‘Castle Rock’ Recap: ‘Ties That Bind’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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​The more I ponder upon season two of Hulu’s Castle Rock, the more excited I am to watch whatever episodes are available to me. Because this year’s storyline is already shaping up to be a love letter to everything that Stephen King does right when he assembles a novel. After all, we’ve got rich characters filled to the brim with dynamic personalities and quirks and deep backstories, the ambiance is as creepy as it gets and this is a story that is also filled with surprises at every single turn and for proof, look no further than the third episode of this season.
 
For ‘Ties That Bind’ took the time to answer an important question I posed in the last recap of this series, as to whether or not people can potentially change, and it would seem that, yes, we can. Because Pop did everything, he could to keep Abdi from being harmed by Ace’s dog, indicating that all of his anger and bluster was for show and that he didn’t want to hurt someone that close to him. And ironically enough, Abdi also made a point to keep Pop in a fine place since he didn’t hurt the dog and he got Pop to the hospital and it was just stunning to see two crime lords doing high class things for one another and the surprises here didn’t end with acts of kindness.
 
Because we came to learn that Ace was indeed alive and well and not what we expected him to be. I mean come on, a dude surviving the creepy cultist basement of the Marsten estate should mean that he can fly toward his destination, one that likely involves sucking blood. But instead he was able to walk about in the daylight and interact in creepy fashion with his father and others and well, while at first glance it appeared that Ace meant no one any harm, it turns out he is up to something quite nefarious. What exactly we don’t know, just yet. But it is clear that he’s building some kind of army and converting others into whatever he’s become, since we saw others immersed in the goo that transformed him and no good can come of this.
 
But the true surprise of the night involved one Annie Wilkes. Who believed that her medicine was failing her, because she sincerely believed that Ace was a figment of her imagination and that prompted her to stop taking those all-important pills and confess to her darling Joy that she killed a man and that, prompted Joy to give Annie a glimpse into the future. For she tied her mother to the bed after sedating her and demanded that dear old mom take her pills and offer up answers in regard to the past and this was, an unmitigated disaster. For Annie did everything to stay off her meds and even went so far as to badly hurt herself to be free of her binds and well, seeing her mother like this was more than Joy could bear and this one ends with a family shattered, a dark promise and an evil growing in the night.
 
Which makes this episode brilliant when all is said and done. Because nothing went by the book in this tale and every character enjoyed a unique journey. Especially Joy, since she finally had the chance to enjoy some freedom with her friends, and well, everything that happened here just makes this journey all the more exciting since we really haven’t a clue where it is headed in the slightest. But while Ace’s machinations have our imaginations hopping, we would be foolish to not talk about the incredible twist of seeing Annie get a taste of her own medicine, because that was perfect in its own right and it just speaks to the care that goes into these scripts and I guess my only complaint at this point, is that I have to wait for more. For I’ve burned through the three episodes that are available to watch on Hulu, which means I’ll be counting down the minutes to next Wednesday to see what surprises await every last cocka-doodie one of us when we return to Castle Rock. Until next time. 

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