A new TV show based on a highly acclaimed Stephen King novel has the perfect opportunity to make up for its source material’s biggest missed opportunities. Although, arguably, the show is not as good as its source material in more ways than one, it has introduced one intriguing story beat that could help it rise above its original book.
Many TV shows based on Stephen King’s works have experienced significant declines in quality after drifting too far from their source material. For instance, Under the Dome‘s TV adaptation was heavily panned by viewers and critics when it went a little too far with its creative liberties in season 2.
Despite the risk involved with changing the original story, a new Stephen King TV show dares to expand its source material’s story with several measured enhancements. One of these enhancements also allows it to grab one storytelling opportunity the original Stephen King book seemingly missed.
Luke’s Precognition Reveal In The Institute Makes The Show More Complex Than The Book
The Show Confirms That Luke Possesses Precognition Abilities
In Stephen King’s The Institute, no story beat explicitly confirms that the main character, Luke Ellis, has precognition powers. The original book only touches upon the precognition plot, where Luke argues that precogs may not accurately predict the future because of all the variables involved in the present.
However, in MGM+’s adaptation of The Institute, there is a sequence in which one of Luke’s dreams gives him a glimpse of future events, confirming that he is a precog. By revealing that Luke has precognition powers, MGM+’s The Institute paves the way for an exploration of how Luke will battle the moral burden of knowing the future and understanding the consequences of acting on that knowledge.
The Institute’s Precog Plot Could Be The Perfect Story Setup To Expand The Original Stephen King Story
The Original Stephen King Book Leaves The Plot Unexplored
After briefly mentioning that precogs are rare and presenting Luke’s side of the argument surrounding their abilities to predict the future, Stephen King’s The Institute does not delve too deeply into the subplot. MGM+’s take on the Stephen King story, in contrast, has already emphasized a little too much on precogs and the potential implications of their powers.
If The Institute season 2 sees the light of day, the show can avoid making the same mistake as the source material and further explore the world of precogs. Season 1 is all about telepathic and telekinetic kids who are forced to carry out assassinations in the titular facility.
The next installment of the show could expand on the foundation laid by the original book and feature more precog characters, like Luke, while exploring the vast extent of Luke’s abilities. This could also add more depth to the original story by arguing that evil characters like Sigsby are reasonable in a twisted way.
What The Institute’s Creators Have Said About The Show’s Future
The Show’s Creators Believe The Original Story Leaves Room For Expansion
In an interview (via Variety), writer Benjamin Cavell and director Jack Bender discussed the prospects of expanding The Institute with another season. They revealed that since the book “is clearly designed to have more,” a second season has been on their minds from the beginning.
Stephen King gave MGM+’s The Institute his own stamp of approval (via Twitter) by saying that it is “really good.“
The two highlighted how the book ends “with this sense that there’s a much larger conspiracy and larger world outside of what we’ve seen,” which gives them enough room to tell more stories surrounding the same characters. The Institute‘s future will ultimately depend on its performance on MGM+, but the Stephen King show already seems to have way more stories to tell than only one season allows.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
