The stage is set for things to happen in Boulder. Harold is now in his sixth episode of plotting and being vengeful. It’s time, dude. More importantly, we finally get to meet Trashcan Man. Why the fuck did it take this long to get to one of the most beloved characters in this story? Ezra Miller plays Trashcan Man, and he is probably best known for portraying Barry Allen/The Flash in the DC Universe of films. That doesn’t help me at all because I got halfway through Batman vs Superman, I clapped my hands and said I’m out. I’ve only come back for the Suicide Squad films and Bird of Prey. I wish I had never seen Birds of Prey. But that’s a different topic for a different day. I’m cautiously optimistic about this. I mean, how can you possibly fuck up Trashcan Man? Matt Frewer did a great job in the 94 version. I’m excited!
Start Episode 6 The Vigil
There’s Trashcan Man (TCM for short). There’s a crow. Why is TCM screeching? What is this song? I think TCM is nude and jacking it after making a big explosion. In the dream world, Randall tells TCM that he is who will bring the big fire and will help Flagg. Then flashes of Trash’s younger days with taunting, but it’s all a disjointed mess. Lots of fire. Why does he sound like that? What in the holy fuck is going on??? Seriously, what the fuck did you cock sucker mother fuckers do to Trashcan Man?
God damnit, who wrote this screenplay? Okay, Josh Boone did. Well, who the fuck is Josh Boone and what did he do that was so special to warrant getting this opportunity? He did The Fault In Our Stars and The New Mutants, which seemed to be rather unpopular upon release. That’s it! This guy does those two things and is given the reins to The Stand? No wonder TCM is acting repugnantly. This mother fucker shouldn’t be running this shit. I want to sue CBS for this slander. TCM is way cooler than they are representing him. And now it all makes sense. They have been hiding TCM because they knew it was shit and when editing, were most likely embarrassed by their crapulence and tried holding off the inevitable as long as possible.
There’s a search party looking for Abigail. Harold comes into Nadine’s house to tell her that MA is gone. They are wondering if it was Flagg that caused the disappearance. He asks Nadine if Flagg has other people in Boulder aside from them. The funny thing is, Boulder sent 3, Flagg only needed 2. Nadine makes it all about her and how Flagg needs her. Harold corrects her and says that Flagg needs both of them. I truly feel bad for Harold. Harold says that there will be a vigil in front of MA’s house tonight, a nice big crowd. He shows her some explosives and she says to trim it down and she may have a perfect place for it. If you think long and hard, you already know the place. It was the only thing that Nadine knows in MA’s house, right? It has to be the piano (I’m not exactly correct, as is tradition). In the 94 version, it was just in a closet and not nearly as cool, but Harold did rock out to disco music while assembling it.
We’re with the Judge now. She’s in a room, has a nice bed, looks like a motel. She is marking the days off of the calendar. She hears a noise and so she pulls out her gun like she’s R Kelly being trapped in the closet with Tom Cruise. I’m doubting anybody gets the reference.
In New Vegas, terrible music is playing, but there are scantily clad women, so they offset each other. Even better on mute. TCM is getting shown around by Lloyd, but all TCM does is screech. Lloyd tells him that he smells like gasoline and bird shit. TCM tells Lloyd that he’s gonna die. Fair enough! That’s a hell of a response.
They arrive at Flagg’s floor. Flagg was trying to get this fire going and he had TCM get it really nice. A sly way to build up his confidence. Sorta like when a girl doesn’t say that your penis is big, but it’s thick or your balls are big. It’s just a kind way to build up confidence…..not that I know anything about that. Flagg is impressed and tells Lloyd that they found their man and Lloyd isn’t so sure about that. Wow, Lloyd has a contrarian opinion. That’s ballsy. TCM does the “my life for you” bit, but it sounds so weak and pathetic. Flagg and TCM talk about big fires in history and a facility in the dessert that Flagg wants TCM to go out there and bring back “THE fire”. They take TCM away, but Flagg asks Lloyd to hang back.
Flagg wants the airfield to be ready by the time TCM returns, and Lloyd says that it’s right on schedule. I doubt it, but maybe. Lloyd asks if they really need TCM. He seems to be like a jealous child when his sibling gets more attention. Flagg calls him out and says that the big fire is for the holdouts. Also, another spy is on their way. Flagg is very adamant that they keep her alive. Lloyd warns that his border men are meatheads that are trigger happy, and Flagg demands that she be captured alive. He wants to know who the third spy is. Lloyd suggests that maybe the third spy hasn’t gotten close to them staggering their arrivals, but Flagg says that this one is different. Every time Flagg tries to see who the third is, all he sees is the moon.
Tom is looking at a machine that has the word “RUN” on it and he is trying to decipher the code. Rat Woman comes out for a smoke and to tell Tom to come upstairs and clean puke from the fountain. He asks her what the word is. She is nice enough to explain it and that was her first scene where she played the character a bit more naturally, as you would expect. Also, she has no bra on. That’s cool. A Run, Forrest, Run reference. Good scene!
Fran is at MA’s house and Nick is playing with the piano. Ray is so pissed at Nick because he doesn’t go out and search and that’s all she’s doing. That makes sense, actually. Nick points to the note that explicitly tells them not to go looking for her. Ray is so bent out of shape. Ray just went off on all of them, especially Glen, while Nadine and Joe stand behind her.
Nadine had the kids all make cards for MA. She just discreetly put a tube of cardboard next to the piano. And she wants to spread the cards out to each room of the house. Larry offers to help but is rejected. He offers to watch Joe and is rejected. Larry was assuming Joe would be at the vigil and Nadine looks to the piano and then acts upset at the idea of Joe even attending the vigil tonight. She thinks it’s a bad idea for the kids to attend the vigil after what they experienced when the plague started. Harold shows up to get Stu to take over his shift. Larry leaves with Joe to go jam out. Harold has that look on his face. Harold sees Fran and Stu kiss and then looks at the tube and smiles. Fran is off to get more vitamins. I have never said the word “vigil” so much in my life.
Mother Abigail is wandering the woods and talking to God. Flagg shows up to talk shit. She says “Get thee behind me, Satan.” He corrects her that it isn’t his name. He has many names. I can’t wait to watch Storm of the Century. “My name is Legion, for we are many.” Haha, and I just referenced Storm of the Century. If he name drops Andre Linoge, I will give this 0.2 extra. MA suggests that Flagg is scared of a time when people see through him for what he truly is. Flagg suggests that MA isn’t out there looking for God, rather she is looking for death. Ohhh. Flagg creates some heavy winds. That was cheesy as hell. A murder of crows come flying at MA but accomplish nothing. Not even murder.
Tom is given the responsibility to load up the bodies of the dead fighters on the back of the truck and then leave the keys on the driver’s seat when he is done. Lloyd and Julie walk nearby and Tom sees Julie, recognizes her and then Ram Jam’s “Black Betty” starts playing. If nothing else, the soundtrack is very good for this mini-series, by and large.
Who’s this biker-looking mother fucker with Lloyd and Julie? He looks like he’s seen some shit. I feel like Lloyd modeled himself after early Kid Rock. Oh no, this dude shot up Judge Harris. Wait, are you not even going to show that scene? I think his name is Bobby Terry. Oh, it sure is Bobby. Oh, Bobby…..poor Bobby.
They enter Flagg’s penthouse with a very dead Judge. Yup, apparently not going to show a relatively memorable scene. When Josh Boone dies, I’m gonna find his spirit, because I’ll already be dead and know my way around, and I will ask, what the fuck were you thinking. Flagg asks Bobby if Lloyd made sure to tell them the importance of taking her alive. Lloyd tries to interject, but Flagg tells him to shut it. Lloyd apologizes and Flagg forgives him. Flagg now looks at Bobby and Bobby does that childlike apology where he doesn’t mean it, the insincerity is residing in there. Flagg asks specifically what Bobby is sorry for, after all, these guys claim it was self-defense. Randall asks if anybody should have to apologize for self-defense. After all, an attack on one of his men is an attack on him. I believe him.
So once again, what is Bobby sorry for? Is there a way that he could have de-escalated the situation? This is the only way he could have handled an old lady who weighed 100 pounds soaking wet, right? And everybody is taking several steps back. Randall asks once again if Bobby Terry is sorry. Bobby makes the smart decision to then give Randall the middle finger and turn his back. Oh my.
Bobby walks out the door and uses his tiny chain wallet to secure the doors. Oh my. Bobby is running to the elevator. He is waiting impatiently. “Bobby Terry, you screwed it up!” and the doors shatter. That was such a lame line. Well, now he’s walking like a T-1000 toward Bobby. Bobby is trying to get the door to close. The door closes and he starts to go down. But there’s a growl. Flagg is in the elevator now and just decimating Bobby in the elevator and everyone can see it. The door opens to a very dead Bobby, and a bloody Randall and elevator. At least he gave his apologies to the housekeeping department. Does Rat Woman ever wear a bra? Rat Woman says that she will take care of it right away. She radios for 6 of the best guys, including Mr. M-O-O-N. Flagg just stopped dead in his tracks. Randall asks where he can find this man.
Tom puts the keys in the truck on the driver’s seat. He then hops in the back and is going to hide among all of the dead bodies. He has people looking for him. Okay, that was pretty crafty for Tom, right?
People are searching for MA at night. Oh, Harold and Stu are on patrol together. Even better. Stu jokes that maybe he should take a nap to see if MA appears to him in a dream. This is very reminiscent of The Walking Dead season 2 with Shane and Rick walking in the woods and Shane is considering killing Rick then. Harold is reflecting on their journey. Stu actually apologizes to Harold. Norris interrupts and tells Stu to head back and work on his speech. Norris also seems un-optimistic.
Fran comes home and hears a woman say that it’s time to go. She is in Harold’s house and is all paranoid, She uses a crowbar to go into Harold’s basement. I hope Nadine takes Frannie out. Fran finds the surveillance monitors. She enters another room, more of a workshop area. She finds Harold’s manifesto titled “Guideposts To A Better Life”. This is actually interesting to read, so naturally, they show very little. Harold enters and Fran thinks that she can just walk past him. Bitch, are you stupid? She asks him what he is doing. Harold says that Captain Tripps was supposed to be his great adventure. Harold Emery Lauder = HEL. I’m surprised they didn’t give him a double last name like Lincoln Lauder to make it HELL. Somebody had to have at least considered it, right?
Harold goes on his “woe is me” speech and how his feelings were hurt. He does a good job with it, but we’re covering familiar ground at this point. He is gonna set the world right and kill every last one of them, except Fran. She starts trying to play Harold on how much she needs him and how he’s her last connection to the previous world. He’s not buying what she’s selling. Now she’s trying to say that people cared for him all along. Kill her Harold! Man, Harold got 86 rejection letters. That’s rough. Wow, I just dozed off mid-speech because Fran is boring. I’m not saying that to be funny. I had to rewind a bit. She is trying so hard and Harold hears her, he apologizes. They hug it out. Then he runs and locks her in the basement. Good on you, Harold!!!
Nadine is at Larry’s to pick up Joe. Larry kinda apologizes to Nadine about earlier. She also apologizes. She tells Larry that he’s a good man and tells him to knock them dead. On the way out, Joe whispers to Larry that Nadine and Mommy Nadine are two different people. Ohhh, I like that they did that. Hahaha, Nadine removes Larry’s batteries in his walkie-talkie and drives away. Larry’s bike has also been compromised. In the end, Nadine and Harold both spared the ones that they loved, even if the love wasn’t reciprocated.
In the truck that Tom is hiding in, Tom notices the full moon. Nadine brings Joe to the school where the kids are watching Time Bandits. That has an excellent cast, apparently. Nadine says that she will be right back and Joe tries to stop her.
Fran tries to escape out the basement windows and says “Shit. Fuck. Fuck.” I’m telling you, they are stealing from The Devil’s Rejects. She busts out the window and is screaming that there’s a bomb. It would be great if a vehicle suddenly ran her over.
As Joe is watching the movie, he hears Mother Abigail say “You can’t send me anywhere that God can’t find me.” Joe goes wandering in the woods looking for MA and finds her and then screams really loud.
Harold and Nadine meet at the amphitheater.
Stu tells Glenn that he can’t get ahold of Fran or Larry and Glenn jokes that maybe they ran off together. That’s pretty funny. Stu gets a panicked message from Norris because he is with MA now. So they are all heading to the infirmary. Ray finds Nick to tell her that MA has been found. Nick hangs back briefly.
On the walkie-talkie, we hear “This is Harold Emery Lauder. I do this of my own free will.” Nick is about to exit and walks past the piano and notices something is not right. Frannie makes it there to tell Stu about the bomb. Nick opens up the top of the piano because it was closed and it never is shut if you remember. Panic ensures as Stu is yelling at everyone. Nick looks up, Harold and Nadine press the detonator, and bodies go flying. Stu and Fran have a dramatic dive. Harold and Nadine have the perfect view.
“Perfect Day” by Lou Reed plays us out.
End Episode 6 The Vigil
I feel like I am repeating myself too much about how for all the good things that they do with this, the bad stuff is just so terribly poor.
I have a feeling that I am not finished ranting about how disappointed I am with how they are representing Trashcan Man. I am absolutely disgusted by it.
I still don’t truly get Ray’s character. They should have done more with her by now. What do we know about her? Also, it was a mistake to not show more with the Judge. I think that was a colossal failure.
I will say that I loved how Flagg handled Bobby Terry. That whole scene was very well done. Now imagine if they had someone better portraying Flagg. I also really loved the short scene with Tom and Rat Woman and Tom’s plan of escape. The stuff with Larry and Nadine was far better than the scenes with Fran and Harold. 6 episodes in, and Harold has to have more screen time than almost anybody, aside from Fran and Larry. I genuinely believe that. So by the time we have this big scene with them, I feel bored by their dynamic. It was the right way to do it, but I was bored. I felt the Larry and Nadine stuff was much better because they had significantly fewer scenes together. And Nadine appears to still have a tiny bit of goodness left in her but knows that there’s no way out.
The big explosion was silly-looking. The 94 version’s explosion may have looked better, no joke. I also fear that this may be the last good episode. We have two more to wrap up the traditional story and then episode 9 is the new material that Stephen King wrote for this. I base my assumption on the fact that I don’t really like any of the remaining characters in Vegas aside from Julie. In the 94 version, I loved Flagg, Lloyd, Julie, Rat Man, and Trashcan Man.
Here’s something else to consider. Did Nick’s death seem like a big deal? I remember being very sad when Nick died in the book and the 94 version. Here, Nick’s impact on the story was barely felt. I really feel that they dropped the ball with Nick in this one.
Final Rating – 0.7 – There were highs and lows here. I liked everything with Tom, especially his scene with rat Woman. This was the best Flagg has been in the whole mini-series when confronting Bobby. I also genuinely loved the Nadine last-ditch effort scene. If you think about it, she can’t be considered a hero, but she is arguably the biggest victim of this story. I’d probably lose that argument. While we did get the big explosion, it was cheesy as fuck. Nick’s death was totally underwhelming.
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