Castle Rock Episode 4, ‘The Box’ Plot Summary
Henry Deaver (Andre Collins) begins to visions, possibly hinting at his disappearance. He begins to investigate what happened and that leads him to an old house in the middle of the woods. He also begins to question Pangborn (Scott Glenn) and his motives. Meanwhile at Shawshank prison, violence is escalating, and Dennis Zalewski (Noel Fisher) is getting disturbed by it all.
Castle Rock has officially arrived.
Yes, last week was the official three-episode premiere. But this fourth episode, titled ‘The Box,’ was the show’s true coming out party.
‘The Box’ was a bold proclamation that this series is destination television, a must-watch every week … hell it could even be the best series of Summer 2018. It proved this series wasn’t that relied on the gimmick of being in the ‘Stephen King Universe.’ The show proved that its style of slow burn pacing, mesmerizing acting, and well-placed nerve shattering horror and tension is the style of storytelling we didn’t know we wanted, or more importantly needed.
The episode feeds us literal snippets of information seen through Henry’s quick fever dream visions. These bits of information don’t do anything more than fuel our wild imagination. For example — we see a cage in a basement — so this is obviously not a vision of “The Kid” (Bill Skarsgard), but of Henry’s own past. Was he kept in a cage by someone who thinks he is possessed by the devil just like the warden (Terry O’Quinn) thought The Kid was?
Or is there something else?
Also, the prison has become increasingly violent, particularly the guards towards the inmates. Is this due to the influence of the new corporate heavies who are now running the prison, or has The Kid done something to influence everyone?
These opened ended questions literally send chills up my spine as I type them out. That is how good this series is, and that is how good this episode is.
And the ending. It was a bloody exclamation point to one hell of an episode. Brilliantly shot, and scripted — this scene completely leaves you, like Henry, on our knees near breathless in bewilderment.
Castle Rock has arrived, and if this pace is kept up for the remaining six episodes, the audience is in for an amazing run, and Hulu will have found their next big series.
