TV Show review
Review basis: 2 seasons, 20 episodes · through December 11, 2019
July 25, 2018 · 60 min · TV-MA · Canceled
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Castle Rock is a psychological horror TV series set in Stephen King's fictional Maine town. It tells original stories that pull in characters and places from his books across two seasons. Season 1 centers on a death row lawyer returning home after a mysterious prisoner is found at Shawshank. Season 2 follows Annie Wilkes and includes Somali immigrant siblings in prominent roles amid family and community conflict.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Castle Rock.
Woke representation / casting
André Holland plays the central competent Henry Deaver in season 1. Season 2 gives prominent roles to Somali siblings, including a doctor and community builder, within the immigrant family storyline. Casting stands out in the mostly white Maine setting.
Woke political dialogue
Season 1 has limited comments on prison privatization and small-town economics. Season 2 shows community tensions around the Somali family. No extended activist speeches appear.
Identity-driven story themes
Season 2 devotes significant plot to a Somali refugee family building ties and facing local pushback. The creator described this as a political refugee story. It sits alongside the horror but does not dominate the premise.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Season 1 shows the prison system as profit-focused after privatization with negative effects on the town. Small-town decline and economic strain appear. These elements stay secondary to supernatural horror.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The series creates new stories inside the Castle Rock setting instead of altering established King characters or canon for identity reasons.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Almost no documented complaints from the time called the show woke or accused it of pushing identity politics or DEI. Some later viewer comments mentioned the Somali characters or social elements. Evidence stays weak.
Creator track record context
Stephen King holds a liberal public record with anti-Trump statements but keeps his work horror-centered. Directors Kevin Hooks and Julie Anne Robinson have some diversity or women-focused notes. Writer Marc Bernardin has done comics exploring racial experiences. Main creators Thomason and Shaw and most other key people show little activist history.
