Castle Rock season 2, episode 8 recap: Dirty

Season 2, Episode 8 of Hulu’s Castle Rock’ pushes Annie to the limit, Joy gets lost in the crowd and Nadia loses a loved one.

Previously on Castle Rock, we learned more about the strange man possessing Ace/Augustin (Paul Sparks). Also, Annie (Lizzy Caplan) was under suspicion and there was even a surprise appearance by The Kid (Bill Skarsgård) — though, in this incarnation, he is a mysterious “Angel.”

Episode 208 begins with a quick recap of Chrysida Wilkes (Robin Weigert) attempting to kill Annie, which they do for a reason. However, it really begins with Annie in custody, although not for her role in the death of Rita K. Green (Sarah Gadon).

Instead, she is detained by Augustin at the Marsten House, as the desired physical vessel for the spirit of Amity (Mathilde Dehaye). Meanwhile, the parade in Castle Rock has turned into a mass migration, with Castle Rock and Salem’s Lot citizens entranced by the mysterious statue.

As the madness proceeds, Ace offers to help Annie and her daughter, Joy (Elsie Fisher), though everything he says comes off creepy, as do his apparent intentions. Later, Ace meets Valerie (Alison Wright) as Annie hides. Valerie actually thinks Joy may be the vessel, based on her unusual artwork.

Death at the haunted house

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When Ace leaves, a weird voice whispers to Annie — apparently, Rita’s. This is possible because the cult has replaced Annie’s medication, possibly with placebo “duds.” Still, with the way Castle Rock works, the psychological and the ethereal may very well be real. Joy is kidnapped, but only to be placed in a room in the same house.

Annie happens to see a bunch of corpses lying around, which rattles even her. As Annie hides, she is continually haunted by her mother, leading us to keep wondering if it’s a hallucination, a genuine spiritual presence, or some exotic cocktail of both.

Annie soon encounters a lady named Heather (Georgia Lyman), possessed by a spirit named Helene. Annie ends up killing her when she resists giving up Joy’s location. Interestingly, this death is in self-defense, which might arguably be the case even with Rita’s (which means Annie is a more complex character, with both self-defense and psychopathic kills under her belt).

Then, like a killing machine, Anni takes out two more of Augustin’s cult. Annie finally finds her daughter but must cope with Chrysida nagging at her to kill Joy. Annie shakes these freaky commands off, and the two sneak through the hypnotized crowd of Castle Rock townsfolk. However, Annie is “arrested” again, leaving Joy to march forward, now equally as entranced as the hapless throng of new cult members.

Nadia’s workplace

Although this episode largely neglects Abdi (Barkhad Abdi), it definitely gives screen time to his sister, Nadia (Yusra Warsama). She meets Chris (Matthew Alan), although his body is possessed by the violent soul of Bertrand.

Whereas Augustin is surprisingly gentle when he needs to be, Bertrand is less subtle in his surprise violence against Nadia. She outsmarts him, knocking him unconscious. Rather than leave him behind or kill him, she actually takes him to her hospital (most likely recognizing he’s not himself).

Oddly, though, the hospital is abandoned, and the power is out. Suddenly, gunshots ring out, and Nadia hides. At times, Chris is almost back to his old self, thanks to the medication he was on, which somewhat prevents Bertrand from totally taking over. When the possessed Billy (Chad Knorr) tries to kill Nadia, both her and Chris work to take him out. On the downside, Chris gets shot and presumably dies.

Analysis

This particular point of the season merits a little bit of extra thought. Obviously, a lot of things happen in this episode of Castle Rock alone, and it’s not so easy placing all of its themes together. However, if it ties in with last season, a tenable theory is that “The Kid” in this instance isn’t quite as we knew him from Shawshank. Castle Rock has been revealed as a sort of multi-verse. This allows that there may be not only one incarnation of a character but several.

Much as there had been two different Henry Deaver’s in season one, there may be more than one version of “The Kid” in Castle Rock. It may even be possible that multiple versions can inhabit the same body (as implied, of course, by Augustin’s cult). It is a confusing series, sure, but what’s surprising is that it is fairly coherent, given all the different, contradictory elements at play.

What are your thoughts on Castle Rock? Let us know in the comments!