Castle Rock S01E01 "Severance" Recap

Dale Lacy is the warden of Shawshank State Penitentiary. One morning he says goodbye to his blind wife Marth and drives to the woods where he drives off the side of a cliff with a rope tied around a tree with the other end in a noose around his neck.

A woman named Porter is brought in to replace Dale Lacy as warden. When she learns that her predecessor kept Block F unoccupied for a good thirty years, she sends some of the guards down to investigate, as it seems an ideal space to use for new prisoners that will eventually be brought in. A young prison guard named Dennis Zalewski discovers a tunnel which he goes down using a ladder, where he discovers a mysterious inmate being held in a cage. The man's prints don't match anyone in their records and there are no other ways to identify him. He doesn't speak for some time until he finally relents and says only a name - Henry Matthews Deaver.

Henry is a criminal law attorney in Texas who specialises in capital punishment cases. He grew up in Castle Rock where he had grown up adopted by Ruth and Reverend Matthew Deaver. Matthew had disappeared in the woods with Henry only to be found with his back broken and died three days later. Henry was also found later but with no memory of what happened in the woods and the town turned on him, believing him to have been his adoptive father's killer, possibly due to racist biases since Henry is African-American and his adoptive parents were white.

Henry returns to Castle Rock to visit his mother and learns that her dementia is worsening and she has begun dating Alan Pangborn, the former police officer that had found Henry when he went missing in the woods. Dennis secretly calls Henry to tell him about the new inmate that is asking for him, afraid that the man is not being given the rights he is owed. When Henry visits the prison, the new warden Porter pretends not to know what inmate Henry is talking about. On his way out of the prison, Henry spots Dennis working a shift and seemingly recognises but doesn't say anything to get his attention.

Dennis is working a late-night shift when he seemingly spots the new inmate, who has been named "The Kid", on the surveillance cameras walking around the hallways of the prison and many dead bodies throughout the prison. He sets off the alarm and many guards come running, one of which he almost shoots. But there are no bodies to be found and The Kid is still in his cell.

In a flashback to before Dale killed himself, he visits The Kid in his cage and tells him to ask for Henry Matthew Deaver after he is found.

Castle Rock premieres new episodes on Wednesdays on Hulu.