Castle Rock’s first three episodes did a great job of tossing loads of mystery and continued to pull at the threads of what is to come in Castle Rock. Would the show fare as well when not being able to binge three episodes at a time? After watching Castle rock’s fourth episode, “The Box,†I think I can say without a doubt, yes.
“The Box†placed a huge emphasis on further unraveling Henry Deaver’s timeline of events while he investigates his childhood disappearance. Much like the rest of his time at Castle Rock, the abrasiveness of the town wears on him mentally. What started as an intriguing case has turned into a balance of pushing people far enough to get information, without pushing them completely away. Henry Deaver has done this with varying degrees of success.
Henry is particularly at odds with Alan, and by association his mother Ruth, after he begins questioning them about his disappearance. These wounds are far too fresh to be healed, and that is quite apparent between the two of them.
Alan and Henry have multiple interactions where they just simply butt heads. Whether it is Alan floating the idea of taking his mother away from Castle Rock and back to Houston or Henry’s accusation that Alan can’t properly do his job after failing to push for details from the Desjardin residence, the two of them have some deep-seeded history and secrets between them. Alan’s seeming admittance, even though we were shown otherwise in a previous episode, about Henry being the cause of his father’s death forced Henry to question his reason for even being in Castle Rock. Alan mentioned the idea to Ruth about getting out of Castle Rock, which she was having none of, and she couldn’t easily tell that this was Henry’s idea. She blew up on Henry when they were getting further into the Desjardin residence and his disappearance continues to strain their relationship further.
Henry going to investigate the Desjardin’s house was one of the most interesting aspects of this episode. The flashbacks were paired perfectly with the quirky aloofness of Josef Desjardins (David Selby). Shelby played the role perfectly. From reminiscing about times where he cut Sonny Liston’s hair, to the excitement he exudes when realizing that this was the missing Henry Deaver, were perfect. The scene played out to give away everything, while subsequently giving away nothing at the same time. They did a wonderful job of providing some more breadcrumbs to the mystery, while still adding some curveballs along the way.
Castle Rock’s first few episodes alluded to the idea that this would center around the prisoner (Bill Skarsgård), but he doesn’t have all that much screen time here. The importance of his character arc is far and away more impressive than his screen time. We learn that, after Dennis attempts to continue to befriend the prisoner, that his power (whatever that may be) is potentially transferred via touch. The two fist bump and Dennis goes on a rampage in the prison, killing guard after guard. Dennis’ earlier demeanor toward the prison positioned it as him being no more free than the incarcerated inmates. So, maybe Skarsgård’s powers simply amplify and force the other person to act upon those desires. Although, this theory may not hold since his previous cellmate died from cancer assuming to be inflicted by Skarsgård. It is interesting to note that, just before the massacre, Henry left Bill a voicemail saying he was going to take the settlement and head back home. Was this the last act of Dennis doling out justice via the help of Skarsgård?
The one avenue of Castle Rock that I thoroughly enjoy is the dark comedy, which is most often provided by Molly. In this episode, she is attempting to sell a house, but forgot the various personal effects left behind for the late Dale Lacy. From sympathy cards to putting the cremation urn into the freezer and the prospective buyer finding it, the show has a knack for making things funny in an unfunny scenario.