‘The Stand’ Recap: ‘The Circle Closes’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of ‘The Stand’.
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When audiences settled into their couches in May of 1994, to watch the conclusion of the first television adaptation of The Stand, they were treated to quite the epic finale. One that played out in a similar fashion to last week's episode of the 2020 remake since ‘The Hand of God’ also appeared out of the blue to ignite the nuke that the Trashcan Man had brought to Vegas. Effectively ending the reign of Randall Flagg and the existence of Las Vegas in a holy and biblical fire. And shortly after the city was vaporized by the splitting of an atom, the original miniseries, shifted gears to a grand quest for survival for both Tom Cullen and Stu Redman as they made their way back to the Boulder Free Zone, all so that everyone could receive their happy ending.
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After all, evil was dead and at long last… the people of a new world could finally rebuild and live wonderful and fulfilling lives. Which isn’t a bad ending by any means, but it did shove Fran Goldsmith aside, giving her little to do outside of wait for her strong and heroic man to return with news that evil had been defeated at last. But that particular ending, one that was a direct adaptation of the one featured in the novel, never quite sat well with the master himself, prompting him to return to this story after thirty years and rewrite the ending of the new miniseries, in order to give Frannie something more to do that sit around and swoon for a man. And that made the series finale of this literation of The Stand, quite the satisfying and oddly philosophical affair.

But before ‘The Circle Closes’ offered up some unique concepts for us to chew upon, it took the time to show us what Frannie was up to while Stu and Tom made their way back from the devastation in Nevada and well… she definitely took part in some unsettling experiences. For her new baby girl, aptly named Abagail, caught the Superflu shortly after being born and that forced Fran to watch helplessly as her little girl eventually fought off the infection, giving rise to hope. Hope that was amplified when Stu and Tom finally returned from out west and well, it seemed for a time that all was going to be perfect and happy for her new family. But eventually, home called to her and the sudden surge of population in the Boulder Free Zone gave her the idea that perhaps it was time to return home to Maine to properly decompress from the wild events that she and her beloved experienced and that’s when the story began its philosophical exploration. 

For the ride east brought Stu and Frannie and the baby to an out of the way farmhouse in Nebraska, wherein Fran fell down a well after being startled by the specter of Randall Flagg. And while she lay unconscious and wounded in its murky depths, she saw Flagg once again and he offered her quite the deal. For If she was willing to let him see how humanity was doing in its recovery from time to time, he would return her to her everyday life with nothing more than a simple bump on the head, and all she had to do to live and thrive was to say yes and seal the compact with a kiss. But thankfully, Frannie said no and escaped his clutches and instead found Mother Abagail in this strange void, wherein she learned that the struggle between good and evil didn’t end with a singular showdown in the city of Sin.

No instead, this battle would go on and it would be up to good people like her to remind others of that fact and that the only way to defeat it was to be good and be true and stand up to it when necessary and for proof that evil would return… the series ended with quite chilling surprise. In that, an indigenous tribe encountered a strange and pale man. One that was basically naked, outside of his well-traveled walking boots and he was also wielding a mighty power, one that could lift him into the sky. And he was quick to exert that power over these people, and inform them that he was in fact, their new God, one that they were going to worship from here on out and likely in time… so would others. Giving rise to a new evil on Earth, one that would once again put fear into the hearts of men at the mere mention of his name… Russell Faraday.

Which is a bittersweet way to end this tale, since it means that eventually mankind and Faraday/Flagg will face off once again, but it’s also a realistic way to close this series out. For the cycle of good and evil duking it out, is indeed as endless as implied in this tale and that likely means that the message to stand and be true was directed right at the audience. For in these trying times we are looking for that kind of reminder in order to get us through the day and that oddly makes this finale, and this limited series as a whole, inspirational in its own right. Since everything we just witnessed in this story, helps to remind us that the dark times will indeed pass and we will heal our wounds and that will in fact, make us stronger when the next crisis arrives and that really does make this quite the unique horror story when all is said and done. Since it isn't everyday, that you enjoy a scary story that asks the audience to be better people and to stand tall when the going gets tough. 

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