Looking in on the Outsider

Whenever Stephen King publishes a new book, you can rest assured that an adaptation of some kind will follow. Since I'm not deeply into King, I don't necessarily know what his new books are about -- though I find out a couple of years later when they're repurposed as movies or what-not. Most recently, this happened with the HBO mini-series The Outsider.

An upstanding citizen and family man is arrested for the unspeakably brutal murder of a young boy. The evidence against Terry Maitland seems definitive: he has been identified by multiple witnesses, captured on video, and his fingerprints are all over the crime scene. But Maitland maintains his innocence... and he's soon backed up when evidence emerges to place him out of town and miles away at the time of the murder: multiple witnesses, video recordings, and even fingerprint evidence. Detective Ralph Anderson is at a loss to explain how one man was seemingly in two places at once. When the case takes a shocking turn, his police department looks to private investigator Holly Gibney for help.

The Outsider is a real slow burn of a tale. As a mini-series, it's spread out across 10 episodes, and the full reveal of the "two places at once" nature of the crime doesn't come until quite late in the first episode. Under most circumstances, I'd treat that as a spoiler and dance delicately around it. But without that twist, it's simply impossible to give any sense of what The Outsider is that might possibly compel someone's interest. "Well, it's a story about the murder of a child." If anything, that alone would strike me as more off-putting than tantalizing.

But The Outsider works as a slow burn, because it's almost not even about the case. It does go on to have many of the Stephen King trappings of the supernatural. You might even say it cribs heavily from his older novel It -- though to point out exactly how here might spoil some of the fun. But I found the characters here to be particular well drawn in comparison. Maybe that's decades of King's writing experience showing through. Maybe it's a triumph of the HBO adaptation. Either way, I found it one of the most compelling reasons to watch the show.

Every episode of the mini-series is peppered with sharp scenes of two characters interacting with each other. Sometimes a scene is about their similarities; other times about their differences. Sometimes the characters are in lockstep; other times they're challenging each other. Each feels like a perfect little study you could imagine acting students lifting for a class project, filled with nuance and freighted with meaning.

The scenes probably wouldn't be as good in the hands of other actors, though. Ben Mendelsohn stars as detective Anderson, a character who tries to keep many of his thoughts and feelings internal (but who often fails). Jason Bateman is the accused, Terry Maitland, flipping the switch between sympathetic and creepy as different scenes call for it. The cast goes on and on... but stealing the scenes from all of them is Cynthia Erivo as private detective Holly Gibney. She's a fastidious, socially awkward character, the sort of person often exaggerated for laughs on other shows. Erivo makes the character much more grounded and believable.

There are several fun twists and turns throughout the 10 episodes, including a particularly shocking turn in the second episode that surprised me and immediately got me on board for the entire run. I'm also pleased to say that the ending, as Stephen King endings go in my experience, is not half-bad. For certain, the ascent of this ride is more exciting than the conclusion, but the whole of it is worthwhile.

The Outsider wrapped up its run just before the current season of Westworld began, so the whole of is now there to be watched. I'd give it a B+. The pace is deliberate, and the heavy atmosphere oppressive at times -- I wouldn't see it as a "binge watch" show. But I think it's a show worth watching.