Mr. Mercedes

After reading up on this, my curiosity was spiked when I learned that Stephen King had wrote the character of Bill Hodges based on Brendan Gleeson. Growing up, Stephen King was my Author of choice and being Irish I have always rated Brendan Gleeson as one of our best actors. I always though a little known Irish film called "I went Down" as one of his finest performances but after watching the first 2 episodes of this, Brendan Gleeson is (as we would say in Ireland) Feckin Brilliant. This is the best thing I have watched in quite a while and I can't wait for the next episode. :)

This is a great show, but the reviews are probably going to be mixed right now as a result of the tragic events that happened in Charlottesville recently. TV doesn't just happen folks. This is a TV series based on an incredibly good series of books by Stephen King, whose trilogy finished up last year. This has been in production, in filming and is now finally coming out. It's not some knee-jerk reaction to recent news in the name of getting ratings or having a political agenda.

Some people just don't think before they post reviews. Just enjoy the show for what it is, great TV, and try not to make everything political. I wouldn't even say it's in "bad taste" like one reviewer did. It's a TV show, and if you follow it long enough you'll see that the attack with the vehicle is only a part of the overall story and that there's a lot of other content to enjoy. People, sadly, get hit by cars every day, some on purpose and some not. What happened in Charlottesville is a tragedy and I absolutely condemn the racist, small-minded person that committed that act, but don't blame this TV show for existing in the face of that tragedy.

Despite the staggering number of morons who ruined this show's Amazon rating by giving it one-star reviews due to a missing episode, rather than it being a bad show, it still managed to pop-up on my radar; a small miracle for which I am very grateful, as it is an outstanding piece of television.

As serial-killer procedurals go, this is one of the finest I've seen, with strong writing, a talented cast, confident director, and master storyteller Stephen King pulling the strings.

It is not perfect. Far from it. But in an overcrowded genre replete with potential potholes, this show managed to avoid most of the common hazards, while remaining generally unpredictable, well-paced, and intriguing. On a few occasions it began to feel a little like the similarly excellent "Dexter", and somewhere around the middle I began to experience unexpected sympathies with the killer, which made me wonder if I should be rooting for him, rather than the retired cop expertly portrayed by the ever likable Brendan Gleeson. But in the nick of time, my own personal leanings toward serial-killer-dom were jogged back to the correct moral course, and the season concluded with a deeply satisfying finale.

On a personal note, and with absolutely no exaggeration, this show also achieved something rather remarkable: Literally every single song featured in the entire series, without exception, was one that I absolutely hate. This has never happened before in 43 years of watching films and TV. I wasn't even aware that I hated so many songs, but apparently I do. And since the soundtrack of any film or TV show is at least fifty percent responsible for the viewer's emotional responses to what they're watching, it is even more impressive that I enjoyed the show so much, despite its appalling soundtrack!

I'm assuming that this is a one-off series, but if not I can't wait for the next one.

I'm a huge fan of Stephen King and have been for many years but I've hated the majority of adaptations of his work. Not because they don't stay true to the books but because sometimes they stay too true and it just doesn't work. There is a huge difference between a book and a screenplay so doing a word for word copy of a book, especially a King book, just doesn't work on the screen. Thankfully with Mr Mercedes this hasn't happened. The characters are there, the plot is there but there are differences and I'm glad there are. Brendan Gleeson is a great choice for Bill and the production doesn't have that cheap feel that a lot of King adaptations have (The Mist TV series, Under the Dome, The Shining mini series to name but a few). I'm two episodes in and I'm hooked. I only hope they don't let it ramble on beyond the source material and spoil it as that would be a real shame.

This show works because Brendan Gleason is such a great character actor . Story is ok pacing is a bit slow in the second season .