HBO Releases New Episode of The Outsider Early Due to Super Bowl Sunday

As they've done with episodes of The Righteous Gemstones, Succession, and Ballers previously, HBO has officially released the next episode of the new drama series The Outsider early ahead of the upcoming busy weekend. In case you've forgotten, Super Bowl LIV (that's 54) will take place this Sunday, February 2 in Miami and the premium cable network isn't eager to compete with that ratings juggernaut. The new episode will still air on Sunday at 9 PM ET on HBO but for anyone that wants to watch the episode before the big game kicks off, you can do that now by logging into your HBO account.

Based on the novel by Stephen King, the series follows police detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn), as he sets out to investigate the mutilated body of 11-year-old Frankie Peterson found in the Georgia woods. The mysterious circumstances surrounding this horrifying crime leads Ralph, still grieving the recent death of his own son, to bring in unorthodox private investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), whose uncanny abilities he hopes will help explain the unexplainable.

Ahead of the release of the series, King previously claimed that The Outsider was "one of the best" adaptations of his work. While the author often promotes projects that were inspired by his stories, he doesn't always offer the same level of endorsement, but seeing the production value of the series, combined with the talent behind and in front of the camera, King's claims look like they could be accurate.

ComicBook.com's own Patrick Cavanaugh awarded the series a 5 out of 5 in his review and said: "The Outsider might immediately appear to be just another true-crime series that is cashing in on the popular trend, offering a complex and captivating enigma, but what makes it unlike any of its peers is its tragically human characters and the embrace of the idea that there could be more to the known world than what we've been led to believe, making the series thrilling, disturbing, and addictive."

The cast for the adaptation also includes Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominee Ben Mendelsohn (Bloodline, Ready Player One) as Ralph Anderson; Bill Camp (Emmy-nominee, The Night Of) as Howie Salomon; Mare Winningham (Oscar-nominee, Georgia) as Ralph's wife Jeannie Anderson; Paddy Considine (HBO's upcoming The Third Day) as Claude Bolton, manager of a local strip club; Julianne Nicholson (HBO's upcoming Mare of Easttown) as Glory Maitland; Yul Vázquez (Divorce) as Georgia Bureau of Investigation detective Yunis Sablo; Jeremy Bobb (The Knick) as Alec Pelley, a private investigator hired by Howie; and Marc Menchaca (The Sinner) as detective Jack Hoskins; with Emmy- and Golden Globe winner Jason Bateman (Ozark, Arrested Development) as Terry Maitland.