A trip down Stephen King Lane!

1922– This story reminded me a lot of the kind of pieces that Edgar Allan Poe wrote. Wilfred James is a farmer struggling to make ends meet in 1922. When he gets the idea that the best fix for their problems is to kill his wife for financial gain, he convinces his son to help. Like any good story with a moral center, this action by Wilfred has consequences he never could have foreseen. It’s a slow ratchet up the hill of insanity for Wilfred. A plan that seems like the best and only way out for him and his son to prosper, one he plans out as best he can, completely ruins his family. The damage radiates for from his home as well. A very telling line early on is one where Wilfred narrates ” I discovered something that night that most people never have to learn. Murder is sin. Murder is damnation. But murder is also work.” I liked this a lot for the road it traveled. How Wilfred, who did everything to hold on to his pitiful pride, lead himself to bring hell on Earth. What he held dearest, his land and his son, not only continued to drift away but also rotted from the inside out because of him.  I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this but came away with an appreciation for another Stephen King concoction.

Gerald’s Game– This tale takes place almost entirely in one location. I’d consider this a “bottle” episode where the razor-sharp focus is on one character and their journey of self-discovery. Here, the character study is on Jessie. She and her husband Gerald go away for a weekend. The spark in their marriage has been on life support for some time and the idea for them to be alone and explore new things with each other on a lovers retreat seems like a good one. It goes wrong quickly and Jessie finds herself alone and trapped in the house. Once she’s alone I wasn’t sure where the story would go but I liked where it went. A deep dive into Jessie’s past makes her confront her long locked away secrets and find a possible path to save herself. I saw Jessie a certain way at the start and found her to be completely different at the end, something I always look for and appreciate when it’s done well. Things get weird, in typical Stephen King fashion as he explores childhood trauma and emotional shackles that can weigh anyone down, even if they aren’t conscious of it. Mix in flashbacks, hallucinations. a few boogymen, a dash of ‘oh nooooo’ gore, and you have a Game you won’t soon forget.  Another one I was pleasantly surprised with.