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.
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.
I don’t know about you, but a virus series is the last thing I want to sit through right now.
Then again, a lot of people flocked to Contagion, Outbreak and
#Alive has apparently done well for Netflix.
The Stand is a 9 part adaptation of Stephen King’s 1978 novel (another screened in just 4 parts in 1994) ironically completed filming just before COVID-19 gripped much of the western world. King has written a new coda for his story.
The limited series comes with an impressive cast, including Whoopi Goldberg, Alexander Skarsgård, James Marsden, Greg Kinnear in its ensemble and cameos or supporting roles from J.K. Simmons, Heather Graham, Bryan Cranston and more. Just who is the hero of the series seems to shift, including from teen writer Harold Lauder (Owen Teague) to Stu Redman (James Marsden) and, in episode 2, musician Larry Underwood (Jovan Adepo) …and there is a gravitation towards Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg) whose all-knowing wisdom is a magnet for lost souls.
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Spoilers for The Stand Episode 2 Pocket Savior
CBS All Accessâ Stephen King adaptation, âThe Standâ, set the stage for the horror authorâs apocalyptic vision in the first episode. The show depicts a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. Episode 1 saw a weaponized strain of influenza (dubbed âCaptain Tripsâ) kill almost the entire world population, leaving a handful of survivors â it has a supposed fatality rate of 99 percent.
Of them, Stu Redman (James Marsden) from Arnette, Texas, Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young) from Ogunquit, Maine, and Harold Lauder (Owen Teague) from Boulder, Colorado, all have the same vision. It is of Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg) telling them to come see her in Nebraska. Mother Abagail claims to be a prophet of God and leads the ââgoodâ survivors of the âCaptain Tripsâ plague. Having lived a long life of 108 years, she r
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Spoilers for âThe Standâ on CBS All Access and Stephen King s 1978 book
Mystery and tragedy fill the second episode of âThe Standâ. Based on Stephen King s 1978 novel, the tale shifts from introducing Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young), Harold Lauder (Owen Teague), and Stu Redman (James Marsden) to showing a glimpse of the lives of Larry Underwood (Jovan Adepo) and Lloyd Henreid (Nat Wolff). Instead of following the linear narrative of the book, the series uses the flashback formula to peep into the characters lives.
After âThe Endâ ended on a mysterious cliffhanger about the visions, âPocket Saviorâ leans into Larry s love story with Rita Blakemoor (Heather Graham) and Lloyd s life behind the bars after a robbery-gone-wrong. Over an hour long, the drama begins with Larry s playing his breakout hit âBaby Can You Dig Your Manâ at concerts as the entire band calls in sick after the virus Captain Trips spreads around