WARNING: Major spoilers for The Stand episode 3 (and the book) ahead
The Stand on CBS All Access has focused from the beginning on the development of Mother Abigail's Boulder Free Zone and Randall Flagg's New Las Vegas. Everyone in Boulder knows that Flagg is also building a community, but it isn't until episode 3, "Blank Page", that his true intentions come to light when he sends a man with a message that he intends to kill Mother A and everyone living in Boulder. Given this fact, it's safe to say Flagg has spies in Boulder, but who are they and what could they be planning?
Interestingly, Stephen King's novel and, to some extent, the miniseries adaptation from 1994, begins with the Superflu pandemic and the havoc it causes as it kills over 99% of the population of the United States, before getting to the building of the Boulder Free Zone. The adaptation for CBS instead begins in Boulder, focusing on building a community around Mother Abigail and the five people she has chosen to be its leaders. The trials involving the Superflu are told as backstory. Mother A, of course, believes she is doing God's will and that she has been chosen to deliver God's message and, given the remarkable way everyone dreams about her and is drawn to her, it certainly seems like there's some sort of greater power at work (although more likely Gan than God).
The point is, that episode 3 of the series drives home, is the fact that The Stand is not about the Superflu, but about the battle between Mother A's people and Randall Flagg (and his people). As such, episode 4 is likely about Flagg's spies and their plans to bring down the leaders of the Boulder Free Zone. In King's novel, the spies are clear, but CBS's version has already made some significant changes to The Stand's narrative, which leaves opportunities for others, including a few surprises.
Nadine has obvious ties to Flagg. The Stand episode 3 opens with a flashback showing Nadine as a girl being contacted by Flagg when a game with a planchette goes wrong and carves the words "Nadine will be my queen" into the wooden floorboards. So, even from a young age, Nadine has known a dark power was coming and she has carried one of Flagg's black stones around her neck for years, much longer than the majority of his followers. By the end of the episode, she again uses a planchette to speak with Flagg, who tells her she needs to find a way to kill Mother Abigail and the five leaders of the Boulder Free Zone.
While Nadine may not yet fully understand who she's dealing with, she appears committed to Flagg, even saving her virginity for him. When Flagg tells her about Harold Lauder, she agrees to do whatever he asks to manipulate the situation and kill the leaders of the Boulder Free Zone.
Harold was a social outcast in the pre-pandemic world and harbors an obsession over Frannie Goldsmith, who used to babysit him when they were both younger. Frannie, of course, is not interested in having a relationship with him, which is why he harbors a lot of pent-up anger and emotion. In the old world, he was used to rejection, but in this new one, he has become a respected member of the Boulder Free Zone.
However, with Flagg sending Nadine to manipulate him, he's become a part of the plan to unravel Mother Abigail's community. In the novel, he's never quite able to reconcile his emotions and his new place in the post-pandemic world. In The Stand on CBS, it remains to be seen how far he'll go to harm members of the Boulder Free Zone, particularly Stu Redman, who he perceives as having stolen Frannie from him.
In the novel, Nick Andros is one of Mother Abigail's closest followers. However, his character is a bit more mysterious in the show, and, given the fact that Stephen King has written a new ending for the show and some of the changes that have already been seen, it's possible Nick could be spying for Flagg. In an early dream of Nick's, Flagg comes to him and offers to make him his right-hand man. Although Nick rejects Flagg at the time in favor of being Mother A's "voice", is it possible he could be pushed against her? It would make for quite an interesting twist, should the makers of the show choose to go that route.
Joe, or Leo Rockway as is his real name in the book, is a very interesting character who plays a major role in the narrative until he's forgotten after Stu and the others are sent to confront Flagg. He is eleven-years-old and refuses to speak due to trauma over the horrific things that happened during the Superflu pandemic. He also displays supernatural-level intuition and quite possibly has the shine or some form of psychic powers.
In the novel, he warns Larry about Harold's dangerous intentions, saying Harold has "big white worms eating up his brain like maggots". That said, Joe is an interesting character and the show's writers could end up taking him in a different direction.
Glen Bateman is an atheist who doesn't believe Mother Abigail's intentions come from God. Still, he had strange dreams like everyone else that drew him to seek Mother A and build the Boulder Free Zone. As an ex-sociology professor, he is curious about how humanity will rebuild, but his skepticism makes him a possible candidate for one of Flagg's spies. That said, as an anti-authority type, it would take some serious manipulation on Flagg's part to win him over.
The truth is, Randall Flagg doesn't really need human spies. He seems to already have a pretty good idea about what's going on in the Boulder Free Zone. Part of this is due to his ability to read people. He can get into people's heads, both to intimidate and manipulate them. He often appears to people much like the devil to offer them a Faustian bargain of some kind. What's more, he's able to control animals and uses crows as scouts.
When the Boulder Free Zone committee sends their own spies to see what's happening in New Las Vegas, Flagg somehow knows who they are. His demonic gifts somehow enable him to see more than a normal person would be able. It will be interesting to see who is spying on whom as the drama unfolds in CBS's adaptation of The Stand.
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