The first episode of Mr. Mercedes, two weeks ago, opened with a car used as a weapon, driving into a helpless crowd – a scene televised days before a similar horror played out for real in Charlottesville. Last week, episode two ended with another chilling scene, but this time it was shocking, and memorable, because of its deliberate and well-aimed profane bluntness. For two episodes, the vehicular villain played by Harry Treadaway had badgered, by computer emails and other means, the now-retired detective played by Brendan Gleeson, who had failed years ago to identify and capture the murderer. But finally, at the end of the second episode, the detective’s tech-savvy friend figured out how to respond in the killer’s private email – and the detective did so with a five-word message that could only be shown on non-broadcast TV. It was typed, and sent, as Donovan ‘s “Season of the Witch” played on the soundtrack, and was as startlingly forceful, in its own way, as the murders by car that opened Mr. Mercedes two weeks ago. Author Stephen King and TV executive producer and adapter David E. Kelley are really swinging for the fences with this series, and hitting home runs with every swing. Here was the message, in its intentionally abrasive entirety, inviting even more badgering from the killer: “I’m here, F***head. Let’s play.” Except, on the detective’s computer screen, there were no asterisks. Tonight, we see what is generated by that bold poking-the-bear move.