For a lot of the episode’s runtime, the risk of Frannie and her baby dying seems very real as Frannie lies in the bottom of a well and awaits rescue, resisting Flagg’s alluring offer to save her life in exchange for a favor. The episode, “The Circle Closes,” is the strongest of the season by far, fleshing out Frannie’s character, bringing back Randall Flagg and making him an effectively seductive villain for the first time, and even injecting some real stakes into proceedings. Proving that he should adapt more of his own books, Stephen King penned the season finale, an original epilogue not based on his source novel. King penned the final episode of The Stand, a new epilogue that takes place after the action of the story proper, and it’s tense, terrifying, thoughtful, and hopeful-everything 2020’s The Stand failed to be until its finale. The Stand ruined some of Stephen King’s best villains and left the heroes with little to do, which makes it surprising that the writer himself almost saved the series in a single episode. The Stand creator and showrunner Josh Boone's strange decision to tell its already overstuffed plot in non-linear order was one major mistake, while the profound misunderstanding of numerous key figures in the text didn’t help the reception of the miniseries. However, it soon became clear based on reviews that bad timing was in fact the most minor issue faced by the miniseries. Understandably, a story about a killer pandemic wiping out much of America failed to enthuse viewers when The Stand fatefully premiered in December of 2020. Related: Every Way The 2020 Stand Miniseries Original Plan Changed

The stand by stephen king