Mr. Mercedes is back!
Because of that switch, the titular character is now missing from the show.
Brady may be gone, but there are still killers afoot.
Credit: Kent Smith/AT+T AUDIENCE Network
“The opening of episode 1 of the series was horrific.
It doesn’t finish.
There’s a whole interconnectedness between what’s happening now and that one event.
So this season continues Brady’s malign influence and presence.
As long as all those broken people are there, he’s always going to be around.”
Hodges becomes invested in the Rothstein case because of a personal connection to the author’s work.
That connection illustrates one of the show’s interesting departures from King’s source material.
“A lot of all-American guys weren’t born here, that’s just the way it is.
And one of the things was the fatherly influence.
It always felt like he and his mother were close.
His father didn’t feature, for whatever reason.
He wasn’t coming to America for the bright lights.
He wanted to work in the real world, where real things happen, where real men operate.
It was formative for him in a way.
He used Rothstein’s writing as a template for what a man should be.
But as this season goes, that starts to be debunked.”
The other is Lou’s criminal trial for killing Brady.
Like its preceding seasons, season 3 ofMr.
Mercedeshas a sharp awareness of the broken nature of post-recession America.
Remember, Brady’s original massacre was at a job fair, preying on desperate people.
“It’s the American dream under huge assault.
There’s an absolute malaise.
The massacre was the nadir of that, but we have all these broken lives everywhere.
And still there’s a spirit that trying to find and maintain decency.”
Mr. Mercedesairs at 10 p.m.
ET on the Audience web connection.
