Need to get caught up? Check out my review of episode one, First Period.
Update as of 10/22: Carrie has officially been renewed for season two according to Deadline.
We’ve come now to the final episode of Carrie.
Sometimes good shows are ruined by the final episodes. And, especially given King’s track record for bad endings, I was worried. I mean, this series has been so good so far. But don’t worry, this finale was everything you could want it to be and more.
We start this episode back at the beginning of the series, with Sue’s interview. Now, at the time, I thought it was a documentary. Maybe Sue did, too. Maybe everyone did. But it’s clear now that this was no documentary.
Sue’s doing her best to remember the prom. After she saw Billy’s car in the background on someone’s social media post, she ran to the gym to try to stop whatever Chris was planning. But, as we already know, she got there too late to save anyone. She got there in time to see the carnage, though.
This episode comes from many points of view, scattered in a way that we get the whole story, a piece at a time. We see people being interviewed by a mysterious woman. A woman whose voice should be familiar. And in this way we hear the survivors share their harrowing experiences.
We also learn something about the person interviewing everyone. She clearly has an agenda. And it doesn’t seem to be a good one.
Much of the episode is told through Carrie’s point of view. And this is easily the most terrifying part. After killing just about everyone in the gym, she heads after Chris and Billy. Emaline is with her, egging her on.
I don’t dare ruin it for you, but the final confrontation between Chris and Carrie is epic. It was perfect. It was satisfying, dark, and everything I could have asked for it to be.
Finally, Carrie heads home. She’s shaken. She’s scared, and she needs her mother. Margaret at first looks like she’s going to take care of her daughter. Until, that is, she decides to betray her.
This doesn’t end well for her.
I don’t want to ruin the ending for you. I will say, it was unexpected. The whole series was, if I’m being honest. Carrie was always stronger than I thought she would be. And I really loved that.
Side note: There was a brief reference to The Shining and Doctor Sleep. It’s just something that Adelaide says in passing. But it was one of many little King references that made my dark little heart sing. It also might hint at another season of Carrie. Mike Flanigan has said he wants to make it a three-part series. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Another thing I loved was the fake documentary setup, in which we slowly learn that the documentarian is not an uninvolved bystander but an active participant and antagonist. Or protagonist? Honestly, it’s hard to tell who’s on whose side. Or whose side we should be on in the end.
This is perhaps the best thing about Carrie. There are no clear antagonists or protagonists. Except Sue. Sue is an angel who never did anything wrong. Everyone else though?
Chris is a selfish teenager who doesn’t care who she hurts, and can’t admit she’s done anything wrong until it’s far too late.
Margaret White is a newly widowed woman who’s trying desperately to save her daughter, but who cannot see past her own pain, fear, and ego.
Adelaide seems like she’s trying to protect girls like Carrie. But she’s manipulating and disregarding others in the process.
Emaline seems to care about Carrie. But she’s far too willing to push Carrie to kill.
Carrie, of course, was pushed and pushed until she cracked. She took vengeance on the people who wronged her, sure. And the people who stood by and did nothing to help her when they had the power to do so. And the people who were all too happy to just point and laugh at her pain. But there were a whole lot of people in that gym who never did a damned thing to her. There were a lot of people in the town who probably didn’t even know she existed. And they died just as well.
Seven people could watch this and have eight different opinions about who was right and who was wrong. Which is some fantastic storytelling, in my opinion.
Personally, I hope we get a second season. If we don’t, though, this will stand as a really fantastic miniseries. I loved meeting Carrie White, and I hope you did too.
My book, Station 86 Volume One, is available now on Amazon! It’s got two dark sci-fi stories about murder and mayhem on the station of First Contact.
Leave a Reply