The Year of Cemetery Dance 2018

[osnafrank]

Just finished ep. 9 Henry Deaver. WTH??! Had to do a double and triple take the first 5 minutes because

Spoiler

Bill Skarsgard actually looked like a completely different person! Such a transformation. What an amazing job!

Hard to believe there's only one episode left. This one was so CRA-ZY that it's hard to comprehend how they will tie everything together. I'm with Coolallosaurus - just going to enjoy the ride!

After episode 9 I felt like I needed to re-watch the entire series. Instead I finally got around to watching the extras, the little "behind the series" docs they did for each episode. I can't say it gave me all the answers but some things kinda clicked in for me on a subconscious level. I can't wait for the finale!

Just finished Episode 9.

Yap, that was confusing(SK meets David Lynch) , wish we had something like "behind the series".


Maybe the Final Episode gives me an answer

 

[preciousroy]

Maybe this: "and I can never.never.never go home again"

I just read the lyrics and they're actually pretty appropriate. Being in love with someone else and choosing them instead.

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The man asking the woman to stay, like Ruth asked Alan. Him refusing to ever leave her short of death, just like Alan.

The night turns to day, much like the season changed from winter to a warmer time. And of course never being able to go home.

 

[wings47]

I just read the lyrics and they're actually pretty appropriate. Being in love with someone else and choosing them instead.

Spoiler

The man asking the woman to stay, like Ruth asked Alan. Him refusing to ever leave her short of death, just like Alan.

The night turns to day, much like the season changed from winter to a warmer time. And of course never being able to go home.

I agree that the song has some important place in the story.

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When asked what his earliest memory is Henry the lawyer replies: 24 Hours From Tulsa". The series begins and ends with this song. The Kid can never go home again or so we assume, even with all those tricks up his sleeve and conversely Henry who knows how foul Castle Rock is and stayed away from it his whole adult life, can never again leave this home - he has become the keeper. Each one is as trapped as the other now.

 

[preciousroy]

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I agree that the song has some important place in the story.

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When asked what his earliest memory is Henry the lawyer replies: 24 Hours From Tulsa". The series begins and ends with this song. The Kid can never go home again or so we assume, even with all those tricks up his sleeve and conversely Henry who knows how foul Castle Rock is and stayed away from it his whole adult life, can never again leave this home - he has become the keeper. Each one is as trapped as the other now.

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Deaver also discusses the song for a moment with his client as she takes her last meal. I believe we're shown that she really was guilty of the murder in one of the later episodes

 

[preciousroy]

I'm also beginning to wonder if

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we're actually seeing at least 3 separate timelines playing out. They seem to tie together from where we're watching but are separate and independent. For example the scenes with a young Deaver could be a different reality from the one with the adult Deaver we know.

I can't prove it.

 

[Tery]

Ho. Lee. Crap! That final episode was sure something, eh? So...

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the Kid really was the Devil. Or something evil, anyway. Wow.

I think I may have to watch them all in order, now.

 

[preciousroy]

Ho. Lee. Crap! That final episode was sure something, eh? So...

Spoiler

the Kid really was the Devil. Or something evil, anyway. Wow.

I think I may have to watch them all in order, now.

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I think a hint to us early on that the kid is evil is Deaver's client facing execution at the beginning. There is doubt that she murdered her husband by gassing him with car exhaust. In another episode we get an intro narration from Warden Lacy and one of the things we see is a woman sitting in a car in a garage gassing up the engine to produce exhaust fumes. She is guilty of murder, despite the doubt we in the audience are led to have.

We are also led to doubt that the kid is evil. Even as the mayhem piled up around him there was still enough doubt existing to give him the benefit of it. He even mentions to Deaver that he (Deaver) still has doubts, after being reunited with the cage.

His demeanor changed quite quickly too once he was figured out. He became more knowing and seemingly trickster-ish.

 

[wings47]

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Like Warden Lacy, like Lawyer Henry, like empathetic, intuitive Molly - I doubt!

It seems to be a consensus that the Kid is some kind of demon. But Lacy who knew him for decades never got the word from God to pull the trigger. And all of his artwork shows him trying to resolve his conflict about the kid. Henry the lawyer said in court he would need a signed letter from God to kill if there was any doubt as to guilt. Molly once said "there is something wrong with him" and also "I WANT to believe you". And how many times was this theme alluded to: It's not ME, it's this Place! Don't we all know about Castle Rock by now, perhaps only second to Derry in the list of worst places to live?

An entire episode shows us the Kid in another realm: married, loving, excited about becoming a dad, working on a cure for the disease killing his beloved mother. In this realm all he wants to do is to get home again, find the door before it closes again.

We are left with so many clues and few answers and for once I am okay with King's ambiguous endings. Good cases can be made for both sides. But as for me: I doubt.

 

[preciousroy]

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Like Warden Lacy, like Lawyer Henry, like empathetic, intuitive Molly - I doubt!

It seems to be a consensus that the Kid is some kind of demon. But Lacy who knew him for decades never got the word from God to pull the trigger. And all of his artwork shows him trying to resolve his conflict about the kid. Henry the lawyer said in court he would need a signed letter from God to kill if there was any doubt as to guilt. Molly once said "there is something wrong with him" and also "I WANT to believe you". And how many times was this theme alluded to: It's not ME, it's this Place! Don't we all know about Castle Rock by now, perhaps only second to Derry in the list of worst places to live?

An entire episode shows us the Kid in another realm: married, loving, excited about becoming a dad, working on a cure for the disease killing his beloved mother. In this realm all he wants to do is to get home again, find the door before it closes again.

We are left with so many clues and few answers and for once I am okay with King's ambiguous endings. Good cases can be made for both sides. But as for me: I doubt.

I agree with a lot of what you said but I feel like there were hints from the show that guided us down a path of doubt only to show us that the opposite was true.

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The townspeople all hate Deaver because they believe he killed his father. We're shown Molly killing the father instead and believe Deaver didn't do it, until the last episode when we see that he did do it.
The kid came out of the hole because Warden Lacy began to doubt what he was doing, and in the end the kid went right back in the hole.
The woman murdered her husband but we're led to doubt in her favor, only to see the flashback of her gassing her husband out.
The new Warden thinks Lacy was crazy to imprison the kid, and by the end of the series she's sure he's the Devil.
We (or maybe just me) began to doubt that the mayhem was being caused by the kid, that maybe Deaver was the cause, until the last episode when the kid starts the riot. We're even led to doubt that the kid is intentionally causing mayhem. We see everyone around him get whipped up into a murder frenzy except for Deaver and Molly, who he arguably spends the most time around. Even when Ruth shoots Alan it wasn't the same as the other people who went straight into a frenzy.

I don't believe the kid's episode was real. I think it was all a lie because he clearly has the ability to know everything about a person and could have made it up. Most of the details in his story mirrored details from the reality he was in, and the doubt is cast because with an infinite number of worlds it could be possible. But there were clues in that episode that indicated dishonesty despite the extremely positive energy the character gave off.

Plus the kid never aged in 27 years. Maybe I'm just confused but I do believe Deaver came back to a different "when" than the one he left behind. Yet Deaver still aged and was able to have offspring.

Also, the flash of the kid''s monster face in the dark confirmed it for me. I don't believe he's the Devil. I think he's a Norse monster. Is he a good guy monster? I don't think so.

 

[Alexandra M]

I agree with a lot of what you said but I feel like there were hints from the show that guided us down a path of doubt only to show us that the opposite was true.

Spoiler

The townspeople all hate Deaver because they believe he killed his father. We're shown Molly killing the father instead and believe Deaver didn't do it, until the last episode when we see that he did do it.
The kid came out of the hole because Warden Lacy began to doubt what he was doing, and in the end the kid went right back in the hole.
The woman murdered her husband but we're led to doubt in her favor, only to see the flashback of her gassing her husband out.
The new Warden thinks Lacy was crazy to imprison the kid, and by the end of the series she's sure he's the Devil.
We (or maybe just me) began to doubt that the mayhem was being caused by the kid, that maybe Deaver was the cause, until the last episode when the kid starts the riot. We're even led to doubt that the kid is intentionally causing mayhem. We see everyone around him get whipped up into a murder frenzy except for Deaver and Molly, who he arguably spends the most time around. Even when Ruth shoots Alan it wasn't the same as the other people who went straight into a frenzy.

I don't believe the kid's episode was real. I think it was all a lie because he clearly has the ability to know everything about a person and could have made it up. Most of the details in his story mirrored details from the reality he was in, and the doubt is cast because with an infinite number of worlds it could be possible. But there were clues in that episode that indicated dishonesty despite the extremely positive energy the character gave off.

Plus the kid never aged in 27 years. Maybe I'm just confused but I do believe Deaver came back to a different "when" than the one he left behind. Yet Deaver still aged and was able to have offspring.

Also, the flash of the kid''s monster face in the dark confirmed it for me. I don't believe he's the Devil. I think he's a Norse monster. Is he a good guy monster? I don't think so.

preciousroy
'Show that guided us down a path of doubt, only to show us the opposite is true.' That statement is probably the first thing that has made sense to me in 10 episodes. I consider myself a fairly intelligent person but you would never know it watching this Series. After 10 episodes I am dazed and confused and frustrated. When repeats show up, I'll watch the entire 10 episodes one more time. If I am no further ahead, I give up.
Look forward to reading ALL your comments later preciousroy

 

[the bookbinder]

Someone help me! Just watched last episode.

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What was that all about? Did the kid deliberately start the riot? Was he another Henry or really something evil? Or....was the whole thing a story written by Jackie?

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the kid is a demon

 

[the bookbinder]

SPOILER ALERT!!!

I thought this show (all 10 episodes) were fantastic! The Best Show I have seen in ages. The cast and script were brilliant. I knew the ending was going to be dark and sure enough...I wasn't disappointed.
The writers had me fooled for sure.

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I fell for the whole second time line-Skaarsard being a nice guy scenario when it turned out he was a manipulative demon. (I think I have that right.)

All of the other shows on hulu and netflix#stranger things et al...better step up their game to even come close to the genius of Castle Rock.

 

[preciousroy]

preciousroy
'Show that guided us down a path of doubt, only to show us the opposite is true.' That statement is probably the first thing that has made sense to me in 10 episodes. Look forward to reading ALL your comments later preciousroy

Thanks, I appreciate that. I was a big fan of LOST so I knew when J.J Abrams and Stephen King collaborated that every detail was going to matter and I loved every episode of Castle Rock.

SPOILER ALERT!!!
The writers had me fooled for sure.

Spoiler

I fell for the whole second time line-Skaarsard being a nice guy scenario when it turned out he was a manipulative demon. (I think I have that right.)

All of the other shows on hulu and netflix#stranger things et al...better step up their game to even come close to the genius of Castle Rock.

That's my take. Now that the season is over I feel like the irate customer on the movie Clerks: "What do you mean there's no ice? I gotta drink this coffee hot?" I have to wait another year for a new episode?

 

[Blake the Bard]

Bev Vincent what's your theory? Also, did anyone catch the Duma Key reference at the end of the finale?

 

[Rarebit]

A meta question here:
Since the thread title indicates that there will be spoilers in this thread, is it really necessary to use the spoilers masks in individual posts?

 

[Rarebit]

I am very confused by this story. (And I didn't feel that way until episode 10.) I will need to rewatch it 2 or 3 times to be able to figure out what the hell happened.
Unfortunately, however, I rarely rewatch shows (or reread novels) within 10 years of a first pass.

 

[Tery]

A meta question here:
Since the thread title indicates that there will be spoilers in this thread, is it really necessary to use the spoilers masks in individual posts?

Probably not but we're a thoughtful bunch here. Even when we don't need to be.

 

[ghost19]

Great show. I am, admittedly, completely lost for the most part, but I’m liking the intrigue. Feels like the first time I watched Twin Peaks about a hundred years ago...loo

 

[preciousroy]

Great show. I am, admittedly, completely lost for the most part, but I’m liking the intrigue. Feels like the first time I watched Twin Peaks about a hundred years ago...loo

I love David Lynch. Lost Highway is one of my favorite movies and he was one of the inspirations for the first Silent Hill video game. I'd love to see David Lynch work with Werner Herzog. There's a video on YouTube of Werner being shot while giving an interview and instead of being rushed to the hospital he calmly finishes and THEN goes. What a guy...

 

[Tery]

I've been watching these guys break down each episode. It's pretty entertaining....