For the most part, CBS All Access’s adaptation of The Stand has been frustrating and disappointing, but with “Fear and Loathing in New Vegas,” they had a chance to grab onto some neon love and show the viewer some real flash and danger. Sadly, it never really materialized. The same issues reared their ugly heads yet again, wasting a golden opportunity to introduce us to some real evil and have fun while doing it.
With the trio of spies now sent on their collective mission to find out what is going on in Vegas, this week was the viewers’ first chance to see New Vegas run by Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård). In reality, it’s not much different than the old Vegas, just less police, and maybe a bit more of a relaxed attitude in terms of spilling blood. (The pit matches were hardly new or shocking.) This is where we see Dayna (Natalie Martinez) first, and asking a few too many questions has caught the eye of Julie Lawry (Katherine McNamara) and Lloyd Henreid (Nat Wolff). You remember these two, the gun-toting Julie who chased Nick Andros (Henry Zaga) and Tom Cullen (Brad William Henke) away and jailbird Lloyd, rescued from his fate by Flagg.
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As these three spend some time together, it becomes clear that the writers have decided to go for the bumbling, idiotic, and clownish route in terms of portraying Julie and Lloyd. There were many times Dayna had a confused look on her face, maybe more to do with what she was forced to listen to in terms of dialogue from these two than anything else. (I’m with you there, Dayna) There should be some hint of danger or malice from these two, especially Lloyd, who is so high up in the food chain, but alas, we didn’t get that which is just another in an endless list of missed opportunities.
We get to see that Tom has also arrived, and very quickly in danger, but once again they move through this part too quickly. Dayna is called to the Penthouse to meet Flagg and she plans to kill him, giving The Stand another opportunity to do something dark and sinister. What happens feels more like a cartoon, as Flagg has yet to feel really menacing beyond his growling and floating, and we are left with feeling frustrated yet again.
Over in Boulder, we get a lot of time with Nadine (Amber Heard) and Harold (Owen Teague). A dinner set up by Frannie (Odessa Young) for her and Stu (James Marsden) to host Harold is a ploy so Larry (Jovan Adepo) can poke around Harold’s place. More people know there is something off with Harold, hell we all do at this point, so this isn’t a shocker. While they spend far too much time with Harold, we know he’s a creep, we really do, Nadine was the one and only bright spot this week. Amber Heard is taking what could be a one-dimensional character and making her interesting, struggling with inner conflict as good and evil wage war inside her. It’s not Oscar-worthy by any stretch, but stands out here as something that feels real and honest.
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The episode ends with Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg) dropping a bombshell on the community in Boulder, and creepy Harold watching his homemade peep show. It is meant to make us feel threatened and build suspense but by this point, I had lost interest and it fell flat, like most of the episode overall. Building tension and dread seem to be a foreign concept here as everything feels fake or over-the-top.
As we hit the halfway point of this TV mini-series, it seems fair to say that the way they are portraying The Stand is not going to change. However, maybe now, with a sense of urgency as there are only four episodes remaining, there will be an improvement in pacing and how characters are used. There is a lot of good material left to use, let’s hope they use it wisely.
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