The Outsider -Sky Atlantic

Started this last night, was HBO quaility for sure.



Seems to reveal a lot in episode 1 so I'm skeptical that unless there is a lot more to it than the obvious supernatural doppelganger it will struggle to keep the momentum up. Seems odd that it was obvious to the viewer there is no way it was him, there should have been more of a grey area. Unless as I say it is going to get a lot deeper
 
Read the book and it's on my list. The book was wierd it was unputdownable then it got 200 pages from the end and it was average. Very odd.

It was like he didnt know where to go with it and just rushed it.
 
Same here - found I couldn't put the book down, but the ending was kind of "is that it?". Felt like there should have been more. Considering the connection to the Bill Hodges trilogy the book felt like they were setting up Ralph as Bill's successor.

King sometimes struggles to find suitable endings, imo (not always though), The Outsider is one of those. I think he knows this, I watched It Chapter Two at the weekend and all way through the film there's reference to characters not liking the ending of Bill Denborough's books, even with a cameo from King himself saying he didn't like the ending of a particular book. I think this may be a tongue in cheek reference to where he fails to find a "strong" ending to some of his books.

Enjoying this show though - but I don't see how they can pad this out for 10 episodes, it feels like the first two episodes have covered the first third to half of the novel already?
 
King is prolific for not being able to write good endings. I'm used to it now and always prepare myself for the let down.

11/22/63 I think was the exception to this rule.
 
MookJong said:
King is prolific for not being able to write good endings. I'm used to it now and always prepare myself for the let down.

11/22/63 I think was the exception to this rule.
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I remember a lot of his books ended up with a magic macguffin capable of defeating the main enemy.
 
Stephen King (the poor man's Dean Koontz) recycles all his usual tropes in this slow burning tale of supernatural shenanigans that starts strong but becomes increasingly mundane with every passing episode.

The narrative stalls by episode 3, so King brings in a magical negro to kickstart it again because he still doesn't know how to advance a plot without deus ex machina.

The overall concept is good; the execution is great. But the premise becomes weaker with every new revelation. It's a shame, because this had terrific potential.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for a solid resolution in season 2, but I'm not holding my breath because King has a solid track record for anticlimactic endings.
 
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