Castle Rock Season 1 ending explained: Henry Deaver meets his alternate self and Molly escapes

Castle Rock Season 1 premiered in 2018 and soon became famous among the show's lovers, gaining over 7 stars on IMDb.

Created by Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason, the series featured Bill Skarsgård, André Holland, Lizzy Caplan, Paul Sparks, and Melanie Lynskey in the main leads. The horror TV series was based on the Stephen King multiverse.

The synopsis on Apple TV reads:

"A young man goes back to Castle Rock, Maine, and finds himself unsettled by the place that he once called home."

The ending of Castle Rock left many scenes to viewers' interpretation, with the grin the kid gave to Henry after being locked and Molly leaving the scary place. Continue reading to understand how Castle Rock Season 1 ends.

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Henry Deaver meets his alternate self

Towards the end, it is revealed that the Kid is no one but Henry Deaver himself from different dimensions of Castle Rock, which are connected by the portal. Viewers also saw the Kid being desperate to go to the portal to his own dimension, which Henry doesn't let him after seeing his dangerous side.

While they seem different, both Henrys share very similar experiences in terms of imprisonment. One was locked away as a child, and when he escaped, the other followed and got stuck in his world.

However, it all starts with his father, Matthew. In Castle Rock Season 1, Henry's father, Matthew, is often seen obsessed with his religious beliefs. He thinks Henry can hear God and takes him into the woods, but instead of God, they find a portal to another dimension.

To his surprise, Henry meets a crazier version of his dad and ends up locked in a basement. This starts the loop of Henrys getting stuck and following each other through worlds.

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Henry locks the Kid in Shawshank prison

While the Kid tries his best to run towards the portal to escape this dimension and go to his own dimension, Henry is all out chasing him. At one point, the Kid turns around, and his face morphs into a demon, which comes as a shock for Henry as well as the viewers.

This makes Henry feel scared, and he understands how dangerous and threatening the Kid can actually be. As a result, Henry again locked the Kid back in the Shawshank prison to protect the place.

Speaking of the scene, showrunner Dustin Thomason told Deadline:

"The question at the heart of it all is did Henry lock away the devil and put him into a cage to protect the people of Castle Rock in a sort of heroic sacrifice? Or did he tragically imprison his own doppelgänger? We feel that the audience should have the room to interpret it as they will."

In the end, the Kid is seen giving Henry a mysterious grin. Explaining the scene, he continued:

"Does that smile suggest that the devil has finally trapped a man into doing exactly what he swore he would never do? Does it suggest a guy who’s been in solitary more than a year and is starting to lose his mind again? And starting to lose his grasp on who he really is, just as he did when he was trapped beneath the cell with Warden Lacy for all of those years? It sort of allows for people to interpret it as they will."

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Molly breaks free from Castle Rock, and Ruth dies

While most of the characters are stuck in Castle Rock, Molly Strand successfully gets away, getting her own happy ending. Not only does she leave Castle Rock, but she also takes her son, Wendell, with her. Towards the end, it's shown that Molly now lives in Florida and has her own realtor business.

On the other hand, Ruth dies during the winter after the season ends.

Season 1 left many unanswered questions, with the biggest question being, who is the kid? Though it's revealed that he is Henry from another dimension, how true it is was not clearly mentioned. Viewers never got the answer to who killed Odin Branch and what circumstances led to Ruth's death.

While Kid's demonic face alerted Henry to his dangerous side, the series also left viewers to speculate whether the Kid is the only one behind everything happening or there's someone bigger.

Speaking of the show's ending, Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason told Decider:

"We always had from the very beginning this idea that we were going to tell a story about a guy who when we first meet him he’s standing up on behalf of his last client and is talking about reasonable doubt and what it takes to kill someone. This is a guy who has obviously spent his career to help people that no one else will help and to defend monsters when no one else will."

He continues:

"What we were really intrigued by, at a character level, from the beginning, is what kind of journey does it take for a guy like that to become everything he thought he was fighting against."

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Castle Rock Season 1 is streaming on Apple TV.