'Castle Rock' Proves Netflix's Sci-Fi Push Into Genre Is Spreading

Late in an early episode of Castle Rock, the show chooses a humorless moment to poke a little fun at the audience. Henry Deaver (Andre Holland) sits in halting conversation with a mysterious young man (Bill Skarsgård), their bodies separated by glass and their voices joined by jailhouse phones. Or Deaver's voice, at least--the young man opposite him has whispered only a few words since first being freed from captivity underneath Shawshank Prison, and is utterly silent now. Deaver, an attorney, outlines what he imagines their legal strategy to be; "You understand?" he finishes. Then speaks, his voice creaking with disuse: "Has it begun?"