The Stand
Series, 1994, The Stand, Set in After Captain Trips
The Stand is #17 of 42 in release order and #41 of 42 in chronological order in the Stephen King Universe.
The story
After a deadly plague kills most of the world’s population, the remaining survivors split into two groups - one led by a benevolent elder and the other by a maleficent being - to face each other in a final battle between good and evil.
The Stand recap
The Stand (1994) is a four-part ABC miniseries in which a weaponised flu wipes out most of humanity and the survivors split between good and evil. Mick Garris directs from King's own script. A soldier escapes a military lab in California, spreading the superflu nicknamed Captain Trips across the country. Stu Redman (Gary Sinise), a Texan who seems immune, escapes government quarantine; pregnant college student Frannie Goldsmith (Molly Ringwald) survives in Maine with Harold Lauder (Corin Nemec), who loves her; and deaf mute Nick Andros (Rob Lowe), rock singer Larry Underwood (Adam Storke) and the mentally impaired Tom Cullen (Bill Fagerbakke) make their own way. All of them dream of two figures: Mother Abagail (Ruby Dee), a 108-year-old woman in Nebraska, and Randall Flagg (Jamey Sheridan), a demonic man who draws the wicked to Las Vegas. The good gather in Boulder, Colorado, while Flagg recruits Lloyd Henreid (Miguel Ferrer) and the pyromaniac Trashcan Man (Matt Frewer). Harold and Nadine Cross (Laura San Giacomo) plant a bomb that kills Nick and others.
The Stand ending explained
The Stand ends, in part four, with the Hand of God destroying Las Vegas. Mother Abagail sends Stu, Larry, Glen Bateman (Ray Walston) and Ralph Brentner to walk to Vegas; Stu breaks his leg and stays behind. Glen is shot, and Larry and Ralph are brought before a crowd for execution when Trashcan Man arrives with a nuclear warhead. A glowing hand sets it off, killing everyone, and Flagg vanishes. Tom finds Stu and brings him home, Frannie's baby survives the flu, and the couple return to Maine.
Where to watch The Stand
The Stand isn't on a US streaming service right now. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.1/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Shawshank Redemption, before Dolores Claiborne.
- Chronological order: after Pet Sematary, before The Stand.
What to watch before The Stand
Nothing. The Stand (1994) doesn't continue an earlier version, so it stands on its own.
Cast
- Gary Sinise as Stu Redman
- Rob Lowe as Nick Andros
- Molly Ringwald as Frannie Goldsmith
- Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg
- Corin Nemec as Harold Lauder
- Ruby Dee as Mother Abagail Freemantle
- Adam Storke as Larry Underwood
- Miguel Ferrer as Lloyd Henreid
- Peter Van Norden as Ralph Brentner (credit only)
- Bridgit Ryan as Lucy Swann
- Kellie Overbey as Dayna Jurgens
- Laura San Giacomo as Nadine Cross (credit only)
Created by Stephen King.