Forget ‘Mindhunter,’ HBO’s 10-Part Stephen King Miniseries Is the Perfect Weekend Binge

When Mindhunter debuted on Netflix in 2017, it became an immediate hit. For two seasons, David Fincher‘s psychological thriller followed two FBI agents tracking down the worst killers. Mindhunter ended much too soon in 2019, but if you’re searching for something similar and missed out on it the first time around, check out HBO‘s The Outsider. The 2020 miniseries is an adaptation of Stephen King‘s novel of the same name. It follows two detective-types as well, played to perfection by Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo, as they come face to face with a different, even more terrifying kind of killer. Produced, co-directed, and co-starring Jason Bateman, The Outsider only needed one season to tell its shocking story.

‘The Outsider’ Is Stephen King’s Take on a Police Procedural

Stephen King’s novel, The Outsider, was published in 2018. On the surface, both the book and the 10-episode miniseries begin like so many other mysteries. A young boy is found murdered, and irrefutable physical evidence leads the police to a coach in town named Terrence Maitland (Bateman). There’s only one problem. Maitland has an airtight alibi which puts him several towns away when the murder occurred. He can’t be the killer, even though fingerprints and DNA samples say otherwise. How can this possibly be?

Enter Stephen King’s mind to take it in a direction that only he can. Investigating the murder are by-the-book detective Ralph Anderson (Mendelsohn) and an unusual private investigator named Holly Gibney (Erivo). The Holly character has appeared in several King books and their adaptations, including Mr. Mercedes. Here, she and Detective Anderson will follow the trail in a search for truth, but what they find will shock them to the bone.

Ben Mendehlson and Cynthia Erivo Encounter an Impossible Monster in ‘The Outsider’

Holly Gibney is not your traditional crime solver. She’s quiet and socially awkward, and carries an air of sadness. What Holly does have is an incredible amount of intelligence. She can figure out things others can’t. This contrast immediately makes her someone to pay attention to. Ralph Anderson is her exact opposite in many ways. He’s the older, grizzled veteran who does things a different way, but like Holly, Ralph carries a heavy weight of sadness. The HBO series goes much bleaker than the novel by making Ralph the father of a child who died of cancer. To add to the layers, his son was also once coached by Terry Maitland.

The Outsider moves from a typical murder mystery to supernatural horror due to its real villain. It’s not giving anything away to reveal that Terry isn’t the real killer, a fact which should be impossible because it’s not only characters who see Terry in the wrong, but the audience as well. The camera doesn’t lie with scenes such as Maitland covered in blood in one place while somehow being miles away in the next scene. Without getting into spoiler territory, The Outsider takes its time unraveling its mystery. Rather than a horror story filled with jump scares, gore, and shocks at every turn, the miniseries is a bleak, slow burn that is more interested in getting to know its characters first before showing the monster. The audience feels for these people, including Terry. Only then can the true terror have any impact, becoming Mindhunter with the restraints of real life ripped away.

‘The Outsider’ Premiered to Phenomenal Reviews

Image Via HBO

Like Mindhunter, The Outsider is expertly written, with most of the episodes penned by series creator Richard Price. He’s not only one of the writing masterminds behind The Wire, but he is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, having worked on Martin Scorsese‘s The Color of Money. Price captures the darkness, fear, and paranoia overtaking the residents of Cherokee City, Georgia. He’s not the only one. Bateman is given the tall task of introducing the audience to The Outsider by directing the first two episodes. It’s a job he is more than capable of. The actor has been directing off and on for decades, including movies such as Bad Words, and winning an Emmy for his talents helming Ozark. Like with his popular Netflix series, Bateman showcases the grittiness of a small town and how an invading force gets under the skin of its protagonists. His acting chops are no joke either. The Hollywood A-lister puts the audience on the fence with Terry. Because it’s Bateman and Terry has been shown to have an alibi, the viewer wants to trust him, but there’s also something dark about him that’s impossible to shake. Bateman earned an Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy nomination for his efforts.

Stephen King TV adaptations have been hit-and-miss over the decades. For every IT: Welcome to Derry, there’s an Under the Dome or The Tommyknockers, which miss the mark. There are no worries with The Outsider, which debuted to a stellar 91% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. Although not perfect, as it arguably lasts a few episodes too long, the characters, especially Ralph and Holly, keep the attention focused even as the plot starts to wane at points. It’s worth it to stick through the meandering middle to reach the frightening end, when the thing responsible for all of this hell shows what it can do.

Even the master of horror himself was a fan, posting on Twitter, “THE OUTSIDER is one of the best adaptations of my work. Hope you’ll watch it.” Collider agreed, putting it as the number one Stephen King TV show ahead of titles such as The Stand and Castle Rock. Six years later, it still hits as hard and is required viewing for fans of Mindhunter, Seven, Zodiac, The Killing, and True Detective. If you haven’t seen it, check out what all the hype is about. The Outsider will hook you and not let go.