Happy Wednesday Scribblers, are you all having a wonderful week? How do you feel about all the changes from the CDC and of course our Federal, State, and Local Government? I can’t believe it’s been fourteen months. I’m sure we still have a ways to go, but here’s to hoping we all stay safe and healthy.
In honor (or dishonor) of our coming out of the Pandemic, this past weekend Eric and I finished watching The Stand 2020 Limited Series on Paramount Plus (formerly CBS All Access), both Eric and I have read both versions of Stephen King’s novel (including the short story for which The Stand is loosely based on) we watched the television miniseries in the 90s, and now we concluded the 2020 remake series. We spent quite a bit of time talking about the book and the shows, so today I thought I would share with you our thoughts about The Stand and its various versions.
First, lets talk about the book (actually books because there are two versions a shorter version and the ‘uncut’ version) I’m going to forego the short story that the book is loosely based on but if you want to read the short, you can find the story in Night Shift and the short story is titled Night Surf. Because the short is its own thing, there is no need to go into the story here, so I’ll leave it at that. Okay, now about the books. If you aren’t familiar with The Stand, here is the blurb:
A patient escapes from a biological testing facility, unknowingly carrying a deadly weapon: a mutated strain of super-flu that will wipe out 99 percent of the world’s population within a few weeks. Those who remain are scared, bewildered, and in need of a leader. Two emerge—Mother Abagail, the benevolent 108-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community in Boulder, Colorado; and Randall Flagg, the nefarious “Dark Man,” who delights in chaos and violence. As the dark man and the peaceful woman gather power, the survivors will have to choose between them—and ultimately decide the fate of all humanity.
That is the basic blurb, and it sums up the story nicely, what the book boils down to is good verses evil, and the side we end up on has as much to do with who we are in our soul, as to the choices we make. Honestly, The Stand is a great story with several interesting ‘flawed’ characters.
The difference between The Stand and The Stand, uncut versions, is additional backstory on several characters, more character development, more details overall, and a wonderful epilog. Basically, the uncut version is what Stephen King wanted to publish originally, but his publisher told him no, believing the story would be to long and no one would read it.
When it comes to the story, like most things, you can’t go wrong with the books (yes, they are a little outdated, but mostly they hold up well). And it doesn’t matter the version you read (however I would go with the longer edition) you really get to dive into, not only the characters, but the world. It’s not an easy read as some scenes are scary as hell. If you can get past the gore and the creepiness, as you read you feel who these people in the book are and what leads them down the pass they take. You even get to spend time with Kojak, Glen Bateman’s dog (in all the adaptations dogs also die and are affected by the Super Flu) so it’s an interesting choice and makes for an interesting POV character.
Both Eric and I agree the books are far superior to the TV version, but that shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone as books are often far better than the movies and TV shows that come later.
Regarding the television versions I want to say from the start that both are well done and both have their merits. The miniseries from 1994 followed the book as presented and showed the characters, mostly, as they were outlined in the books. The best part about the miniseries was that we followed the story in chronological order and the viewers were introduced to the characters as the story progressed, as in the books. For this story, in my opinion, this is the right call for the story.
Unfortunately, for the 2020 limited series the writers and director didn’t present the show in chronological order. The writers started in the middle of the story, then did flashbacks which is frustrating and annoying as I want to get to know the world see it slowly crumble. Also, I wanted to get to know the (new) characters, especially these characters which sadly they made some big personality changes too.
When it comes to the characters from the book and translating them to television, I appreciate the desire to want to make the characters your own. I also appreciate that times change and so must these characters. You can’t simply have a ‘good guy’ or a ‘bad guy’ they need to be more nuanced especially these days. The problem is, that when you make a character and twist them so they are in the moral grey area, do that for all the characters, but with the limited series that didn’t happen, they only changed some characters, like Frannie Goldsmith, they made her nasty and a less likable character, which is a shame, because in the books and the miniseries, Frannie was a bright spot in the story much like Tom Cullen, these characters showed goodness in a world full of evil.
Stephen King did an excellent job creating a mix of characters (except for any major or interesting LGBTQIA characters) and I don’t believe the writers needed to mess with the character make-up. In the end Eric and I found few of these updated characters interesting or likable at least for the limited series.
That all said, the limited series had some wonderful characters; Tom Cullen was great (I wish we had more of him), Stu Redman, Randall Flagg, Julie Lawry, and Joe (who really had limited time in the 1994 miniseries and I don’t remember much of him from the books, however he was there). One of the biggest improvements made in the new limited series, when it came to the characters, was the level of diversity, which was an excellent choice.
That was well done and appreciated.
There were of course other updates that were addressed in the limited series. Most of these came in the form of how they treated Las Vegas. In the 1994 miniseries the writers did little. Yes, the people weren’t nice and you could tell that Vegas was not the place you wanted to be, but they avoided all the darkness. Unlike the 2020 version the writers showed Las Vegas in all its potential nastiness with gladiator battles, slaves, people doing drugs and having sex everywhere. It was debauchery at its worst (or best). One thing that was consist in both versions were people crucified on the sides of road leading into Vegas. Additionally, when it came to the virus, they made it much nastier, but that has more to do with special effects and budget. Still, the visuals in the 2020 version were impressive and nightmare inducing.
One item I enjoyed about the 2020 version was the last episode, it was written by Stephen King and the episode does something that the 1994 miniseries didn’t do (I won’t spoil it here), which I enjoyed and redeemed a lot of the 2020 version in my eyes.
Here’s the thing when it comes to The Stand. No matter whether you read the books or watch the 1994 miniseries or the 2020 limited series, they will give you chills and have you wondering who’s side you would end up on. Would you go to Mother Abagail in Hemingford Home, Nebraska (not a retirement home in Boulder… sorry that was pure sloppy/lazy writing) or would you meet up with the Walkin’ Dude himself, Randall Flagg, in Las Vegas?
The choice is yours.
Well, there you go, my thoughts on The Stand. If you have the time to spend read the longer version, it’s well worth the read. If you don’t want to read the book, but you want to see how the book would translate visually, watch the 1994 miniseries (it holds up well). If you don’t care, and want to see what all the fuss is, watch the 2020 series, because when all is said and done, all the versions tell the story and are, for the most part, enjoyable. I’m curious, have you read The Stand? Seen the adaptations? What do you think? Who is your favorite character(s)? Let me know in the comments below. Please consider sharing this post on your social media sites, it really helps, as does clicking on this little heart below. Until next time, have a great week.
P.S. Yes, I know there was a comic book adaptation, but I didn’t feel the need to dive into there here, but if you’ve read them and want to chime in, please feel free.