I purchased this during the Black Friday sale knowing nothing of it other than reading Jason Bateman was involved and that it was a horror themed (Stephen King) mini-series. I had been so impressed with the first season of Castle Rock that I decided to give this a try. Being of "a certain age" - I'm an obligatory fan of Jason Bateman. I most readily associate him with lighter, comedic roles - but every now and then we get to see him in projects that highlight his versatility. I don't want to throw up any spoilers, but I will say: I felt kind of duped a couple episodes in - which was quickly redeemed with the discovery that his contribution to this project was behind the camera as well. (This should not be misinterpreted as that the show was bad! Just an unexpected plot twist early on). I did feel that the ending fell a little flat but was necessary for closure to the storyline. Good value for the price and I will most likely watch it again in the future.

The Stephen King novel upon which this TV series is based is a solid ghost story of ~560 pages and I prefer a mini series like this over trying to fit everything in a 90 to 120 minute length movie. The novel is one of many of the longer King tales that starts off very strong, and falters in both pace and quality prior to a reasonably interesting ending. Reading “Outsider,” the thought creeps in around page 200 that this is an exceptionally long, drawn-out treatment of a fairly simple, straight-forward, and potentially exciting story. Thoughts I have had around the one-third mark of numerous King novels: “When will something happen?” “Should I speed-read to the detriment of retention, or should I simply skip ahead?” I believe this recurring problem with King’s longer novels is why many of his short stories and novellas generate such consistently high praise, relative to his longer novels.

I have been a Stephen King fan for decades, and for the first decade or so, movie adaptations for the King didn't do his work justice, with a few notable exceptions. By now, I could watch a different Stephen King A-list movie every night for a month and still not near the finish-line, and thankfully so. This particular gem is an HBO presentation of one of Stephen King's more recent works, and, although I just finished watching the first segment so far, it rings true to my recollection of the book, so that is a VERY GOOD sign.

HBO's "The Outsider" is a hybrid of a procedural police drama and supernatural monster story. It starts out as a grim police drama and then gets more and more strange as the show proceeds. A very uncommon detective is brought in, and the posse of otherwise level-headed police professionals go on a monster hunt. The writing and acting are top-notch. The pace of the story is sometimes glacially slow, however. But if you're willing to wait until the later episodes for the real action to occur, it's worth watching "The Outsider."

Based on Stephen King's best-selling novel of the same name, "The Outsider" begins by following an investigation which at first seems like it will be simple and straightforward but things change as it leads into the gruesome murder of a young boy by a seasoned cop. When an insidious supernatural force edges its way into the case, it leads the investigators to question everything they believe in