Jackie Torrance. She makes a reference to some family history. Jack Torrance was Jack Nicholson’s character in The Shining and also a writer.
Did anyone else notice the tongue-in-cheek nod to an old Twilight Zone episode from 1960 called "The Howling Man?" It tells the story of an American backpacking through Europe. He gets caught in a thunderstorm and seeks refuge in an old Abby of monks. At first they refuse his entry and tell him to move on, but he is sick and coughing from the storm so they relent and let him stay. He wanders through the old castle trying to find the source of an eerie "howling"... he finds a man being held prisoner in a cage. The man begs the traveler to free him... telling him he is not like the monks. The only thing keeping the man in the cage is a "Shepherd's Staff" barring the cage door. The traveler tells him to "just remove it yourself" at which the prisoner replies "Oh I cannot touch it. You have to remove it for me." (THAT would've been a clue to me to STEER CLEAR!! LOL!) Anyway, as expected the traveler removes the staff, and the man escapes. His face changes to reveal that it is actually Satan, and as he walks out of the castle, the head monk asks the traveler.... "My God... what have you done." Wars, famines, starvation, and plagues ensue on the earth after his release. Again, a pretty neat reference in Castle Rock.... it was playing on the TV at Henry Deaver's house in an early episode. Pretty cool....
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@Rich Tolbert I also noticed what I thought to be a reference to The Shining at the end, where just like Danny did in the maze, Henry steps back through his footsteps in the snow to misdirect his fiendish father.
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@Ned Ooooh, that's right!! I did notice that! Good catch!
Did anyone else catch the short clip of Jane Levy's character right after some of the credits rolled? Perhaps that is a hint that she will be one of the main characters in the second season.
While I didn't think the show was terrible, the Abrams' "box of mysteries" style completely overpowered any trace of King in this series. King is not withholding. He puts all of his cards on the table, and even when you don't get any answers, he lets you know from the outset that you're not getting any answers. I found myself missing the dark sense of humor as well. If you want a creepy, high-concept, character driven horror series, look elsewhere. If you want a show where episodes end with people saying things like, "You have no idea what's going on here, do you?", this is the show for you.
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Ending was a total let down. I felt completely manipulated. I loved that the Kid came from another timeline. I hated that Henry didn't help him home. And, if the Kid was really so powerful that he caused all the mayhem, than it must have been not by choice, because if he could direct it, why not direct it against Henry so he didn't end up back in the cage? Also, why try so hard to get back to whatever if there was no whatever? The whole thing about the show's creators wanting the reader to decide - it just felt lazy. The ending did not make sense at all. Up to then I was loving the show. But, I don't trust the writers, so I will not be watching the 2nd season.
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@BNYgal
I totally agree with you. Being a nut for King and anything he is involved in, I looked forward to this series. Now I know it really wasn't his rodeo, I am so disappointed. As was mentioned, it just didn't make a lot of sense. I felt ripped off. All the time I invested to end up with this bit of crumby writing. Definitely not a King feature. I say boo to this season!
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The ending felt very 'stephen king' to me. I wasn't unhappy. Loved the series. Hoping the end scene during the credits is a preview to next season. Love that actress!
Good take on an otherwise disappointing finale; we're right back were we started in the opening episode. And I assume Sissy Spacek, her character now dead and buried, is not returning to the show next season - that's a shame given she's one of the most interesting characters on the show (though with all her time shifting business, who can say?) Speaking of time shifts, it was my anticipation that Ruth's capability to move between past/present/future within her own time line would somehow have a role to play in correcting The Kid's parallel time line cross over, giving us a happier ending than what was provided. But these time shift themes were never integrated. And The Kid never goes home and instead winds up back in a cage. And as to whether he's the devil or not, my sense is the writers flubbed it. They seem to have no idea either.
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@Chris Yes. yes to all of this. Everyone I know who watched (and at times LOVED) this show were wholly disappointed in the finale. Everyone is comparing it to the final LOST episode let down. Why would the show's creators do this? I'm sure they felt all cool and self-satisfied by their "ambiguous" non-answers ending. But it was a complete disservice to their audience. So many dangling threads, interesting threads, abandoned. So we can follow a minor character to the Overlook Hotel? Yawn. Maybe for some other show that would be fine. But the ideas, the sci-fi meets the supernatural themes this show set up, it was a lot more intelligent than that. Boo!! Boo!
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@holbee Lost was a very clever show, and the finale made complete sense. The problem is that it was hard to understand watching it week to week. I too felt that the Lost final episode (and final season) was TERRIBLE when it ended on TV. Then we watched all the seasons in a few weeks this year and it made perfect sense.
I've not finished the Castle Rock finale yet, but if it is really like Lost (and not Lost as perceived by a first viewing or a non-continuous viewing) then it should be amazing.
@RamS
agree 100% on Lost. excellent/cohesive show when binged.
I think i got this finale all wrong. The post credits scene to me implied that S1 Castle Rock was just a book that Jackie had written. So any plot holes could just be attributed to her shaky writing style. It also explained some of her over the top scenes where she seemingly appears out of nowhere.
A Deux Ex Machina. But i haven't seen anyone else with that thought.
The author is far more patient than I am. After a ten hour investment, there wasn't nearly enough of a payoff. In hindsight, the whole story could have been told in half the time and lets face it, without the supernatural element, then its just a story about disturbed people either accidentally or deliberately killing each other. In a world where we now have new shows daily, this isn't one i would recommend versus something like Dark.
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