THE STAND
Episode 1
Director: Josh Boone
About an Hour Long
CBS ALL ACCESS (2020)
In preparation for the new mini-series of Stephen King's THE STAND, I decided to re-read the 1,200 page book. Glad I did. I first read it in the late 1980s. While I remember the story, I certainly forgot a lot of the details.
I am going to do my best NOT to compare this mini-series to the 1994 mini-series (which I loved), or to the book (as I am used to deviations in screen adaptations of Stephen King's work).
*** This Review Will Have Spoilers *** Read at Your Own Risk ***
Episode Recap
The show opens somewhere in the middle of the virus, also nicknamed Captain Trips. The story, at this point, revolves around three of the main characters. Stu Redman (James Marsden), Franny Goldsmith (Odessa Young), and Harold Lauder (Owen Teague).
Harold is working with corpse crews, collecting up the dead and dumping them into mass graves. Stu is a locked down facility. Sitting against a wall. He has (off screen) refused to comply with further medical requests until someone can give him some answers.Then the show bounces back to Franny in the backyard at her parents' house. She wants to talk with her dad, but he is not feeling well. (Straying from the book, as far as we know, she never does tell her father what is on her mind).
Focusing on Stu. We find out that a terrible virus, with about a 99% mortality rate, has quickly swept across the country. Stu's hometown of Arnett, Texas is not just under quarantine, they have been cut off from the world. No cell service. No internet. No in. No out. (Reminds me of what happens in Under the Dome).
We get a glimpse into what happened to get him locked up. Playing cards at Bill Hapscomb's Texaco Station, a car careens down the road and into the gas tanks. Inside the vehicle is Charlie Campion. He is near-dead. Pus and phlegm covering his face. Stu and his buddies drag the man safely out of the car. (In case the gas pumps decide to blow up).
Once he realizes he is somehow immune to the disease, (and that his deceased wife was a nurse), he agrees to testing. If the CDC can find a cure from taking his blood, and exams, he is all in. Unfortunately, things get worse. There was a breach in the facility where he is being held. They whisk him away to Atlanta, where the CDC has a secret location buried miles below ground. The virus has possibly penetrated the un-penetrable.
Additionally, he has weird corn-maze (or maize) dreams. There is a wolf in the dreams. They broach on the cusp of nightmares!
Harold is an oddity. A failing writer, and a high-school-ish loser. He has a thing for Franny. She was his babysitter at one point. Always encouraged him to never give up (when it comes to his writing). When the virus hits it is almost a blessing in his mind. He, apparently, is immune, as is Frannie. In his mind, the two of them should embark on a journey. Together. He convinces her that if there are people in Atlanta working on the Flu, then they had an obligation to get there. Maybe their bodies held the cure.
Both Franny and Harold also have bizarre dreams. Harold sees Sin City (Vegas), and the shadowy figure of a man (Randell Flagg - portrayed by Alexander Skarsgard). Franny has a different kind of dream. She sees the maze of corn like Stu, but instead of a wolf she meets Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg). I am not a fan of Goldberg. It is my own personal opinion. In a way she ruins the character for me. She is the exact opposite of what Mother Abagail. I have a hard time getting her The Voice behavior out of my mind when I see her on screen. Admittedly, I was close to passing on watching the series just because of her. Her and Amber Heard (who plays Nadine Cross). That is all I'll say. I got it (mostly) out of my system.
Anywho, Mother Abagail wants Franny to take a journey as well. A trek. She wants Frannie to come see her in Colorado.
At the very end of the episode, we go back to the beginning (of the book), where we see Charlie Campion very much alive. He is working on a military base. A vial is broken. A virus escapes. The compound is supposed to immediately lock down in that kind of situation, but (we find out how) Campion manages to get off the base, pick up his family and start his drive from California to Arnett. (Infecting people he comes in contact with along the way - and them then infecting those they come in contact with, and so on, and so forth).
That is the re-cap. More or less.
Episode Review
Here comes Captain Trips
Not as Impacting as I would have liked, however, I am still excited. The acting was good. Very good, The pacing is also good. There was something missing by way of suspense, horror. I don't know exactly what it is, but it is missing. It is not as scary. Could it be because we are so immersed in Covid-19 that it just doesn't have the same 1994 and novel impact? Or does it fall on the direction of the scenes?
There are some cool songs played at the right times. Ozzy's Going Through Changes when Frannie and Harold plot their trip to Atlanta, and Billy Joel's The Stranger at the end leading up to Fade Out for the episode.
Overall, the series is off to a good start, and I am anxious for the rest of the tale to unfold! I feel it could have been more compelling. The original series (and the book) had a different feel. There were less Sunny Days during the scenes, (it seemed). Less light.
I am enjoying Marsden as Stu. He is a solid actor. He fits the role . . . right. He is not far from what I imagined for "Stu." Additionally, Teague is also perfectly cast as a creepy Harold. From his oily hair, to his skinny-skeletal body frame. I am most anxious to see Nick Andros hit the stage, as it were. I have never heard of "Henry Zaga." He is no Rob Lowe, but has, perhaps, the right look. (Rob Lowe portrayed Nick in the 1994 series and did a great job as a deaf-mute). Stu and Nick are perhaps my two favorite characters from the novel. No. They are.
As I re-read the book I envision grey. Not just grey skies, but grey everything. It is almost as if the words on the page only paint grey pictures. This is what I would expect to "feel" with such a horrific tale. But that is missing from this remake. That is what I best remember from the 1994 series as well. However, the last thing I want to do is spend 9 weeks comparing the three. And yet, here I am.
Also, I prefer chronological. The story starts in the not-so-distant future. Bounces back five months. It goes here. It goes there. It seems needlessly complicated. King wrote with two points, one in front of the other. It told a better story. Less room for confusion.
It may be because I am now re-reading the book again. The actuality is more fresh compared to the newest adaptation.
Overall this review sounds as if I am disappointed. In some ways I am. In others, I am still happy and excited for the re-visitation. I guess my fingers are crossed. Squeezing tight. (I know I want to love this show. I just hope my desire doesn't blind me from seeing the show ... if that makes sense).
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Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Amazon best selling horror novel, VACCINATION
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