We begin this week’s episode of The Stand with the fallout of Mother Abagail’s disappearance from Episode 5. Nearing the end of the last episode Mother Abagail is visited by the Dark man, in the form of a white wolf. Since this encounter, Mother Abagail has been missing.
This Episode is sure to have lasting consequences for The Stand storyline and Characters, with just three episodes left to go!
The survivors in Boulder decide to hold a vigil for Mother Abagail at her home and that is where we pick up with the Boulder story. Not being able to locate her in the wilderness they feel that they have little choice but to hold a vigil for their lost leader. It is during this decision that we see Harold make his choice to attack at the vigil. He and Nadine had stolen the explosives earlier and were just waiting for the right moment to attack. With everyone in Boulder attending the vigil, it seems like the opportune time to strike, inflicting the most damage possible.
It is during this realization, by Harold, that we see more of the dissension between him and Nadine. In the beginning, Harold appeared to the subordinate in the partnership but he is now more focused than ever. Nadine is still doing the bidding of the Dark Man but Harold is doing things for him and him alone.
His treachery is fully discovered when Frannie breaks into his house and sees the surveillance and bomb-making room that Harold had in his basement. Harold walks in on Frannie and he immediately locks her up, hoping she won’t ruin his plan.
Frannie does escape from Harold’s basement and rushes to the vigil just in time to warn the majority of the group off. Most of the townsfolks get to a safe distance but unfortunately, Nick was inside the house when the bomb went off. It is the first major death that we have had in the show and it came as a bit of a shock. Naturally, there are going to be some major deaths but it was surprising to see Nick be the first to bite the bullet.
While things are going straight to hell in Boulder they are not going that well in New Vegas. We begin by meeting the Trash Can Man. A mentally disturbed man who just so happens to be a pyromaniac. The Dark Man recruits the Trash Can Man to break into a nuclear facility and retrieve something for him. We can see here that the ultimate plan of Flagg is beginning to come into focus. The weapon will most assuredly be used for destruction but when and why have yet to be revealed.
After Flagg meets with the Trash Can Man, we see what is becoming of the two remaining spies sent to New Vegas. Judge Farris is still holding out on the outskirts of New Vegas but she is shortly brought in to Flagg with a bullet through her head. She was killed against the express orders of the Dark Man and when the border guard responsible is confronted, Flagg beats the man to death in an elevator. We have seen the evil behind Flagg in the past but this was the first time we saw him get physical with anyone. It was a truly terrifying sight to see. Flagg has always been in control of everything and this was the first time we saw the violence inside him take over.
The other important point of the episode is Flagg discovering who the third spy is. For some reason, Tom Cullen had managed to stay out of Flagg’s view but this was changed. Flagg was able to get a clue as to who the third spy was and when Flagg was able to connect the word Moon with Tom, he was able to discern who the third spy was.
Yet another great episode of the mini-series as we get into the third act of the story. The story has moved along at a brisk pace and for being based on an incredibly long Stephen King novel they have done a great job of including all the main points.
Seeing the brutality exhibited by Flagg was a great layer to add to the character. Up until this point, we have only seen the charming side to Flagg, with a bit of malice. The full-blown rage out of him makes the character even more terrifying.
The character development with Harold in this episode has also been great. Harold is an incredibly sleazy man but we got to see how truly dangerous he can be. Going forward he will a character that we all hope will get what is coming to him.
With plans starting to become a little more clear it will be exciting to see what happens to the characters next week. Stay tuned for Episode 7 of The Stand, before we get into the end game, with Episodes 8 and 9.
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You can watch The Stand Series on Amazon Prime Video.