Release Date, Cast, Renewed or Canceled

‘Mr. Mercedes’ is an American crime drama television series that airs on Audience. The series first premiered on August 9, 2017. It has been developed for television by David E. Kelley, who has shows like ‘Big Little Lies‘ and ‘Boston Legal‘ to his name. The entire series is based on the Bill Hodges novel trilogy that has been penned by Stephen King. Notably, the trilogy consists of ‘Mr. Mercedes’, ‘Finders Keepers’ and ‘End of Watch’. Brendan Gleeson of ‘In Bruges‘ fame has helped co-executive produce this series along with Harry Treadaway of ‘Penny Dreadful‘ fame.

The show inherently is a mystery thriller that follows a retired detective, haunted by an unsolved case of “Mr.Mercedes”, who took sixteen lives with a stolen Mercedes. Meanwhile, Mr. Mercedes reemerges to focus his attention on the detective. King’s works always have their own set of fans that comes from those who have read the books, or happen to be fans of the author overall. This is also why shows like ‘Castle Rock‘ which are set in King’s universe, gains so much traction. However, coming to this series itself, even if you are unfamiliar with King’s works, you will take a quick liking to this intense series, and that is what happened to the fans as well. Thus, over seasons, the series boasts of a very solid fan base. The show has been critically lauded as well, with the experts saying, ” ‘Mr. Mercedes’ propels its tense, creepy narrative with quick-witted dialogue, strong characters, and terrifying surprises”.

Mr. Mercedes Cast: Who is in it?

The cast of ‘Mr. Mercedes’ is led by Brendan Gleeson as Bill Hodges, the retired detective. Harry Treadaway appears as Brady Hartsfield or Mr. Mercedes, the killer who taunts Hodges. There are several other cast members including the family of Brady. Some of the recurring characters also join in to provide a rich setting for the show, and to give more depth to the characters. Among the recurring stars is Nancy Travis who plays the role of Donna Hodges, Bill’s ex-wife. They all make the show more fascinating as more people means added dynamics, and that is what keeps a good mystery alive.

Natalie Paul of ‘You’ fame plays the role of the prosecutor. They are on opposite sides on the case concerning Brenda Wool’s Lou Linklatter. Glynn Turman recurs as Judge Bernard Raines, who presides over this trial. Rarmian Newton of ‘Rise’ appears in the role of Peter Saubers. His character has been defined, saying, “16, smart and personable, he’s a junior in high school and on the college track. From a seemingly happy home, but that picturesque Midwestern life was derailed when his father was disabled during the Mr. Mercedes massacre.”

In the upcoming season, we can expect the main cast to return, and there are some new characters who will be joining as well. These include Bechir Sylvain of ‘Chicago P.D.’ fame. Other new members are Meg Steedle of ‘Code Black’ who plays the role of Danielle Sweeney, a sweet but naive girlfriend to Gabriel Ebert’s Morris Bellamy, an intelligent but highly violent and unstable literature fan. Kate Mulgrew of ‘Orange is the New Black’ joins as Alma Lane, a compelling force in Morris’ life, and Brett Gelman of ‘Stranger Things’ plays Roland Finklestein, a defense attorney.

Read More in TV Preview: Disenchantment | Dogs of Berlin | Cable Girls

Mr. Mercedes Plot: What is it about?

Unlike other Stephen King novels, ‘Mr. Mercedes’ is about monsters inside people rather than the ones outside people. Thus the plot of the show focuses on Hartsfield, who had driven a stolen Mercedes into a line of people looking for jobs at the local job fair. This earned him his name as he killed 16 people that day. The case remained unsolved, and while this preys on Bill’s mind, he is a retired detective. However, the past comes knocking, when Mr. Mercedes resurfaces. This brilliant psychopath begins to taunt Bill, trying to get caught, but also outsmarting him.

As the game of cat and mouse begins to heat up and get more dangerous, it becomes evident that Hartsfield is driven by an existential stake and is bent on leaving his mark on the world. As the season progresses, however, Hartsfield’s character transcends grounded reality to stretched credulity. He is shown to be actually able to hack into people’s minds. While this touch of supernatural might have sat well in other King’s shows, it goes against what the series set out to build initially. With all due respect to the genius of Mr. King, the series was about a bad man who saw people as chess pieces and played mind games trying to get Bill to kill himself. To make a leap to literally hacking one’s mind is a big one.

Hopefully, in the upcoming season, we will see a return to the more grounded roots, and the intense cat and mouse game that the two played. Nonetheless, one thing is for certain, that the show works on the strengths of its characters and they will not let us down in this regard.

Mr. Mercedes Season 3 Release Date: When Will It Premiere?

‘Mr. Mercedes’ Season 2 premiered on August 22, 2018. In November 2018, Audience renewed the show for another season. Daniel York, the Senior Exec VP and Chief Content Officer at AT&T, which oversees Audience, made an announcement in this regard, saying, “Mr. Mercedes has resonated with such a wide audience, so we’re thrilled to bring it back for a third season for our customers. David E. Kelley, Jack Bender and Sonar have crafted a series that honors the original work by Stephen King and we can’t wait to see where they take the show in a ‘post-Mr. Mercedes world.”

The good news for the fans is that ‘Mr. Mercedes’ Season 3 is all set to premiere on September 10, 2019. Don’t forget to mark your calendars.

Mr. Mercedes Trailer:

While we wait for the release of ‘Mr. Mercedes’ Season 3, check out this official featurette. If you haven’t seen the show yet head over to Audience to catch all the episodes of the previous season.