‘Castle Rock’ Recap: ‘The Mother’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​Whether we like to admit it or not, tragic and ugly moments in our society, the kind that are newsworthy; often have a short life cycle when it comes to the general public. Because once there is some semblance of closure, or a sense of justice, people lose focus on the matter and move onto whatever new story is currently dominating the headlines. But while we turn our attention elsewhere, we often forget that there are survivors and victims of these moments that have to pick up the pieces and start over and sometimes, those folks have a long and hard road ahead. The kind that features a never-ending fight for internal peace because of the trauma they suffered and oddly enough, Castle Rock took the time to explore the whole journey of what comes next, for victims of trauma, in thoughtful fashion in its next episode.
 
Because ‘The Mother’ allowed for us to follow up with a victim of crime and trauma by way of Rita Green, Joy’s biological mother. But before we dive too deeply into that part of the plot, let’s take a moment and discuss some of the other important plot points that came about in this particular tale since we were also privy to the fallout of Nadia’s discovery of what Pop did to her mother in Somalia and well, things went from bad to worse in regard to that since she also came to learn… her brother knew everything well before she did. Which did not sit well with Nadia in the slightest since she expected her last remaining family member to be honest and open with her and now their relationship is strained like never before. Plus, we also got some solid insight onto what Ace is up to and as it turns out, he and his cohorts are the resurrected souls of the Satanists that founded Jerusalem’s Lot and they’re beyond excited to be back in the world, just in time for the 400th anniversary of Castle Rock, and they hope that soon, their leader will be back in their midst by way of Annie Wilkes’ body.
 
Which brings us back to the fallout in question that I made mention of a moment ago. For this particular tale showed us what became of Rita after that fateful night where Annie killed her father and plunged a pair of scissors into Rita’s abdomen and well, Rita has not done well since that life-changing event. In fact, she turned to the bottle to cope with the loss of her child and love and did everything she could to escape the memories of Bakersfield and eventually moved to New York and even then, life was still challenging. Because it took her years to finally be free of the sauce and put herself in a solid mental place to start over, but she never forgot her daughter and it was just fascinating and powerful to see a realistic depiction of how something that traumatic and devastating can in essence destroy a person and their view of the world through and through and sadly, things only became more difficult for Rita after that fateful phone call came through.
 
Because that motivated her to come to Castle Rock and meet with Joy, who was now in a group home as she prepared for a new life and this meeting, brought about more heartache and strife. For it left Joy/Evangeline confused and terrified and shattered since she came to learn that her life was in essence, a lie. It also broke Rita because she was hoping that such an encounter would end in happiness and wonder instead of confusion, and the difficulty of seeing her daughter for the first time in sixteen years and all the devastating memories that came with such an act immediately drove her back to the bottle. And Annie, well, this development left her in a terrified place because now her carefully crafted world was crashing down around her and really, the fate of both women rested in the hands of Joy as she took the time to decide what should come next. But that didn’t stop Rita from taking the opportunity to confront the woman who killed the love of her life and well, that ended in disaster. Because Rita was ready to get even. But mere moments before she could kill the woman that ruined her life, Joy showed up and made her choice, and she chose to stand with her big sister Annie and in the confusion and shock of this stunning twist, the gun fired, putting an end to Rita’s life and her longtime suffering.
 
If anything, this really was quite the powerful episode, and this is the second week in a row now that Castle Rock has found a way to merge the horror of reality with the fantasy of Stephen King’s world and this blending of the two made for another harrowing story that felt a little too real at times. Because we’ve either known someone like Rita, or we’ve been Rita in some capacity and it is always shocking when a show finds a way to resonate with you on that level and while it seems as though this particular chapter in Annie’s life has come to a close, there may still be fallout from Rita’s discovery since the police did arrive in the closing minutes of this tale, and no good can come from finding Annie with blood on her hands and a freshly fired gun nearby. Either way, this was another incredible episode from an outright incredible season of this show and the quality of writing this year is just top notch and once again, I’m ready for more and saddened by the fact that I have to wait until next Wednesday to see where this fascinating tale is headed. Until next time. 

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