HBO's The Outsider Season 1 Review & Comments

Casimir Harlow

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Yeah, episodes 1 and 2 were excellent.
It would be a lot better if it didn’t come with HBO’s usual helping of picture noise though. Very distracting on both Sky Q and Now TV.
I’m hoping Episode 3 looks better.
 
If I don't do Sky... How can I see this please? HBOs streaming service appears to be US only?
 
Thanks Cas, this was a cracking book, I enjoyed it more than the Mr Mercedes trilogy so I'm really looking forward to watching this.
 
Yes this grabbed me immediately. The first two episodes were very solid indeed.

Always been a fan of King's work, and there's a lot of buzz this is going to be one of his best adaptations to date.

A strong cast as well.

Good vibes.
 
If I don't do Sky... How can I see this please? HBOs streaming service appears to be US only?
Buy one month of NowTV? But you'd have to wait until they have all aired (or buy 2 to 3 months...)
 
Its on until 8th April so you have to bear that in mind if waiting to start watching, There should be a week's free trial and then two months can be had for under £10 with vouchers. I would think about the boost pass for £3 pm to get HD 5.1. It's worth finding two or three series to watch over those 2 months (easy enough) even at those prices.
 
I enjoyed the book, although it's a bit too fresh in the mind for me to really enjoy this series if the screenplay is completely faithful.

Might watch it if it's available in a year or two once I've forgotten enough of the detail.
 
Are all episodes available? We watched first 2 on Sky but if a review has been left then presume all episodes are available?
 
Are all episodes available? We watched first 2 on Sky but if a review has been left then presume all episodes are available?
No. Just 3 at the moment. It’s a 10 episode season so it will be March at one episode a week for them all.
 
Watched episode 3, all still very good. Won't give any spoilers but if people liked the first two episodes then the third will not be a disappointment.

Would have preferred if Sky would have released two episodes a week but the flip side is there is something to look forward to for many weeks to come.
 
Yeah, episodes 1 and 2 were excellent.
It would be a lot better if it didn’t come with HBO’s usual helping of picture noise though. Very distracting on both Sky Q and Now TV.
I’m hoping Episode 3 looks better.
Agree very poor picture quality, The New Pope on Sky the picture is excellent 🤔 so we know it can be ok
 
I've only skimmed the review as I don't want to know too much about it, so perhaps the answer to my question is actually there if I bothered to read the full article...

Anyway - how would you classify this series? My wife doesn't "do" horror but there has been some Stephen King stuff (such as 11.22.63) that has been acceptable. :)
 
I've only skimmed the review as I don't want to know too much about it, so perhaps the answer to my question is actually there if I bothered to read the full article...

Anyway - how would you classify this series? My wife doesn't "do" horror but there has been some Stephen King stuff (such as 11.22.63) that has been acceptable. :)

This is proper King horror. Spooky, a sense of dread round every corner and a little gory in places.

Excellent 3 episodes so far. Really well made. Shame about HBO and the picture quality though. Also I love the soundtrack, but it is very bass heavy. The wife is extra sensitive to bass frequencies and she struggles with it sometimes.
 
Yep I've just watched the 3rd episode and I'm hooked, really enjoying it although I'm king to have to watch the 3rd half of episode 3 again as to be honest I got a hit lost......:facepalm:
But its keeping me gripped and its 100% better than "Cobra" !!
 
It's pretty bad.

Totally dumbed down from the book though and they've rushed right through it, they should've got the girl from Mr Mercedes to play Holly though, the lady they've got is nowhere near it.

The book is 9/10

This basic garbage is a 6 at best.
 
I enjoyed the book, although it's a bit too fresh in the mind for me to really enjoy this series if the screenplay is completely faithful.

Might watch it if it's available in a year or two once I've forgotten enough of the detail.

It's just a basic skimming of the book, none of the tension or horror or brutality o or anything, it's totally dumbed down.
 
It's pretty bad.

Totally dumbed down from the book though and they've rushed right through it, they should've got the girl from Mr Mercedes to play Holly though, the lady they've got is nowhere near it.

The book is 9/10

This basic garbage is a 6 at best.
Agree to some extent regarding the book & Holly but 8/10 so far for me
 
It's just a basic skimming of the book, none of the tension or horror or brutality o or anything, it's totally dumbed down.
Nearly every TV/Film adaptation is dumbed (I prefer slimmed) down from the book, otherwise you'd be having 100hr shows not 10.

Even the 12hr extended LOTR movies cut out huge chunks out of the book. Doesn't make them bad.

3 episodes in and I think it's great.
 
It's pretty bad.

Totally dumbed down from the book though and they've rushed right through it, they should've got the girl from Mr Mercedes to play Holly though, the lady they've got is nowhere near it.

The book is 9/10

This basic garbage is a 6 at best.

Seen all 10 episodes have we?

You can rate the first few episodes yes, but you can't rate what you've not seen, nor make an accurate book comparison after 3 episodes. How could they possibly have rushed through it with 7 hours(ish) to go?
 
Thanks for the review Caz. Really enjoying this so far (finished ep 2) but it’s another show from HBO that is near ruined for me by an embarrassing lack of care with the encode. It looks absolutely horrible compression-wise. I don’t really know how they get away with it. It’s like the bad old days of Blinkbox again. Apple TV stuff is nothing like this, and Amazon / Netflix are considerably better. Awful.
 
Yes I've only seen 3 episodes of 10 but in those 3 episodes they've used about 2/3 of the book already.

They've totally removed all of the horror of what's happening in episode 3, the book is actually quite creepy in places.

I understand it's difficult to convey some of what's happened in a book on the screen.

But what they've cut it down to so far is very very very basic.

They could've made this great but they havent, because it needs dumbing down to be on tv they havent really conveyed any of the atmosphere of what's going on.

Maybe if I hadn't of read the book I might think it was better, but it just pales in comparison, it's not scary at all, no tension, no horror no nothing really.

It's just dumb.
 
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Maybe if I hadn't of read the book I might think it was better, but it just pales in comparison, it's not scary at all, no tension, no horror no nothing really.
To be fair, I haven't read the book so you could be right there. And I agree it's not been scary at all yet.
 
HBO co-produce The New Pope & the picture on sky is very good so not sure why some programmes are bad but very annoying as it can take you out of the content
 

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