STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND

BY: Georgia Davis

Prepare to be blown away by yet another Stephen King adaptation — this time for The Stand. The post-apocalyptic limited series might hit a little too close to home this year as the CBS All-Access vehicle focuses on a manufactured killer virus. 

Is the cause of the pandemic linked to a strain of the common flu? With most of the global population wiped away, the remaining will fight to find out. We’ll witness a wasteland of promiscuity, indulgence, and adventure as a group of survivors attempt to prevent a messiah figure from taking over. The narrative will keep viewers returning for all nine episodes, but it’s the characters who bring it home. 

 

“Everybody is really good,” author Stephen King told Entertainment Weekly. “…But Alexander Skarsgård is a good Randall Flagg, he just knocked it out of the park. It’s big, let’s put it that way.”

 

PROVOKR favorite Skarsgård takes on the role of wannabe messiah Randall Flagg. Trying to stop him is James Marsden (Westworld, Dead To Me) and Jovan Adepo (Fences). They’re under the guidance of Mother Abigail (Whoopi Goldberg). But the fantastic cast doesn’t end there.  Amber Heard, Katherine McNamara, Nat Wolff, Owen Teague, Odessa Young, Henry Zaga, Ezra Miller, Olivia Cheng, and so many more make up the supporting cast.

 

But if you’re worried the plot is too similar to the current pandemic, King reassures viewers and promises that the series provides escapism: “It’s the kind of plague where people don’t have to wear face masks, because either you get it or you don’t and that’s all there is to it. It’s not like COVID-19 where you can actually protect yourself,” King said. “But there are some remarkable similarities in terms of what the government is willing to say and whether or not they’re costing lives. The government panic in order to keep people from understanding how serious it is — that has reverberations to what’s going on now.”

 

The dark fantasy will stream on CBS All-Access beginning on December 17, 2020.