Just as Gordon is shooing the intruder away, Lola suddenly comes at him with a knife. In the ensuing struggle, Lola accidentally nicks her own jugular, killing her almost instantly. Then a snooping Jackie appears out of nowhere and does her best impression of her uncle Jack by burying an ax in Gordon’s skull. I hate seeing Gordon and Lola die so suddenly; it would have been interesting to see them try to make a go of it in Castle Rock, marketing the town to ghouls. That said, there’s something refreshingly definitive about their arc. They had trouble in Des Moines, they moved to Maine, they opened a weird business, they slaughtered a couple of customers, and they were killed. By the time they bled out, we knew everything about them we needed to know. By contrast, much of the rest of “Past Perfect” deals with Henry and Molly and their respective relationships with the Kid, in scenes filled with frustratingly vague insinuations. We learn that Henry used to have the nickname “the Black Death” — a dig at both his race and at the way that calamity seems drawn to him. We also learn that the Kid and Henry made some kind of pact 27 years ago. But instead of explaining that pact, the Kid moves on from Henry to Molly, saying to her, “You can help me, because you know me.” He then goes on to describe how she used to watch TV with her parents, and how she would paint her nails with Wite-Out, and how she would sit by her bedroom window and shine her flashlight up the hill. He says he could see all this from “out there in the woods … where you died.” For all of its unsatisfactory teases of bigger revelations to come, “Past Perfect” is still effective as an hour of horror. The old-fashioned grisliness of Gordon and Lola’s murder museum is something to see. And in the closing minutes — right around the time that Wendell is deciding not to leave town because his ears have begun ringing, just like his dad’s — the minimalist drone and scrape of the score combines with impressionistic editing to create an atmosphere of unease. There is also a strong and potentially significant theme here, tied to a remark made in the opening scene by a colleague of Gordon’s from Iowa — the man who slept with Gordon’s wife. “Fetishizing cultural memory is both dangerous and foolhardy,” he says. Moments later, Gordon clobbers him upside the head.<doc-sep>If you’re one of the many people who have been dismayed by Castle Rock‘s lack of “bonkers scary horror moments” so far this season, buckle up. Castle Rock is about to get a whole lot scarier. Castle Rock Episode 8, “Past Perfect” is as close to a terrifying slasher film as you’re going to get on TV today. In just the last few weeks, Castle Rock has undergone something of a breathtaking metamorphosis. The show started off as a weird and melancholic meditation on anomie in small town America, but it has become the most exhilarating show of the summer. The shift occurred somewhere around Episode 6, where we learn that things are far more bizarre than they first appeared. Henry Deaver (Andre Holland) attempts to retrace his dead father’s steps into the woods where he encounters a couple of oddballs who explain that they, along with Matthew Deaver, were obsessed with listening to the “voice of God.” Then, last week’s astonishing “game changer” of an episode, “The Queen,” used Ruth Deaver’s own scattered memories to tell a heartbreaking story of tragedy and terror. Tomorrow’s episode continues this run but leaps into the hardcore horror genre. “Past Perfect” is directed by A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night‘s Ana Lily Amirpour (and has more than one grisly murder). When I reviewed Castle Rock back in July, I wrote that while the first four episodes of the show were teeming with dread, there was “nothing that made me feel overt ‘jump out of your seat’ terror.” Tomorrow’s episode is full of moments like that. These scenes will send an ice blast-like chill down your spine and force you to gasp in horror. “Past Perfect” also confirms that Castle Rock‘s slower early episodes weren’t spinning the wheels so much as setting the foundation for the bedlam to come. The season’s structure is a thrilling homage to Stephen King, the mastermind behind such slow burn horror thrillers as The Shining and Carrie. Castle Rock Episode 8, “Past Perfect” premieres on Hulu Wednesday, August 29. You can check out a promo on Hulu. Where to Stream Castle Rock<doc-sep>
Here are the 6 new shows worth checking out in September 2018 by Kara Hedash Episode 8 of Hulu’s Castle Rock left us with our jaws on the floor, is [Spoiler] really dead? Since when? How? The latest episode of Castle Rock, episode 8 titled “Past Perfect,” was extremely intense, to say the least. There’s a lot to process in the episode, but once the mysterious character known only as “The Kid” says “out there, in the woods, that’s where you died,” we forget about everything else! Haven’t had a chance to watch “Past Perfect” yet? You need to! But if you have not, please note there are huge spoilers ahead… In the eight episode of the series, viewers learned more about Gordon and Lilith, the couple who bought Warden Lacy’s home. They were a creepy duo from the start, and murdering the cheating couple who stayed at their Bed & Breakfast certainly didn’t help them out. Meanwhile, Molly Strand saved Henry Deaver from the silent chamber. Fans weren’t ready for what was waiting for us, though. After Henry deals with Gordon and Lilith, he rushes to go find his mother. Molly, however, spots The Kid, looking as creepy as ever. He reveals a lot about Molly’s childhood as she stands back in shock wondering how he could possibly know all of this. That’s when he drops a major shocker — Molly is dead. What are your theories on this? Could she have died and we missed it? After all, Molly couldn’t have been dead all this time, she’s interacted with a lot of people. If you think you’ll get answers next week in episode 9, titled “Henry Deaver,” don’t hold your breath! We have screened the episode already and can tell you that more questions than answers are headed your way! Episode 9 will blow your mind! You won’t want to miss it. Will it answer if Molly is dead or not? Yes! But it’ll also give us more to question. New episodes of Castle Rock are released every Wednesday only on Hulu.