In a shift from the primary focus of the show, all eyes are on real estate agent Molly Strand, whose significance grows from being just the young girl neighbour to a significant player in Deaver’s past.

I really do wish I could watch this show without spotting the Stephen King references (I’ve just read too much of his work and watched too many of the movies/shows based on it) and straightaway I spotted that the director was Daniel Attias, who directed Silver Bullet, based on King’s Cycle of the Werewolf. There’s also reference to Wonder Bread, which you might recall featured as a tongue sandwich in Needful Things.

But enough of the references – how was the episode? Melanie Lynskey is great as realtor Molly Strand – you may recall her as sharing the lead role with Kate Winslet in Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures – and right from the outset we find out that it was her who removed the breathing tube from Deaver’s adoptive father. What we don’t know is why she did it, beyond the voices in her head that haven’t been quelled by pharmaceuticals. disturbed. She can hear what he’s thinking

Henry Deaver, meanwhile, has refused to take a deal offered to his client; it’s a fair deal but he thinks he can get much more for the mysterious boy in the cell, though this may end up being a decision he will regret. Elsewhere, Molly goes to score some drugs and ends up in a strange court run by children (there’s a Children of the Corn vibe) wearing grotesque papier-mâché masks, before being busted in a raid.

Verdict: We’re still spending a lot of time building up the characters, hopefully so that when we get the big reveals they will punch some more emotional weight. Its pace is leisurely, but it’s never less than intriguing as the mysterious town starts to share some of its secrets. 7/10

Nick Joy