Castle Rock Season 2 is here! The streamer’s renewal arrived even before the aggregate numbers of season 1, which premiered on July 25, 2018. Indeed, the weekly series procured a second season renewal only six episodes into that first frame.
Living up to its anthology series status, season 2 focuses on a new story and characters, centered on King’s iconic Misery captor, Annie Wilkes, as played by Lizzy Caplan. As Thomason recently explained to us: “The basic idea is that it is an anthology in the sense that we’re going to tell a new story that gives you a different lens into Castle Rock and into Stephen King each season. The thing we’ve always been really excited about, in the same way that the Stephen King universe operates, is that each story will stand alone, but that we will be circling back to characters whose stories intersect with the new stories.”
The entire Castle Rock season 1 creative coalition is set to return for the second season. The team consists of showrunners Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason as well as Stephen King himself and Bad Robot’s J.J. Abrams and Ben Stephenson. Shaw and Thomason will also continue in their capacity as showrunners and executive producers.
Here’s everything else we know about the second season:
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Castle Rock Season 2 Release Date
Castle Rock season 2 will return on Wednesday, Dec. 4 on Hulu with episode 9.
Castle Rock Season 2 Episodes
Here’s where we’ll compile episode titles, official synopses, and reviews as they become available. Click the titles to go to the full reviews.
Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 1: Let the River Run
A nurse gets waylaid in Castle Rock.
Air Date: 10/23/19
Read our review of “Let the River Run.”
Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 2: New Jerusalem
The Merrills search for answers.
Air Date: 10/23/19
Read our review of “New Jerusalem.”
Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 3: Ties That Bind
Annie tastes her own medicine.
Air Date: 10/23/19
Read our review of “Ties That Bind.”
Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 4: Restore Hope
Nadia learns a dark truth about her past.
Air Date: 10/30/19
Read our review of “Restore Hope.”
Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 5: The Laughing Place
In the beginning…
Air Date: 11/6/19
Read our review of “The Laughing Place.”
Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 6: The Mother
A familiar face arrives in Castle Rock.
Air Date: 11/13/19
Read our review of “The Mother.”
Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 7: The Word
Air Date 11/20/19
Read our review of “The Word.”
Castle Rock Season 2 Episode 8: Dirty
Air Date 11/27/19
Castle Rock Season 2 Story
As the official synopsis explains:
“In Season 2, a feud between warring clans comes to a boil when budding psychopath Annie Wilkes (Caplan), Stephen King’s nurse from hell, gets waylaid in Castle Rock.”
Further Reading: Further Reading: Castle Rock Season 1 Ending Explained
Castle Rock Season 2 Cast
Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex) plays Annie Wilkes, a nurse and superfan battling to overcome mental health issues. You may recognize her from a little novel and movie called Misery.
Tim Robbins (Here and Now) is Reginald “Pop” Merrill, the patriarch of a crime family, Pop is dying of cancer and at a reckoning with his family. Pop first appeared in the 1990 novella “The Sun Dog.” Robbins previously starred in the King movie The Shawshank Redemption.
Paul Sparks (House of Cards, Boardwalk Empire) is now set to play the role of John “Ace” Merril, replacing the initially cast Garrett Hedlund, reports Deadline. The recasting was reportedly a creative decision over the character himself. On the show, the legendary bully is taking over his uncle Pop’s businesses and threatening a fragile peace with nearby Jerusalem’s Lot. Ace was the main antagonist in the 1982 novella “The Body” and its 1986 film adaptation, Stand by Me, in which he was played by Kiefer Sutherland. The character also appeared in the 1991 novel, Needful Things. He was also seen as one of the bullies in the 1990 It TV miniseries.
John Hoogenakker (Jack Ryan) has been cast in a recurring role. While the name of Hoogenakker’s character isn’t known at this time, we do know that he has “a complicated connection to Annie Wilkes.” Sounds promising!
Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade) is Joy. Annie’s home-schooled teenage daughter, Joy is starting to have questions about her mother’s sanity.
Yusra Warsam (Assassin’s Creed: Origins) is Dr. Nadia Omar. The Harvard-trained Somali medical director of a rural hospital in Jerusalem’s Lot, Dr. Omar’s rational and scientific mind will be put to the test.
Barkhad Abdi (Blade Runner 2049) will portray Abdi Omar. The tough, older brother of Nadia, Abdi leads the charge to build a Somali community center that will deepen the roots of his people in Maine.
Matthew Alan (13 Reasons Why) plays Chris Merrill. Pop’s nephew and Ace’s brother, Chris struggles to keep peace between the Merrills and the Somali community.
Robin Weigert (Big Little Lies, Deadwood) is Crysilda Wilkes, Annie Wilkes’s mother.
Sarah Gadon (True Detective, Letterkenny) is Rita Green, described as “a vengeful woman from Annie’s past.”
Alison Wright (Sneaky Pete, The Americans) is Valerie, “a kind-hearted local who is exploring the town’s evil history.”
Greg Grunberg (A Star Is Born, Heroes) is Sheriff Boucher, “a local official who faces off against a brewing dark force in Castle Rock.”
Joseph Baxter is a contributor for Den of Geek and Syfy Wire. You can find his work here. Follow him on Twitter @josbaxter.