{"id":12063,"date":"2018-08-21T08:00:37","date_gmt":"2018-08-21T12:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/?p=12063"},"modified":"2018-08-18T23:14:50","modified_gmt":"2018-08-19T03:14:50","slug":"bev-vincent-reviews-mercedes-s2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cemeterydance.com\/extras\/bev-vincent-reviews-mercedes-s2\/","title":{"rendered":"Bev Vincent reviews Mr. Mercedes Season 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

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“I Feel Like He\u2019s Still Among Us”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The creators of the Mr. Mercedes<\/em>, the TV adaptation of Stephen King\u2019s crime novels, were faced with a dilemma when the series was renewed for a second season. Protagonist Bill Hodges (Brendan Gleeson) doesn\u2019t appear until 150 pages into the second novel, Finders Keepers<\/em>, and his nemesis, Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway) is effectively not in the book at all.<\/p>\n

That’s easier to manage in a book than in a movie or TV series, where you can\u2019t keep the talent in reserve. Viewers expect them to show up in the opening scenes and appear regularly throughout the season. Imagine The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>, but with Han Solo in a coma for the entire film and Luke Skywalker not showing up until an hour in.
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To address this issue, Season 2 of Mr. Mercedes<\/em>\u00a0(which premieres on August 22 on AT&T’s Audience Network) skips Finders Keepers<\/em> and goes straight into the third Hodges book, End of Watch<\/em>, for the most part. Snippets of Finders Keepers<\/em> make their way into the series, mostly having to do with cases handled by Hodges and Holly Gibney (Justine Lupe) in their new private investigation business. None of the Pete Saubers\/Morris Bellamy plot from\u00a0Finders Keepers<\/em> is used, though.<\/p>\n

The first episode of Season 2 backs up a step from the previous season\u2019s finale (Season 1 is now available on DVD, by the way<\/a>), showing Hodges and Brady being taken to the hospital after the incident at the gallery opening. We are introduced to Dr. Felix Babineau, much younger than the 63-year-old in End of Watch<\/em> (Jack Huston, from Boardwalk Empire<\/em>), the neurosurgeon who pieces Brady\u2019s skull back together after Holly conked him on the head with a bulldog statue. District Attorney Tony Montez (Maximiliano Hern\u00e1ndez, from The Americans<\/em>) thinks prosecuting Brady will be the biggest case of his career. Babineau\u2019s ego won\u2019t allow him to say Brady will never recover to face prosecution, although he\u2019s pessimistic.<\/p>\n