Screenshot: CBS All Access
The Stand. I really liked parts of it, and I bounced
hard off other parts. But I think the moment that sums the show up best is that, towards the end of the series, there’s a scene where a character has sex with the Devil. The Devil usually appears as Alexander Skarsgård (exactly how I would appear if I were the Devil) but while the two character are having sex, his usual glamour slips a little, and the scene flashes between a romantic scenario in a rose petal-strewn hotel room with a naked Skarsgard, and some gross and rather violent writhing in a desert, which ends on a closeup of a terrifying monster screaming directly into the camera.
By the time you read this, I will be dead. No wait, I mean, CBS All Access will have released the final episode of
The Stand, their new miniseries based on Stephen King s epic pot-apocalyptic novel of good versus evil. And to mangle T.S. Eliot, rather than with a bang, this regrettable adaptation has gone out like a wet fart.
Expectations were high for a more King-friendly product after the 1994 miniseries was forced to pull punches for network TV. CBS and series developers Josh Boone and Ben Cavell promised a more faithful (read: R-rated) treatment for the material. Good news for everyone who felt all that was missing from the 94 show was f-bombs and simulated intercourse
The Stand: How the Penultimate Episode Differs from Stephen King s Book
The eighth and penultimate episode of
Warning: spoilers ahead for the eighth episode of
The Stand appropriately titled The Stand . If you haven t seen the episode or are unfamiliar with King s novel, now would be a good time to turn back.
This week s episode was almost entirely focused on Vegas with Ray, Larry, and Glen facing off with Flagg and while the general mechanics of how that showdown changed (we ll explain that as you keep reading) the end result of the experience is the same: the Hand of God sets off Trashcan Man s nuke, thus ending this battle of good versus evil with good winning when everyone in Vegas is vaporized in the blast.
The Stand: How The Walk Differs from Stephen King s Book
The seventh episode of The Stand arrived on CBS All Access on Thursday with The Walk seeing the aftermath of both the bomb and Mother Abagail s (Whoopi Goldberg) return as well as, as the title of the episode suggests, the departure of Stu Redman (James Marsden), Glen Bateman (Greg Kinnear), Ray Brentner (Irene Bedard), and Larry Underwood (Jovan Adepo) for Vegas on foot. While this episode was largely a travel montage as the group made their way to face the Dark Man, there were some major plot points. With next week being the penultimate episode of the limited series, there were some big developments this week but they came with some critical differences from Stephen King s novel, and we re breaking them down.
The Stand: How Fear and Loathing in New Vegas Differs From Stephen King s Book
The fifth episode of
The Stand debuted on CBS All Access on Thursday with Fear and Loathing in New Vegas taking viewers into Randall Flagg s (Alexander Skarsgard) stronghold for the first time. At the same time, things continued to develop for those in Mother Abagail s (Whoopi Goldberg) Boulder Free Zone after spies were sent off at the end of The House of the Dead last week. As has been the case with previous episodes of
The Stand, there are some significant differences between Stephen King s book and the series and we re breaking down some of the major ones we spotted as the story begins to move even closer to the showdown between good and evil.