The second season of Hulu’s Stephen King-based series “Castle Rock” hit peak excellence with last week’s “Caveat Emptor,” a Night of the Living Dead-esque episode that brought the early stages of a full-on apocalypse to the town. One of the finest hours of television I’ve seen all year, the second-to-last episode brought together all the season’s storylines and characters for an intense, emotionally powerful episode that saw Misery villain Annie Wilkes and others fighting for their lives against a supernatural threat that aims to take over the town.
To recap, ancient evil forces from the 1600s have risen up from the depths of Jerusalem’s Lot to inhabit the bodies of Castle Rock’s current residents, all on the quest to resurrect the prophet Amity Lambert and become the new rulers of the town. The higher power who’s responsible for all this madness? Bill Skarsgård’s character from the show’s first season.
The plan is to give Amity new life within the body of Annie’s daughter Joy, and it’s up to Annie and a group of unlikely allies to save Castle Rock from a complete takeover.
Yes, Annie Wilkes has become one of the season’s heroes, which is a pretty great example of how much freedom the writers of “Castle Rock” have to play in King’s sandbox.
Ahead of tomorrow’s premiere, you can check out an exclusive clip from the finale’s cold open below. Inhabiting the body of Ace Merrill, Amity’s lover Augustin continues to do her dirty work on the road to her resurrection, and Joy is being prepared for her new life as the vessel for Amity. “Amity returns at sunset,” Augustin tells the group. “And this is our world now.”
“When the prophet returns to us tonight, the real work will begin.”
The “Castle Rock” Season 2 finale “Clean” streams December 11th only on Hulu.