Molly Strand is a real estate agent in Castle Rock, Maine and has a rare medical condition. She is barely scraping by as real estate agent in a town where every third property is the site of someone’s worst nightmare. Molly is also an empath, with the ability to feel the same emotions that other people feel. She lives in the house where serial strangler Frank Dodd, committed suicide.
Biography
Molly Strand and her family – including her sister, Bridget – were neighbors of the Deavers, living across the road from them. Molly was obsessed with Henry, constantly writing his name over and over again. On the night that Henry disappeared, she watched as Reverend Matthew Deaver drove them away from the house. Later, when questioned by Deputy Ridgewick if she knew anything, Molly kept her face covered and told him that she knew nothing. When the deputy and her mother left the room, she removed the blanket and steam came from her mouth as if she was the one lost in the cold.[1] When Matthew Deaver was found with serious injuries, he was taken home and hooked up to a life support machine. In the middle of the night, Molly walked across to the Deaver home and used a spare key to get in. Approaching Matthew, she pulled out the breathing tube that was keeping him alive and watched as he died.[2]
As an adult, Molly Strand needs drugs to manage her "condition," and buys them off a teenage dealer who refers to her as "the MILF." She points out the term is wrong since you need to have kids to be MILF. While the deal is taking place, Molly spots Henry Deaver getting off a bus and begins to breathe heavily. Later, Molly goes through a box of memories, including a missing poster showing Henry, and a sweater. Before looking though the box, she sets an hourglass time.[3]
Shortly after Henry arrives back in Castle Rock, Molly invited her sister for lunch. Her sister is pleased that Molly is trying to make an effort to be more outgoing – she is convinced that Molly's condition is social anxiety and not a psychic affliction. Molly wants her to sign over 40,000 dollars of equity on the house their parents left them to invest in regenerating parts of Castle Rock, staring with a yarn mill. Her sister refuses in an effort to save Molly from herself, but Molly produces paperwork and reveals she signed her sister's name on it already before leaving.[1]
Molly plans to regenerate Castle Rock's downtown area, and is invited onto the regional television show "Local Color" to discuss the plans. However, her house is broken into and she finds that she needs more drugs to suppress her "talent." Unfortunately, her regular dealer does not have any on hand so directs her to Derek as the Timberland Court Motel. During the meeting, the police arrive and Molly is placed in custody. She is bailed out by Henry, who ensures that she makes it to her appearance on Local Color in time. Instead of talking about the regeneration of the downtown, Molly announces that Shawshank State Prison has an undocumented prisoner being held inside. Returning home, Molly has a vision of bloodied priest who says "Behold! I will tell you a mystery!" before disappearing.[2]
Molly spends the night with Henry when he comes to her after learning that he might have pushed his father off the cliff that gave him his injuries. Alan Pangborn had known for years because Matthew has told him "Henry did it" when he found him.[4]
After the existence of the prisoner is revealed and he is released, Molly feels somewhat responsible and allows him to stay in a room above her office before room is made available at Juniper Hill Asylum. The next day, Jackie Torrance tells her that he is standing on top of the old shirt factory. Molly goes to talk him down, and gets a sense of the turmoil inside him. She feels that something is wrong with him.[5]
When Henry starts having flashbacks to walking through the woods with his father, he confides in Molly. Molly tells him that she knows how much he hated his father and confesses to killing him by removing his breathing tube. Molly believes that when she did it, the two were connected and it was like Henry's hand was guiding her to do it. Henry calls Molly crazy, clearly not believing her.[6]
Due to her connection with Henry, Molly feels that he is in trouble when Odin Branch and Willie trap him in the RV with the Filter. She rescues him and drives him home. Henry feels like he is going crazy due to the events around him and his experience in the filter, and apologizes to Molly for calling her crazy.[7]
Later, Molly goes to her parents house and finds the Kid inside. He tells her that Henry is not ready but that she can help him. The Kid tells her things about her childhood that he should not know. He then talks about the woods, and tells her that is where she died.[7]
The Kid proceeds to tell Molly his story – that he is an alternate universe Henry Deaver who became trapped in this world in 1991 after helping the young Henry Deaver from this universe escape from his father.[8]
The Kid asks Molly to get Henry to meet him at Harmony Hill Cemetery but after it becomes clear that Henry does not believe the story, she does not tell him when the Kid is. Later, Henry is held by the police who have found the body of Odin Branch and know that Henry argued with him on the night of his death. Molly goes to see Henry and he asks her to get his son, Wendell to Boston and then get as far away from Castle Rock and him as possible.[9]
A year later, Molly is living in Florida. She is running a new realtor business and visiting her grandmother on a regular basis.[9]
Alternate timeline
In the alternate Castle Rock, Molly is childhood friends with Henry Deaver. She still has some form of psychic talent, but is a a lot more outgoing and relaxed. Molly is the Council Chair in Castle Rock. When Henry Deaver returns home to put his father's affairs in order, Molly is the first person he turns to when he finds that his father has kept an eleven-year old black child in his basement for twenty-seven years. While talking with the young boy, Molly touches his hand and sees flashes of the alternate timeline which prompts her to help him find the "sound" in the woods. In the woods, Molly is accidentally shot and killed by police officer Dennis Zalewski. She asks Henry to help the boy, which results in him being trapped in an alternate Castle Rock where he never existed.[8]
Behind the scenes
- Molly is played by Melanie Lynskey as an adult, and Cassady McClincy as a child.