Everything That Happens In The Carrie Season Finale
Mike Flanagan’s Carrie season finale has so much happening in it that it’s hard to keep track. Luckily, JustWatch is on hand to explain it all.
Although Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Carrie hits all of the big moments from Stephen King’s debut novel, it also hasn’t been afraid to venture off in its own direction. Comparing Flanagan’s TV show to the source book highlights a heap of differences, none more so than during its season finale, which makes for very exciting viewing.
So, settle in as we take a spoiler-filled deep dive into the Carrie finale.
What Happens At Prom?
The Carrie story is most famous for the events at Ewen High School’s Senior Prom. The dance ends in devastation after newly-anointed Prom Queen, Carrie White, is showered in pig’s blood; the result of a cruel prank by bully Chris and her boyfriend Billy. Initially frozen in shock, Carrie snaps to life, and with a flick of the wrist, uses her telekinetic powers to explode all the phones of her classmates, some of whom are using them to record her humiliation.
In the traditional Carrie story, the tormented girl unleashes the full potential of her rage-fuelled power onto her peers, but Flanagan opts for a slightly different approach. Emmaline appears to Carrie and implores her to ‘let her take the wheel’. Carrie relinquishes control and Emmaline is seen astral projecting inside of the troubled girl, before using her body to exact a bitter revenge.
As a fire rages around the gym, Emmaline/Carrie causes a powerline to fall, instantly electrocuting the school Principal. From here, she floats off the stage, her eyes set firmly on pursuing Chris and Billy. She uses her powers to jam the doors, but before Carrie can reach them, a gunshot rings out. Temporarily distracted, the door opens, enabling some teens to get free, but Emmaline/Carrie quickly reassert control, leave the gym in pursuit of her bullies and lock the doors behind them.
Those trapped inside find themselves at the mercy of the strange girls who arrived just prior to Carrie’s coronation. They also have powers and use them to combine electricity with the water from the sprinklers to kill anyone standing on the dance floor.
Who Survives The Attack At Prom?
From the opening episode it is known that Sue Snell survived Carrie’s reign of terror. Initially not at the prom, Sue races to the dance after realising that Chris is up to something. Unfortunately, she arrives too late and finds herself caught in the crossfire. She witnesses her former boyfriend, Tommy, die on stage, having been hit by a platform that Carrie brings down in her efforts to get to Chris. Sue climbs the stage in a vain attempt to help him, her ascent ensuring she is safe from the later electrocution.
Chris’ minion, Tina, is also revealed to have survived the ordeal. Although injured by her phone exploding next to her face, Tina is one of the lucky few who manages to escape during Carrie’s lapse in concentration. Sadly, Miss Desjardin perishes. She makes an attempt to save Carrie from being shot, but thinking she means to cause her harm, Carrie uses her powers to bat her away, flinging her directly into the blazing inferno.
Chris and Billy make it out of the gym, but Emmaline/Carrie tracks them down. Their attempt to run Carrie down in Billy’s car goes horribly wrong as Carrie uses her powers to flip the car. Both survive the crash, but the power-mad teen coldly crushes the car roof down on top of them, flattening the pair like pancakes.
Margaret White Died, But Who Was Responsible?
In King’s story, Carrie returns home from prom to find her mother waiting for her. Mrs. White turns a knife on her daughter only for Carrie to retaliate and use her power to stop her mother’s heart from beating. Flanagan instead has Margaret try to murder Carrie with a knitting needle to the brain. It does not work and Carrie defends herself, flicking scissors into her mother’s back before bringing the whole house down on her. Mrs. White survives this, though, revealing her own telekinetic powers in the process to keep the structure from crushing her. Carrie is then rescued by a now fully solid Emmaline and Margaret watches as they race away.
It is then revealed that Margaret survived as she is interviewed by the shadowy group of strangers led by Kate Siegel. The mysterious woman interrogates Margaret about her abilities before killing her by causing her heart to slow down to a stop. The introduction of this group is the biggest deviation from the novel and opens up a lot of potential for further exploration. Siegel’s character is clearly a ‘pusher’ akin to Snakebite Andi from Doctor Sleep, and her remark that “a lot of people have a little bit of Shine” implies that Carrie almost certainly shares a universe with Doctor Sleep, The Shining, and potentially even It: Welcome to Derry.
Does Carrie Live?
In the novel, Carrie White dies, leaving the survivors of Chamberlain to live with the aftermath of her attack; Sue being the most affected. Flanagan, however, lets Miss White live. As the show ends, Carrie awakens to find herself in a car beside Emmaline who is driving her somewhere. Her now corporeal friend won’t tell her where they are going as, apparently, if she does and Carrie so much as thinks it, those hunting them will find them.
Emmaline assures her she is taking her somewhere safe, before proclaiming her a god and telling her that the world in front of them is all hers. Carrie seems to like this idea and Carrie ends with the teen grinning like a Cheshire cat. It’s an odd and very open-ended place to finish, and with so many threads left unstitched, it looks as though a second season could be on the cards.
