- Title: The Stand – The End
- wiki: link
The first episode of CBS’ new adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand focuses primarily on introducing Harold Lauder (Owen Teague) and the object of his obsession Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young) who are the only two survivors of Ogunquit, Maine and Stu Redman (James Marsden) who becomes a prisoner of the United States Government after he is the first person to show an immunity to the virus wiping out 99% of the world’s population. 42 years after the book’s publication and 26 years since the first television adaptation of the novel, the first episode jumps around a bit on the timeline before offering us a glimpse of the viral outbreak Charles Champion (Curtiss Cook Jr.) lets loose on the world.
In a COVID world, The Stand takes on a different feel (although production ended on the series prior to the virus’ widespread outbreak). Despite really only concentration on a fraction of the large cast that makes up the novel, the first episode does lay some groundwork with the dreams of the cornfield (even if, like the previous mini-series, can’t quite ratchet up the creepiness high enough to match King’s original work) and the first appearance of Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg). “The End” also offers a nice performance by J.K. Simmons as a soldier who sees the writing on the wall. We also get a glimpse of several months later with Harold, Frannie, and Stu all together in the Boulder Free Zone (although one of them is less happy with the way things have played out).