Highlights
- Castle Rock was a unique anthology series that adapted Stephen King’s body of work, featuring familiar characters and settings from the author’s novels.
- The show received praise for its reimagined tales, excellent writing, and talented cast, leaving fans wondering why Hulu decided to cancel it after only two seasons.
- The cancellation was a result of corporate decision-making, as Warner Bros. Television shifted its focus to HBO Max, leaving Castle Rock behind despite its potential for growth.
2018 gave Stephen King fans something truly original and exciting. Instead of an adaptation of one specific piece of literature of the author’s, Hulu decided to create a series that would adapt the bulk of his body of work. Castle Rock was an anthology series that featured characters and settings created by the horror novelist and starred Hollywood veterans such as Sissy Spacek, Tim Robbins, and Lizzy Caplan. It was a fresh idea that deserved more screen time than it received. Sadly, all good things must come to an end and sometimes those things are cut short.
With only two seasons to its name, Castle Rock gave King fans reimagined tales that took his stories and elevated them with new mythology and chilling imagery. Fans welcomed this new form of adaptation and looked forward to each new episode and potential season, which begs the question: Why did Hulu cancel it after its sophomore season? Reviews were excellent and the writing was some of the best the streaming service produced. What could have gone wrong?
RELATED: Why Did Stephen King Hate Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining?
What was Castle Rock About?
Stephen King created many rich worlds through his writing that all took on a life of their own. King’s magnum opus The Dark Tower series ultimately tied much of his work together, showing that his stories connected in some way. Castle Rock was another sandbox for creatives to play in and explore familiar yet untold stories from King’s mindscape. From The Dead Zone and Cujo to Gwendy’s Button Box, Castle Rock is a fictional town that King has repeatedly used in his novels. Castle Rock originated with the idea of being an anthology series with each season following a new cast of characters for various self-contained stories.
Season one tells a wholly original story that follows a young man found in a subterranean prison cell underneath Shawshank Prison just after the warden’s suicide. When asked about his name, the kid responds with “Henry Deaver,” which puts him and another man named Henry Deaver (André Holland) on a collision course. Mystery and horror surround “The Kid” (Bill Skarsgård) found underneath Shawshank. Nobody knows who he is, where he comes from, or why the warden kept him locked up. Henry Deaver, a lawyer and native to Castle Rock, takes it upon himself to help this kid despite the warden leaving a note claiming the kid is evil. The season presents several questions and even in the penultimate episode, where the audience learns the kid is Henry Deaver from an alternate dimension, nothing seems answered.
The first season introduced a slew of original characters alongside familiar names such as retired Sheriff Alan Pangborn and The Shining’s Jack Torrance’s niece, Jackie Torrance. These characters aren’t small cameos in “blink and you’ll miss it” moments. They play significant roles throughout the season. Familiar Stephen King characters play primary roles in the show’s second season.
Season two blends the stories of Misery and Salem’s Lot, with the primary protagonist being a younger version of the obsessive caretaker Annie Wilkes. This isn’t a retelling of King’s famous works by any means. It uses many characters and locations from both books, such as Jerusalem’s Lot, but it’s an original story acting as Annie’s own little origin story while building onto the tale woven in Salem’s Lot. The old 1975 novel dealt with the city of Jerusalem’s Lot being overrun by vampires. Castle Rock twists it a bit, with the monsters more or less sharing vampiric qualities without being vampires.
The end of the season reveals that 400 years prior, French settlers aligned themselves with an “angel,” who turned out to be Skarsgård’s Kid from season one, who turned them onto the path of black magic. This also served as a nice little connection to Castle Rock’s first season. It didn’t completely answer who or what the Kid was, but it answered whether or not he was a benevolent character. Had the show continued for longer than two seasons, perhaps it would have revealed that he was Randall Flagg or the Crimson King, two malevolent forces in King’s books.
Why did Hulu Cancel Castle Rock?
Fans saw Castle Rock as a new way to experience Stephen King’s fiction. Every adaptation underwent significant changes that took fans by surprise. Fans welcomed some of the changes in different adaptations, while others have a harder time forgiving directors and writers for changing the source material. Castle Rock was different because it mentally prepared fans for the changes. They knew it was coming since the series wasn’t based on any one novel from the prolific writer. Showrunners Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason designed the series to be a hodge-podge of established characters and stories of Stephen King.
Sadly, Hulu canceled the series after only two seasons despite so much potential for its growth. The show ended up being a victim of corporate decision-making. Warner Bros. Television managed the show’s production and distribution, and at the time, the studio decided to shift its focus to HBO Max, leaving the psychological horror series behind. This was disappointing news between the fascinating mystery surrounding the first season and Lizzy Caplan’s phenomenal performance in the second. It’s always possible the show can find a home on Max, but there are no whispers of such a thing happening.
Castle Rock Left a Couple Questions Unanswered
The biggest mystery that still haunts Castle Rock is the true identity of Skarsgård’s The Kid from season one. Fans thought they learned the truth in the first season’s ninth episode when it showed the character was a Henry Deaver from an alternate dimension, but that revelation was quickly dispelled during the season finale when fans caught a brief glimpse at the character’s demonic visage. His appearance in season two seemingly confirmed his supernatural origins, as well. Now, fans may never know the truth.
Then there’s André Holland’s Henry Deaver. Season two showed a “missing” poster with Henry’s picture. By the end of season one, he returned Skarsgård’s character to his cell underneath Shawshank and became his personal warden. What happened to him between the two seasons? Did the Kid escape and take Deaver with him or kill him? Did he wander into an alternate dimension? That was a harsh thread to leave for fans. Luckily, there are plenty of Stephen King adaptations in the production pipeline, most notably the upcoming Welcome to Derry, a prequel series to the famous It.
Stephen King
Stephen King is one of the most prolific living authors. A master of horror, King’s classic works include The Shining, Carrie, Cujo, It, and the Dark Tower series. Many of his books and short stories have been adapted to film and television, including The Shawshank Redemption, Lisey’s Story, 1408, Secret Window, and The Stand.
- Birthdate
- September 21, 1947
- Birthplace
- Portland, Maine
- Notable Projects
- The Shining, Cujo, The Shawshank Redemption, It, Carrie
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