This past week, CBS launched the long anticipated “TV” adaptation of Stephen King’s epic novel, The Stand. Perhaps a little too on topic for the times we are living in, it carries with it the legacy and expectations of one of King’s most successful and beloved stories.
The Stand has been tackled before, initially in the string of nineties mini-series that became popular after the success of another legendary King title being adapted, IT. And while I’m not a fan of Jamey Sheridan’s depiction of King’s eminent villain, Randall Flagg, I do enjoy the film so that means that this new limited series has a lot to live up to. And not just for me.
This is off topic but I wanted to say that I kind of like how streaming services have gotten back into the practice of airing shows on a weekly basis instead of dropping the entire season in one batch. When I was a kid, the word “binge” was only applied to the act of eating. But growing up in the prehistoric days of terrestrial cable, the anticipation from week to week was a big part of the enjoyment. And even if I’m loving a show, I tend to check out at least a little after watching two or three episodes in a row.
So episode one is in the bag. What’s the verdict for me?
Bring on the rest, please.
Let me say up front that I have no interest in nit-picking. I find it to be dull. And I’m sure there are plenty of people out there with arms crossed, making a mental checklist of everything the studio “got wrong”.
Wait, but Mother Abigail lived in Nebraska, not Colorado!
Wait, but Harold spray painted his sign on the roof of a barn. And he’s supposed to be fat!
Wait, but…but Stu doesn’t make friends with the epidemiologist studying his case!
And on and on and on and on.
I get that this adaptation splits from the book somewhat but much of that’s because there’s a lot less physical space, even in a limited series so some things have to be done differently in order to aid the storytelling. This isn’t the book. We’re seeing a different medium, here. Things are going to be done differently. So if these are issues you are upset over, I’m genuinely sorry about that. But you’ll find no quarter with me. There’s going to be likely plenty more “mistakes” just like these so maybe it’s better to just spare yourself the stress.
Basically what I’m saying is along these lines:
Doctor, it hurts when I do this.
Okay? Don’t do that, then.
Up top, let’s deal with what will likely be the most controversial aspect of this, the layout of the story so far. The jumping back and forth in time and how the director has chosen to build this universe. I can only imagine how the story must seem extraordinarily confusing if you are new to this. With the book we have a thousand plus pages that we can spend, leisurely introducing the characters and setting everything up for the reader. This isn’t the case here and with such time constraints I think the creators have chosen to take a bold stance.
Put simply, enjoying this series is kind of going to require that you’re familiar already with the story.
I am completely sympathetic to people who had trouble engaging with and following this episode. It does jump around a lot and even I was a little surprised at how they chose to layer things. I was able to follow every bit of it but I have probably close to a dozen readings of the book under my belt, not to mention several viewings of the miniseries. I acknowledge that I am not the norm by any means and that this series is going to be more of a challenge if you haven’t read the book.
The thing is, I find it kind of refreshing to see a filmmaker willing to cater to the majority of the crowd who are familiar with the story. We are talking about a book that is decades old. Older than me, actually. Even the original miniseries is over twenty years passed. I’m saying all of this from the perspective of a Batman fan who has watched pearls falling in a dark alley more times than I could guess. I’ve watched Jor-El sentenced to watch Krypton die too many times. Sat through Peter Parker getting bitten by the spider far too often. We keep doubling back over and retelling origin stories that ninety-nine percent of the audience already knows. Maybe at some point we don’t need to completely reset and clear the table.
So while it may come off in the wrong tone, or maybe even as me being a snob, while I offer my genuine sympathy for this series not necessarily being for you, I would strongly encourage you to seek out the book. Or, if push comes to shove you could even just watch the original miniseries. I suspect that this new film will have enough original and new spins to it that you will be able to enjoy both. Get yourself armed with a sense of the landscape and then come back. CBS isn’t going anywhere and I guarantee that your viewing experience will be dramatically improved.
Moving on to something I think we all should be able to agree on and that is so far the casting is superb. Yes, Harold in the book is supposed to be overweight. But he also slims down substantially when the survivors settle down in Boulder and to be honest, I’d rather see him always be skinny in this. Otherwise you’re asking an actor to either put on or lose massive amounts of weight in an unhealthy length of time, a practice I’ve never been supportive of.
So far, Owen Teague is really nailing what I think is the heart of Harold’s character. We know he is going down a dark path that is leading him towards a horrible act but he’s also a little sympathetic and I think that’s played really well here. One of my favorite moments of the episode was the perfect encapsulation of Harold as we see him doing an homage to Travis Bickle, the iconic Robert DeNiro poster leering over his shoulder in the background. We see Harold essentially practicing at appearing to be happy and friendly in a community of people he clearly despises.
As for the rest of the major characters introduced, I thought they were pretty great. James Marsden is a professional Everyman and I think he wears the boots of Stuart Redman in fine fashion. Odessa Young seems spot on as Frannie and I thought they did a great job representing the tension between her and Harold early on as well as his unhealthy obsession with her. She clearly feels sorry for him on some level, maybe a touch paternalistic and protective of his feelings but at the same time she really doesn’t want anything to do with him. Unfortunately, in a Captain Tripp’s universe, pickings are quite a bit more slim and I think the stress around that fact comes through nicely.
Interestingly enough, as I scrolled through some comments on various threads to see how people were reacting it seemed like I found a common theme. I HATE WHOOPIE GOLDBERG! And I’m not going to waste column inches trying to defend her, I’ve got no skin in this game. It just strikes me as entertaining that the political landscape of this country has gotten so fraught with the extremes that so many people are so worked up over one cast member in a movie that they physically can’t bring themselves to enjoy it. Personally, from what I saw in that first episode she seems to be doing fine with Mother Abigail. It’s a major character with not very much screen time. Buck up there, soldier. You can get through this.
I have no idea how I would have reacted if I wasn’t so familiar with the book. All I can say is that I’m intrigued with how this is being constructed and with some outstanding performances. And that’s all I’m going to say for now. I’ll see you next week when I’ve had the chance to watch another episode.
Til’ then, fellow Constant Readers.
