Mario’s Musings: The Outsider
Lately, HBO has been running the occasional limited series where the storyline wraps itself up in one season. True Detective has been doing it, with a new cast taking over each season, as well as Watchmen, which I recently reviewed, only lasting for one season (for now). And now we can add The Outsider to the list. Based on the recent Stephen King novel of the same name, The Outsider follows Detective Ralph Anderson’s quest to solve the murder of young Frankie Peterson, whose killer was apparently two places at once.
Investigating the murder, Ralph discovers Frankie’s killer is none other than Little League Baseball coach Terry Maitland, who used to coach Ralph’s now deceased son. Tons of video evidence, DNA, and eyewitnesses accounts place him as the killer, despite Terry and his wife’s claims that he was out of town at the time of the murder. Turns out, they’re right, Terry WAS out of town and there’s video evidence backing that up as well. It’s one of King’s great mysteries, and a great cast solidly backs it up.
I won’t give too much away, but as far as adaptations go, this might be one of the best. When adapting a lot of King’s work, a lot of story usually has to be left on the cutting room floor, but in the case of Outsider, elements were ADDED to enhance some aspects of the story. For instance, Holly Gibney is an outside investigator hired by Terry’s lawyer’s private investigator to think outside the box in regards to the case. Because of her connection to other King stories, her backstory had to be completely rewritten, but not at the expense of her character work. Sure, the history of Holly from the Bill Hodges Trilogy isn’t there, but it’s still Holly at her core.
Ben Mendelsohn as Ralph Anderson
Jason Bateman as Terry Maitland
Cynthia Erivo as Holly Gibney
These ten episodes are a breeze to get through. Jason Bateman directs the first two episodes and just kills it as Terry Maitland. He performs the character in such an ambiguous way where you’re not sure of his innocence or not. Ben Mendelsohn is a national treasure that can do no wrong in my eyes, and he continues that trend as hard-nosed Ralph Anderson. Cynthia Erivo is amazing as Holly Gibney, and it’s a shame she didn’t get to play her on the Mr. Mercedes series (I still haven’t watched that yet, but one day I will as I loved the Bill Hodges Trilogy). To be quite honest, I can’t think of a bad character on this show. Everyone is played to his or her strengths.
Seriously, give this a watch if you’re in the mood for a good detective story that keeps you on your toes.