'Mr. Mercedes' first look: Hodges buddies up to book fan favorite Holly

Fans of the Stephen King serial-killer-versus-cop novel that Mr. Mercedes is based on have been waiting to see if cousin Holly, who plays a big part in the book, would make an appearance on the TV series — and this week they will get their answer.

Well, actually, they can get their answer right now by watching this exclusive clip from the sixth episode, which airs Wednesday. In “People in the Rain,” Holly Gibney finally makes her appearance in Ohio and in Det. Bill Hodges’s (Brendan Gleeson) life when Janey’s mom has a stroke and her uptight sister shows up at the hospital with her family in tow. Holly is played by Justine Lupe, a Juilliard grad who can currently be seen on John Singleton’s FX drug drama, Snowfall. She was in the second season of Younger and was a series regular on the short-lived Cristela.

In the clip, Hodges gets to know why Janey labels her computer-wiz cousin an odd duck — she suffers from OCD, synesthesia, sensory processing disorder, and falls somewhere on the autism spectrum — while the twosome sneak cigarettes and eventually make a food run where the subject of Olivia’s suicide comes up. Grumbly Hodges takes an uncharacteristically quick liking to her and even goes out of his way to accommodate her conversational quirks. Might be because he has been spending more and more time thinking about his screwed-up relationship with his daughter, who is in rehab.

As always, we get nervous anytime someone gets close to Hodges because Brady could be watching, and watching usually leads to plotting their death, as evidenced by the white supremacist with a melted motherboard and Jerome’s dog (which narrowly escaped with his life).

Mr. Mercedes airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on the AT&T Audience Network. It can also be streamed on DirecTV Now.