EPISODE
The Stand - Season 1
After the world is in ruins, due to a man-made plague, a battle of Biblical proportions ensues between the survivors.
24 July 1967, Haifa, Israel
15 August 1961, Canada
12 July 1984, Miami, Florida, USA
22 November 1995, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
26 November 1973, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
17 December 1994, Los Angeles, California, USA
30 October 1981, Woodstock, New York, USA
16 August 1991, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
8 June 1976, Santa Ynez Valley, California, USA
December 13, 2020
It's curiously bland, devoid of most of the scares that King is known for, and telling a straightforward story in a faithful but lifeless manner.December 16, 2020
The spirit and dread of Mr. King's epic have been successfully, if more succinctly, incorporated into the series. The drawback of its timing? It might distract us from how timeless a piece of fiction can really be.December 13, 2020
That conflicted quality makes the danger faced by the community serving as humanity's last stand curiously subdued, and "The Stand" struggles to distinguish itself outside of its exceptional casting choices.December 13, 2020
The Stand is a story about humanity that happens to have a pandemic running through it and, as is the case with actual humanity, it's the little imperfections that make it so relatable, so admirable, and ultimately beautiful.December 14, 2020
The standout performance is absolutely Owen Teague... whose incel/school-shooter vibes and frenzied, unrequited crush on Frannie make him immediately repellent-he's also so realistic, he's even scarier than Flagg at times.December 13, 2020
For the most part, it's time well spent.December 15, 2020
This new version has its inspired moments, like the way Billy Joel's "The Stranger" somehow turns out to be the perfect theme song for Flagg, but the structure keeps sucking the life out of things, from major characters to more minor ones.December 14, 2020
It's effective TV horror, it's a recognizable dystopia story, but almost nothing hits as hard as it could.December 13, 2020
Certainly an improvement over the original mini-series from a technical standpoint even if it doesn't quite come together as well as it could have.December 15, 2020
I'll watch the last three episodes, especially to see the new coda written by King himself, but too much of this new attempt to tackle The Stand is full of coughing and mucous, signifying nothing.December 13, 2020
Unfortunately, the sabotage of the novel's truly enthralling story-telling leaves its ideology as its strongest element.December 15, 2020
What keeps even the messiest and murkiest sections of The Stand gripping are the performances, specifically from Teague and Young.