The Stephen King adaptation doesn’t lack for acting artillery, at least.
I cant believe how many great actors are onThe Outsider.
But here the detective is Ralph Anderson, played by Ben Mendelsohn.
Credit: Bob Mahoney/HBO
And, at one point in the tense premiere, a lawyer at a driving range answers a phone.
The scene is shot from an extreme long angle.
Not to mention the boldface names in the credits.The Outsideris aStephen Kingnovel, adapted for television by Richard Price.
Thats quite a literary crossover, promising freaky everyday American gothic crossed with gritty-wit street crime.
HBO is airing the first two hours on Sunday, and they deliver with an immediate twist.
Ralph catches the prime murder suspect in the premieres first 10 minutes.
Its Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman), a beloved local baseball coach.
The evidence against him stacks so high you need an oxygen mask.
There is video surveillance, witness testimony, even fingerprints on dismembered body parts.
Bateman also ably directs the first two hours.
AndThe Outsiderinitially offers two very different sides of theArrested Developmentstraight man-turnedOzarkbad-breaker.
Coach Terry is a pillar of the community.
Flashbacks and security cameras reveal a freakier Terry, with a dead-eyed stare and blood trailing from his teeth.
But counter-evidence immediately complicates the story.
Somehow, Terry was miles away from where he simultaneously was.
It spoils not very much to say that something very strange is happening.
HBO made three more episodes available since my review.
The online grid also asked me to clarify that this is a drama series, not a miniseries.
Theres the bleakening mood of aTrue Detectivemixed with the detail-oriented rigidity ofThe Night Of(which Price co-wrote).
The series is most successful as a culture clash of investigative types.
Ralphs an endearing normal-guy detective, all flannels and dad khakis.
And that is why I gaveThe OutsideraB+after the first three hours.
Two problems emerge in the middle episodes, neither ruinous, both troubling.
This is a 10-episode season, and thats just too long.
Holly picks up the investigative baton in episode 3, leaving Ralph with nothing to do.
A shadowman in a hoodie keeps appearing, with a creeping tension that edges toward parody.
That moment takesThe Outsidersix episodes.
How does the show pass its own time?
Heres the other big issue: It cycles through the same emotional beats for every non-Holly character.
Ralph and Jeannie are mourning their own late son, via flashbacks and psychiatrist visits and repetitive conversations.
Terrys wife Glory (Julianne Nicholson what a cast, man, what a cast!)
deals with the fallout of her husbands arrest, and thats her entire role.
I remain hopeful, though, and am somewhat optimistically keeping my original grade in place.
SoThe Outsideris here and there: Incredible cast, dynamite opening, too-leisurely progression, overly familiar execution.
Watch with care, but watch.
