With the intense scrutiny and negative reactions following the first season's conclusion, Castle Rock was under immense pressure to deliver a fitting end to its King-inspired anthology series. Thankfully, season 2 bows out in the most delightful way possible, offering a satisfying and meticulously crafted finale. With all loose ends tied up neatly and nods to both the first season and Misery woven throughout, Castle Rock exits to rapturous applause, earning itself a spot among this year's best finales.
The episode commences with Ace carrying Pop back to Marsten House and laying him in the coffin, surrounded by a swarm of black goo as the lid is closed, seemingly transforming him into one of "them." Meanwhile, Ace addresses the others upstairs, preparing for The Angel's arrival. Joy, the vessel for this being, stands motionless in her bridal gear, awaiting the ritual.
Annie leads the others to the dig site where Nadia snatches up some explosives and begins planting them deep underground while Chance acts like a zombie, wandering between the crowds until they point at her and chant "No" repeatedly. An officer soon approaches, snatching her up and leading her right to Ace.
Meanwhile, Pop awakens from his slumber as Ace speaks to him about the imprisoned Angel. It turns out that the warden wrote letters about Castle Lake, which serves as a gateway for the Angel's travels at "His" will. However, before they can continue, Annie allows herself to be captured and pleads with Ace to let Joy go free. Instead, he forces her down into the tunnels after she reveals what's happening with the explosives.
Pop then turns on the zombified townsfolk, explaining that he took the serum just before being shot and, with a small window of time, organizes Nadia and Abdi to set off the explosives. In the ensuing chaos as the place blows up, Joy stabs Ace in the back while Pop helps Chance escape. Clinging to his last shred of humanity, he pleads with them to blow Marsten House. As thick clouds of smoke choke the air and overlook the lake, a strange shadowy figure watches...is this The Kid?
Cutting forward one week later with Annie, she picks up a book called Misery's Quest in a motel and begins reading, muttering "Good beginning" before continuing through the pages. Obsessed, she reads between driving up to the Canadian border. Once there, they stop at a nearby gas station and see a missing poster for Henry Deaver—our protagonist from the first season.
As the episode draws to a climax, they finally arrive at Annie's long-mentioned Laughing Place, a sanctuary where they can find happiness and live in a paradise-like setting. Unfortunately, Joy is not her usual self, and as she distances herself from Annie, she begins to arouse her mother's suspicions. Amidst the lure of French TV, an ominous phone call, and eerie nightmarish drawings in her sketchbook, Annie takes drastic measures. She crushes up some pills and sneakily laces them into Joy's ice cream, convinced that by doing so, she is "one of them." She chases after Joy, throws her into the water, and eventually drowns her.
As she returns to the house, Annie discovers a letter in Joy's sketchbook that proves her daughter was actually sane and had planned to move away in search of herself. Scrambling back down to the dock, Annie tries to resuscitate her daughter, seemingly successful as she cradles her sputtering and coughing daughter in her arms. As the episode closes out, Joy and Annie drive to the book signing of Paul Sheldon, the author of Misery's Quest. "I'm his number 1 fan," Annie smiles as the camera pans out and shows an empty seat next to her. She's been hallucinating; Joy is not alive.
What a gripping finale! Not only does the show manage to round out this season's story arcs in a satisfying and well-paced manner, it also serves as a prequel for Misery with a shocking and disturbing twist at the end. All of this is executed masterfully by Lizzy Caplan, who I've been a fan of for years and here she tops off her performance with a maniacal blend of heartbreak and steely determination. The combination of this with the various Easter eggs dotted throughout the season makes the build-up well worth the wait.
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming the mysterious cloaked figure by the lake is The Kid from the first season. Is he the Angel the villagers are referring to? Given the emphasis on eyes in Joy's sketchbook and the significance of the lake itself, it all seems to be fitting together perfectly. Then again, I could be completely off base. To be honest, I think this is partly why the finale works so well, with an equal dose of ambiguity alongside the satisfying finish. Whether this show is renewed for a third season or not remains to be seen, but given the positive reception it has received on the whole, I hope Hulu does renew it as there is certainly scope for expansion here.
