Starring Premieres Format Hour-long post-apocalyptic drama; six episodes watched for review It’s a bold move, but an inspired one. Harold wasn’t written to be one of the story’s main drivers, but his character serves as perhaps the purest vessel for King’s themes of free will and new beginnings, both of which form the spine of The Stand’s strong pilot episode. In flashbacks, we see a bullied Harold watch in wonder as his Maine hometown is decimated by a mysterious super-flu from which he appears to be immune. Unmoved by the death of his distant family, he sees the looming apocalypse as a fresh start, a stroke of fate—especially since the only other survivor in Ogunquit is his longtime obsession, Frannie (Odessa Young). As he thrives, Frannie collapses, broken by the loss of everyone and everything she loved. Both of them begin having strange dreams, some filled with a kindly, silver-haired prophet, others with an ominous “dark man” with big promises. One invites them to Boulder, Colorado, the other to Las Vegas—both with the intention to rebuild.