Stephen King's The Outsider - HBO Series airs 1/12/20

Loved the book but I haven't watched. Just not interested for some reason.

 

have to get the BD since no Netflix...

 

Wow! loved this...I love anything time travel...

 

I used to be a big King fan and read many of his older books, but lost track of him over time (last thing of his I read was a newer collection of short stories that I can't even remember the name of now, but it was pretty good). I had never heard of this book and only knew of the show from seeing a few ads on HBO late last year.

Caught up on the first 3 episodes and I'm impressed! Darkly creepy but it can be a tad slow-moving. Fascinated to see what the story's take on the Vardoger (or doppleganger) will be on this series, if that's even the direction it's actually going.

 

I just wish the Game Of Thrones guys would tackle the Dark Tower books for a long form series on HBO or Netflix or something....
Just saying.
I don’t currently have HBO but really want to see this if it’s in the vein of True Detective. But I’d rather finish the book first!

 

I wish Peter Jackson would do with The Dark Tower what he did with The Lord of the Rings.

 

I agree, except I would love to see Cary Fukunaga tackle the Dark Tower. He was obviously the real genius behind True Detective S1, and his Netflix show Maniac was just fantastic. He’s really good at paying homage to visual styles and tones that I love from other directors (David Lynch, Ridley Scott) without trying to just copy them. I think he would do The Dark Tower justice.

My wife and I are hooked on the Outsider. It’s so much more interesting than I thought it would be. More subtle that some of King’s other work (or adaptations of his work) in a similar vein.

 

The Outsider continues to be very intriguing. There are a few contrivances that made me roll my eyes in Episode 4 (Gloria, while out with her lawyer and her lawyer's fixit guy, gets harassed and heckled while out at dinner from another restaurant patron that lives in the town--Ralph just happens to be in the same restaurant in the same room having dinner with his wife, and strong arms the guy out the door). I don't get the vibe that this is actually a small town where everyone knows each other sometimes, which is often a staple of King's work and what I assume the showrunner is going for here.

Regardless, I am really into the show and it is very well done outside of a few clunky moments. Holly is an awesome character.

 

i agree with you 100% here.

there are a couple moments in every episode that make me roll my eyes just a little, but thankfully the bulk of each one far outweighs the flashes of silliness.

 

i like it so far. did not read the story, looking forward to where it is going. it definitely raises a whole lot of questions.

 

After reading the book would have preferred someone other than Ben Mendelsohn as the main protagonist.

 

They just shut down the Dark Tower series on another service, most likely because the movie was such a bomb. It's sad, because that was a lost opportunity to tell a really good story. But let's face it: Dark Tower was a really weird tale that encompassed a lot of different genres, including fantasy, horror, science fiction, and Westerns, which I suspect will be really hard for a wide audience to take. No question, Westworld got away with this to a point, but still...

I agree. He's also got a speech affect that bugs the hell outta me.

Jackson has said he's done with giant, epic fantasy stories (after Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and King Kong), and is now doing different things like the WWI documentary and the Beatles' Let It Be.

 

I’m really enjoying this so far, it’s a slow burn

good cast, too.

idk when it happened, but Jason Bateman has just gotten really good. I always seem to enjoy him, funny or straight.

 

That woman who played the detective's 'ghost-mom'....I've seen her before.
Wasn't she part of some comedy sketch show from the '80's?
Also, the guy who plays the security guy from the strip-club was one of 'the Andy's' from "Hot Fuzz"!

 

I viewed the DVDs of seasons 1 and 2 courtesy of the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania inter-library loan system. I’m waiting for season 3 to appear on DVD.

 

Hate to say this show has lost a fair amount of momentum here in the middle. Also, the strip club scenes are laughably gratuitous, and I say this as someone who’s been to his share of strip clubs.

Looks like things will be picking up next week at least, and man, Cynthia Erivo is great in the role of Holly Gibney—she was quite a get for this series.

 

That would've been great if that could happen. But the (very bad) movie they did has killed any chance of a Dark Tower series happening.

Doh... that's a bit of a spoiler. But it's kind of like Under the Dumb: an alien child F'ing with a small town by putting an impenetrable shield around it, just for kicks. Not much explanation beyond that. King has been criticized many times that often, the endings for his books kind of stop abruptly without much detail; the writer in It is accosted by several characters who tell him that his endings suck (clearly a comment to his critics).

 

yes, I agree...I am a fan...I always enjoy his work...been a fan since Little House On the Prairie.

 

It was Denny Dillon who played Toby, Martin's secretary, in the early 90's HBO series "Dream On."

 

i felt like the tail end of this episode turned back toward something dramatic/exciting. as someone who's not read the book, i've no idea what to expect. but the way this episode was written seemed to cast doubt on what, exactly, is happening here after appearing to be going all-in on an x-files plot.

 

I haven't read the book either so I don't know what to expect at this point. Just hope the show picks up the pace a bit in the final episodes.

 

I actually think the casting is perfect for the show.

 

No, some critics complained the pacing is slow but I feel it’s a slow burn and there’s an oppressive atmosphere to,it. It would probably work better watching e-is odes back to back without interruption.

I have no doubt it will. I will say that there are some episodes that m0ve glacially and I do think that the pacing at this stage is too slow and it should have picked up at this point.

 

Maybe we read a different book.

 

Nope. I think we just imagined it differently perhaps. The show is perfectly cast not based on the book but based on the script they have done. I think Bateman did a terrific job and, likewise, while,I never picture Ralph Anderson as the sheriff when I read the book, he fits perfectly in the series.

I should also note that time away from the book (I bought it and read it on a plane the day after release so it’s been a couple of years) also softens my vision for the performers. When I read who was cast, I was a bit surprised but was willing to go with it.

Just like “Blade Runner”, I never pictured Harrison Ford in the role of Deckars but he came to in habit it.

I don’t really try and set expectations for casting based on a book because the script and performances can diverge. Evidently, King liked the casting as well but he also has made some pretty bad movies where he’s been involved himself. Having said that, after the debut, these actors inhabited these characters the way the best actors do.