The Stand delivers intense moments and impressive performances in “The Vigil”

The Stand cranks up the tension to deliver its best episode yet. Things are improving ahead of the final showdown. Check out our review of “The Vigil.”

The latest episode of The Stand not only has the strongest opening scene of the season, but thanks to good pacing, strong performances, and intense moments, “The Vigil” is my favorite episode so far.

By introducing Ezra Miller as Trashcan Man, not only do viewers get an extremely creepy performance and a handful of enjoyable scenes, but Randall Flagg (Alexander Skarsgard) also now has more ammunition in his quest to cause chaos. Although Flagg isn’t able to speak with one of the remaining spies from Boulder, Judge Harris (Gabrielle Rose), he has the upper hand in this episode after murdering Bobby Terry (Clifton Collins Jr.) in front of a group of people in New Vegas, and has caught onto the identity of the third spy, Tom Cullen (Brad William Henke).

Thankfully, Tom is seemingly able to get out of Vegas after cleverly figuring out the message Dayna Jurgens (Natalie Martinez) gave him in the previous episode: “Run.” With a character this endearing, I’m forever rooting for Tom! And no doubt, Flagg is surely going to wreak havoc if the only living spy does indeed escape.

“The Vigil” is certainly a big episode for Flagg, as well as numerous other characters. Back in Colorado, the survivors plan a vigil to bring everyone together after Mother Abigail (Whoopi Goldberg) leaves town. And with that, Nadine Cross (Amber Heard) and Harold Lauder (Owen Teague) now have a plan: bomb the gathering. Throughout the episode, we see Nadine struggle with romantic feelings she might have for Larry Underwood (Jovan Adepo) and parental feelings for Joe (Gordon Cormier), while Harold faces issues in his relationship with Frannie Goldsmith (Odessa Young).

After Frannie breaks into Harold’s house and finds that he’s surveilling her bedroom, along with some other suspicious things, Harold catches her and expectedly gets angry. The two have a heartfelt conversation about everything they’d gone through since the deadly virus hit, and although I was expecting the scene to become cheesy as I was watching, I actually enjoyed it. Unfortunately for Fran, Harold locks her in the basement while he goes to set off the bomb with Nadine.

Elsewhere, Joe starts seemingly putting the pieces together, and it’s evident he trusts Larry more than he does Nadine. In a crucial moment, he whispers to Larry that the mother figure who has been taking care of him is a different person than the real Nadine. Though it’s a clue to let Larry know Nadine might be dangerous, it’s too little too late.

In an emotional scene back at the vigil, Nick Andros (Henry Zaga) is the only person left in the house, and there isn’t enough time for him to flee after he figures out that a bomb had been plantedt. Although I suspected this was coming while I was watching, that didn’t make it any less impactful. Zaga did a great job bringing the character of Nick to life (although the series faced backlash for his casting), and his death is in my opinion the most upsetting part of the series so far.

Another major scene in “The Vigil” is the confrontation between good and evil. As Abigail is walking through the woods away from Boulder, Flagg appears and threatens her. At this point, it seems like Flagg might be more powerful than Abigail, and considering that Joe is the person who is ultimately able to find Mother A, it looks like he might have some supernatural stuff going on as well.

Mother Abigail is back in town and being treated in the infirmary at the end of the episode, and it looks like she won’t be the only one needing medical attention after the bombing.

The pacing really works in this week’s episode: while watching I was completely sucked in for every scene. For the first time with this adaptation, I didn’t check to see how much time was left in the episode. It only took six installments, but I’m thoroughly into The Stand now and am more hopeful to see how things wrap up than ever before.

There are three more episodes left of The Stand and a good amount more book to cover, but if the next few weeks follow the lead of “The Vigil,” we should be able to expect a pretty solid ending.

Episode Grade: A

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