Henry Deaver is getting an examination.
He has a problem.
Im not supposed to tell you this but your scan looks clear to me, the technician says.
Credit: Claire Folger/Hulu
Do you listen to loud music in your ears?
But we still dont know what exactly hes hearing.
Its called exploding casket syndrome, the pastor explains.
When theres no oxygen to dehydrate the contents, the casket becomes a pressure cooker.
I wouldnt expect remains this old to be susceptible.
Henrys ear is ringing.
He makes it clear she will take the fall for all of it.
Then, the kid walks free.
Henry is waiting for him with an outstretched hand which the kid refuses to shake.
We see a flashback to the kids incarceration, and Warden Lacy is quoting a Bible verse.
When I brought you down here I was on fire with the holy spirit.
Righteous and so strong.
You looked so small next to my faith, he says.
Now, you still look small.
But I look old.
Hes wearing the rubber gloves for touching the prisoner.
The Warden knows his man possess some malevolent strength that is transferred through touch.
Remember that crazy story you told me on your first night in here?
But that story will have to wait for another time.
Pure retrograde amnesia is the diagnosis, the doctor says.
For the time being, the mystery prisoner is staying on an inflatable mattress at Mollys yarn mill.
Later that night, the kid walks out, ventures down the street.
He finds a happy family singing a birthday song to their child.
Maybe the evil within the kid doesnt have to be transferred by touch alone.
Henry jumps after her, and thankfully its not a steep fall.
She ends up in the hospital.
In the yarn mill, we see Molly showing up to find the mystery man is missing.
He left behind little white flecks of soap in the makeshift cage he built for sleeping.
As Molly leaves, we see a a little white figure carved out of soap.
It stands on the bridge in Mollys model of downtown Castle Rock.
I had this uncle, he was a writer too.
My folks would never talk to me about it.
I took his name just to piss them off.
My real name is Diane.
At the hospital, Henry is talking with Pangborn, who confesses he has loved Henrys mother since 1991.
Her excuse: It would be confusing for Henry.
Thats all hes been trying to do with her, with the town, with everyone.
It was the town talk, she says.
Nothing stays dead in this town.
But she cant make sense of the stories anymore.
Its like I open a book and all the pictures are torn out, and rearranged, she says.
Her eyes lock with Henrys.
You know how it feels, dont you?
To forget your own story.
We hear the voices he hears: screams and shouts.
An angry dog barking.
We hear Zalewski tell him to make a fist.
And then the words: Guys, want to see a dead body?
fromStand By Me/The Body.
I didnt know where you went.
I was worried about you, Molly says.
The kid tells her: I shouldnt be here.
I should still be in the hole.
Maybe hes not evil incarnate.
Maybe hes a vessel that absorbs the evil that pervades the town, and occasionally that malevolence spills out.
Everyone broadcasts at their own frequency.
She knows Henry is full of pain, too.
Your right ear is ringing.
You feel guilty about clients you couldnt save.
And your mom, and your father, and your son who barely has a father.
Henry takes the mystery prisoner to a house behind his own, and sets up a bed for him.
Theres also a dusty piano, which the stranger eyes with interest.
He goes over and begins to play.
Then his phone buzzes.
The security cameras Henry installed at his property show the mystery prisoner wandering outside.
Pangborn confronts the kid in the woods.
You remember, he says.
I pulled him over in the middle of the night.
Not for 27 years.
Did I let a monster drive off with a boy in his truck?
Pangborn stares at him.
Now Im an old man, and you havent aged one goddamn day.
Are you the devil?
No, the stranger answers.
What the f are you?
He draws his gun.
You wait 30 years for the woman you love, and she slips through your fingers.
And here you are Rip van Winkle.
Wheres the justice in that.
He aims the gun.
I can help her, the stranger says.
The two men face each other in the dark woods.
The stranger speaks again: You have no idea whats happening here, do you?
