The CBS All Access series The Stand wrapped up its nine-episode season in two episodes,
a showstopper appropriately titled "The Stand,"
and a quieter epilogue made up of largely new material titled "The Circle Closes." Here are
some of the most confusing aspects of the ending of The Stand, explained.
Once Glen, Ray, and Larry finally make it to Randall Flagg's evil empire in Las
Vegas to make their final stand, they are immediately arrested and put on trial. Glen
tragically never survives the courtroom, and Ray and Larry are subsequently sentenced to death
via drowning. The pair are chained to the bottom of an empty pool
as it slowly fills with water, in front of a crowd of spectators.
But before Larry and Ray can meet their watery end, thick clouds gather over
the building's central atrium and start zapping people with lightning bolts. Soon,
the lightning coalesces into a floating ball. It finishes by repeatedly zapping Flagg himself,
then destroying everything, including Larry and Ray, by detonating a nuclear warhead.
Safe to say, that was no ordinary lightning. In the book, although the circumstances are
a bit different, the warhead is detonated by a "Hand of God," described as a giant,
glowing hand in the sky. If you look closely as the clouds wrap around Flagg's building,
they do resemble fingers, meaning that the lightning was basically divine intervention.
Given the strong spiritual themes in the series, it's fitting that an act
of God would be the thing that would finally take out Flagg… at least for the time being.
Although four set out from Boulder to Las Vegas, only three arrive safely. Stu Redman breaks his
leg en route and is left behind along with Glen's dog Kojak, some travel supplies, and enough pain
meds to either take the edge off for a few days... or provide Stu with a swift and painless exit.
However, it never comes to that; it turns out that Dayna Jurgens' desperate warning note to
Tom Cullen was successful, despite his illiteracy. After hiding from Flagg's henchmen under a pile of
dead bodies, Tom was able to escape Las Vegas, and started the long walk toward Boulder.
On his way back, Tom's attention is drawn by Kojak, whom he joyfully follows. While we
never see Tom's reunion with Stu, we can infer it happens when Stu finally makes it back to Boulder.
"Tom saved my life, Frannie."
By the time they make it back, Stu is walking,
and it's clear from Frannie's narration that a fair amount of time has passed. In the book,
this time gap is explained by Tom nursing Stu back to health in a hunting lodge,
aided by the ghost of Nick Andros. In the show, we'll just have to use our imaginations.
One of the creepier subplots in The Stand is Nadine's supernatural pregnancy,
fathered by Randall Flagg. Nadine encountered Flagg in a vision while she was crossing the
desert to get to Las Vegas, and they finally consummated their disturbing relationship,
with him transforming into a horrific demon mid-act. After arriving in Vegas,
it didn't take very long for Nadine to realize she was pregnant with Flagg's offspring.
Who or what was gestating inside Nadine's womb will always be left to viewers' imaginations,
but we can at least venture to say that it wasn't a healthy baby human. For one thing,
Nadine went from being a virgin to seemingly nine months pregnant in the span of just a few days.
For another, it was clear from Nadine's corpse-like appearance and the sharp movements
beneath her skin that whatever was inside her was consuming her from the inside out. Nadine
finally realized that she was never intended to survive the birth, and throws herself from
Flagg's penthouse window. From Flagg's devastated reaction, we can assume that whatever Nadine was
about to give birth to was instrumental to his plan, and was most likely intended to be the
demonic successor to Flagg himself. Fortunately for everyone, that plan never came to fruition.
Although The Stand is filled with human characters, it is ultimately
about a war between cosmic forces of good and evil. On the side of good,
representing the will of God, is Mother Abigail, and on the side of evil, there
is Randall Flagg. But unlike Mother Abigail, who is uniquely gifted but undeniably human,
Flagg is… something else. Not only can he fly, but he also can apparently regenerate
after being repeatedly struck by lightning and then vaporized by a nuclear blast.
To call Flagg "the Devil" is probably both the right answer and an oversimplification.
Mother Abigail alludes to the idea that he is actually the son of the Devil.
"He simply showed you what he thought would scare you into doing his will.
He's his father's son, and he tempted you."
However, in Stephen King's books, Flagg is more of an ageless, malevolent wizard who repeatedly
shows up to push characters toward darkness. So in the broader scope of King's works,
Flagg is both a sort of living Devil, and also something else a little more human. In The Stand,
however, the character leans more heavily into the Devil persona,
both in how some of his actions mirror Biblical stories, and in his demand to be worshipped.
The Trashcan Man is one of the more enigmatic characters in The Stand, characterized only by his
pyromania and an erratic behavior that indicates some sort of neurodivergence. He's introduced well
into the series, and is tasked with retrieving a nuclear warhead that Flagg intends to drop
on the Boulder Free Zone. But instead, the Trashcan Man, covered in radiation burns,
drives the warhead into Flagg's hotel, where it is then detonated by the Hand of God.
In the miniseries, there's no explanation given for the Trashcan Man's odd behavior. He seems to
think he's doing Flagg a favor, but we never get any context as to why. In the book, though, it's
a little more fleshed out. The Trashcan Man brings Flagg the bomb to make up for accidentally wiping
out a big chunk of his air force. That scene never happens in the miniseries, so the Trashcan Man's
motivations are much more vague. Taking him at his word, he simply misunderstands what Flagg wants
him to do with the warhead, and thinks it makes sense to bring it straight to his leader. Whoops.
After Stu and Frannie decide to depart Boulder for Maine, they pause in Nebraska to rest and restock,
taking up residence in an abandoned farmhouse. Only, the cornfield outside the house isn't as
abandoned as they think; a young woman is staying in a tent in the field. At first,
the girl's presence seems ominous, but later, once she helps Stu save
Frannie and then miraculously heals Frannie's wounds, it's clear she's on the side of good.
The implication is that she's a reincarnated version of Mother Abigail, or at least someone
like her, chosen by God to possess special gifts. Her presence is never really explained,
and she vanishes once Stu and Frannie are safe again. Considering that Flagg is shown to still
be alive at the end of the series, introducing the girl shows that there is also still someone like
Mother Abigail in the world to help balance him out. As Mother Abigail tells Frannie,
"The wheel keeps turning. The struggle continues. But the command is always the same."
History will continue to repeat, and evil will never be fully defeated,
but Mother Abigail's point is that resistance should never end either.
The girl seems to show that as long as there is evil, there will also be powerful good.
After tumbling into a well, Frannie dreams of encountering Flagg in a forest. There,
he names her biggest fears: that she will die of her injuries, leaving her baby to die of exposure,
and that Stu will die in an accident before he can get back to them.
But he offers her a way to prevent that outcome if she'll give him just one thing.
"I would like a kiss."
He explains that the kiss will give him the ability to see through her eyes every now and
then. For a second, it looks like Frannie may give in, but then she makes her choice clear.
"Not for my husband, not for my baby,
not for the world itself. Get thee behind me, you [bleep] bastard."
While the translation obviously takes a bit of liberty, Frannie is actually quoting the Bible, in
the book of Matthew, when the Devil tempts Jesus in the desert. Just like the Devil in the story,
Flagg offers Frannie everything her heart desires, and just like Jesus, Frannie refuses
to be tempted. In doing so, Frannie finally gets to make her own stand against evil.
Similarly to how Frannie's last confrontation with Flagg is heavy with Biblical references,
so is her final conversation with Mother Abigail. After praising Frannie for resisting
the temptation of evil, Mother Abigail tells her that she will have five children,
20 grandchildren, and 70 great-grandchildren.
"Your children will replenish the earth."
This also mirrors a story in the Bible. In the book of Genesis, God rewards Abram's faithfulness
by telling him that his family will become a great nation, and that they shall become the recipients
of the promised land. The parallel is clear: by rejecting Flagg, Frannie has been blessed
by God for great things. She knows that taking a stand against evil isn't a one-time action,
but that even in the face of hardship, her instruction is clear.
"Be true. Stand."
After the dust of Las Vegas has settled at the end of "The Stand," it's easy to wonder…
what was the point? Why did Mother Abigail bother sending the four representatives there,
if the city was going to be blown up in a nuclear blast anyway?
Even the hearts Larry and Ray were changing right at the end didn't ultimately seem to matter,
since those people died along with the rest of the inhabitants of Las Vegas.
Obviously, it's hard to say what would have happened if the quartet had never set out for
Vegas. But it's possible that the only reason the Hand of God appeared over Flagg's casino
was because of the demonstration of faith from Larry, Ray, and Glen. By refusing to bow to Flagg,
they demonstrated conviction and faith to the people of Las Vegas. That faith then spread to
others who would've otherwise been complacent. Many of The Stand's themes are about the power
of resisting evil even if the personal cost is high. So even though Larry, Ray,
and Glen died, their commitment to righteousness was likely the thing that saved their friends.
The final moments of The Stand are a bit disturbing,
as Flagg stumbles into a village isolated from both the modern world and the deadly superflu.
After killing a member of the tribe, Flagg levitates and introduces himself.
"My name is Russell Faraday. Worship me!"
It's clear that the cycle is beginning yet again. Flagg will continue to corrupt and gain power
wherever he can, and it will be up to the good people of the world to resist his influence.
The new name he gives himself is especially interesting. A Faraday cage is an enclosure
used to block electromagnetic fields, which seems significant considering Flagg was defeated
by a ball of divine lightning. Calling himself "Faraday" feels almost like a challenge to God,
insisting that the next time God comes after him, he'll be ready.
After Frannie, Stu, and baby Abigail leave, we never learn what happens to the rest
of the growing population of Boulder. However, before Frannie and Stu leave,
they talk about how it seems as though it's only a matter of time before all of the
familiar vices and failings of human society creep inside the town's peaceful borders.
This echoes what Frannie says earlier, in her musing that she's not sure humanity is capable
of picking a better path than before, even with a complete reset. And it's repeated again toward the
end of the episode, when Mother Abigail talks about the repetitive nature of human history.
So what does that mean for Boulder? It means that they'll get back to normal,
with all that normal entails. It means the residents will find happiness and friendship
and love, but that there will also be pain and bitterness and violence. It means that
they won't get a happy ending, but they also won't get a sad one, because as Frannie says,
"Truth is, most stories don't end at all."
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