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The series revolves around Henry Deaver, a man who functions as a legal counselor for the individuals who have a capital punishment. One day, Deaver gets a call from obscure individual forces him to come back to the place where he grew up in Castle Rock, specific in a prison named Shawshank State Penitentiary. There, his dull past starts to show up and he needs to confront it.
When it tries to be a wonderland for King fans, it races past the line of referential, rounds through fan service, and steps into cliché, sometimes even inching toward self-parody.
Based on the first hour, is Castle Rock worth your time? Undoubtedly. There's a richness to this story that's sensed right off the bat, as is Abrams' penchant for "mystery box" storytelling.
[It's] smart, fun scares; deeply felt, well-founded characters; layers of story to decipher, along with the references -- what more could you want in a new piece of the Stephen King library?
When it comes to Castle Rock itself, however, the final product of such an effort can ring a little hollow, like a remastered greatest hits album when a new smash is what the listener truly craves.
Starts slow and gets better -- while an excellent cast (and lead, in Holland) front a story that's a little more psychological than supernatural in the early going.
"Castle Rock" is a giant basket of Easter eggs for King people, but for the rest of us it's a decent show layered with supernatural secrets waiting to be decoded.
But disappointingly, Castle Rock is much less of a studied character drama set in the Stephen King universe than it is an extended homage to and an imitation of the Stephen King universe, with the diminishing returns that implies.
The show makes skillful use of its episodic medium, carefully pacing its storylines and building out its world while still making sure each hour is filtered through generous helpings of creepiness.