The Outsider TV Season Review

The Outsider (2020-)
Season 1 - 10 episodes (2020) 

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Created by: Richard Price
Starring: Ben Mendelsohn, Jason Bateman, Cynthia Erivo, Jeremy Bobb, Yul Vazquez, Bill Camp
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
When the body of an 11-year-old boy is found in the Georgia woods, detective Ralph Anderson launches an investigation into the gruesome murder; eyewitnesses and physical evidence contradict each other over implicated local teacher and baseball coach Terry Maitland.

Verdict
The first two episodes were electric, but the rest of the series couldn't maintain the intensity. This should be four or five episodes instead. While I enjoyed the season, episodes five through nine were just treading water. We learn the answer to the mystery relatively early, and that just made this long. Even the answer is a bit underwhelming.
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Review
Based on Stephen King's bestselling novel, there's been a lot of adaptations including 1922, Gerald's Game, and Dark Tower. A series is the best format for adapting a book.

Ben Mendelsohn plays Ralph.

The first episode is wild. Terry Maitland is accused of murder with plenty of evidence. The only problem for Ralph, the cop on the case, is the equally compelling evidence that he didn't do it. With it being Stephen King I assumed the answer was supernatural. Either way, the mystery is engrossing.

With a fair amount of development, I like the characters. Terry's family is ridiculed in the small town despite the evidence. That causes you to root for Terry's wife Glory even when she gets a lawyer to sue the police. It also creates a great moment between Glory and Terry's wife Jeannie who are kind of friendly despite Glory not liking Ralph.

Ralph wants answers while dealing with his own past. The hook of the first two episodes is just great, top tier television. With such a tight mystery my concern was how it would conclude. The mystery gets broader. It feels like a roller coaster climbing and I began to wonder when it would come down.  With episodes six and seven my interest cooled. I wanted to know where this was going and when it would start getting there. The mystery keeps spinning, but I wasn't really getting anything more. The tight story and gotten loose.

The ominous hooded figure that appeared in the first few episodes is deceiving. The show plays with what you don't see is scarier than what you can see. I wanted to see that hooded figure and never really did. What it really was, raises questions. Sticking around to talk to people would only aid in getting caught. It's a boogeyman for viewers. If you just committed a crime, why stick around to tell people "don't investigate." This figure could have skipped town and been just fine.

The series is just too long. Another cycle begins and the series is coasting to the end. The final episode was solid, but  couldn't match the first two. I'm left wanting something better. I have a feeling I may enjoy this more on a rewatch. After the first two episodes I thought this might be a hit on par with Chernobyl. I felt the pull to rewatch the first two episodes, but this series just can't sustain.