As intellectually stimulating as it was the first time around with a sensational performance from a captivating Lizzy Caplan, and a punchier pace.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 13, 2020

While the second season doesn't end on quite the slam-bang note that the first did, it does a very solid job of tying this season into Misery proper, leaving the door wide open for what might happen in the show's next iteration.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Mar 3, 2020

Despite some potential lost, we still got a character-driven, compelling season, with the sensation of something old, dreadful and especially eerie seeping out of the history of Castle Rock into its new inhabitants.

Full Review | Dec 27, 2019

Season 2 evokes the best Stephen King adaptations by ramping up the pacing, dread, and slasher flick fun in a way the first season didn't.

Full Review | Dec 4, 2019

There are so many threads being woven together, and try as they might, there's just not enough knots being tied to make it all work. In the end, everyone suffers, and we're left with cheeky references, hollow drama, and zero stakes.

Full Review | Dec 4, 2019

Castle Rock delivers the expected violence, suspense, and horror. But its most abundant strength is its faithful adherence to one of King's primary tenets as an author: that there is nothing more frightening then the unpredictability of human nature.

Full Review | Dec 4, 2019

One of this season's greatest strengths is how it excels at depicting Annie's psychosis and paranoia in visually different and creative ways. It continually feels fresh and stressful.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 3, 2019

A lot of horror anthologies hinge on concept instead of character or performance, but I'm happy to see "Castle Rock" bucking that trend.

Full Review | Dec 3, 2019

Like its impressive and satisfying inaugural run, this latest season of Castle Rock is filled with clever writing, delightful callbacks to King's book universe and terrific performances.

Full Review | Nov 4, 2019

It's a dark ending, to be sure, but the right one.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 31, 2019

Castle Rock's second season gets a welcome fresh coat of creative paint with the addition of Lizzy Caplan's engaging performance as Misery's Annie Wilkes.

Full Review | Oct 31, 2019

This is a great starting point to understanding Annie Wilkes... if that's possible.

Full Review | Oct 31, 2019

Reinterpreting a beloved Stephen King villain like Annie Wilkes is a tall order, but Lizzy Caplan makes it look easy.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 31, 2019

One episode in, this season of Castle Rock is pulpy in a way season one didn't attempt. It's quick and sharp and tense and breathless.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Oct 31, 2019

Whether you love or could leave the rest of Castle Rock, know this: Lizzy Caplan will blow you away.

Full Review | Oct 30, 2019

Thanks to excellent work on Caplan's part, and a surprising narrative twist that once again defies expectations early on, we can't wait to see how her infamous character plays out in the rest of this season.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 28, 2019

It remains to be seen whether the end result will be a success, or end with the sort of vaguely disappointing whimper last season landed on, but for now I'm absolutely thrilled by the guts the show has found.

Full Review | Oct 28, 2019

The show is finally more than a flailing attempt to monetize Stephen King-related intellectual property.

Full Review | Oct 25, 2019

Castle Rock remains an atmospheric, grippingly acted series that captures the feeling of King's fiction while exploring corners of his world that even he might not have imagined existing.

Full Review | Oct 25, 2019

[Lizzie] Caplan, is unsettlingly good as Annie, giving a performance that can be emotionally poignant in one scene and petrifying in another, turning on a dime in an instant.

Full Review | Oct 24, 2019