I've previously written that when
it comes to the work of Stephen King, television has always been a superior
medium to tell his stories than film. This was definitely true when I came of
age in the 1990s thanks to the relation of ABC and filming of what were then
called miniseries that adapted some of his most complicated novels from The
Stand to Tommyknockers to a more fully realized The Shining. To
be sure there were good film adaptations during the decade but the majority
were either of those that were told in a limited setting (Misery) or of his
short fiction (The Shawshank Redemption).
We went through a dry spell on
both fronts in the 2000s as the relationship between King and ABC came to an
end and we got a series of mostly inadequate films (Dreamcatcher and Secret
Window being the biggest disasters on the film front). Then with the
appearance of streaming and the rise of limited series King finally started
getting the kind of grand treatment he deserved whether it was 11.22.63 on
Hulu, Mr. Mercedes on Direct TV and The Outsider on HBO (with the
latter two giving us two different interpretations of Holly Gibney). Filmmakers
such as Mike Flanagan are become skilled at handling his work as well and it is
conceivable that Constant Readers may finally get the adaptation of The Dark
Tower series we've been promised for twenty years.
This past week a superb utility
player in the world of pay cable original series MGM+ debuted the two episode
premiere of The Institute. I've written very little about MGM+ for my
blog but that is not because of a lack of appreciate for its programs. This is
the network that has created two superb original series the horror series From
which King himself is a huge admirer of and Godfather of Harlem, which
shows the brilliant Forest Whitaker as Bumpy Johnson role is underworld boss
and civil rights advocate. We've also seen more than our share of superb adaptations
of complicated books: A Spy Among Friends with the story of Kim Philby's
long history as the most notorious double agent in MI6 history and The
Emperor of Ocean Park, the story of how the family of an African-American
jurist whose death becomes the subject of upheaval for his children. In many
ways this is a better home for the work of Stephen King than HBO where so much
of their adaptations bear the weight of prestige projects and therefore often
have an unfair burden.
The Institute is a fairly recent King novel
(2019) and deals with a teen genius named Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman). He's an
ordinary fourteen year old whose biggest dream at the start of the episode is
to go to MIT. It's clear he has a slight telekinetic power though it's never
clear if his parents know about it. The night he tells them his house is
invaded by a wet-ops team and Luke is abducted waking up in The Institute.
Luke is greeted by the staff of
the institute, led by Ms. Sigsby (Mary Louise Parker) Sigsby is clearly the
face of The Institute and the only person who doesn't appear to be a creep on
first sight. Mr. Stackhouse (Julian Richings) is the head of security, Dr.
Hendricks is the head of testing and all the rest of the staff basically seem
like their sadists in waiting or in practice. Mrs. Sigsby tells Luke that she
has been selected for the most important work in the history of humanity, that all
he has to undergo is a few minor experiments and after they are done his memory
will be erased erased and he will return this normal life. Luke clearly doesn't
believe this for a second even before he meets the other kids.
All of them are around his age, with
telekinetic powers and are almost blasé by what is going on save for Nicky, the
oldest, a veteran of foster homes and who knows there's no such thing as a
happy ending. The younger kids are trying to believe there's a way out of this.
Luke knows better from the start.
It is a credit to the creators of
the show that The Institute looks pretty much the way it was described in
King's original novel: there are certain high tech security apparatus but even
that's at least a decade out of date, the candy in the vending machine has
things that expired in the 1990s and the inspirational posters look like they
were created in the 1970s at best. The decision to have Jack Bender be the
director of the series is also a good choice. Bender is a hero to genre fans
for his work on Lost and for this kind of show you want the man who
spent years filming the Dharma Initiative directing. Looking at The Institute
you get the feeling this is the kind of place that the DeGroot's might have
founded had they gone corporate – and that hasn't gotten a paint job since it
was found in the 1970s.
One of the better in-jokes of
King's original book was that the project that was designed to supposedly save
the world is run like every other government bureaucracy in the country. Sigsby
has to complain about budget cuts to her boss (who while unseen I'm pretty sure
is played by genre veteran Jeff Fahey) and he tells her very simply that she'll
just have to make do with less. The explanation King gave in his books was that
in order to maintain security it was impossible to let anyone look at the place
and not raise questions and while that's no doubt true, you also get the feel
that The Institute has been suffered the same kind of budget cuts as every
other program in the so called Safety Net. (I don't think it's a coincidence we
see a picture of Reagan on the desk of one of the bosses.) Added to the mix is
that the testing equipment looks likes it's been taken off the set of St.
Elsewhere and the men involved are trying to freeze out Sigsby because
she's the only woman in authority here.
Mary-Louise Parker is perfectly
cast as Sigsby; in a sense she's been playing roles like this on television for
much of the 2000s. As the iconoclastic Amy Gardener who gave the Bartlet
Administration so much grief and the mother in Weeds who went from
growing marijuana to help her kids to running an empire you can see that this
character is an older version of both. We also see glimpses into her private
life which include burning herself with a hot poker and having sex in the
closet with the youngest male there – and not talking about it.
The major difference between the
novel and the limited series is one of necessity. The parallel story being told
was that of Tim Jamieson (Ben Barnes) who impulsively takes an offer for a
plane ticket to Georgia with cash, ends up in a small town there and becomes
what's known as a night knocker – someone who makes sure all the small towns
and business are locked up at night. He has a history in law enforcement, good
and bad and he develops a quick report with the townspeople. The major
difference is the small town has been moved to Maine where The Institute is
located. I suspect that it is a decision of storytelling necessity and I don't
object. He clearly has a report with certain people, including Annie the local
bag lady who seems to be schizophrenic but in the second episode casually
mentions 'The Institute'. Tiim doesn't have to time to hear it before he has to
interrupt a robbery and help save an injured shopkeeper but I suspect it will
come back.
The Institute series also gives slightly more
of an idea as to where the people who worked at the title place lived and in
another wonderful in-joke, they seem to live in a private suburb not far from
where they work. It's clearly close enough Hendricks and Stackhouse walk to
their homes after work – and feal no remorse about being caught talking in
front of Sigsby's.
Having read the original book I'm
familiar with the basic metrics of the plot but as it was several years ago the
details escape me. I have no desire to refresh my memories until after I have
seen the entire original series. What I do know is that MGM+ gets most of the
details right when it comes to atmosphere and with any King adaptation that's eighty
percent of the battle right there. The series is scheduled to be ten episodes
all of which are roughly fifty minutes to an hour long and that also seems like
more than sufficient time to tell the full story with enough details added in
to give in verisimilitude. The performers across the board are superb,
particularly the teenagers who've been cast. And it has the perfect mesh of
surrealism and the ordinary that makes up so much of King's fiction: the second
episode begins with Ms. Sigsby gathering everybody together for a 'birthday
party' - really a way to 'celebrate''
one of the teenagers 'graduating'. The adults are the only ones who are trying
to be celebratory, the children are annoyed they have to have sugar for
breakfast and the subject herself just wants to wish to go home.
I suspect that many people last
night watched the two episode debut of Dexter: Resurrection. I could
have to, I suppose, but as someone who was tired of Michael C. Hall's serial
killer long before New Blood I wasn't particularly eager to see him
wreak havoc in New York, even with Peter Dinklage and Uma Thurman. My summer
will be a busy one on Sunday nights: I'm going to spend the early evening
enjoying The Gilded Age and the late evening with The Institute. My
advice to my followers: save the Dark Passenger for later in the year and Hail
to the King. It's more original than whatever happens there – and it just might
be a better show.
My score: 3.75 stars.
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