How Fans Of The Outsider Really Felt About The Season Finale

Stephen King is one of the most prolific, successful, and influential writers of our time. The author of "The Outsider," "The Shining," "Salem's Lot," and "The Stand," King has written dozens of awe-inspiring horror, thriller, and dramatic works, and is widely recognized for his contributions to literature and pop culture.

"The Outsider" is one of King's more recent works. The book was recently adapted into a well-received miniseries starring Jason Bateman, Ben Mendelsohn, and Cynthia Evrio. The macabre tale explores the inexplicable murder of a child by a man who was seemingly in two places at once.

While "The Outsider" ranks reasonably well in terms of reviews from both fans and critics alike (via Rotten Tomatoes), any adaptation is going to run into some roadblocks or hiccups along the way, and this take on King's story is no exception. Fans took to Reddit to discuss what they thought of the HBO version of the macabre tale.

On the r/TheOutsider subreddit fans reacted to the ending of the show with disappointment. u/MadMike215 posted an image of Ben Mendelsohn from "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" with the quotation, "We were on the verge of greatness, we were this close." The user pointed out that this was how they felt while they were watching the final episode.

"A slow burn like The Outsider has to offer a strong finale. Otherwise we've been walking towards nothing," wrote u/Facius_Cardan in agreement. Meanwhile, other users were more forgiving of the way things wrapped up. "Even if I enjoyed 9 out of 10 weeks, that's 90% of the time I spent watching the show enjoying it," said u/bleezybot3000.

u/RC_Colada, on the other hand, had hoped for something closer to the psychological thrills and horror of "The Thing." "I was hoping the whole time that the outsider would infiltrate the group and then everyone would be paranoid about who the actual creature was," they said. Other users compared it to similarly underwhelming endings from other King works. "Typical Stephen King," read one of these. Still, u/pcbeard simply advised fans to go to the source material for a better conclusion. "Read the book. I did. The ending was better and made more sense," they offered. 

Well, you can't please everyone. Still, even if the endings of King's books are regularly criticized, everyone can agree that the author has certainly had a massive impact on storytelling, writing, and the horror genre in general.

Despite his success and influence, Stephen King is often criticized for the endings to his stories (via The Telegraph). While some readers and viewers complain that his endings are too convoluted or overindulgent, others take issue with his stories ending abruptly or offering a twist for their own sake rather than proposing a meaningful conclusion.

Regardless of how viewers feel about the ending of "The Outsider," the cliche that endings to King's stories are always questionable doesn't necessarily hold true. Just look at the amazing twist that comes during the finale of "Doctor Sleep," the emotionally uplifting ending of "It," or the devastatingly sad note that "The Green Mile" finishes out on, for example.

For his part, King responded to the common criticism of his work and the endings he crafts for his stories on Twitter, where the author is quite active. "Of course for years some people have told me I don't know how to end a story," wrote King. "I call bullsh** on that, but everyone has an opinion." King ended his post with a cheeky smiley face.

While not everyone seems to agree on King's ending, and the author himself doesn't seem too terribly worried about the criticism, King's oeuvre of nearly 100 books speaks for itself. If that kind of output and success isn't worth being proud of after all, then what is? Perhaps the author is just something of an "outsider" himself.