This could have been great, but sadly wasn't. A story as huge as The Stand needs proper treatment, and this wasn't it. Many baffling choices were made during the making of this.
The flashbacks and non-linear storytelling in the beginning really doesn't work, and we never get to feel the impact of the apocalypse. There is nothing at stake in the flashbacks, because we know the characters are still alive in the future. Speaking of characters - we never get to know them, we spend so little time with each of them, because the show is always jumping around, trying to touch on all of The Stand's greatest hits. This is a huge contrast to the book, where we get to know all the characters intimately. And poor Nick Andros, one of the finest characters in the book, here reduced to a discount pirate of the Caribbean we know nothing about. Mother Abagail, supposedly frail and 108 years old - but she looks like she's 60, and we never understand why everyone thinks she's so special, except the whole drawing them to her in the dreams. Speaking of dreams - Randall Flagg is a joke here, and New Vegas even worse so. Drugs and sex everywhere is now the ultimate sin? Gay and/or BDSM sex is the worst horror imaginable? Come on, it's the year 2021!!! In the book, drugs are banned in New Vegas, and Flagg punishes those who break the rules severely. In this version it's hard to see why people would follow him. Temptation? Sex, drugs and gladiator fights to the death? Slavery? (!!!) Is that what people would gravitate towards after having survived a devastating apocalypse? Some people would, I guess. But nevertheless, Flagg is never established as a huge threat, he's just a very flat and empty thing, and apparently he loses his powers as soon as people start doubting him. It's all very weird.
As someone on reddit said it: somehow, they managed to put less content in this 9 hour series than the 6 hour miniseries from 94. In my opinion, and I've seen many people online express similar thoughts, The Stand should be redone as a show with 3 seasons. The first would deal with the superflu and really let us feel the apocalypse. The second would focus on the rebuilding of society and establish Flagg and New Vegas as a really big threat to what's left of the world. The final season would be the big battle of good vs evil, preferably with a more interesting conclusion than Trashcan Man Ex Machina. That's also everything I'll say about this show's absolute butchering of Trashcan Man.
Speaking of the finale. I love Stephen King's books, hit or miss as they may be, he's undeniably a great writer and storyteller, but his new "coda" was ... meh? It was well-written for the most part, and it was basically the epilogue of the book, but Frannie gets to see Flagg in a dream (?), she denies his tempting offer, and then gets to meet Mother Abagail again. At least "Mother A" is now living in a small farm house with a cornfield outside, like she should have always been - I guess that's what the afterlife looks like. Not much else happens, but we get to hear the word "stand" said several times. Frannie even literally stands up...! Oh, and there's a magical negro girl, which I think is supposed to be God? So much for avoiding the "magical negro" trope/stereotype... In any case it was nice to see Fran and Stu go on a road trip, but there really wasn't much else to cheer for in this ending. Some moments were mildly emotionally impactful, like when they left Boulder, and had to say goodbye to one of the few great characters in this show, Tom Cullen. I think this showed pulled off a great Tom, thanks to the actor, who made Tom a very human and believable character. The other great character is Harold - ThE ReAl pRoTaGOnIsT oF tHe StOrY - expertly played by Owen Teague. He really gave us a fantastic performance, and many jokes have already been made about the back pain he must be suffering from carrying this entire show by himself.
I'll stop here for now, but much more can be said about this show. There were definitely some great moments, but overall the negatives and the weird choices and the missing puzzle pieces makes this a very 'meh' experience for me. Maybe someday I'll rewatch it binge-style over a few days to see if that improves upon the experience.
