Stephen King is everywhere on television and theaters these days with so many of his work finding their way into adaptations. While many have become mainstream such as the movies IT and The Dark Tower, some have remained a bit more obscure. One of these works, Mr. Mercedes, has found a niche in the industry and a steady enough following to garner a season renewal at AT&T’s Audience Network.
In season 1, we saw veteran actor Brendan Gleeson play the role of retired detective Bill Hodges, who is still haunted by an older case he never solved. Mr. Mercedes, as he’s dubbed, is deranged killer Brady Hartsfield, portrayed by Harry Treadaway. We follow the dangerous exchange between the two with Hodges as the hunter and Hartsfield as the provoker.
Mr. Mercedes, as written by Stephen King, is the first installment of a trilogy following Hodges’ life. The other two books are Finders Keepers and End of Watch. The second season of the series will follow suit. It’s been confirmed that King, along with David E. Kelly and Jack Bender will be returning to season 2 as executive producers. Kelly will also be writing the script, and Bender will be coming back as director once more. Along with a couple of other producers, the entire team has done an excellent job of keeping King’s vision alive in the show. The actors have also done an incredible job giving these characters life and color, and the evidence is in the way people have responded to the show.
According to Kelley, the plan for the second season is to base it on the second book of the series, Finders Keepers. In this second book, we find completely new characters, all with some tie to the murderous death of an author, John Rothstein. Despite of the new characters, there’s still a compelling connection to Mr. Mercedes that will be interesting to see translated on TV. We’ll also see Bill Hodges again; although, it is unclear at this point if his role will be central in the second season.
Although no solid writing has been done so far, there’s a possibility that the team will begin to expand on the stories, especially with such a solid viewership. There have also been rumors that the second season might combine the last two books of the trilogy. Kelley is hopeful that if the show runs its course within the three books successfully, there might be a possibility that the show will extend beyond the stories in the books. We’ll see everything begin to fall into place in the second season, but there might be more life in the story of Bill Hodges beyond the third installment. Filming for Mr. Mercedes season 2 is scheduled to begin early next year. In the meantime, we can either binge on season 1 again or reread King’s novels to satiate our appetites until the next season starts. It’ll be interesting to see if the series will change the name of the show, since it won’t really be about Mr. Mercedes anymore. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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