Review: "The Stand"

Stephen King has seen a lot of his work adapted to film and television. Some have seen massive success and some have been forgettable. His novels are some of the best, which makes it easy for Hollywood to have a desire to adapt his work as it will already have a built in audience. Having been a fan of King, oftentimes it can be difficult for me watching adaptations as I find myself hoping that it matches my expectations or imagination of said story. The Stand, however, is King's biggest piece of work while also being heralded as one of his best. Paramount's new streaming service biggest original to this date, even six months later, is still The Stand and largely it succeeds in bringing to our screens a modern take on King's work. At times even a bit too dangerously close to home as a big plot point involves a worldwide plague that kills off a vast majority of the human population. Still, writers and producers Josh Boone, Benjamin Cavell, Knate Lee and Jill Killington do an admirable job with the work.

The plot is largely unchanged, except for a few minor details. It centers on a pandemic resulting from a mishap at a military biological research station which allowed the escape of a lethal strain of influenza. The plague, known as Captain Trips, kills off almost the entire world population and the few survivors are drawn to one of two figures. One is known by many names but mostly that of Randall Flagg, played incredibly well by Alexander Skarsgard. The opposite represents light, and good known as Mother Abigail played by Whoopi Goldberg. The two opposing groups set up for a final good versus evil confrontation.

The characters, in some cases, are oddly cast but mostly they do a great job. The big surprise of the cast would be Owen Teague as resident creeper Harold Lauder. He is largely the focus of the first episode as we see the world crumbling around him, and his sole desire stays focused on his creepy love for the older neighbor Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young). Obviously, all of this isn't supposed to endear Harold to us but it does a good job of portraying his mental makeup going into an apocalypse and how someone of the likes of Randall Flagg would be attracted to his madness. In a massive change from the novel, instead of focusing on Frannie dealing with her parents who died in front of her, she is portrayed as someone who sinks into an almost catatonic depressed state who is saved by Harold. If we didn't know Harold any better, we'd think he is a hero. Granted, the book had a frantic opening as the pandemic wrecked the world and mainly focused on Stu Redman escaping the military compost and, unknown to him, spreading Captain Trips. Instead he finds himself in the compost and being kept there as he seems to be one of the only people immune. Stu who is played rather well by James Marsden as the everyday Texas man. A man's man filled with perfect dimples as Harold calls him mockingly. Larry Underwood is lifted up a bit in the story by the talents of Jovan Adepo and a bit more likable even if in a cliched former rock star turned drug abuser role. His scenes alongside Amber Heard's conflicted and tragic Nadine Cross were also some of the best in the series as the two had good chemistry, although Nadine herself was a bit of a mixed bag as her story was cut a bit short and not as developed as much as others, understandably so. Greg Kinnear is also cast as the hippie Glen Bateman. It's a cast of characters that are a bit cliched, but very effective in an ensemble.

Odessa Young's Frannie Goldsmith sticks out a bit as a weaker character, often not given much to do up until the final episode which so happened to be an added bit allowing King to rewrite his ending and allow for Frannie to make her stand against evil and Randall Flagg himself. King's endings are usually a bit hit or miss, but the ending he crafted for this miniseries was just about pitch perfect and as a whole lifted up the series a great deal. It also helped drove home a lot of the themes of good and evil and Dark Christianity.

Some moments throughout the series were a bit on the nose and a bit campy as right when Captain Trips is making its rounds and taking people out the showrunners decide to showcase this alongside Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper. It's a bit on the nose and maybe played for an awkward laugh but for me it misses the mark and the series has other moments that have a tendency to play songs that closely resemble what is happening on the screen.

Despite some minor flaws, the show does more good than bad in its modern adaptation of King's famous work. Some minor characters like Nat Wolff's Lloyd Henreid and Henry Zaga's Nick Andros are cut back in favor for other characters, but it is largely understandable given time constraints. Skarsgard's Flagg is fantastically crafted and portrayed as Skarsgard himself is very charming but in this series there is an uneasy quality to him that makes him simply chilling. You almost always expect him to terrify you but you can't help but to continue watching. Teague's Harold is very similar but more terrifying in a different more human way, and due to how isolated he feels you find yourself feeling bad for him even after committing horribly deeds. Overall it is a success for King and Paramount Plus and worth a watch, especially if you are a fan of King's work.