Third episode dropped on NYE, I am now caught up.
No, it's not perfect -- but what does one expect from a nine-episode limited series? I think a total conversion of the book would need probably 20-25 episodes or so.
Some of the casting is decent. Some of it, I'm kinda meh to. (like Whoopi Goldberg as Mother Abigail -- I don't feel any power from her in her scenes, and she just doesn't generate the goodwill/love needed for the character. And sadly the same with Alex Skarsgaard as Flagg -- not feeling it much yet. These are actually BIG things, because those two characters representation the Light vs the Dark, so they NEED to be compelling... but right now they're just kinda... eh. So I would have to label these casts as large mistakes.)
I am surprised so far at things that made the cut. (Rita Blakemore, for instance -- minor character, but her presence adds texture to the scene... and she is played by Heather Graham and it works... weirdly also because I keep remembering Heather Graham as 22 but she is actually 50 years old IRL now... holy shit... so the casting is "on point" and she got good direction because she pulls off her final scenes well) while saddened by things that did not (like Fran's relationship with her father, it was so sweet and so sad -- the show actually captures the scene of her wrapping him up in his medals and it is highly effective, although I wish there could have been more). There's also a great cameo by JK Simmons for example as a general in the compromised lab facility base, that I can't even remember if it was in the book, but Simmons really sells it well -- that's the kind of stuff I like, complex emotion.
I am cool with Larry being black, and it works just fine -- I think it's kind of an oversight of the original text. Also more focus on Larry Underwood as a character drama would help, as Larry moves noticeably from immaturity to maturity in the text, or to put it another way, boyhood to manhood. (Ralph/Ray and Glenn Bateman aren't really fleshed out as much in the book, they're kind of already 'good' guys.) He is one of the more important figures in the book IMO, in terms of "whose souls are really at stake here," from my recollection.
Henry Zaga is actually doing fine as Nick Andros, he barely looks like himself, and I like how gaunt he looks (he weirdly looks a lot like Michael Wincott as Rochefort from the 1993 Three Musketeers).
Amber Heard is actually pulling Nadine Cross off but needs more backstory. I consider her another one of the more complex battlegrounds, as she's kind of given herself to Flagg but there are things about her that she is holding back / fighting. We're not really getting to see as much moral choice at play as I'd hoped, although there's a bit of chemistry between her and Flagg.
The Tom Cullen character isn't playing out well, though -- script/acting issues, IMO, and the physical size of the character is intimidating rather than harmless-feeling.
Mixed feelings on Owen Teague as Harold Lauder, as the character is SO important to the story and in fact one of the strongest ethical dramas in the book -- some characters are genuinely good at heart, some are genuinely selfish, but Harold is both intelligent and articulate, yet tainted, and is one of the few characters whose soul actually seems suspended between heaven and hell. He is a moral battleground, perched between good and evil. (And nowadays he'd be called an incel, I am sure.) Teague actually does an amazing job at pulling this off, but he is whip-thin and gaunt here, more of a geek/nerd (as opposed to a different character type, the very tall and also overweight ostracized boy). There's a different feel for a physically vulnerable male with control issues, versus someone who is physically large if inept and feels rejected by society. So my issue is more than his character is flavored differently and thus doesn't scan quite the same. This is a casting issue, as Teague doesn't have the physicality to play Harold as per how he is scripted in King's book, but he does take the part and do the most with it so far that he has been able -- his performance itself is decent.
Of course, James Marsden is solid as the down to earth "everyman" Stu Redman.
I think the mini-series is more enjoyable for me than past runs because (1) it's longer and can capture more of the text and (2) the sensibilities are based more off today's TV Drama approach which has larger budgets and more nuanced/textures tones. i.e., this isn't high camp, this is drama more on the level of HBO's "The Outsider" series, for example.
There's a lot of overtones from TWD and 28 Days Later here so far as well.
