Stephen King’s Storm of the Century isn’t the story of a demon terrorizing a quiet island off the coast of Maine. It’s a 4-hour mini-series dripping with Old Testament religious undertones, yes, but it’s not about Good vs. Evil. It’s the story of Mike Anderson (played by Tim Daly), the island Constable, who slowly realizes the town he has been elected to protect is, in fact, wicked.

Little Tall Island isn’t simply spiritually compromised. It’s beyond reprobate to the point where it may actually be Sodom from Genesis.

Mike Anderson is Lot.

Winter is here. Even worse, a strong storm is rapidly approaching. 

The story begins with Mike Anderson, saying “the first person who saw Andre Linoge (played by Colm Feore) was Martha Clarendon.” The newscaster says two storms are about to meet, and Martha is visibly shaken. Andre Linoge appears at her front door. Martha, using a walker, answers the door to see a man in black, topped with a beanie.

“Born in lust, turn to dust. Born in sin, come on in.”

Linoge throws her walker in the front yard, then bludgeons the old lady with a silver wolf-faced cane. As Martha dies on the living room floor, Linoge watches an informercial promoting Punishments of God on Home Video, then finishes her tea.

The scene jumps to the marketplace. Our protagonist, Mike Anderson, rolls out a chilled tray of meat. Part-time butcher, part-time Constable. Almost immediately, he’s met with ungrateful behavior from the islanders.

There’s no “Thanks, Mike.” No “Appreciate this, Mike.” Just “Gimme, gimme, gimme.”

So much that Mike has to yell “Calm down, stop acting like mainlanders.”

And then what happens?

You guessed it…someone in the crowd gets offended, saying “Don’t be smart!”

As they scatter like cockroaches under a bright light, Reverend Riggins (John Innes) says “God takes care of his own.” But it isn’t warm or comforting. It’s like a New Testament Pharisee trying to win a religious debate in public, who leaves before the recipient can reply. And then Katrina Withers (Julianne Nicholson) says over the supermarket loudspeaker. “Hey Mike, it’s your wife, she says she’s having a little trouble at the daycare center.” At first, I didn’t notice it. On my third viewing, it sets the tone for the overall gossipy nature of the Island.

Next, we see a group of young children mock Pippa Hatcher (Skye McCole Bartusiak) for getting her head stuck in a staircase railing. The kids joke about feeding her like a caged animal, as Donnie Beals—the mayor’s son, amps it up, mimicking a monkey. Mike shows up and pulls Donnie aside, saying “pushers get pushed…in this sad life.” He distracts Pippa, makes her smile, then frees her.

At the playground, Davey Hopewell (Adam Zolotin) is shooting hoops, dreaming about the NBA. He senses something odd, turns to Martha Clarendon’s house, then sees the walker and the open door. He goes inside. Linoge patiently sits in Martha’s recliner, then taunts the boy, mocking his NBA dreams. Davey sees Martha, then runs into town to spread the tragic word, but no one believes him.

Robbie Beals (Jeffrey DeMunn), real estate guru and town mayor, barely listens, then tells one of the townsfolk to “give him some whiskey if you have any.”

The mayor.

Told.

A woman.

To give.

Whiskey.

To a minor.

And to make things weirder, gossip surrounding the Pippa incident spreads to Ursula Godsoe (Becky Ann Baker), who blames it all on her “dumb parents” Hatch (Casey Siemaszko) and Melinda (Soo Garay). Fifteen minutes in, we already see how gossip reigns over truth, how the “fruits” of the island treat each other, and how a high-schooler’s cry for help falls on deaf ears.

Robbie Beals doesn’t believe Davey, but goes to Martha’s place anyway. He sees Linoge, who tells him “Robbie, you were with a whore the day your mother died…she’s waiting for you (in Hell) and she’s turned cannibal…”

Pretty dark stuff, but the real question is…is Linoge lying?

Robbie freaks out, then waits outside for Mike. He tells Mike everything except what Linoge had said, which…to me, hints there’s truth to it. If it were nonsense, he would’ve mentioned it.

Long story short, Mike takes Linoge into custody. There’s a jail in the back of the supermarket, but the key breaks, and they take Linoge through the store. He says he’ll leave when the town gives him what he wants, but never goes on. As Linoge walks into a crowd, he drops secret sin. He calls out Peter Godsoe (Ron Perkins) for canoodling with politicians and selling marijuana to supplement his low-shrimp sales. He calls out Kat Withers for an abortion without telling Billy Soames (Jeremy Jordan), the father.

And then…we see a shift in Linoge.

Mike pushes Linoge to the backroom, but Ralphie Anderson (Dyllan Christopher), Mike’s young son, enters. Linoge picks him up, then kisses his nose, and smiles. Ralphie shows zero fear with Linoge, in fact, there’s a moment that reads almost like familiar souls reuniting, like a nephew and his fun uncle. Linoge puts Ralphie down, and Billy threatens him. Linoge grins, then tells Kat to ask Billy about Jenna Freeman (Nicky Guadagni), claiming that “horses are not the only thing she likes to ride in summer.”

Hilarious.

Linoge is frisked violently, but shows nothing. No push back. No malice, not even a reaction. He observes everything as if it were expected. Also, every once in a while, his eyes go black (like Christopher Walken in The Prophecy). He’s imprisoned, but he doesn’t react. He doesn’t talk or pace. He sits quietly, staring, almost in a meditative state. Hatch and Pete stand guard as Mike returns to the old lady’s house to further investigate.

And then he starts possessing people. He possesses Pete, the cannabis farmer, into writing the message GIVE ME WHAT I WANT, AND I’LL GO AWAY. He possesses Lloyd Wishman (David Ferry) at the fire brigade, who paints the message on his truck, then kills himself with an axe to the face. At the same time, Pete hangs himself.

When Jack Carver arrives for his shift, things pick up. Mike and Hatch stand over Pete’s body as Robbie Beals and Henry Bright (Christopher Marren) discover Lloyd. And then Linoge, in the cell, reveals Mike’s past. He cheated on a university exam to keep his grant. Linoge turns to Jack, talks about the gay man he and two others put in the hospital. He hints at all of them having repressed feelings for the man, and Jack gets angry. He takes Mike’s gun from the desk, then fires at Linoge. Mike gets shot, then checks his wound. It only grazed the skin.

And Linoge hands him the bullet.

This is when my Spidey sense went off.  

The bullet left only a scratch, but Mike reacted as if he’d been struck by a baseball bat. Here’s a thought…what if Mike died? What if Linoge caught the bullet and healed him, leaving a mark? I could be wrong, but the intense reaction leads me to think something darker happened.

Now, let’s look at the secret sins of the main characters.

Robbie’s affair.

Pete’s illegal weed business.

Katrina’s abortion.

Billy’s promiscuity.

Jack’s gay-bashing history.

And then…Mike’s cheating on a university exam.

One of these things is not like the other, right?

Mike’s secret, although shameful, doesn’t compare…which made me think. Could it be…Mike Anderson is the most righteous man on the island? Maybe he’s stopping Linoge from demolishing the island? Perhaps he is like…Lot living in Sodom, or Noah prior to the Flood?

That’s the thing about the Old Testament.

God is slow to anger and very merciful. He always offers a chance at redemption until the final moment. So, perhaps…Little Tall Island is due for a cleansing and Andre Linoge is God’s executor? He doesn’t seem evil, or good. He’s more like a trickster than a demon. He reveals sin, and extracts power. And like Randall Flagg in The Stand, I think Linoge is an entity who God has allowed to cause chaos, like Lucifer in the Book of Job.

With that in mind, let’s keep going.

Katrina confronts Billy over Jenna Freeman, and Billy confronts her over the abortion. They duke it out, verbally. Linoge possesses Billy to pummel Kat with a can of apple juice, but Billy fights him, and Kat walks away unharmed. Linoge possesses Kat (using the wolf-cane), who bashes Billy to death with it. At the shelter, Joanna Stanhope (Kathleen Chalfant) hears a scream, then goes out to check. Her mother Cora (Myra Carter) turns the tone darkly sexual. Joanna finds Kat, who admits she killed Billy, but blames the cane.

In a private moment, Robbie suggests they kill Linoge: claiming that what happens on the island remains on the island, exactly like how Dolores Clayborne ended her husband during a solar eclipse.

Kat is brought back by Jane Kingsbury (Lynne Griffin). A few tell her to add rat poison to her tea in revenge for killing Billy while others suggest jail. She gives Kat a sleeping pill and puts her to bed while Joanna’s mother, Cora, Linoge’s latest puppet, is found face down in the sink. Molly (Debrah Farentino), Mike’s wife, suggests getting rid of Linoge too, claiming he’ll be never found guilty in a court of law.

At the jail, Robbie sees his mother (Kay Tramblay). She scorns him for missing her final moments alive. Robbie aims a gun, and she tells him she’ll be waiting, ready to eat his eyes out. The gun turns into a snake and Linoge shapeshifts into an older being, exploding the cell and venturing into the storm.

As the shelter falls asleep, a television evangelist tells the audience to confess their secret sins.

The plea from the tele-evangelist may be the clue to all of this madness. Secret Sin.

                Isaiah 59:2; “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.”

                Proverbs 28:13: “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” 

What does this mean?

According to the Bible, secret sin keeps a person separate from God, while confession pulls God closer. Sin, like vampires, must be invited within, accepted by a person. Just like Linoge said as Martha Clarendon opened the door. “Born in lust, turn to dust. Born in sin, come on in.”

Before we get too Biblical with Linoge, let’s digest a few things.

The townsfolk of Little Tall (men and women) are open to violence.

1. Robbie Beals suggested they kill Linoge, took up arms against his mom’s apparition.
2. Jack Carver has a history of violence, then tagged Mike with a bullet.
3. Linoge was roughed up pretty hard prior to being locked up.
4. Like Robbie, Molly Anderson suggested getting rid of Linoge, letting the island cover it up.
5. When Kat was brought back, the idea of rat poison in her tea was discussed.

Callused hearts are the norm. No forgiveness, no mercy.

1. The film opens with a market full of entitled shoppers, annoyed by the limited supply of available meat and ungrateful for the service Mike was providing.
2. Davey was mocked for saying Mrs. Clarendon was dead. Robbie never apologized.
3. Katrina and Billy didn’t apologize, in fact, they doubled-down on the cruelty.
4. Pippa was mocked by the kids, and her parents were mocked as “dumb.”

My standing theory is…Linoge is a supernatural entity whose strength derives from sin. His dark abilities grow in the presence of unconfessed sin. Kinda like vegetation under direct sunlight, it provides nutrition. The way he treats Robbie versus how he treats Ralphie is very different. He can possess some into suicide, but appears harmless to others.

With Pete and Lloyd and Cora, there was zero pushback. Billy, however, fought him off.  

Everyone falls asleep, and they dream of Little Tall being the next Roanoke, a colony that simply vanished, followed by images of themselves, one-by-one, walking into the sea saying “Sorry, Mr. Linoge. Sorry, we couldn’t give you what you wanted.” When they wake up, they see the lighthouse will fall, so they go outside to watch it. One by one, people are pulled into the storm.

Inside, Mike realizes Linoge’s name is anagram for Legion, then recalls the story in the Book of Mark where Jesus casts a swarm of demons into a herd of pigs who run off a cliff. From this point on, he becomes more Biblically aware, even recalls Job, providing his own much-darker ending. As this unfolds, Linoge’s voice pulls Ralphie away from the crowd, whispering “do not be afraid.” And then…something really revealing happens.

The ladies get distracted, and let Kat, the girl who brutally murdered Billy, babysit the children.

The women.

Let.

A murderer.

Babysit.

Their children.

This was when I thought…Little Tall is for the Wicked. Not once does anyone say “hey, maybe, we shouldn’t let a murderer babysit the children.” Not once. It didn’t even come to them.

Molly realizes Ralphie is gone, then freaks out. He returns from a dark closet with a sack of black and white stones, saying “I don’t think he’s a bad man.” After the lighthouse falls, Angela Carver, pulled into the storm, comes back. She now has white hair…and looks terrified, saying they need to give Linoge what he wants. She goes on to say, “He can’t just take it, we have to give it to him.”

Someone, I think Mike, asks “Why us?”

“Maybe…because he knows we can keep a secret.”

BOOM! Right there…Linoge’s grasp, his control, stems from secrets. He isn’t naturally powerful. King’s villains all have rules that limit their nefarious abilities. In this case, Linoge uses sin like spiritual nutrition to enhance his dark powers.

A moral man is much harder to compromise, and Linoge knows that.

The wolf cane appears and the children are hypnotized. They all “pet the doggy” and fall into a deep sleep. At 9pm, the town hall is full, and they all debate if they give into Linoge’s demands. Mike’s advice: Let’s hear him out then decide. Reverend Riggins says there’s a time to be stubborn and a time to think of the Greater Good, then quotes Proverbs. “Pride always comes before the fall.”

Explanation: Saying “no” is an act of Pride. It will lead to our destruction.

Mike snaps back with the Book of Matthew. “Give unto Caesar that is Caesar’s and give unto God that is God’s.”

Explanation: You don’t know what he wants.

Robbie goes to the podium to give a speech, and Andre Linoge appears.

He calls out a man who stole 14K from his company to pay off gambling debts. Another man set fire to the factory out of revenge, killing work for 70 men. Two other men are revealed to be involved in Jack’s gay-bashing. He implies Reverend Riggins is a pedo, having two nieces who he likes too much, that run when his car pulls in the driveway. Robbie sees his mom again as Linoge approaches the podium. He shows them his true form. He isn’t a god, nor an immortal. He is dying, and he wants one of the kids, an heir to pass on his legacy. If he gets an heir, he’ll go away.

Mike declines the offer, then runs for the podium, but the men restrain him. And then his wife, Molly, enters the scene and agrees with the mob, saying “we have to listen to him.” Linoge gives them 30 minutes to accept or reject, then leaves.

From this point on, Mike is the only one with a sense of morality, the only one who instinctually takes the “no f*cking way are you taking a kid” route, crying. “We don’t give away our children to thugs! We don’t give away our children!”

The anti-giving-away-a-kid argument was “Linoge can punish us.”

The town fears Linoge more than God, while Mike is saying “Trust in God.” He suggests the town stand together, resist Linoge, but Reverend Riggins jumps in with “Render unto Caesar that is Caesar’s.”

Which doesn’t make much sense.

Is he claiming Linoge is owed a kid?

Constable Anderson snaps back with “Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savor not the things that be of God, Book of Mark.”

Ultimately, the town agrees to play Linoge’s game, and the decision is to be made via the stones Ralphie received. All are white except for one is black. The parents, including Molly, take a stone. Mike refuses to be a part of it, but Molly stands with the town. In the end, Ralphie is selected (Molly picks the black stone). Mike cries in despair as Linoge flies off into the storm with Ralphie in his arms.

The story concludes with Mike leaving the island to pursue law. Molly convinces herself Ralphie got lost in the storm, then after a few years, marries Hatch. Jack (and others) commit suicide, while the rest suffer in silence. The final scene…Mike sees Linoge (in his true form) and Ralphie on the street. Mike calls out. Ralphie shows his fangs, and they walk away.

---

Here is why I believe that Mike Anderson is Lot from Genesis, Chapter 19.

Lot lived in Sodom, where degenerate behavior had become normal. God wanted to destroy it. It had become a black hole, and the hearts of the inhabitants had become callused in sin and pride and wickedness so much that the idea of repentance was a foreign concept.

Answering the pleas of Abraham, God sent two angels to fetch Lot, and his family. A reprobate mob wanted to fornicate with the angels, but were struck with blindness. They all fled, but Lot’s wife looked back and was turned to salt as God decimated Sodom and Gomorrah with raining sulfur.

Was the isle of Little Tall as bad as Sodom?

If the island’s unwritten motto was to let evil go unpunished, then I’d argue it’s not far off. Also…Molly, in this story, chose Little Tall over Mike.

---

TWO THINGS I HAVE YET TO HEAR ANYONE DISCUSS.

RALPHIE WAS CHOSEN.

I don’t believe Ralphie was randomly selected. I think Linoge gave them the illusion of choice, and chose Ralphie because Mike wasn’t wicked. He was flawed, sure, but his moral fortitude was rock solid as the story went on. Also, I believe Ralphie’s innocent nature made him the best candidate for Linoge’s prodigy, it would make him easier to mold.

Matthew 7:16: “You will know them by their fruits.”

The other kids (“fruit”) were defiant, raised by deceptive “rotten trees” and would require more discipline. This may be why Ralphie was the only child Linoge had contact with. The others were never approached.

Plus, he could possess anyone, and do magic without moving. And so…I think Molly’s hand was always meant to take the black stone. If she didn’t, Linoge could manipulate the stones.

MIKE ANDERSON COULD HAVE SAVED THE ISLAND

I believe there were three options. Linoge only said there were two, but I think he was also lying.

One option was…the town saying ‘No,” and Linoge decimating Little Tall Island.

Option Two was what happened. Linoge got a child, then left.

However, Option Three would be…Mike Anderson sacrificing himself.

If he would’ve said “take me instead,” and sacrificed himself to Linoge, that would’ve done two things: Save an innocent soul, keep Ralphie with Molly. And make him a martyr in the eyes of Little Tall Island, and maybe…just maybe, brought them closer to God rather than further down the self-imposed delusion trail.