the sense that Dr H instantly switched gears to being more sympathetic when she realized the (very specific) cocktail Annie needed was antipsychotic/mental health drugs---not opioids--and knowing how much stigma surrounds mental health cut her some slack. Still, if I was a writer I would have had Annie blurt out something like "as you know the medical plan doesn't kick in until after 30 days of employment here and I haven't even received my first paycheck".....

[Paloma]

On 11/1/2019 at 1:16 PM, BonnieD said:

Had to look up why Ace Merrill and Pops Merrill sounded familiar. Respectively, Stand By Me and Needful Things.

Thanks! We watched the first two episodes last night, and I knew the names were familiar but wanted to try to figure it out myself before looking it up. After sleeping on it, I woke my husband up this morning to say that I was pretty sure Ace Merrill was from Stand By Me and that the emporium was from Needful Things (though I wasn't sure if Pops Merrill was also from NT). Was Ace one of the bullies that River Phoenix's older brother hung around with in SBM?

[Clanstarling]

23 minutes ago, Paloma said:

Thanks! We watched the first two episodes last night, and I knew the names were familiar but wanted to try to figure it out myself before looking it up. After sleeping on it, I woke my husband up this morning to say that I was pretty sure Ace Merrill was from Stand By Me and that the emporium was from Needful Things (though I wasn't sure if Pops Merrill was also from NT). Was Ace one of the bullies that River Phoenix's older brother hung around with in SBM?

Yep, played by Kiefer Sutherland.

[nekilarose]

Annie did something that I wish more people in shows did: not wait for the villain to finish talking, and just commence with the ass kicking. Granted the ice cream scoop was a new spin on things......

Oh and that damn song was stuck in my head for ages!

[bunnywithanaxe]

On 11/22/2019 at 9:06 PM, nekilarose said:

Oh and that damn song was stuck in my head for ages!

Oh, Sweet Jesus , you ain’t kidding.