The problems are that they serve no useful purpose, and they're distracting. 'The Stand' has a lot going on in just the story. Individual character relationships, the whole Good vs. Evil struggle, the end of the world, how humans rebuild and so on.
I don't want to take it all in while also juggling intermingled timelines. For the same reason I don't want to read the novel in the middle of a fireworks show. The flashbacks are just one more thing to wade through. Which would be great if they served a purpose. But they only seem to be used to get the upfront Good vs. Evil confrontation upfront. While waiting for the slow simmer of the novel, which gradually brings Flagg and Las Vegas in.
So... we're supposed to have patience and wade through the flashbacks. But the production staff figures we can't be patient, and brings out the Dark Man up front. Huh? I also get the impression that the flashbacks are being used both to reduce the budget so the production staff doesn't have to put on a whole "end of the world" show for the first few episodes. And they don't want to offend the sensitivities of the viewers, what with the pandemic and now.
So maybe it's just bad timing, that they're doing a mini-series about a pandemic at the same time as an IRL pandemic. But embrace the allusion, deliberate or otherwise! The production staff will get at most as many people complaining about the pandemic vs. pandemic, as about the goofy flashbacks. It's not like we're talking network TV here. It's CBS Access, for pete's sake. That, and the 2020 viewers are a bit more understanding than those of the past. I hope. We get that it was bad timing but the production staff just couldn't stop the release.
As for the episode itself, it was okay. We get a bit of characterization, finally. Mostly focusing on Nick and Tom, which work better with a bit more detail than we got last week. We also finally get to see how Harold and Frannie "broke up", and how Frannie ended up with Stu. The latter isn't shown, but we can see how it works.
There's also more of Greg Kinnear, who I'm liking as Glen. Jovan Adepo still isn't making much of an impression as Larry. But Larry isn't that impressionable a character, either, so maybe that's unavoidable.
Goldberg is also pretty underused. Not that the story really needs her to be used much in this episode. But Nick and Tom find her in an old folks home? I can see why they changed it, barely. But like the flashback structure, it still seems unnecessary. And seems like a cheap out, rather than showing Abigail's struggle to get food for her visitors while dealing with Flagg's animal minions.
Some parts seemed awfully rushed, and the mini-series as a whole seems kinda of rushed. We're almost halfway into the mini-series, and they're already sending the spies out? And Harold and Nadine are about ready to kill the Committee? Only Tom gets any kind of decent goodbye, which at least displays the talent of Mr. Henke, and Mr. Zaga to a lesser degree.
Judge Harris barely gets a goodbye, and Dayna gets none at all. Why did Larry and Frannie select them? I have no idea and forget any backstory characterization. Presumably we'll see Larry meet Harris down the road of flashbacks, but by then Harris will probably be dead so a fat lot of goods that will do. And Dayna? She's "good" at beating a rapist's head in with a pipe, and that qualifies her to spy on the Dark Man. Why? Heck if I know?
Heck, you barely get to recognize Natalie Martinez from another Stephen King adaptation, 'Under the Dome'!
I miss seeing Flagg, and Las Vegas to a lesser degree, in the episode. Flagg is still the most charismatic guy in the room, just like in the novel. It's a shame he wasn't in this episode. Granted, I don't see a place to put him in. Maybe in Frannie's nightmares? We hear her mention a lunatic with a coat hanger, but show, not tell, production staff!
So ultimately the 4th episode wasn't too bad. It was primarily a place setter, setting up the Harold/Nadine assassination plot and the spies plot. And showed the Committee at worker, because they'll probably be eliminated pretty quick. And that's something we're losing with the flashbacks to: the novel dealt on how the Committee had to make some moral choices. The whole bit with Harold ramrodding through their nomination to a permanent Committee is rushed through, and the significance of it is just conveyed with a few worried glances between Committee members. In the novel it was a plot point: here it's glosses over so fast you barely notice it.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
I don't want to take it all in while also juggling intermingled timelines. For the same reason I don't want to read the novel in the middle of a fireworks show. The flashbacks are just one more thing to wade through. Which would be great if they served a purpose. But they only seem to be used to get the upfront Good vs. Evil confrontation upfront. While waiting for the slow simmer of the novel, which gradually brings Flagg and Las Vegas in.
So... we're supposed to have patience and wade through the flashbacks. But the production staff figures we can't be patient, and brings out the Dark Man up front. Huh? I also get the impression that the flashbacks are being used both to reduce the budget so the production staff doesn't have to put on a whole "end of the world" show for the first few episodes. And they don't want to offend the sensitivities of the viewers, what with the pandemic and now.
So maybe it's just bad timing, that they're doing a mini-series about a pandemic at the same time as an IRL pandemic. But embrace the allusion, deliberate or otherwise! The production staff will get at most as many people complaining about the pandemic vs. pandemic, as about the goofy flashbacks. It's not like we're talking network TV here. It's CBS Access, for pete's sake. That, and the 2020 viewers are a bit more understanding than those of the past. I hope. We get that it was bad timing but the production staff just couldn't stop the release.
As for the episode itself, it was okay. We get a bit of characterization, finally. Mostly focusing on Nick and Tom, which work better with a bit more detail than we got last week. We also finally get to see how Harold and Frannie "broke up", and how Frannie ended up with Stu. The latter isn't shown, but we can see how it works.
There's also more of Greg Kinnear, who I'm liking as Glen. Jovan Adepo still isn't making much of an impression as Larry. But Larry isn't that impressionable a character, either, so maybe that's unavoidable.
Goldberg is also pretty underused. Not that the story really needs her to be used much in this episode. But Nick and Tom find her in an old folks home? I can see why they changed it, barely. But like the flashback structure, it still seems unnecessary. And seems like a cheap out, rather than showing Abigail's struggle to get food for her visitors while dealing with Flagg's animal minions.
Some parts seemed awfully rushed, and the mini-series as a whole seems kinda of rushed. We're almost halfway into the mini-series, and they're already sending the spies out? And Harold and Nadine are about ready to kill the Committee? Only Tom gets any kind of decent goodbye, which at least displays the talent of Mr. Henke, and Mr. Zaga to a lesser degree.
Judge Harris barely gets a goodbye, and Dayna gets none at all. Why did Larry and Frannie select them? I have no idea and forget any backstory characterization. Presumably we'll see Larry meet Harris down the road of flashbacks, but by then Harris will probably be dead so a fat lot of goods that will do. And Dayna? She's "good" at beating a rapist's head in with a pipe, and that qualifies her to spy on the Dark Man. Why? Heck if I know?
Heck, you barely get to recognize Natalie Martinez from another Stephen King adaptation, 'Under the Dome'!
I miss seeing Flagg, and Las Vegas to a lesser degree, in the episode. Flagg is still the most charismatic guy in the room, just like in the novel. It's a shame he wasn't in this episode. Granted, I don't see a place to put him in. Maybe in Frannie's nightmares? We hear her mention a lunatic with a coat hanger, but show, not tell, production staff!
So ultimately the 4th episode wasn't too bad. It was primarily a place setter, setting up the Harold/Nadine assassination plot and the spies plot. And showed the Committee at worker, because they'll probably be eliminated pretty quick. And that's something we're losing with the flashbacks to: the novel dealt on how the Committee had to make some moral choices. The whole bit with Harold ramrodding through their nomination to a permanent Committee is rushed through, and the significance of it is just conveyed with a few worried glances between Committee members. In the novel it was a plot point: here it's glosses over so fast you barely notice it.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?
