Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyCastle Rock
HULU
Season 1 Episode 9
Henry Deaver
With one episode left in the first season of the Stephen King based series, this episode decided to answer the series questions with a nod to one of King’s best known works; The Dark Tower.
One of the tropes that King uses in many of his books is an idea that in the parallel universe of The Dark Tower, the many worlds have characters that are connected to each other. Characters that either look-alike or share the same name. These “twinners” never occupy the same world at the same time and the breaking of that rule seems to be at the heart of both this episode and the first season as well.
I’m going to endeavor to not spoil too much if you haven’t watched the episode, but I’m afraid some spoilers are unavoidable. First of all, when the kid was asked his name in the first episode and he said “Henry Deaver”, he wasn’t lying. It turns out that the kid is from a parallel Earth very similar to ours and this Henry Deaver is a successful scientist living with his wife and working on a cure for Alzheimer’s. After the suicide of his father, he is called back to Castle Rock and discovers that his father was keeping a young boy in a cage in their basement.
Now we know where young Henry from our world was when he disappeared. The circumstances continue to get stranger as we see that the Kid (who for time and sanity purposes will be referred to as Henry 2) shares the same connection with Molly Strand that Henry 1 does. This bond forces Molly to find a way to get the kid back to the woods and we see what the effects of the Schism have on Henry as a child. We see him being torn between multiple dimensions, witnessing different stories being told all at the same time.
These shots are visually stunning and really bring the viewer into the story. It was fascinating to witness what Henry and Molly saw when they found themselves caught in a breach between the Earths.
Many of the questions that have been dogging the season were answered in this episode and we got a sense of who Henry 2 is and what his real connection to Henry 1 is. We finally find out what happened to Henry as a child, why Henry 2 doesn’t age and possibly the reason why tragedy happens in Castle Rock. Two parallel stories being told in different ways and both seeming to lead to a tragic finale. I can’t wait to see how they wrap this season.
Castle Rock S01XE09
