The second night of Stephen King’s Storm of the Century was 15 February, 1999. The three parts aired on consecutive nights, and it captivated audiences. King delivered the script, which was directed by Craig R. Baxley.

The second episode picks up where the first one ended, and ups the body count, as Andre Linoge (Colm Feore) works his evil. He still hasn’t revealed what he wants, but the phrase ‘give me what I want and I’ll go away’ pops up everywhere, as does the nursery rhyme song, ‘I’m a little teapot.’

Michael Anderson (Tim Daly) is trying to keep the people of Little Tall safe as the brutal storm truly begins to batter the town. And Linoge begins to batter the people. He has supernatural abilities, and it’s very apparent he is only sitting in the holding cell because he chooses to be there. With those abilities, he is able to influence and control some of the inhabitants, and the bodies begin to pile up.

There are suicides and murders, and through it all, not only does the storm get worse, but so does Linoge’s demands.

We see the town coming together in the emergency shelter, checking in with a countless character bits and arcs, including the seizing of Angela (Torri Higginson) by something as the second night races to its close.

There are lots of exciting and unnerving moments throughout. We get a glimpse of another version of Linoge, a strange, hooded, malformed figure. We also see that Linoge’s cane has a manner of movement and sentience, and the storm… the storm not only separates the island of Little Tall from Maine, but destroys the island’s lone lighthouse.

To press his point Linoge delivers the same dream to the entire island, he transforms into a portly news reporter, and ties the events happening on Little Tall with the lost colony of Roanoke and the word ‘Croatoan.’

He also shows the entire town walking off one of the island’s docks, one after another, and plunging into the storm-tossed seas.

Much like the first part, the story is well-crafted, and is very much a Stephen King television novel. There are lots of character asides and bits, just to give life to Little Tall, and to invest us in their struggles and relationships. Then, of course, he weaves in the spooky and supernatural stuff.

And it works.

This is a solidly produced, well-acted and scripted tale. I had less of a problem with the colour-tinting in this episode, perhaps I was just used to it by then? And sure, some of the effects are very of the time, but they don’t ejeect you from the story.

I can’t wait to see how the final episode plays out, as I remember watching the series when it aired, but right now, wrapped up in the story, I couldn’t tell you what happened.