The Stand

Episode 3 is a little better with a little less time hopping but the show continues to use music horribly. Nick Andros is a Salvadorian anchor baby because of course he is. It also adds an extra racial layer to the beating the character gets. If they didn't already give you 95% of Harold's arc in episode one it would have helped this episode and the overall story.

Sanrith Descartes said:

It tells me "HOLIDAY" is not valid.

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It ended on the 24th. They just did a promo on Amazon for 99 cents that I *think* just expired so new codes should be out soon. Will post them when I see them.

Sanrith Descartes said:

Its funny, I looked through everything on CBS-now and there really isnt that much I want to watch. A high school friend of my wifes was on an early season of Big Brother and that is half the reason I want to get it. I may just grab a free month, binge what I want to watch and then let it fade. I'll wait for your next update on the code. Gracias.

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I got the same issue. I think it may be why this whole year was free if you watched for monthly codes.
I think they are stalling for either a package stream deal( they offer multiple channels already on CBS+ ) or stalling for service exclusive content like Disney+ and others are doing.
NBC fucked them a bit by making Peacock free and offering much better content such as all the SyFy BattleStar Galactica stuff completely free, they may start charging when Peacock only content comes such as the NEW Battlestar already in filming.

It's funny Amazon Fire allows CBS access app but not Peacock.
They pulled the same shit with HBO Max for like 6 months but I was able to side load that until an agreement came.
Amazon won't allow broadcast apps unless it can also sell the option via Amazon Prime.
Total bullshit that is as people don't buy streaming sticks for locked out options.
Thankfully my LG allows apps too so I can bypass the streaming stick in some app cases.

Sanrith Descartes said:

Yeah I had to load HBO Max on the XBOX until recently when Amazon and ATT finally signed an agreement.

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Anyways and even if you already did a free trial though CBS, Prime is useful for one thing.
Prime free week/month trials are independent of direct app, so you could always 7 days it up through Prime till new codes come.
I often cycle cinemax/starz and such this way as they "forget" you had a free trial after a few months.
Did it with Cinemax this week to watch all of Strike Back and that "The Hunt" movie that was so controversial this year.

The only exception for me is Netflix.
After doing multiple free trials in 2019, the entire year of 2020 Netflix hasn't offered me one and as soon as I use any credit card to sign up for free trial the account is shut down within an hour.
Those child porn loving bastards.

Was getting a little better (still bad) but episode five is just terrible. I miss the Randall Flagg that crucified people for drug use. Instead we've got one that is remaking Las Vegas in to Sodom for some unknown reason.

Arbitrary said:

Was getting a little better (still bad) but episode five is just terrible. I miss the Randall Flagg that crucified people for drug use. Instead we've got one that is remaking Las Vegas in to Sodom for some unknown reason.

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wait, so Flagg no longer wants law and order, security and everyone employed with a nuclear family? i guess that would make him too fucking awesome to be considered the bad guy anymore.

Chukzombi said:

wait, so Flagg no longer wants law and order, security and everyone employed with a nuclear family? i guess that would make him too fucking awesome to be considered the bad guy anymore.

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Flagg as a symbol of the pre-flu Ronald Regan American would have been so much better though. Mandated nine hour workdays, the death penalty for drug use and loyalty oaths. Las Vegas is clean and drug free. The power is back on. Order has been restored...BUT AT WHAT COST.

This is just like, yeah of course he's the going to get nuked by God. The book and the original show both have the scene where one of the spies sent to Vegas has a confrontation with Flagg and the version of that scene in this is so fucking bad I'm at a loss for words. There's no growing tension throughout the scene as the two have a little back and forth up until the facade falls away. The show is honestly just full of bad xeroxes of the source material.

Arbitrary said:

Flagg as a symbol of the pre-flu Ronald Regan American would have been so much better though. Mandated nine hour workdays, the death penalty for drug use and loyalty oaths. Las Vegas is clean and drug free. The power is back on. Order has been restored...BUT AT WHAT COST.

This is just like, yeah of course he's the going to get nuked by God. The book and the original show both have the scene where one of the spies sent to Vegas has a confrontation with Flagg and the version of that scene in this is so fucking bad I'm at a loss for words. There's no growing tension throughout the scene as the two have a little back and forth up until the facade falls away. The show is honestly just full of bad xeroxes of the source material.

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god, why even bother remaking these things if they dont understand the source material? maybe they realized that people might not mind a little harsh L&E and think Dayna or whatever that blonde chick's name was just a douchey hippie trying to stop civilization from recovering. the "at what cost!?" theme was basically the entire tone of The Stand. we want all the modern tech, all medical breakthroughs everyone safe and sound the cleanest air and water with absolutely none of the downsides that go with such things . shit like that is why people are so manic about moving manufacuring jobs over seas. somehow if its on the other side of the planet it wont affect us. and if it does, then blame it on something else like automobiles and cow farts.

Cybsled said:

That is one trope I despise. It’s nostalgia wrapped in ignorance. “We need to get back to nature!” and forget WHY we tried to get away from nature. Shitty life expectancy, riddled with parasites, deaths in childbirth and high infant mortality, diseases, spending most of your waking hours doing menial manual labor just to survive, food instability, etc. it’s just a Luddite fantasy that all ours woes have roots in technology and forget we had lots of woes pre technology as well.

Look, I’m all for being good stewards of the environment and trying to minimize impact, but at a certain point, regression of advancement just makes shit worse.

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The part where everyone is dead and everything is off or broken is just sped through so fast you can't even really tell there was ever even a pandemic. Getting the power back on is a big deal except it's not. Cleaning everything up and establishing order is a ton of work except its not. Everyone in Boulder has pristine movie homes, nice clothes, food, etc. The show really did just rush to the least interesting part of the book and hang out there. I don't even think we're going to see Flagg's rise and decline because we never saw his rise. Vegas is just good to go.

Someone who knows consumer electronics/security cameras please link me to the one that Harold used in the most recent episode. Wireless, no need for wifi or internet, works across neighborhood/town. The thing is amazing.

Attog said:

Someone who knows consumer electronics/security cameras please link me to the one that Harold used in the most recent episode. Wireless, no need for wifi or internet, works across neighborhood/town. The thing is amazing.

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you know who writes like this

Arbitrary said:

The part where everyone is dead and everything is off or broken is just sped through so fast you can't even really tell there was ever even a pandemic. Getting the power back on is a big deal except it's not. Cleaning everything up and establishing order is a ton of work except its not. Everyone in Boulder has pristine movie homes, nice clothes, food, etc. The show really did just rush to the least interesting part of the book and hang out there. I don't even think we're going to see Flagg's rise and decline because we never saw his rise. Vegas is just good to go.

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This. The nonlinear storytelling bullshit is killing this version. Lazy crutch

I don't know how the show pulls it off but it feels both it manages to feel rushed while almost nothing happens. We just didn't spend any time hanging out with the characters and getting to know them so we've got no investment. The only one with an actual arc is Harold and he managed to come off as sympathetic. Fran trying to talk him down was ridiculous. She's treated him like a wad of used up chewing gum every single moment we've seen them together. When Harold tells her that his whole life everyone abandoned him only to have everyone abandon him AGAIN that is indeed the story we were presented.

The story of Harold should not have been of a boy that everyone treated like shit and then lashed out. Oh, and let's just completely humiliate and emasculate him a couple extra times to show that everyone is right to not like him. It's a stupid fucking message that honestly borders on irresponsible. His story in the book and should have been in the show the story of someone that didn't fit in who started to change for the better and began to realize that maybe they were part of the problem before falling to temptation in the end. He almost made it to the other side but failed. That's tragic and there's a lesson there. The television show was only willing to give him a single friend and then entirely glosses over Larry Underwood's appreciation of Harold as he followed his footsteps through the wasteland. Fran and Stu never have that moment where they realize Harold actually was pretty fucking useful all things considered. Some dry humping from Nadine is all the push he needed. What a loser. The closest thing he ever gets to an apology from anyone is "I do know it must seem unfair to you so I'm sorry" from Stu in regards to Fran. Well holy fuck Stu don't blubber all over him. He might think you're sweet on him with all the honey you're slathering on.

Fran doesn't even bother trying to apologize. "Harold, you're my connection to the world before and I need that!" encapsulates their one-sided relationship so well I can't believe someone actually wrote that dialogue unironically. "You think nobody cared about you but it's just not true!" Did that stuff take place off screen then? You actually need to show some of that otherwise what we have is Fran proving she's completely oblivious to Harold and how he's been treated by her and by everyone else. If you told me that an angry incel sneaked a few pages in to this episode's script I'd believe it.

But again, he's the only fucking character with anything going so it's either latch on to that or there's nothing. When I saw the original made for TV movie as a kid I was completely shocked by the death of Nick Andross. I really liked the character and couldn't believe what had happened. This Nick Andross did very nearly nothing aside from check a diversity box by being a Guatemalan anchor baby. Could we spend some fucking time with him and Tom in the wasteland? The Judge is pretty cool in the book, has a couple good scenes and a gruesome end. This version of the judge does nothing, gets sent West and dies off screen. Trashcan Man and Lloyd are both incredibly annoying with nothing going on. Miguel Ferrer's portrayal was excellent. He's another character that we are introduced to as an antagonist of sorts that manages to make it around to sympathetic. He sticks with Flagg until the very end. Flagg's the only person in his whole life that every saw anything in him. Like Harold and like Trash he's tragic. I can't wait for this Lloyd to get made in to a nuclear shadow. I have no idea why Las Vegas has been remade in to Sodom. Flagg is just a dime store Ersatz devil character. Actually, it's worse than that. I expect devils to be charismatic.

The money there, the actors are there but the writing is fucking horrible and they shot themselves in the dick for no reason by doing the first couple of episodes out of order.

Arbitrary said:

I don't know how the show pulls it off but it feels both it manages to feel rushed while almost nothing happens. We just didn't spend any time hanging out with the characters and getting to know them so we've got no investment. The only one with an actual arc is Harold and he managed to come off as sympathetic. Fran trying to talk him down was ridiculous. She's treated him like a wad of used up chewing gum every single moment we've seen them together. When Harold tells her that his whole life everyone abandoned him only to have everyone abandon him AGAIN that is indeed the story we were presented.

The story of Harold should not have been of a boy that everyone treated like shit and then lashed out. Oh, and let's just completely humiliate and emasculate him a couple extra times to show that everyone is right to not like him. It's a stupid fucking message that honestly borders on irresponsible. His story in the book and should have been in the show the story of someone that didn't fit in who started to change for the better and began to realize that maybe they were part of the problem before falling to temptation in the end. He almost made it to the other side but failed. That's tragic and there's a lesson there. The television show was only willing to give him a single friend and then entirely glosses over Larry Underwood's appreciation of Harold as he followed his footsteps through the wasteland. Fran and Stu never have that moment where they realize Harold actually was pretty fucking useful all things considered. Some dry humping from Nadine is all the push he needed. What a loser. The closest thing he ever gets to an apology from anyone is "I do know it must seem unfair to you so I'm sorry" from Stu in regards to Fran. Well holy fuck Stu don't blubber all over him. He might think you're sweet on him with all the honey you're slathering on.

Fran doesn't even bother trying to apologize. "Harold, you're my connection to the world before and I need that!" encapsulates their one-sided relationship so well I can't believe someone actually wrote that dialogue unironically. "You think nobody cared about you but it's just not true!" Did that stuff take place off screen then? You actually need to show some of that otherwise what we have is Fran proving she's completely oblivious to Harold and how he's been treated by her and by everyone else. If you told me that an angry incel sneaked a few pages in to this episode's script I'd believe it.

But again, he's the only fucking character with anything going so it's either latch on to that or there's nothing. When I saw the original made for TV movie as a kid I was completely shocked by the death of Nick Andross. I really liked the character and couldn't believe what had happened. This Nick Andross did very nearly nothing aside from check a diversity box by being a Guatemalan anchor baby. Could we spend some fucking time with him and Tom in the wasteland? The Judge is pretty cool in the book, has a couple good scenes and a gruesome end. This version of the judge does nothing, gets sent West and dies off screen. Trashcan Man and Lloyd are both incredibly annoying with nothing going on. Miguel Ferrer's portrayal was excellent. He's another character that we are introduced to as an antagonist of sorts that manages to make it around to sympathetic. He sticks with Flagg until the very end. Flagg's the only person in his whole life that every saw anything in him. Like Harold and like Trash he's tragic. I can't wait for this Lloyd to get made in to a nuclear shadow. I have no idea why Las Vegas has been remade in to Sodom. Flagg is just a dime store Ersatz devil character. Actually, it's worse than that. I expect devils to be charismatic.

The money there, the actors are there but the writing is fucking horrible and they shot themselves in the dick for no reason by doing the first couple of episodes out of order.

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"Harold, you're my connection to the world before and I need that!"
this is actually a line from the book, but i dont think she said that to Harold, i think she said that to Stu in regard to Harold or it was just a random thought rolling around inside her head. she never considered Harold more than just a piece of shit, Fran and her sister talked shit about him constantly. when the guys he worked with on the corpse cleanup crew started calling him Hawk, she was completely dumbfounded that anyone could think of him as anything positive. ditto for Nadine Cross. when she hooked up and moved in wit Harold. Fran acted like a jealous snot , like how dare Harold move on with his life, he's supposed to fit in this certain box she made up in her mind. have i mentioned, the Boulder Free Zone is full of assholes?

reavor said:

so many weird decisions... the whole penthouse scene with Bobby-Terry, the face off between Abagail and Flagg... completely unnecessary and stupid changes. the removal of the whole traveling the desolate america part is one of the most disappointing parts. wasn't trashcan supposed to have a sense for finding bombs that flagg didn't have, which was why he wanted to use him. and him brining back the nuke was definitely NOT what flagg wanted. yet in the show, Flagg has to tell him where to look for it.

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in the book, Trashy was a huge pyro and he burned down every city he came across. he once had a dream of Flagg meeting him and said something like " i want to put you high up in my artillery" and "i will set you to burn!", the thing is, Trashy was a blank to Flagg. he would head out into the desert and bring back all kinds of weapons, Flagg would be pleased and encourage him to get more, he had a nose for where all the good stuff was. he went into one facility where the Superflu along with even worse bioweapons were, but they didnt cause fire, so he ignored them. he went for the nuke that was further down because its the ultimate fire. the unshielded radiation was killing him, but he brought it back anyway because he thought Flagg would be proud. Flagg didnt know what was coming, either because his mind was diverted to the Boulder assholes or because Trashy was a blank to him. i forget now. anyway. Flagg would have probably welcomed the nuke in a better circumstance, but his "eye" or whatever that thing was homed in on the nuke and set it off killing all the "baddies", deus ex machinima fashion.