'Castle Rock' Recap: 'Romans'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

Over the years, I’ve read many a memorable Stephen King story and memorized quite a few quotes from his body of work and one such quote that is sticking out in my mind today is, ‘ka is a wheel’. Now, for those unfamiliar with that particular excerpt, it hails from The Dark Tower series and in essence, it means that fate is a wheel, and those words are ringing around in my head today because that phrase perfectly applies to the season one finale of Castle Rock. Because ‘Romans’ found a way to bring this entire and harrowing saga involving multiple dimensions and mayhem around full circle, all while unleashing pure hell on the people of this tiny and twisted berg.
 
If anything, perhaps the best way to describe this finale is to call it a waking nightmare since it was filled to the brim with visceral and jarring imagery and all of the bad of course related to The Kid and his continued existence in this world and while this particular tale doesn’t answer exactly what makes Castle Rock such an evil place to live, it did imply strongly that sometimes the bad that happens here is related to interdimensional travelers such as The Kid, as if the universe is punishing the town for allowing for the natural order of space and time to be disrupted and Kid Deaver’s continued presence in this town brought more murder and mayhem as the story rolled on. 
 
But I did make mention of the fact that this story ended where it began, and it accomplished that feat, by bringing every single plot thread introduced this season, into the fold for this finale. Because this story featured the return of Shawshank’s most incompetent warden to date, and her brutal exit and it saw Ruth’s harrowing journey come to an end and a farewell to Molly for that matter as well and all of these plot threads had to be resolved in this tale for one key reason; it was high time that the two Henry’s faced off at last and handled the whole problem that’s come about from inter-dimensional travel, something that our Henry simply did not believe was possible, despite the evidence showing him otherwise.  

---

However, getting these two in the same room (or cell in this case) did lead to quite the harrowing ‘final showdown’ wherein we saw just how talented Kid Deaver has become when it comes to using his powers of influence and eventually, their journey to the woods led to the most important moment of the night. Because it was in this place, where heartbreak and terror and pain reigned supreme that Henry Prime was faced with a quandary; either kill The Kid, or send him home and in the end, he chose neither. He locked The Kid back up and took over Warden Lacy’s job as ‘caretaker of the monster’ and that’s where our tale ends, right where it began. With one man intent on keeping Castle Rock safe, and the other, biding his time to get out. 
 
If anything, this ending speaks to the fact that the Henry we came to know in this tale, didn’t really grow. Because had he come to accept the harsh realities of his past, and the danger that comes with leaving a traveler in this dimension, he would have returned The Kid to his own dimension and lived a life of peace without him. But, this town does indeed do strange things to people and this was quite the fitting end to say the least, and this decision brings forth some fascinating questions, in that, did Henry keep The Kid alive to truly keep this town and its people safe, or is this act punishment and atonement for both of them since both Henry’s have done questionable things in other worlds? We may of course never receive the answers to those particular questions, since that ending leaves us in a grey area, but that’s okay. Because that’s often times how Stephen King’s work pans out, in a neutral place where it is up to us, the dear reader (or in this case, viewer) to decide what is what. But perhaps the most chilling part of this finale, is that The Kid might be right about how sometimes the line between what’s a prison and what’s not is blurred. Because when one considers the fact that Henry Prime is back home, and living a life in a place that brought him so much pain, one has to wonder…is he truly free?
 
Either way, this really was a subtle and beautiful end to the freshman season of this incredible series, and well, I also liked that it brought back the Easter Egg fiesta in full force since I caught references to The Dark Half and The Shining here, with the latter title popping up the most and I’m quite curious as to whether or not we are returning to this town in season two to learn more about what makes it such an evil place, or if are we going to hit the road with Jackie Torrance to visit a place in Colorado where spirits roam free? We’ll find out in a year, and regardless of which direction the show runners choose to go in, I’ll be tuning in. Because this season really is the start of something special and twisted and I cannot wait to see what dark places we will be venturing to in the years to come. Until next time.  

---