The Stand

I got super-duper sick over the Christmas holidays this past year. It hit me suddenly on Christmas Eve, totally out of nowhere. So I barely ate any of the delicious dinner that my dad served and then spent the entire time at my mom's house wrapped up in a thousand layers of blankets while sweating and aching profusely. I was miserable. The following day we were supposed to enjoy a nice Christmas feast with D's family, but I was totally wiped out. D went on without me and I stayed at home. He was gone for roughly 6-7 hours and the entire time he was gone I laid on the couch in my jammies watching this mini-series from beginning to end. It's perfect, right? You're sick so you recuperate while watching a gut-wrenching mini-series about a seriously scary sickness that has killed off nearly all of humanity. It was awesome, except for the being sick part. Notable Cast Members:

Molly Ringwald as Frannie Goldsmith Gary Sinise as Stu Redman Rob Lowe as Nick Andros Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg Bill Fagerbakke as Tom Cullen Ruby Dee as Mother Abigail Miguel Ferrer as Lloyd Henreid Laura San Giacomo as Nadine Cross

Plot:

A man infected with a deadly virus flees from a testing facility and infects a significant number of people during the course of his journey. Within a matter of weeks, roughly 99% of the human population has been eradicated by the illness. Those who are immune to it struggle to make sense of what happened, and why they're still alive. Eventually, people begin to travel the country in search of other survivors. Certain individuals are compelled to travel to Nebraska to meet the mysterious old woman that they all have recurring dreams about. Others are compelled to move west, to Las Vegas, where the nefarious Randall Flagg has begun amassing forces. The group that initially gets formed in Nebraska decide to make a quick move to Boulder, Colorado so they can put a greater distance between themselves and the other group. A Free Zone committee is formed for the purpose of governing the group of survivors who have found their way to Boulder, and the group's exclusion of Harold Lauder in their plans is ultimately a regrettable decision.

Though the going is good initially, eventually the group has to start planning to protect themselves against the perceived threat of the other group out in Las Vegas. They plan to send out some spies to gather information on the other group and to determine how much of a threat Flagg's group actually is to the Free Zone. Only one of the spies is actually successful in accomplishing his mission and escaping the Las Vegas camp undetected. However, this is unbeknownst to the people back in the Free Zone and after Harold and Nadine defect to Las Vegas, some of the key members of the Free Zone bravely set out to try and stop the threat in the west from bringing a fight all the way to Boulder. Without giving too much away, eventually two groups do come to the point of confrontation and it doesn't end well for one of the groups because good always triumphs over evil in the end, we all know that.

Best Parts:

Tom Cullen! I adored this character in the book, and he absolutely melted my heart in this adaptation. Perfect casting for this role. Randall Flagg was portrayed excellently by Sheridan, very menacing. But damn did that ridiculous mullet take away from his intimidation factor. And it added to my many laughs Molly Ringwald's super cute haircut. It reminds me of my friend The Magpie's beautiful hair The incredible 90's clothing That wicked tune by Crowded House, Don't Dream It's Over. I listened to that song for days and days after watching this mini-series.

Worst Parts:

Mother Abigail's got old fast Randall Flagg's unfortunate mullet "sexy" scenes with Nadine and Harold were way gross I feel like the Trashcan Man should have been more tragic and less comical, he kind of came off a little goofy at times and that didn't ring true for me compared to the character in the book Super cheesy 90's special effects used for The Hand of God

Overall:

A great way to spend the day, and I'm glad that I watched all of it at once. They did a great job of capturing all of the really crucial elements of the plot and translating them to the screen. The pacing was great, we're deposited into the action immediately and the eventual building to the final confrontation was perfectly measured. Most of the casting choices were excellent, but the portrayal of certain characters, Harold Lauder and The Trashcan Man most notably, didn't strike a chord with me in the way that I had expected. I think that if this had been an HBO mini-series and could have been pumped full of gory violence, racier sex scenes, and vehement cursing that it really would have been something spectacularly fitting of a Stephen King work. It could have had a much more dark and raw undertone befitting such a cataclysmic event as the eradication of the human race and the struggle to survive, and that really would have gotten the viewers excited. But overall, they did a great job working within the confines of cable T.V. viewing standards. It originally aired on ABC, so they really didn't have a lot of room to get too intense with it.

The ending did have a wonderfully uplifting feeling, and made me believe in the inherent goodness of humanity. It also made me wish that this would go down in real life and that I could be a survivor. It would be fun to have the whole world at your fingertips. Think of all the fun that could be had after you've gotten over the devastating loss of all your loved ones