TV Recap & Review: ‘The Stand’ Episode 7 – “The Walk”

It took until episode seven, titled “The Walk,” of The Stand for the show to fully realize that flashbacks are not always necessary to tell a story. (Episode six did this as well.) However, the strange writing choices and rushing through certain parts continue to plague this series, as more character arcs and storylines fall through the cracks.

After the explosion last week that killed Nick (Henry Zaga), the group is called together by Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg), who sends them their new marching orders from God. The scene was very predictable and lacked any real emotion, falling flat from start to finish. It’s great the group that has been given the task of trying to save the Boulder Free Zone is finally together, but this had all the emotion of hugging a mannequin.

RELATED: TV Recap & Review: ‘The Stand’ Episode 6 – “The Vigil”

Meanwhile, Nadine (Amber Heard) and Harold (Owen Teague) hit the road and head to Vegas to see Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård) after completing their mission. Harold figures he will be rewarded handsomely, but trusting both Nadine and Flagg in any way is a bad, bad idea. Nadine wants to be a queen and rule beside Flagg, and she has little interest in Harold now that he’s done what he’s told. Harold was always creepy, but one of the more tragic figures in this series, which was brought to new heights in this episode.

With the Boulder group heading to Vegas to face Flagg, Flagg himself now has set other wheels in motion, including the Trashcan Man (Ezra Miller) and his task. Poor Ezra Miller. He’s been given an important character and not allowed to do anything with him but squeal. He is almost like an afterthought, which is a common problem in this series in terms of how characters are treated. With so little development, it is hard for the audience to care about him at all.

The group from Boulder did elevate things a bit this week, making some deeper connections between both them and the audience, even when things went to hell. Stu (James Marsden) has become more likable and more of a leader, although Frannie (Odessa Young) has become one of those afterthought characters again. Having read the book numerous times, I understand what is supposed to happen next but I’m not against them changing things up if it benefits the overall story.

It is frustrating to see some of the direction the writing has taken The Stand, which, to be fair, is always hampered by having only ten episodes to tell a story. Perhaps it would have benefited from having two or three seasons. That would have fleshed out more of the story and characters while giving the audience the time to actually care what was happening. Or, perhaps the writing would have still been an issue; I guess we’ll never know.

“The Walk” had its good moments, and, once again, being average elevates the series, which is not something to really be proud of. With three episodes left and so much story still to tell, it’s hard to figure out how they are going to finish the final act. It has been a frustrating journey so far, so let’s hope they manage to end on a high note.

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