TV Recap & Review: ‘The Stand’ Episode 8 – “The Stand”

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CBS All Access

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

So…that happened.

Episode 8 of The Stand threw a few curveballs at the viewers, tweaking things and outright changing certain elements of the story, as fans of the book no doubt noticed. I didn’t mind the changes but was more interested in the quality of the episode, which while again, glossing over certain plot points, was possibly the best episode of the series. This is not that great of an accomplishment, seeing as the series has been average at best and almost unwatchable at its worst, but hey, it was still nice to see.

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Ray (Irene Bedard), Glen (Greg Kinnear), and Larry (Jovan Adepo) are brought to a sort of kangaroo court, where they are put on display and given the chance to repent and join Flagg (Alexander Skarsgård) as he watches and feeds off the fear and anger of the crowd. Glen, who has always been pragmatic, sees it for what it is and challenges Lloyd (Nat Wolff), who is presiding over this mess with Rat Woman (Fiona Dourif) and Flagg. Lloyd shoots Glen dead, but not before Glen had planted the seed of doubt in some and pushed Lloyd to question what he was doing even further.

Later, Nadine (Amber Heard) comes to visit a handcuffed Larry, who also makes Nadine see, literally, what she’s become. She goes into labor and is rushed to the penthouse, where she also sees the light. Nadine kills herself by breaking the window and plummeting to her death, killing not only her but Flagg’s unborn child. The grip Flagg had on everyone via fear loosens and people begin to see that maybe they have made a rather large mistake following him.

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Larry and Ray (Irene Bedard) are sentenced to death by drowning as Flagg gleefully presides over the event, urging the crowd on and feeding off the energy. But the damage has been done by the group from Boulder, as doubt turns to defiance in Flagg’s flock, including Lloyd, who refuses to obey a direct order. To make matters worse, Trashcan Man (Ezra Miller) shows up with the warhead, proudly driving it into the hotel instead of to the airport where it was supposed to go. He shows the obvious signs of radiation poisoning from the unstable nuclear present he brought Flagg.

It’s here that a strange orb shooting lighting, cloaked in a mysterious and thick cloud, enters the hotel and begins destroying everything. Described as The Hand of God and Act of God, whatever you want to call it, it kills many, including some familiar faces, and hits Flagg repeatedly before he disappears. The warhead, after repeated lightning strikes, finally goes off killing anyone who was still alive, including Larry and Ray.

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Before the episode ends, we see Tom Cullen (Brad William Henke) find Kojak who leads him to the injured Stu (James Marsden). In Boulder, Frannie (Odessa Young) goes into labor. This was all we saw of Tom and Frannie this week. While their brief appearances served its purpose, it once again showed that there is just not enough time to dig into all these characters, giving them more depth and the viewer more reasons to care.

With everything crashing down, literally, in episode 8, it brings up the interesting question of just how they intend to wrap this series up. Next week is the last episode, written by Stephen King who has said he changed the ending from that in the novel. I have no idea what to expect, but even with this episode being better than average, it has been a long slog to get here. Given the source material, it should have been a much more enjoyable journey.


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