Things are still progressing when talking about The Stand on CBS All Access as episode 4 has slowed down a bit, but is still pushing forward as the Boulder Free Zone is getting bigger, people are starting to question their leaders, and mention of the dark man is being suppressed unfortunately despite the idea that many people already know about him. We didn’t really get to see any of the Las Vegas crowd this time around, as much of what was seen was focused on Boulder and the short but pointed backstory of Nick Andros and Tom Cullen, who’s so far been featured far less prominently than he was in the original miniseries back in the 90s. But one thing that’s definitely noticeable is that he’s been updated just as much as anyone else since his continued litany that includes telling people who he is and about his infirmity is something that would definitely fit right into the current era. Still, the idea of sending someone of limited intelligence directly into the lion’s den, so to speak, feels like a hard decision to make since it’s essentially a death sentence to anyone that gets caught, especially since it was already seen what happens to someone that’s being used to send a message.
But things are progressing the way they need to as Stu and Frannie are together, Glen is acting the part of the politician despite the fact he’s claimed not to be one, Larry is a reluctant leader, and Nick, well, Nick is kind of just there as a moral guide to the rest of them, while Mother Abigail is apparently the leader of this group, but is working through the five individuals she chose to run the town. And then there’s Harold, the scaredy-cat, psychotic individual of the bunch that couldn’t defend Frannie when it really counted and has about as much moral fiber as Homer Simpson has hair. But Harold is intelligent, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s a horrifying intelligence that resides within his head since it’s led him to be the chameleon he’s been thus far as he’s continued to dream of the day that he can kill both Stu and Frannie for ruining the fantasy that set up in his mind. Now that Harold has Nadine on his side, the decision to move forward with a plan has come to fruition, but of course, there had to be one snag since with the power being turned back on, Harold and Nadine were discovered by none other than Harold’s buddy Tom, who Nadine promptly shot without any further explanation. After all, a diabolical plan can’t go wrong if there’s no one to warn anybody.
So far, this version of The Stand has depicted a very different pace from the original, as the back and forth style of storytelling has impressed some people and frustrated others. There have been moments that people happen to like quite a bit, while others that are kind of amusing, such as the appearance of the author, Stephen King, on the poster announcing Hemingford Homes, where Nick and Tom were headed before their run-in with Julie, who ended up being more of a blip on their radar than she was in the initial miniseries. The moment between Julie and Nick was something that felt a bit too rushed, but seeing as how it led to a sexual encounter in the book it’s likely that the director wanted to move past this since it wouldn’t do much to advance the current plot, apart from making Julie angry that Nick up and walks away with Tom after she throws herself at him.
One can only guess what’s going to happen in the next coming episodes since Harold now has what he needs to complete his own personal mission, which was announced from the beginning. With three spies from Boulder headed towards Las Vegas though it’s a hope that we’ll finally learn more about Randall Flagg’s forces since we’ve seen the inclusion of one of them, Lloyd, but we have yet to meet any others. Trashcan Man is one of those that a lot of people are hoping to meet soon, since the pyromaniac is actually one of the more interesting characters in the story, and he’s actually one of the more important as well. We’ll have to wait and see what next week will bring, but so far it does feel as though the pace of the show has slowed down just a bit, as though to give a bit more exposition as the back and forth storytelling style has been revealing quite a bit, but with sizable gaps that people want to see filled at one point. It does feel that we’ll see everything buttoned up at some point, but until then the story is rolling on.
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