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As a story of a world-gutting flu pandemic, Stephen King’s “The Stand,” whose second, superior miniseries adaptation begins Thursday on CBS All Access, could not be more timely. And as a story of good and evil facing off for the usual high stakes and of democracy versus autocracy, self-sacrifice versus narcissism it also feels very on brand for 2020. Whether that makes people more or less inclined to watch, I couldn’t say.
I have reviewed a lot of King adaptations over the years, and apart from “The Shining,” my King reading consists entirely of preparing to review TV adaptations of Stephen King novels. Sometimes they are better than the books and sometimes worse. First published in 1978, at 840 pages, “The Stand” was updated in 1990 with a few hundred pages more, and you will excuse me, I hope, if in this case I do not take the reading on. I have researched the novel there is a deep well of information out there in the digital universe and have read
The Stand Feels Both Timely and Overwhelming
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Mother Abagail (Whoopi Goldberg) summons you.unless you re Team Flagg. (Image: CBS All Access)
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The Stand came out in 2020. Much like the year itself, the story begins with a pandemic and goes on to showcase some truly awful human behaviour. CBS All Access certainly has timeliness on its side but what about the rest?