"Past Perfect" - Castle Rock S01E08 Review

Well, "Past Perfect" answered some questions. Of course, for every question answered, two more got asked. And with only two episodes left until the end of season 1, we're into the final stretch. Presumably we'll get answers to all of the questions raised. But if so, they'll have to hurry it along a bit.

To recap, Molly has a "Shining" vision of what Henry is experiencing in the filter room in Odin's RV. She goes there and let's Henry out. For some reason, Odin is dead on the ground, a screwdriver in his head. Goodbye, Charles Jones.

The Kid leads Henry to Alan's body in the shed and suggests they hide it. He says he let Henry out of the basement 27 years ago in 1991, and has been waiting for him. The state police arrive, and the Kid slips out. One trooper points out Henry seems to attract death, just like he did as a kid.

Later, Molly wakes up from more visions and goes to her old home. The Kid is there, and says they know each other. He describes her childhood bedroom, and then says she died in the nearby forest.

On a mildly related note, we find out more about the couple we saw Molly selling Dale's house to back in "The Box". Lola cheated on Gordon with a student, and Gordon later beat the student during a presentation. They've moved from Des Moines to Castle Rock for whatever reason, and have turned Dale's house into a B&B dedicated to the murders in Castle Rock. Featuring creepy mannequins (mannequins are almost always creepy), one with an ax in its head.

Gordon hears their first guests having loud sex in the next room, goes in, and hacks them to pieces. Lola is cool with this and helps him clean up the next day. Jackie (Jane Levy) shows up to try and set up a partnership deal with them, and points out the flaws in their mannequin recreations.

Later, Henry goes there and discovers the couple has hung up all of Dale's paintings of the Kid. Including one where the Kid is wearing the same shirt Henry was wearing when he disappeared in 1991. And the painting is dated 1991.

The couple attack Henry, and Lola accidentally nicks her own jugular and bleeds out. Gordon chases Henry to the car and prepares to stab him to death. However, Jackie arrives and drives an ax from a mannequin's head into Gordon's head.

Also, Henry puts Wendall on a bus. A crow flies into the windshield and Wendall starts hearing the same ringing noise Henry has been hearing. He gets off the bus in Salem's Lot (Easter egg!) and walks back to Castle Rock.

So... we know the Kid knew about Henry in 1991 and released him from "the basement". Presumably Dale's basement, which raises the question: was Dale holding Henry captive? How did Henry escape? Did Dale make any other attempts to abduct Henry in the intervening years?

Other questions: who drove the screwdriver into Odin's eye and killed him? Willie? Someone else? And if the latter, who?

Also, how much influence does the Kid have? Apparently his paintings are enough to drive Gordon and Lola to murder. Gordon already seemed inclined to violence, but Lola? Her husband kills one couple, and Lola is on the hacksaw & bleach train with him.

It's now "official" that Henry and the Kid are connected from whatever happened in 1991. But what does the Kid mean about Molly dying in the woods? Does that tie in with her earlier visions, which included her lying in the woods as an adult? Is he seeing her past? Her future? Her visions? Something else? And is he talking about her being dead, or her sharing someone else's mind as they lay dying in the woods?

And we find out this week Ruth didn't get the happy ending we saw at the end of the last episode. She embraced her madness and apparently ended up with Alan. But this week she doesn't seem to know when she is or where Alan is.

So like I said, lots more questions were raised. And they've got two episodes to answer them. Castle Rock has been confirmed for a second season, but it's an anthology series. So season 2 will presumably not have much to do with season 1. That means they have to answer most of the questions raised before season 1 ends. Because with season 2 we'll get a new story, and at least some new characters, and questions about all of that.

Unless it's all somehow tied to the Kid. I could live without the rest of the cast, although there still seems to be a lot of story to tell about Jackie. But losing Bill Skarsgard as the Kid would be a pretty tragic loss for the series as a whole. Warden Dale seemed to think the Kid was the source of all evil in Castle Rock. So if you take the Kid out of the equation, what does that leave you with?

So we've got two more episodes to see how they wrap it all up. Meanwhile, the performances continue to be adequate, the music and cinematography is great. And you can always entertain yourself by looking for more Stephen King Easter eggs.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?