The Stand starts to pick up momentum in Episode 2, “Pocket Savior”

The Stand is back with another new episode, “Pocket Savior,” which introduces new characters and gives the story some much-needed momentum.

The latest episode of The Stand is an improvement on the premiere, and while the series has stumbled with its cinematography and by choosing to jumble the timeline, at its core this is still an epic Stephen King story, and we get to unravel more of it this week.

Like King’s book, this miniseries has a whole lot of characters and storylines, more than can be introduced in one episode. Although the stakes would’ve been higher had we met everyone at the start of their stories and followed them along a linear timeline, I still went into the second episode intrigued to find out whose story would feature next. This week’s episode is primarily about Larry Underwood (Jovan Adepo).

Larry is a musician who we first see camping out in a store alongside Nadine Cross (Amber Heard) and Joe (Gordon Cormier), a young boy Nadine picked up after fleeing setting out on the road. The group is heading to Colorado, which we know from the premiere episode is the place the survivors have gone.

Of course, flashbacks are quickly incoming. Prior to the virus breaking out and annihilating most of humanity, Larry is living with his mother in New York City; he has a drug problem and is about to make it big on the music scene, even getting a billboard downtown. But the disease acts fast, and soon enough Larry’s mom is dying in an overcrowded hospital with no doctors available to treat her. Considering the year we’ve all gone through, these scenes were chilling indeed.

Much like the first episode, the timing is a bit confusing here. And when Larry has to take his mom back home from the hospital, there doesn’t seem to be the sense of urgency or worry you would expect in that situation. Yes, he is visibly upset, but after he’s been in an overcrowded hospital and likely realized there’s a deadly virus going around, I needed more. Instead, he’s determined to get his hands on more drugs. Practically everyone is dying, and he’s acting like it’s not entirely abnormal. This is a common observation I’ve made with many of the characters so far.

We flash forward a bit and Larry is still in New York City after the pandemic hits. He meets another survivor named Rita Blakemoor (Heather Graham). After striking up a friendship, the two decide to get out of town. True terror hits when they’re confronted by men who want to take advantage of Rita, and the pair are forced to trek through the sewers.

Pictured: Heather Graham as Rita Blakemoor of the the CBS All Access series THE STAND. Photo Cr: Robert Falconer/CBS ©2020 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

After that horrific incident, Larry and Rita make it out of the city but Rita, finding it “stupid” that they’re alive when so most people on the Earth are dead, overdoses on pills and dies. While The Stand is first and foremost about the supernatural battle between good versus evil, represented by Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg, it also focuses on smaller-scale dramas like these.

Besides Larry’s storyline, we’re also introduced to Nick Andros (Henry Zaga) and Lloyd Henreid (Nat Wolff), a criminal who’s locked up in jail after a failed robbery turns into a murder. After everyone in the prison has died but him, he meets and becomes a follower of Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgard).

Lloyd’s storyline is a highlight here. Wolff does a great job of bringing this chaotic character to life, and I’m definitely interested to see how he progresses.

And then, of course, there are the dreams. This time around, the nightmares sent by Randall Flagg nearly become a bit too comical to be scary. I have a hard time not comparing him to Eric Northman from True Blood, rather than seeing him as an actual otherworldly threat. While Skarsgard’s character in the HBO vampire series is no doubt menacing, he’s got more heart than Flagg does. I was expecting something more frightening than Flagg’s smooth talk. The show needs to turn up that darker side!

All in all, the second episode is more enjoyable than the premiere, and again, it sets up a lot to come. I’m still not sure how The Stand will cram everything into just seven more episodes, but I’ll continue to root for the series nonetheless.

Episode Grade: B

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