It is clear why the show had a two-episode premiere. While “Fish in a Barrel” raises the stakes for all the characters, “Roanoke” brings them all crashing down. The biggest and most important development is by far the slow deterioration of the Peterson family. Their youngest son becomes victim to a truly heinous crime, but further tragedy befalls the rest of the Peterson family, setting in motion an unstoppable chain of events. Ralph begins to question whether or not his very public arrest of Terry was a good idea, while Terry’s defense assures him the case will be thrown out at his arraignment, given the circumstances of the evidence placing him out of town on the day of Peterson’s murder. Meanwhile, the supernatural aspects of the show take form as the Maitlands’ youngest daughter, Jessa, played by Scarlett Blum (Reprisal, The Walking Dead), begins talking to an “imaginary man” in the Maitlands’ home.
If the first episode of the show was a volley, the second episode is a spike. Brilliantly written and directed, the episode introduces some new characters, while peeling back some of the layers of the main characters. Ralph secretly visits Terry in jail to further question him, creating one of the best one on one scenes yet. The scene in question showcases Mendelsohn and Bateman’s acting chops are prominently displayed in arguably the most emotional scene we have seen yet in the series. The music and cinematography remain consistent, although it will be interesting to see what happens in the next episode, “Dark Uncle,” as there will be a shift in almost all of the major creative roles. Essentially the only consistency will be the score, which will still be composed by Bensi and Jurriaans.
What I am excited for most is the introduction of Holly Gibney, who will be played by Harriet star Cynthia Erivo (Bad Times at the El Royale, Widows). Her character also featured in both the novel and tv Mr. Mercedes series, and is one of King’s best written characters. Her uniquely idiosyncratic personality makes for a very awkward individual with a keen, investigative mind. Where she lacks in her social skills, she most definitely makes up for in her Sherlockian brilliant mind. It will be interesting to see how she interacts with Ralph Anderson, a self-identified skeptic of the supernatural.
The two-part premiere does a fantastic job of setting up the rest of the series, which will air every Sunday night at 6 PM PST. The Outsider is a supernatural murder mystery, written by Stephen King and published by Scribner on May 22nd, 2018.
Rating: TV-MA (Mature Audiences Only) for Adult Content, Adult Language, Nudity, and Violence
Running Time: 60 Minutes
Produced by: HBO
