M. Night Shyamalan’s New Horror Movie Is A Thrilling Replacement For Season 4 Of Stephen King Show With 91% On RT

M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming horror movie, Trap, bears similarities to a major plot from a Stephen King-based TV show that ended in 2019. Following his adaptation of the thriller Knock at the Cabin in 2023, Shyamalan’s next project is the movie Trap, which sees a father (Josh Hartnett) and teenage daughter attend a popstar’s concert only to discover that the police have set a trap to catch a serial killer known as the Butcher. The first trailer for Trap suggests that Hartnett’s character is, in fact, the Butcher, leading to plenty of theories about whether a bigger, more unexpected twist is in store for Shyamalan’s movie.

While Trap is based on an original story, the setting and certain character dynamics bear similarities to an acclaimed novel by Stephen King, which was later adapted into a three-season TV show. Though known as the certified King of Horror, Stephen King hasn’t written too many stories with non-supernatural serial killers at the center, meaning those outside of his characters like IT’s Pennywise, The Stand’s Randall Flagg, and Doctor Sleep’s Rose the Hat. Furthermore, few of those stories have given the serial killer an equal point-of-view to the main protagonist, and it seems Trap is offering a similar twist-heavy narrative to King’s 2014 detective novel and subsequent TV show.

M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap Premise Is Very Similar To Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes

A 2014 Stephen King book features a plot similar to Trap’s central premise

Trap’s concept of the authorities trying to trap and capture a serial killer at a pop concert with a primarily teenage girl audience calls to mind the ending of Stephen King’s 2014 novel Mr. Mercedes. The book centered on retired detective Bill Hodges as he received taunting messages from the titular serial killer, whom he had failed to capture and identify a few years before. Mr. Mercedes’ final act saw the killer, Brady Hartsfield, plan an attack in which he would bring a bomb into a popstar’s concert, blow himself up, and cause numerous casualties.

In the end, Hodges and his associates were able to stop Brady’s plan from within the concert venue, with the book’s final moments seeing the Stephen King book villain, now publicly confirmed as Mr. Mercedes, awaken from a coma. King followed Mr. Mercedes with two more Bill Hodges novels, Finders Keepers and End of Watch, with the trilogy later being adapted into a TV show. Mr. Mercedes’ show ended up enjoying substantial critical acclaim, as the series’ overall score on Rotten Tomatoes is at 91% from critics. The show fittingly came to a close after only three seasons, but happened to make some major plot changes from Stephen King’s book, including the event that bears similarities to Shyamalan’s Trap.

One of the biggest changes that Mr. Mercedes season 1 made to the eponymous novel was the final capture of Brady Hartsfield, with the TV show having Bill and his friends apprehend Brady at an art center opening rather than at the concert venue. Consequently, M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap is much closer to bringing the serial killer/concert venue plot from King’s Mr. Mercedes book to the screen. However, it doesn’t appear that the Butcher has any intention of attacking the concertgoers in Trap, which terrifyingly wasn’t the case for Brady in King’s novel. While Mr. Mercedes never received a fourth season, Shyamalan’s Trap appears to be a compelling replacement watch.

Shyamalan’s Trap Could Put A Twist On The Stephen King Story That Mr. Mercedes’ Show Avoided

Mr. Mercedes seasons 2 & 3 didn’t adapt one of Brady’s traps from King’s books

Similar to how Mr. Mercedes season 1 changed the context of the capture of Brady Hartsfield, season 3 departed significantly from King’s third Bill Hodges and Brady Hartsfield book, End of Watch. In the Stephen King book, Brady found himself with supernatural abilities that allowed him to enter peoples’ susceptible minds and persuade them to take their own lives. Consequently, Brady eventually concocted a scheme to lure Bill Hodges into the game he created to increase his targets’ mental susceptibility, then trap Bill and deceive the authorities in order to fulfill his revenge plan.

Mr. Mercedes seasons 2 and 3 didn’t fully feature this storyline, but it seems as if M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap could have a similar plot in which the Butcher is actually trying to trap the authorities rather than the other way around. Shyamalan’s movies are known for their shocking twist endings, and Trap’s trailer suggests that the “twist” isn’t simply that Hartnett is the Butcher. Rather, it could potentially be that Hartnett’s serial killer character is trapping the police in order to fulfill some plan outside the concert, similar to Brady’s attempt to trap Bill and the authorities in End of Watch, tying it in with the concert location missing from Mr. Mercedes season 1.

Why Mr. Mercedes Season 4 Never Happened

Mr. Mercedes ended after three acclaimed seasons

Mr. Mercedes came to a close in 2019 after three seasons, with no indication of a fourth-season renewal or language that indicated it was “canceled.” Instead, it appears that Mr. Mercedes ended on its own accord, having concluded the trilogy that King wrote about Bill Hodges and Brady Hartsfield. King hadn’t extended the story beyond what Mr. Mercedes’ seasons had already covered, so season 3 was a logical place to end the show. With the release of M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, however, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were more calls for an original continuation of the show with Mr. Mercedes season 4.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes