“Castle Rock” Season
2
As we mentioned in last
week’s article, this psychological
horror series returns for a sec-
ond season on Wednesday, Oct.
23. Season 1 brought viewers
to the world of Castle Rock,
Maine, a setting most Stephen
King fans will be familiar with.
Not only does the series borrow
its setting from those stories, it
pulls together a number of char-
acters, creating a giant web of
King’s creations in one place. It’s
an anthology series, so Season
2 doesn’t pick up right where
Season 1 left off (though eagle-
eyed viewers may notice some
slight overlaps). Instead, the
new installment brings us the
story of single mother Annie Wil-
kes (Lizzy Caplan “Now You See
Me 2,” 2016), the villain from
King’s “Misery,” who is well
on her way to becoming a full-
fledged psychopath. We’ll also
meet Reginald “Pop” Merrill,
head of the Merrill crime family,
who is played by Tim Robbins in
another nod to King’s previous
works (Robbins played Andy
Dufresne in 1994’s “The Shaw-
shank Redemption”). Like most
of King’s stories, “Castle Rock”
is dark and twisted, and cer-
tainly not for the faint of heart.
The series has already taken on
a life of its own, and it sounds
like fans can look forward to
a number of seasons ahead.
Showrunner Dustin Thomason
Bill Skarsgard as seen in “Castle Rock”
explained, “We’re going to tell
a new story that gives you a dif-
ferent lens into Castle Rock and
into Stephen King each season
-- each story will stand alone,
but we will be circling back to
those characters whose stories
intersect.” The end of Season 1
left some lingering questions,
such as who/what The Kid re-
ally is. (The Kid is (played by Bill
Skarsgard of 2018’s “IT” -- yet
another intersection!) Step back
into Castle Rock when Season 2
drops this week.
“Zomboat!”
Just in time for Halloween,
Hulu presents this British zom-
bie comedy. Jo (Cara Theobold,
“Crazyhead”) and Kat (Leah
Brotherhead, “White Gold”)
are sisters living in Birmingham,
England, who find themselves
teaming up with some unlikely
companions when the zombie
apocalypse hits. They must flee
their homes, and the group end
up doing so by canal boat. It’s
the classic zombie survival tale
John Barrowman stars in “Torchwood”
told in a brand new way, and
it will make a great addition to
any Halloween playlist. You can
stream this one starting Friday,
Oct. 25.
BINGE
“Torchwood”
Melissa Joan Hart stars in “Sabrina the Teenaged Witch”
22 | Screentime
October 23, 2019 | East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald
The rebooted “Doctor Who”
series that debuted in 2005
brought with it a number of
intriguing characters, and
Capt. Jack Harkness (John Bar-
rowman, “Arrow”) is one of
the greatest. He pops up in the
first season of said reboot, a
fearless hero with tons of sass
and no sexual inhibitions. He’s
a time traveler from the 51st
century who accompanies the
Doctor on some very important
missions -- and then he dies.
But only briefly. After being
brought back to life in spectac-
ular fashion, he finds that he
has traded one incredible pow-
er for another: he can no longer
time travel (he must carry on
living in the 19th century on
Earth), but he can’t die, either.
“Torchwood” picks up about
200 years later, in the 21st cen-
tury, where Harkness leads a
top-secret team that monitors
the spacetime rift in Cardiff,
Wales, and works to neutralize
the many nefarious forces that
threaten Earth. Though he’s
worked with his team for some
time, Capt. Jack remains a
mystery to the other members
in many ways. Throughout the
four seasons of the show, you’ll
find that he has grown since
his adventures with the Doctor,
and his character development
and relationships are as com-
pelling as the sci-fi adventures
the show delivers. You can
watch the whole series now.
“Sabrina the Teenage
Witch”
If you’re looking for some
family-friendly Halloween fare,
you can binge all seven seasons
of this late ‘90s classic. This
isn’t the dark and edgy Netflix
series, rather the quirky, uplift-
ing adaptation of the original
comic book character that aired
on ABC in it’s “T.G.I.F.” lineup (I
can already feel the nostalgia
setting in). Melissa Joan Hart
(“Melissa & Joey”) stars as the
titular teenage witch who dis-
covers her powers at the begin-
ning of the series and sets out to
develop her talents and balance
a normal high school existence.
Caroline Rhea (“Sydney to
the Max”) and Beth Broderick
(“Sharp Objects”) are aunts
Hilda and Zelda, respectively,
and Nate Richert (“Survival Is-
land,” 2002) stars as the dreamy
Harvey Kinkle.