Stephen King's The Stand Series Might Head To CBS All Access

I read the AV Club's non-spoiler review of the first six episodes that were previewed for the critics and according to the review, 'Captain Tripps' doesn't get covered until the third episode and the Ed Harris and Cathy Bates characters are gone from the story, which is a shame because they were the most memorable parts about the first episodes of the original mini-series.

Then someone in the comments posted a spoiler about how 'Captain Tripps' is released, which, if true, completely undermines the fact that it was an accident and Flagg took advantage of it to grow in power and gain followers.

 

So the twist at the end of episode one wasn't in the book then? That's a pretty massive change to make.

 

What's the twist? Feel free to spoiler-code it if need be.

The loss of Ray/Roy Flowers and Starkey/Creighton would be significant losses IMO.

This isn't giving me a good feeling. I have a family member who's seen at least some of it and said I shouldn't bother, but she seems distressed by the non-linear narrative, which may or may not be a factor for me. She thinks it would be difficult to follow for someone who hasn't read the book though.

 

I had not trouble following it and I haven't read the book. I watch a lot of non-linear movies and shows, so I'm pretty good at figuring out the timeline on the go.
As for the spoiler,

Spoiler: end of Episode 1.

the last scene jumps back to the soldier who spread the virus, and a door almost closes, trapping him in the base, but Flagg sticks his foot in front of the door to stop it so he can get out and spread the virus.

 

I've never read the book and have a decent handle on the first episode. Not sure it is really an issue.

 

Fairly good opening episode and it was a wise choice to focus on just Stu, Frannie, and Harold to start off, but I agree with Tosk that the jumbled timeline doesn't make sense as a narrative device. I'm not trying to be a book purist (I love the book, the extended version and all), but it doesn't seem to fit well here, at least for me. If it was just Harold, Stu, and Frannie that matter, that would be one thing, but there are so many other important characters in the story. I'm sure it'll drop back to before the gathering of people in Colorado but I just don't see much point of jumping around like that other than to further establish how much of a nut job Harold is and that's pretty well established without the time jumping.

As for the episode's ending, I actually like that. At least the part of Flagg holding the door open.

 

I don't think I'll have a good opinion on the non-linearity without seeing it, but I have to admit that the idea of seeing a slightly skewed version of events when viewing them from Harold's POV would be kinda cool -if- other episodes revealed a more objective viewpoint.

I'm not sure about the door thing. I think I prefer the idea that Flagg took advantage of the result of humanity's worst impulses rather than being an active agent in what happened. The original miniseries kind of handled it well I thought, with some ambiguity as to how responsible he was, if at all.

 

Ed Harris' character, the General, is still in the Mini.

Spoiler

JK Simmons plays him

 

I gotta admit at the start of the episode, I was thinking "Did they just cut out half the book?"

 

I obviously can't speak for the new miniseries, but certainly with the old one the first part is quite possibly the best part of the whole thing.

 

He still takes advantage...the guard still runs out knowing that he shouldn't, just that Flagg gives him a little time to consider it first.

I agree, I like the early stuff in the '90s one much more than the later stuff. That said though, I am hoping that maybe the new approach will lead to a more balanced presentation and satisfying conclusion. Fingers crossed.

 

Fair enough. I haven't seen the new miniseries so just going by what I've hearing in here.

 

I noticed that the dead and dieing have have super puffy necks in this version. I'm not sure if that part was in the Book or not.

 

It is.

 

They were called "Neck Tubes" in the book, IIRC.

 

Is half the book about the immediate aftermath of the virus getting lose? I think I read somewhere that they weren't going to skip over some of the initial outbreak of the virus.
I have to admit, the non-linear storytelling did feel a bit odd here. There are some stories, like Lost, where that kind of non-linearity really feels like an important part of the storytelling, but here it really felt like they were doing it just for the hell of it.

 

The first part of the book is about meeting the characters and their journeys towards their final destinations and establishment of the two camps (good v evil) The second part is the battle between them.

 

I assumed it was probably something like that.

 

I always thought it was implied (at least in the miniseries, I can't remember the book, as I haven't read it since the mid 90s) that Flagg was behind Captain Tripps getting out of the base. There's the crow in the miniseries (which usually seemed to indicate Flagg was nearby) and the fact Campion mentioned the Walkin' Dude to Gary Sinise's Stu Redman when they crash into the gas pumps in Arnette. Although Flagg blocking the emergency door with his cowboy boot was a TAD more blatant

 

The ‘non-linear’ thing is an annoying crutch sometimes. Feels like writers trying to get too cute, or the story not holding up alone without having to force mystery by giving things out of order. Maybe this will be ok, but going into it less excited due to that choice. Rather guess what’s going to happen rather than what’s happening and when did it happen.