Hey so just starting chapter 50 of the extended edition and Stu and Glen are talking about the restructure of America and they mention Nick Andros. Am I missing something? I cant recall them meeting him yet, Im only a couple pages in so forgive me if this is explained in the coming pages, but I had to put the book down to check this out. Do they just know him from over the radio? Thanks in advance.

A couple weeks ago I posted that I was about halfway through the book, and that I had done it all backward by seeing the shows before I read the book. Here's that post if you want it.

Well now I've finished the book, and I want to give my thoughts! I've had a lot, but I'm probably only going to give a few. The things I personally think are my biggest takeaways from the book.

This book was really good! I loved it for the vast majority of it. The whole first half was great. This is the first time I've really care one way or another about Nick Andros. I think he's really a character that you need to been in the head of to truly appreciate. In fact, I think that's true for most of the characters.

I liked the traveling and seeing the country and I loved all the little asides about small things that happened that our characters never really see. The first half of the book is, to me, the stronger half. I liked everything in that half pretty much.

The second half, Boulder and beyond, was less interesting to me, which I think can be attributed to my watching the 2020 show before reading the book.

My biggest issue with the book was how little page-time Nadine Cross gets. Having watched 2020, followed by 1994, followed by reading the book, I recall my biggest complaint with 1994 being that they really ruined Nadine for me. I'm glad to say that the book doesn't completely ignore her the way I felt '94 did. But still I wish she got more page-time. I feel like her struggle between her better self and what Flagg has groomed her to be could have been fleshed out more. She doesn't even get to end her life herself! She has to bait Flagg into doing it for her! But even with all that, I still think she's one of my favorite characters.

Speaking of favorite piece of shit characters, Harold! I did love Harold in the book. Another character who I really think needed more pages, but to a lesser extent than Nadine. Based on how much everyone despises the 2020 show I was expecting him to be completely different in the book. But nope! He's a pretentious little incel shit and I couldn't picture anyone other than Owen Teague for most of the Boulder section of the book. I love my whiny piece of shit. He's so fun! "Pride and hate are the great human virtues" lmao love this guy.

My biggest issues with the book have to do with Boulder and Vegas. I agree, at this point, that the never-ending party of 2020 isn't how Vegas should've been run in the show. It misses part of what Randall Flagg is doing and what this is about. But damn, Vegas was boring. I'm not sure why anyone would go? Like okay so you've got two dreams going on. One, a nice old lady who could probably make a kickass turkey dinner but you will have to listen to her talk about Jesus. Or you could go to the place in the desert where the guy with no face can chase you around and hurt you!

In 2020 he's presented as a tempter. He offers fame and fortune and women and healing if you bow and grovel at his feet. The book seems to present him as just kinda a scary guy that some people went to because they were scared not to. There's one exception I can think of, and that's Lloyd, who I will say I really liked! Coming from the shows is interesting I couldn't picture anyone but 2020 Lloyd in prison, and couldn't picture anyone but '94 Lloyd in Vegas. But yeah he gets to get out of prison. He owes the Dark Man. So sure. But why is Julie there? What's in it for her? Not being near Nick Andros I guess? But Vegas is locked up so tight you can't much of anything, so how does sex-obsessed "I'm gonna be a movie star" Julie Lawry end up there? What the hell was her thought process crossing the Rockies? "Ah yes I'm gonna go to Vegas! That's where the guy who does non-consentual coat hangar abortions is!"

As for Boulder? Needed more pages. We needed some time to really settle in before Mother Abigail went missing. Simple as.

And lastly, did we need so much of Stu and Tom trudging it across the Rockies? We needed like maybe half of that.

So those are my thoughts as of now. I'm gonna try to watch the shows again soon. But honestly I'm kinda The Stand-ed out right now. It's a long book!

Edit to add: I promise I did like the book! I know this reads like I didn't. But I liked it a lot! Almost every complaint I have is something that I think could be fixed by just having more book. More Nadine. More Harold. More expansion on what Randall Flagg did in the dreams of the people he managed to recruit. More of just about everything with every villain. I like the villains in this book and I'm sad I didn't get more of them.

In the beginning of the 1994 at haps service station all the guys are sitting around laughing and joking when Stu notices campion about to crash into the pumps. Now being the man of action and main character he jumps into action and hits the emergency kill switch for the pumps stopping a fire and explosion. If he would have froze up like everyone else there Campion would have crashed into the pumps and been incinerated killing the flu along with him saving every body on earth. Thanks Stu............smh

Okay! So like the title says, I totally did this out of order. I watched the 2020 miniseries a couple years ago. I've actually seen it a couple times because my fiancé adores it. I haven't seen it recently, but I remember it well enough. As it stands (haha get it?) right now, I think I'll maintain that I liked it. I've seen a few of the complaints, and I get some of them. Reading the book, I've realized that the story is very much not really about Boulder. I'm over halfway through and haven't even seen the place yet. But I liked Alexander Skarsgard as Flagg, even if Vegas is nothing like it is in the book. And I personally don't think the timeline jumping is a huge problem. The book jumps around all the time. I just read a chapter that jumps back and forth between Trash Can Man in Vegas and his trip there like 5 times. Something similar happened in a recent Frannie chapter. That's not to say the show didn't have problems. It skips basically the entirety of the government response to the plague, and the way it handles Trash Can Man is horrendous to name a couple things.

Meanwhile, I've only seen the 1994 miniseries once. A few months, maybe a year ago. I really liked the first episode, then found that it declined with every episode following for me. Now at the time, I hadn't read the book. I didn't realize that, yeah, the book really is paced like that. If anything, they ALSO put more focus on Boulder than the book did from what I can tell. That's proportionally, not true amount of time of course. This book is very long. By far my biggest complaint at the time was that they flattened Nadine. Say what you will of the actress, but Nadine in 2020 was interesting. 1994 gave her nothing. She took all the drug habits and cowardice of Rita and lost her care for children and Joe in particular. She was just evil. She wasn't conflicted, she just kinda sucked as a person. Given how much people who have read the book love 1994, I was very worried going in that Nadine would be that flat, awful bore in the book as well, so I was very happy to see that that's not the case.

As for the book, I love it. Every character has been more interesting and more full of life than they are in either show. Particularly, Frannie went from someone I didn't really care one way or another for to a deeply interesting person for me! I'm also loving every moment I get with Nadine, though it's been precious few so far. Rita was really great for the small bit of the story she's in, and being able to be in Nick's head has launched him up to an S tier character for me. But by far my favorite part of the book, and something neither show did or I think really could do, are all the tiny tragedies and miracles. Chapter 38, which covers the "second epidemic" is maybe my favorite chapter in the book, though there's certainly other instances of it. The big three that have stuck with me are George McDougal, who gave himself a heart attack trying to run from his thoughts after losing his family, Gina McCone, who Nick's group rescued on their way to Mother Abigail's after she had broken her leg playing in her uncle's barn, and the unnamed girl who was killed by her captors in "the zoo" for refusing to do something which Susan Stern won't even name as she recounted it. Those three have stuck with me a lot.

I'll make another post after I finish the book. My fiancé and I are doing it together (they read the book in high school in the 2010s, so I'm the only one who did this so horrifically out of order). I may wait to watch both shows again before I post, or I may do one after the book and another after each show or both shows. Not totally sure yet.

I think after the book, I'll also want to read the short story anthology. Considering what my favorite parts of the book have been, I get the feeling I'll like it very much.

I’m nearing the end of Part 1 and ooo the way Stu is reading Harold.

Context, Stu just told Harold and Fran what happened to him and Stovington.

Harold: “Well, how do I know what he’s got on his mind?…Murder…rape.”
Stu: “I don’t believe in rape myself…maybe you know something about it I don’t.”

Get his ass. Like ugh I get it not trusting strangers but this weird proto-neck beard Nice Guy is just too much

Read this book probably 10 times since I was in high school until now, which was over 20 years ago. Rereading now and I didn’t pick up on this for some reason. “I’m done leaving people behind.” How Larry left his mother behind in the hospital. Glen saying “you’re trying to save something in yourself.” Have read the book over and over again but this particular page never connected with me with the earlier Larry. He ain’t no nice guy but he redeemed himself.

Currently starting chapter 35, just had my introduction to the Trashcan Man and really want to watch what they did with him. Im thinking the mini series is 5 plus hours so surely I can watch some of it before I finish the book? Os should I just hold off until I finish the book?

Most of the time when you ask people who they would cast as Flagg, I most of the time see the same options.

For example:

Walton Goggins

Javier Bardem

Mads Mikelson

Willem Dafoe

But I’m curious of an actor that has not been fancasted before that you guys can think of. Me personally, I’d like to see a comedy actor play Flagg. I always love it when actors who are seen as funny characters most of the time step into roles that are gritty and they do surprisingly well.

I can’t think of an actor at the top of my head, but I think it’s a cool idea.

I recently read Biological War by Annie Jacobsen and it really reminded me of The Stand and I thought this crowd would like it. It details a fictional leak of a biological agent from a Russian secret lab. It's backed by interviews with various experts in the field.

Not only informative it's also genuinely terrifying and shows a real life Stand scenario is more likely than we would have thought. Highly recommend.

Just a little blue skying as Glenn might say….
watched an audition for Josh Holloway on LOST and thought he would make a great Larry from the unabridged novel. His “Sawyer” had that perfect blend of selfishness and potential for redemption.
Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of the LOST cast could easily in my mind translate to The Stand.
All just different levels of the Tower I guess! 🥴

By cutting the first part of the story, the initial aspects of Harold’s character disappear. I also notice a different nuance in his actions.

1. Harold (2020) never comes across as the insufferable know-it-all he is in the novel. In the book, Fran repeatedly mentions how unbearable he was during the group's trek. In this version, however, he says nothing annoying; instead, he is consistently—and Machiavellianly—pleasant, polite, and helpful, much like he is in the second half of the book. His voyeurism is just as intense—if not more so—but more concealed. In the novel, he immediately comes across as a pervert to Fran, whereas in the series, the full extent of his depravity is only revealed through a crime he commits at the end.

2. The specific reasons for the bullying he endured in the book are absent from the new version. All that remains is the childhood incident mentioned in the opening letter and the time he was chased for peeping through a hole in Fran’s fence. However, the neglect he suffered at the hands of his parents and sister could be interpreted here as a major underlying cause, which makes sense.

3. It is reiterated that Harold harbored a sort of childhood love for Fran. This adds greater emotional weight to the story. In the novel—if I recall correctly—she seems more like an acquaintance he was attracted to. Correct me if I’m wrong.

   1. Harold’s hatred isn't ultimately directed at Fran. The bomb is planted to benefit Flagg and demonstrate loyalty, paving the way for them to flee to him. In the book, the plan was to kill the Committee—and, for Harold, to wound the woman who rejected him (both he and Stu were key targets). In the 2020 version, the goal is to kill the residents of Boulder, but he acts out of a fixation on Fran: even if they won't end up together, he wants to ensure she cannot be with another man (Stu). In the book, he acts *against* her; in the series, he acts *for* her (in a way). Here, he is driven more by Flagg’s manipulations, and his refusal to surrender is more pronounced. But their farewell embrace shows more mutual affection than in the book—something that was never present on Fran's part.

   In the novel, Harold is 16, but in the series—played by Owen—he is 20 or 21, though his age is never explicitly stated. It was an opportunity to make him older.

The Sartre quote ("Hell is other people") in his diary is a detail unique to him, as is his imitation of the smile from a Tom Cruise cutout. Furthermore, certain expressions of the actor reveal a side of him that is never seen in the novel.

What do you think of these versions? Do you notice any other differences in Harold?

The Stand 2020 is a horrible adaptation, and I prefer the story of the novel in general. But I must admit that, as a series, it entertained me a lot. It has a gray thriller-type cinematography that, although clichéd, at least gives it some personality. And although I disliked all its main changes in the first four episodes, there were indeed re-evaluations through scenes and details that I found accurate and interesting in their context. Being more condensed for television. Another enjoyable version.

Here are the variances:

The dinner of Fran, Stu, and Harold for Larry to break into their house is a shortened rephrasing. The conversation between Fran and Harold in the basement was an obviously rejected attempt at surrender but effective and forceful.

Other less significant scenes and details that I liked were:

1. Harold's graffiti. Literally, for me, the best change of the whole series. 10/10. Efficient, original, even more practical than in the book. It looks cool and modern, just as they wanted. I don't care about putting her name or not. I congratulate its creator.

2. Scene of Nick and Flagg. In a dark dream, Flagg seduces Nick to be his right-hand man in exchange for having a voice and an ear with a table full of French cards. He also tells Nick that his mother came from El Salvador in the back of a car to give him a better life. A (new) brief backstory but well introduced. He is offended when it is suggested that he is an inferior man for lacking senses. With his face close, Nick makes a gesture, and Flagg, furious, pulls out a card of a queen with a patch over her eye. And so Nick loses his left eye. It's an interesting change, but it points out that Flagg has more power in the dreams than he should for the plot in my view.

3. The first interaction between Harold and Nadine for its atmosphere and direct, to-the-point dialog.

4. A posteriori, the flashback about Harold and Fran. She was sleeping, but she woke up a little, asked, and saw that Harold was watching her. He, smiling, says he was thinking about her, that he loves her, and that the fate of his people was the best for them to be together. He also tries to kiss her. But she says she doesn't feel that way about him and never will. He stands up and, angry, goes back to his sleeping bag. He doesn't turn around. She asks how he is, and he replies, "I'm fine, Frannie."

Controversial topic. I prefer and understand bringing the age of some binders closer, only inferred.

Besides, the version of Las Vegas and how Flagg is portrayed is striking. Also the speech he uses, for example, with Terry, when he alludes to the fact that an old woman could have been a danger to his partner and he died. Knowing more about Julie Laywr makes her a bigger character. Glen's death seems appropriate for his character and a small point in the dark community. Fran's ending, being pulled by the forces of good and evil near death and with Stu on the bench, is nice and a more forceful message than in the book. Still, it could be removed.

What do you think about it? What aspect or change did you like about the series?

Apparently another adaptation is underway! Who do you think should play the main characters? I’ve heard there is supposed to be only one movie which sounds a bit crazy but I like the choice of director. I have a nostalgic fondness for the 94 series and thought the 2020 one was a disaster, hopefully this can be the definitive version.

I thought it was weird how the guard at the jail in The Stand kept calling his prisoners "babaluga." An old-school southern guy. Is "babaluga" a common thing people call each other in the rural south / west, or did Stephen King just make that up after hearing the Little Richard "Tutti Frutti" song?

Growing up, watching the mini series, I always thought it was Stu's story, but after reading the book in 2026 and then re-watching the mini-series, its Larry's story. I think we also get the most backstory for Larry in the books than the rest of the characters.

Which makes his ending so much sadder. All the attention is on Stu in the finale.

OK. I've never read the books and just went into it blind. First impressions is it's a very "white lensed", "white american Christian" story imo. I understand the time that the book was written and being American etc and I'm not offended just something that's sticking out to me as a modern viewer.

Also who the hell are the villains and their motivations? That's never explained. It was campy and "feel good" and so so cheesy. The thing I kept thinking about, is if this is sub-par how bad is the 2004 version? Haha Also I really hate that God's solution is to physically intervene and nuke a city full of sinners. Like... Why? It's so old testament.

Anyway. I kinda wish I didn't watch it. But Rob Lowe is such a cutie, had to.

Granted I don't read as much as I used to anymore but I cannot recall being this frustrated at a character's continual survival, though I honestly love the tension he brings in ever chapter following Fran or Stuart. I could understand his pain and insecurity, I relate heavily, but god this is some level of incelmaxxing I've had the pleasure of never being exposed to before.

I've only halfway through the book (where he tries to kiss Fran), so please, no spoilers beyond that.

We all know and hate this miniseries with a passion, I’m no different. The reasons why I hate this miniseries are way too numerous and unnecessary for me to list here. With all that out of the way, I wanna talk about a few things I liked about this series with you all.

1. Effects of Captain trips- One of the only hang ups I had with the 1994 series was that in my opinion, it did an okay job with showing the effects of Captain trips on a person. However, I was expecting to see everyone having the swelling in the neck, which is so prominent in the book. In my opinion, the 2020 nine series did an awesome job with the “tube neck” side of the trips. The 2020 series also does a slightly better job in my opinion at showing the complete and utter hopelessness of those infected. In short, I think the adding of the swelling in the neck was a diamond surrounded by coal in this series.

2. Dr Jim Ellis- For those unaware, Ellis is the epidemiologist in the 2020 miniseries tasked with figuring out why Stu isn’t getting sick. As somebody who wants to work the same exact job Dr. Ellis has, I thought his inclusion in the series was a gem. While the people tasked with figuring out why Stu isn’t getting sick in the 1994 series are in my opinion, very stuck up and don’t seem like they wanna solve things. Dr. Ellis on the other hand, in my opinion, genuinely seems he wants to find a solution to the crisis. Seeing him die at the end of episode one was also very sad for me. I might be figuring him wrong or thinking too deeply, but to me, he seemed like he thought he could somehow escape the trips and was devastated when he went to see Stu for the last time. He always stuck out to me because he showed Stu genuine compassion, I also liked the small detail of Stu looking and sounding broken when he realized Dr. Ellis had finally been infected.

3. Campion’s scenes- If this scene had actually been the very first scene instead of thrown near the middle of the series, it might’ve been perfect. The first thing I liked about this whole sequence was Campion seeing the doctor across the glass in their death throes. The second thing I liked was that Campion wasn’t a complete idiot and at first tried to do his job before fleeing to his wife and child. The third thing I liked was the scene taking place at night, in my opinion which is an omen for the world not yet fully grasping at what is to come.

4. Fleeing to the vice president’s bunker (I think it’s a bunker, please correct me if I’m wrong)- after the child of the nurse taking Stu’s blood tests positive for Captain trips, the facility is evacuated quickly and Stu is ushered into a black van and taken to an underground bunker. I liked this scene because the non immune people either genuinely but foolishly believe that can out last Captain trips, or they’re lying to themselves to save face. Seeing Dr. Ellis rushing into Stu’s room to tell him the nurse’s kid is sick and they have to evacuate was an amazing sequence. You can now fully see that Dr. Ellis is utterly horrified but still tries to put on a brave face. The detail about him telling Stu why they are leaving is also something I liked a lot. To me at least, it shows he’s somewhat given up and doesn’t care what happens to him temporarily. Then when he gets to the bunker he seems calmer and more confident.

Thanks for reading my rambles! Overall this series was absolute garbage, but I felt the need to talk about the few things I liked about it! Thank you all!

It was announced in 2025 that a new adaptation of The Stand would be made, but the bad news is that they want to make it 1 movie.

I’ve seen a few of Liman’s movies and I’ll say he seems like an okay choice to tackle the source material, but him wanting to do it through just one movie is what worries me.

I think the original is good, I don’t mind another adaptation as long as it’s good and faithful.

I hope the company and Liman will later change their minds and make it a series. Not much has been updated about the project, but I hope we get something good.

I’ve made a post about this before, but my main choices for 2 of the characters would be Thomas Jane as Flagg and Emma Myers as Franny. I feel like both of those actors would fit those parts so well

Any part that takes place in Vegas always instantly gets my attention, don’t get me wrong, the rest of the book is great, but the Vegas chapters are very interesting.

It gives me the vibe of if Vegas was Arkham asylum from Batman where the villains take over and it’s just a fun read.

Very interesting characters as well

Now I am in no way trying to diss Alexander Skarsgard as an actor in general, I’m mainly just talking about his performance as Flagg.

I know that the 2020 version of The Stand is a pretty bad adaptation amongst fans, but when you ask people what they liked about it, one of the things they will say is, “Alexander Skarsgard was great as Flagg” and I’m just thinking to myself really?

If you like his performance that’s fine, but I just don’t see it. I didn’t think he was particularly bad, but he was so damn boring to me. He just spoke so monotonous and had one facial expression throughout the series along with whispering his lines.

Flagg I imagine as serious, but can be a fun villain to read or watch on screen and has more charisma or somewhat “Aura” to him as a villain and I really just didn’t get that from Skarsgard.

It’s not his fault, Josh Boone and Benjamin Cavell are to blame for what we got of the character.