The Stand — Episode Two, Pocket Savior

There’s More?

By Mark

We begin episode two exactly where episode one left-off…of course we don’t, that’s not the modern way of TV story telling.

We begin episode two with completely new characters: Larry Underwood, Jovan Adepo (“Fences”, “The Leftovers (TV)”), is a singer in a band and also a druggie. He’s due his big break but his band all fall ill, as do most of his crowd and his mother.

Alone, he bumps into Heather Graham (“ Last Rampage “, “Boogie Nights”), and they embark on a short-lived love affair, Graham not one for being the final people alive on Earth.

Next, he bumps into Nadine Cross, Amber Heard (“ Aquaman”, “ Justice League “), though we don’t know how or why yet, and also a small boy carrying a guitar who doesn’t speak that they call Joe, Gordon Cormier (“Lost In Space (TV)”, Get Shorty (TV)”).

These three, together with a bunch of others deemed not important to be introduced, are also travelling across America, following signs left by Lauder, to find Mother Abigail.

We are also introduced to Lloyd Henreid, Nat Wolff (“The Kill Team”, “Death Note”), a small-time bank-robber who is accused of being a cop-killer and thrown in jail. When everyone dies from the virus around him, he is visited by Flagg who asks for his complete cooperation in exchange for getting him out, Lloyd agrees.

Underwood and his merry little crew all arrive in Boulder to find Redman and co have setup a nice little commune seemingly centred around Mother Abigail as some sort of god-like figure at the centre of it all.

Lauder is turning stranger and stranger, locked away in a house writing his stories and still upset that he didn’t get the girl (Fran).

I’d like to say episode two clears a few things up but it doesn’t really. It continues to jump about the place and it all feels like a bit of a mess thus-far, which is a shame as it is an incredibly timely story, albeit told some 40+ years ahead of our current situation, it’s just not that coherent at the moment.

Originally published at https://www.ocmoviereviews.com on December 20, 2020.