Mr Mercedes (Season 3) (2019)

Fans of this Stephen King adaptation TV series have reasons to rejoice as the just concluded series' Season 3 is arguably its best season yet! Based on the trilogy written by Stephen King, one who however have to make the sad conclusion that Season 3 is probably the final season as all the three books have been adapted to the 3 seasons, unless AT&T Originals who produced this series, decide to continue the series without Stephen King's stories to adapt which would probably destroy whatever made this series so good in the first place!

Season 1 was based on the first book Mr Mercedes, while Season 2 was based mainly of the third book, End of Watch and this third season is based on the middle book, Finders Keepers. These books are loosely referred to as the Bill Hodges Trilogy, after the name of the main character Bill Hodges, a private investigator who gets thrown in the case to capture a vicious mass murderer who rammed his Mercedes car into a crowd of people outside a jobs fair (hence, the title of Mr Mercedes). One of the many delights of this series is its casting. Brendan Gleeson is excellent as the detective Hodges providing a multi faceted performance of a complex and flawed character. He is supported by an a cast that often matches if not exceeds his level of performance as each character is delightfully detailed and quirky enough to get the audience involved and committed.

One cannot be blamed if you were to dismiss the series as yet another Stephen King tale of fantasy and horror as the author is best known for. However this is a misconstruction as the Mr Mercedes series more a crime series rather than a horror series. There are some slight supernatural elements in the story for season 2 but even that is treated in a "real life" manner. Even though I have only read the first book, and hence cannot personally vouch for the other two books, I can quite honestly say that this series is one of the best Stephen King adaptation you will ever see. It helps also that the source material is so rich with story and interesting and unique characters. Season 3 in particular has some great new and brutally violent characters. There may not be any macabre or supernatural monsters here, but certainly no lack of blood spilling and imaginative torture and killings portrayed! Kate Mulgrew's portrayal of the unpredictably violent Alma Lane will probably be long remembers as one of King's best killers. Season 3 also has a very riveting court case which offers some thrills of a different and less bloody kind.

Don't mess with Alma Lane, or else you may end up as a pool of mess instead!

So what else can I say? Great stories from the King himself ... award winning performances all around from the talented cast giving their career best ... a wonderful script that engages the audience and never insulting to the viewers' intelligence ... very high quality production values ... and no cheap gimmicks to provide excuses for cliff hanger endings as each season has a proper start and ending to the story. If you haven't already seen this series and feel like giving this a try, then, you are in an very envious position to be able to binge watch all three seasons in one go!!