Reviews
[Review] Stephen King’s “The Stand” Emphasizes Characters Over Stakes in Bold Reimagining
Stephen King‘s sprawling dystopian epic is regarded among his very best work, if not the best. Initially published in 1978, The Stand received an uncut and unabridged release in 1990 that spanned 1,152 pages, edging out It as his most extensive novel. Whichever version, the sheer scope of the story and the volume of central characters make it a daunting task to adapt to the screen. It was first attempted with Mick Garris’s well-received miniseries in 1994 and CBS All Access now brings a very different reimagining for a ten-episode series. Of the six episodes offered for review, this new approach to King’s source material boldly reduces its scale to give riveting emphasis on character building yet struggles to set the stakes.
Opening to a gruesome scene in Boulder, Colorado, where a group of volunteers is clearing out rotting corpses from buildings, the pilot flashes back to five months before introducing our main characters at the start of the viral outbreak that decimated most of humanity. Using a nonlinear format, bouncing around at various points of the timeline, The Stand begins its streamlined build toward the ultimate battle between good and evil. The survivors, immune to the virus, find themselves plagued with nightmares subconsciously enticing them to choose a side; the mystic Mother Abigail (Whoopi Goldberg) or the dangerously enigmatic Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård).
Pictured (l-r): Jovan Adepo as Larry Underwood and Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor of the CBS All Access series THE STAND. Photo Cr: Best Possible Screengrab/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The nonlinear format to the initial episodes allows the characters to converge much sooner, building interpersonal relationships and conflicts much earlier. On the one hand, it’s an ingenious idea by series creators Josh Boone and Benjamin Cavell to engender viewers to their well-cast protagonists from the outset. Condensing character arcs ensures we’ll care as the lethal final battle looms large. On the other hand, however, The Stand presumes its audience already has some working knowledge and familiarity with King’s story.
As such, the initial outbreak is zipped right along to skip ahead to battle lines getting drawn in the sand. Enough is detailed to showcase the personal and societal cost, set up character intros, and tease how gruesome Captain Trips gets for the afflicted, but it’s more eager to peel back the characters’ layers. Considering our current timeline, it’s a wise and much-appreciated decision. We’ve seen that story before, anyway.
“The End” — Ep#101 —Pictured: Owen Teague as Harold Lauder and Odessa Young as Frannie Goldsmith of the CBS All Access series THE STAND. Photo Cr: Robert Falconer/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
What’s most interesting about this adaptation is the character storylines it focuses on and which storylines get trimmed. Of course, plucky hero Stu Redman (James Marsden) and Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young) remain at the forefront, as does musician Larry Underwood (Jovan Adepo). But this version also gives prominent attention to building Harold Lauder (Owen Teague) and Nadine Cross (Amber Heard) as complicated antagonists. These central stories remove the black and white purity scale of typical good versus evil tales. Morality and virtue can come with a personal cost, and refusing temptation can prove just as tricky. Despite the biblical stakes, it’s refreshing to have protagonists that feel authentically rendered and nuanced. Harold and Nadine make vile choices, but they’re rooted in empathy. Teague and Young make this reimagining worth the watch alone.
Supporting players Greg Kinnear, Henry Zaga, and Nat Wolff are all fantastic but are given far less to do. Brad William Henke is an instant standout as the charming Tom Cullen, his every scene instantly winsome. With the front half of the series spending so much time in Boulder, the showrunners seemed to save expanding upon the denizens of Las Vegas mostly for the latter half.
Pictured: Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abagail of the CBS All Access series THE STAND. ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
The showrunners forgot the two lynchpins in the valiant effort to give us fully developed characters; Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg. Reduced to dream imagery at first, it takes a little bit for Good and Evil’s embodiments to find their footing in the narrative. Even then, they fail to have the impact intended or set the stakes. This Abigail is less a mystical figure and far more human in temperament, which sounds great on paper, but she feels unimportant to the heroes’ journey. Skarsgård lacks menace, opting to play Flagg with laid back confidence. As of yet, neither sells themselves as figures that would entice the remnants of humanity to follow them, save for a few parlor tricks.
Still, the more the narrative congeals into a cohesive tale and preparations are put in place, the pieces are all there for a promising and thrilling back half. Boone and Cavell put all their love and care in developing the characters, which goes far in keeping you deeply invested despite its unevenness. Keep your eyes peeled for deep cut King Easter eggs, too. Even if you’re familiar with the story, your attachment to these players keeps you on the edge of your seat even if you’re sure you know what happens next. It helps that Boone and Cavell make surprising changes to the story to keep you guessing, too. While it does rely on existing knowledge of the story to fill in some blanks, and the stakes don’t feel as urgent as they should, it’s the characters that sell this as a voyage worth taking. It’s messy, but bold all the same.
The Stand premieres on CBS All Access on December 17, with new episodes releasing every Thursday.
It’s a big world out there, and that alone can make it seem pretty scary for some people. The uncertainty, the unknown, the unfamiliar – while there are those among us who crave exploration, they’re seemingly outnumbered by those who prefer to close their doors, their borders, and their hearts to whomever – and whatever – sits on the other side. The temptation will be strong to label The Outer Threat as a Temu Disclosure Day, but open your heart to it (and accept its budgetary limitations), and you’ll be rewarded with an engaging, hopeful genre tale.
Daniel (Mark O’Brien) is an astrophysicist living on a remote farm with Michelle (Constance Wu) and their two children (Callista Crowe, Isaac Smelcer-Zhang). He retreats every day to an underground bunker where he monitors and searches the universe for signs of extraterrestrial life, and one morning he finds just that – clear evidence of an advanced civilization that’s successfully found a way to harvest the power of their solar system’s sun. He’s understandably ecstatic and in a hurry to tell the world, but Michelle, a retired scientist who’s nearly given up on humanity as a whole and chooses to focus solely on her family, is adamant that he keep quiet.
He goes against her wishes, obviously, and sends an email filled with data attachments to his boss at NORAD. The result is almost immediate as electrical power, internet connections, and cell service all shut off in and around their small nearby town. Soon small drones are buzzing their farm and peeping in their windows, MQ-9 Reapers are bombing their bunker, and unmarked cars are following their every move.
Writer/director William Woods makes his directorial debut with The Outer Threat, and while his ambitions dwarf his resources, the end result is a compelling family adventure that argues for opening our metaphorical doors to the unknown. A strong cast, that also includes a supporting turn from the always welcome William Fichtner, helps carry the downtime between suspense sequences and minor set pieces. It’s an undeniably small film, but its ideas and conversations are exponentially bigger.
Michelle’s beef with humankind stems from both the personal and the general state of the world at large. Her father (Oscar Hsu) is also a scientist, and like Daniel, he risked valuing his work over his family to the point that Michelle no longer speaks with him. Her bigger issue is knowing that our species is a poor steward of both this planet and each other, and when Daniel accuses her of having little faith in humanity, she replies only “not without reason.”
One of The Outer Threat’s most interesting sequences will feel like a disjointed detour to some, but it actually encapsulates one of the film’s central themes in one simple exchange. The family is on the road and heading to Michelle’s father’s place – she’s not thrilled, but his past work with the government might come in handy – when they decide to stop for food. They reach a tiny town that looks deceptively abandoned and are welcomed into a diner by the owner, Sam (Fichtner), and his young granddaughter.
He’s initially cautious and explains that soldiers had passed through, telling everyone to remain indoors, but he proceeds to feed the family in need while explaining that he’s hoping to scrounge up some fuel to reconnect with the rest of his family. Sam also shares with Michelle that he hesitated to open his door to them simply because they were different. He was fearful, and now he’s ashamed and worried that maybe he’s not the man he thought he was. “What really scares me,” he adds, “was the thought that maybe, just maybe, we’re all rotten.”
She listens. She leaves. And she never tells him about the numerous extra canisters of gas they have in the back of their pickup truck.
It’s a striking character beat as our protagonist, even halfway through the film, remains steadfast in her disconnect from others. She’s far from the only one in need of change, though, as it was Daniel’s hubris and ego that led to this situation in the first place. “Our kids should be home safe,” she tells him at one point, “but you just had to let the world know how smart you are.” Woods and his cast mine drama from this brilliant but misaligned couple, and both Wu and O’Brien are convincing in their motivations and emotions.
Somewhat less convincing are the film’s occasional swings at big visual effects. Drones and weather balloons in the sky are passable, but explosions, vast encampments, and more land with an iffy digital thud. None of them are deal breakers, though, both because they’re used sparingly and because the characters and their dilemma take center stage.
Woods, whose best and brightest accomplishment remains serving as a producer on the criminally underseen 2020 film, The Kid Detective, arguably bites off a bit more than he can chew with The Outer Threat. His big ideas on both story and humankind are inevitably under-explored in a film of this size, and you’ll be left wishing he had a bigger budget behind him. Audiences are bound to expect something more from the film’s third act, especially, so set your expectations accordingly going in that this is more a film about human connection and ideals than it is a tale of alien invasion.
There are moments here of genuine suspense and thrills, but the film’s power rests in those human beats. From Sam revealing he was concealing a gun while making them pancakes, to Michelle’s father pushing aside huge news of world-altering significance so he can instead spend time with grandchildren he’s only just met, to feuding kids combining their skills for an act of bravery, this is a movie about people who can be so much more than we believe ourselves capable of being.
“For thousands of years human beings have been the dominant species on this planet,” says a character at a certain point, “but that’s no longer the case.” The trailer teases this line, and while you can’t fault the marketing department, it might feel like a bit of a bait and switch by the time the end credits roll. You can choose to be underwhelmed, but here’s hoping you open the door to the film’s hopefulness instead.
The Outer Threat is now available on VOD and Digital.
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