THE latest Stephen King TV adaptation began screening in the US this week: Mr Mercedes stars Brendan Gleeson as retired detective Bill Hodges, an ex-cop who never got over one particularly gruesome unsolved case involving multiple murder by speeding Mercedes-Benz.
Slowly going to seed now that he's no longer on the job, Hodges is pulled back from the brink of beer-addled oblivion when his favourite elusive serial killer begins taunting him by letter and email.
The mystery correspondent who signs off as 'Mr Mercedes' is actually 20-something Brady Hartsfield (Harry Treadaway), a computer savvy and surveillance-skilled psychopath operating out of his alcoholic mother's basement.
As Hodges launches a private probe into his old case with the help of some unlikely allies, including teen sidekick Jerome (Jharrel Jerome), Hartsfield continues to observe and provoke his retired foe from afar while also plotting another even more horrific mass murder.
King's hit 2014 crime-orientated novel Mr Mercedes spawned a pair of sequels, Finders Keepers and End of Watch, meaning there's plenty more source material to draw upon if the David E Kelley (LA Law, Big Little Lies) produced and Jack Bender (Lost, Game of Thrones) directed 10-part series on US channel Audience is a hit.
While reviews for the pilot episode have been mostly positive, no British or Irish broadcaster has yet signed up to screen Mr Mercedes – meaning viewers here may have to wait a while yet to see Brendan Gleeson and co in action on the telly by legitimate means.
However, don't despair/resort to illegal streaming: the first two episodes are currently available for us to view online at the link below, so power up your preferred digital device and get casting before someone at Audience notices that they're viewable outside of the US.
