The Stand (TV Miniseries) - Deviations From The Novel - Plot Differences

Plot Differences

Early in the miniseries, key elements of the story are not expanded in the same way as the novel.

Fran Goldsmith's pregnancy is not actually raised as an issue until the third part of the series, long after the flu epidemic has played out; this contrasts with the novel where the pregnancy drives Fran's story from the very beginning. Unlike the novel, neither Fran's father Peter nor the baby's father Jess Rider (who does not appear in the TV series at all) are told of the news, and neither is Fran's mother's horrified reaction covered (the mother being previously deceased in the TV series).

Harold Lauder begins the novel as obese, but burns the weight off on the journey, while the actor playing Harold (Corin Nemec) is naturally slim from the beginning. In the novel, his jealous act of revenge toward Fran and Stu is fueled by reading Fran's diary which belittles him, whereas this plot element is omitted in the miniseries. Instead it's when Harold views Fran and Stu together by the creek.

In the Uncut edition of the book, a group of crazed thugs takes over a TV station and executes hostages on live television after reading their reason for doing so. This is omitted from the series.

Stu Redman's experience at Vermont is for the most part in line with the novel, although the characters of Dr Deitz and Dr Elder are combined (with Deitz being much less sympathetic to Stu in the TV series). Although the outcome is essentially the same in both (Stu kills Deitz/Elder in apparent self-defense before making his escape), in the TV series Deitz openly makes his intention to kill Stu known, and the confrontation is more drawn-out and violent. In the novel, it is left more ambiguous - Elder does not ever state what his intentions are; Stu even has doubts afterwards over whether Elder had been there to kill him or to free him.

In the novel, it is Nadine Cross who initially takes care of "Joe" (Leo Rockway). In the mini-series, Nadine and "Joe" have no interaction. Nadine has left Larry Underwood by the time Larry teams up with "Joe" and Lucy Swann. Nadine also takes on the role of Rita Blakemoor; Larry meets her in New York, where they journey out of the city together. Nadine and Larry part ways not long after leaving the city. Unlike Rita's character, who fatally overdoses in the novel, Nadine simply leaves in the middle of the night because of the conflict between her desire to be with Larry and her destiny to be with Flagg. Nadine and Larry do not meet again until her arrival in Boulder, and thus the "love triangle" aspect of Larry/Nadine/Lucy is downplayed.

In the novel, Julie Lawry and Nick have sex and she tries to get Nick to leave Tom behind. In the miniseries, almost all of the sexual nature is left out. Julie and Nick have a brief moment of intimate hugging in the drug store, and Julie is left behind after she says the medicine Nick tries to give Tom is poison.

Fran's baby is a boy in the uncut version and is named Peter after her father, yet in the miniseries she has a girl which she names Abagail after Mother Abagail.

Judge Farris travels to Boulder as part of Larry Underwood's party in the novel; however in the TV series he travels with Stu Redman's group. However despite this, it is still Larry who later nominates and approaches the Judge to ask him to go to Las Vegas as a spy for the Boulder Free Zone - however whereas in the novel Larry's nomination is entirely serious, in the TV series Larry is initially being sarcastic when he makes the suggestion, and is horrified when it is subsequently taken seriously by the Free Zone Committee.

The nomination of the childlike Tom Cullen as the third spy gives rise to a notable scene in the novel where it touches on one of Stephen King's main themes of society repeating the same mistakes as their predecessors; there ensues a heated debate within the Free Zone Committee as Fran Goldsmith furiously argues that they cannot take advantage of Tom's simpleness by "programming" him to become a weapon, nor send someone in who would have no real idea of what they were walking into, and points out the Free Zone Committee are behaving no better than their political predecessors who caused the flu apocalypse in the first place. However in the TV series no such argument is shown at all, and the Free Zone Committee members appear relatively at peace with their decision.

In the novel, Nadine taunts Flagg about missing Tom as the third spy, so much that he is overcome with rage and tosses her off the balcony of the penthouse. In the series, Nadine slowly climbs up the wall of the balcony and falls backwards purposely as Flagg lunges at her trying to stop her suicide.

Several of the more graphic scenes in the novel were eliminated because of their violence and sexual nature in the TV adaptation. The entire plot line concerning the "female zoo" that Stu Redman's party encounters is omitted, with the relevant characters (Dayna Jurgens and Sue Stern) being folded into the storyline through other means. Of course, this plot line was not in the original novel at all and was only featured in the expanded edition that came out later. Another omission involves the Flagg-ordered execution of a drug user who violates one of the rules set up by Flagg's society, by openly demonstrating the execution in front of everyone to their horror, particularly Lloyd Henreid's. Director Mick Garris also felt that the crime spree and eventual capture of Lloyd and Poke Freeman was most compromised by the requirements of television.

There are other minor differences between the two versions; most of the alterations made for the miniseries were made to move along the progression of the storyline. The characters from Arnette are moved directly to Vermont, instead of going to Atlanta for initial treatment, for example. Nick's time in Shoyo is similarly compressed, with Ray Booth representing most of the action, which was originally split between several of the thugs who beat him up. Larry goes on foot to escape from New York City, which is developed much more in depth with the novel, such as encountering other survivors.

The miniseries does not specify what year the story takes place. It is evidently set a few years later than either version of the novel, because Larry Underwood makes a brief reference to the Rodney King police brutality incident. During the first Free Zone Committee meeting, Ralph Brentner also makes mention of a SCUD missile, a phrase which didn't enter popular culture until Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

In the end of the Complete & Uncut version of the novel, Randall Flagg wakes up on a beach on an island in another universe where he encounters a group of tribesmen. This is not shown in the series.