MovieChat Forums > The Stand (1994) Discussion > Open credits (Don't fear the reaper), Ho...

Open credits (Don't fear the reaper), How did they die?

posted 2 years ago by TerraFirma69 (2256)
3 replies | jump to latest

I stumbled across this video on youtube. It's been a LOOOONG time since I've seen this show.

https://youtu.be/F7QRsx9lbBU

Was there any explanation of why it appears the people in the facility must have died literally in seconds? That wasn't the case for anyone else in the story's universe was it?

This was more like the Pax in 'Serenity' than a respiratory disease.

Was it just to make a cool/scary opening or did it make sense within the world?

[–] fountainhead (323) 2 years ago

Ed Harris' character explains later that the virus was especially lethal immediately after the lab leak, killing the facility workers in minutes or seconds depending on whether they were able to put their respirators on. After the virus infects the gate guard, Campion, as viruses in real life tend to do, it mutates to a less lethal form which takes longer to kill its hosts, making them think they have the ordinary seasonal flu right up until the end.

[–] thingmakersback (1377) 2 years ago

It also seems reasonable that the concentration of virus particles in the air of the facility would have been very high, leading to rapid infection.

[–] Gary O. (1009) 2 years ago

It also seems reasonable that the concentration of virus particles in the air of the facility would have been very high, leading to rapid infection.

This is what I understand as well.