‘The Stand’ Episode 9 Spoilers: ‘The Circle Closes’ will end CBS All Access series and take us beyond the book
Spoilers for ‘The Stand’ finale
In episode 8 of CBS All Access' adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Stand’, Larry (Jovan Adepo), Ray (Irene Bedard), and Glen (Greg Kinnear) are subjected to an unruly kangaroo court. The trial that is broadcast all over Vegas sees Glen try to appeal to Lloyd Henreid (Nat Wolff) and all those watching that they may still have a chance to redeem themselves from their evil ways. As Glen’s words begin to have an effect on the people, Lloyd shoots and kills him.
Following the trial, Nadine Cross (Amber Heard) meets with a captive Larry alone. Last we saw her, Nadine was very pregnant, and reduced to a frail pale demeanor because of Flagg’s seed. When Larry forces Nadine to see her reflection the shock induces labor. But as Nadine realizes what she has become and how unholy their child would be, she flings herself from the penthouse, killing both her and the child.
RELATED ARTICLES
When will 'The Stand' Finale air? Episode 9 will see Fran get a new ending, courtesy of Stephen King
In the trial that continues, Randall Flagg’s (Alexander Skarsgård) presents Nadine's severed and smashed head to Larry. After this, Larry and Ray are chained in the gladiatorial pit, and Flagg decides to preside over the trial personally. There Flagg reveals his big plan to level the Boulder Free Zone - the nuclear warhead brought by the Trashcan Man (Ezra Miller).
Suddenly, a divine storm appears over Flagg's headquarters, and bolts of lightning strike many of his followers. And finally, this lightning causes the nuclear bomb to explode, completely leveling Vegas.
What will happen in episode 9 of ‘The Stand’?
The finale of the limited series was originally titled ‘Coda: Frannie in the Well’. As per CBS now, the episode is titled ‘The Circle Closes’. In the book, Stu (James Marsden) survives injury and arrives back in Boulder after the birth of Fran’s (Odessa Young) baby. In the end, Stu and Fran decide to return to Maine, questioning whether the human race can learn from its mistakes. It also sees Flagg arriving on a beach and beginning recruiting new followers.
But as per reports, Stephen King has rewritten the end. CBS All Access EVP Julie McNamara said last year, “For fans of the book who have wondered what became of the survivors of the stand, this episode will contain a story that takes us beyond the book to answer those questions. A continuation to ‘The Stand’; we can’t wait to share that with the world.”
According to series co-creator Benjamin Cavell, King has always hated the fact that Fran is reduced to a passive role in the third act of the story, and one of the goals of this “coda” is to remedy that. “She’s just a number of months pregnant. I mean, she’s sort of seven, eight months pregnant by that point. She can’t walk across the mountains to confront The Dark Man. But it always ate at [King] that she wasn’t there as one of the heroes of the book; she was never given her stand. So what I will say about the coda is that it is his planned attempt of the last 30 years to give her a Stand,” he said.
Aside from Stu and Fran, the episode will see Tom Cullen (Brad William Henke), who helped Stu return to the Boulder Free Zone, Dr. Sylvia Wen (Olivia Cheng), Joe (Gordon Cormier), Steve (Tarun Keram), Norris (Nicholas Lea), and Dr. Biswas (Veena Sood).
When will the finale air?
‘The Stand’ premiered on December 17, 2020, with the first episode ‘The End’. Subsequent episodes in the nine-episode limited-event series will follow every Thursday on CBS All Access. The episodes drop on the streaming site on the day of their scheduled release. The drop time is at midnight PT / 1 am MT / 2 am CT / 3 am ET. However, there's no set time to tune in. You can watch it whenever you want after its premiere on the streaming service. ‘The Stand’ Episode 9 ‘The Circle Closes’, will release on February 11, 2021, only on CBS All Access.