Just finished this miniseries last night, and I was actually really impressed.

I had heard a lot of bad things about this show, but the general consensus seemed to be that it was still better than the new version (which I plan to get around to next), so I decided to try the original first.

And I was not disappointed.

I don’t know why this show gets so much hate, because I felt it was faithful to the book…for the most part. But I’ll get to my gripes in a minute. First, let me start with the things I loved about it. The soundtrack/score was incredible, especially that twangy guitar music. Added a lot of atmospheric charm. Most of the characters looked exactly like I pictured them, and Flagg HELLA cute, ngl 😏 Even though this was 6 hours long, it still felt too short, which I think just goes to show how detailed the book is, but this miniseries did a fantastic job capturing the overall plot and spirit of the novel.

My biggest complaint is the way they butchered Nadine’s character. I think part of this had to do with the fact that they sort of made her character into Rita’s, but I felt that not introducing her with Joe/Leo was a fatal mistake. The way she cared for Joe made her sympathetic as a character in the book and really went to show how conflicted she was before eventually going off the rails and sealing her fate. I don’t know why they portrayed her in such a negative light, because in the book it seemed like she was a good person, at least in the beginning. She cared about abandoned children that others would have left for dead, and was staunchly opposed to killing. By separating her from Joe/Leo, they removed her biggest redeeming quality.

I also thought Trashcan Man should have gotten more screen time. He was a super important character in the book, but here we didn’t get much backstory. The scene with the wolves where he’s tortured in the hotel room on his way to Vegas was critical to understanding his devotion to Flagg, why didn’t they include that in the movie? Harold could have also benefited from more character development. I noticed they left out that whole side plot with the snooping and journals. If you were to watch this show without reading the book, you wouldn’t really understand how he turned from a jerk to a killer overnight. Yes, we see how he’s betrayed by Stu and Fran, and how Nadine seduces him, but him finding Fran’s diary (and writing in his own) made the whole thing super clear and was a solid character arc for him.

But yeah, other than some of the things I wish they’d done with Flagg’s people, I thought this miniseries was amazing. Maybe I’m biased, because most of the action of the novel is set in my part of the country, but I loved seeing the familiar landscape of the American west. The story felt close to home for me, quite literally. I thought the acting was pretty good overall, and omg, I LOVED (loved with a capital L!) the walkin’ dude!!! He was SOOOO hot!!! (weird haircut included!!) Lol I’d be so tempted to just keep heading west past Boulder if I knew HE’D be waiting down there in the desert! 😂

Unlike most of the other characters, I didn’t really have a good mental picture of Randall Flagg when reading the book, because it’s so vague about his physical appearance, but I have to say that the moment I saw him in this show, I knew that was him. He acted just like the Flagg in the book, diabolical sense of humor and all.

Anyone else think he was just gorgeous? I have the biggest crush on him now and feel so ashamed, lmfao! I swear I’m not actually a bad person!