How Mike Flanagan’s Changes In Carrie Make Total Sense

From the opening episode, Mike Flanagan’s Carrie makes it clear that it’s going to be a very different adaptation.

Although Mike Flanagan has earned himself a reputation for being a director that audiences can trust with a book adaptation, the announcement of his Carrie television series was still met with trepidation. The debut novel from horror author icon Stephen King, Carrie has been adapted several times over the years, most famously by Brian De Palma in 1976. De Palma’s film is viewed as a genre classic and if it ain’t broke why fix it?

One reason to re-explore Carrie is that the original novel and movie are set 50 years ago and the world has moved on somewhat. King’s novel will always be relevant as it works as a coming-of-age horror, but the setting of that awakening could do with an update. Other adaptations have tried to do that with middling success, but Flanagan’s approach makes total sense. 

The first episode switches several key points of Carrie’s story and background, resulting in a show that remains a clear adaptation of the source material, but one that is on its own path. Here’s a spoiler-filled look at some of the key changes. 

The Inclusion of Ralph White

In Stephen King’s novel, Carrie White’s dad is said to have died before she was born. His death means that Carrie has grown up alone under the guidance of her devoutly religious mother, Margaret. There appears to be unresolved feelings between Mrs. White and her deceased husband, but it is never really explored. 

After the initial tease of the prom night disaster, Mike Flanagan’s Carrie introduces Ralph White as he goes to work on a construction site. He's going about his job as normal when he finds himself crushed by a pile of building supplies. Although viewed as a freak accident, the way that the blocks appear to shake before falling implies that something, or someone, was manipulating them; could Carrie be responsible for her fathers death? Having Ralph as more of a lingering presence adds a new dynamic to the story that hasn’t been seen before. 

Carrie’s Backstory Is Very Different

Historically, Carrie White has has been a student at Ewen High School for as long as all the other kids. A senior herself, Carrie has grown up as an outcast amongst her peers and is the butt of all the jokes. Her fanatical mother keeps her isolated from everyone, and her overly religious stance on the world generates more teasing for Carrie. It is with Carrie’s backstory that Mike Flanagan deviates the most from the source material.

This version of Carrie is the new kid. In the aftermath of Ralph White’s accident, the police and local real estate agent Eleanor Snell visit his property. There, they discover Margaret and Carrie White hiding in a closet. Carrie was born and raised within those walls, home-schooled by Margaret. The discovery triggers Carrie's enrolment into Ewen High and her arrival grabs the attention of her new classmates. 

Incidentally, this Carrie White is a sophomore rather than a senior. It is explained that Ewen High mixes ages in home room, gym, and study hall, and it is in these settings that she encounters the senior class  queen bee, and her future tormentor, Chris Hargensen. 

Making Carrie younger and new helps sell the idea that the older girls would torment her. Her home-schooling also better explains her lack of understanding of the modern world. 

The Lockdown Drill Showcases the State of Modern American Education

Having grown up without computers or television, Carrie’s induction into the reality of our contemporary society is a bitter wake-up call. This is best evidenced during a lockdown drill during her first day.

The training exercises are a sad staple of American high-school life as they try to train students how to behave should their school ever be the target of an active shooter. This sequence, alongside the metal detectors at the school doors, are the biggest indicators of how times have changed since King wrote Carrie. 

Mrs. White Is Far More Dangerous 

Mrs. White is the poster child for terrible screen mothers. Throughout every adaptation she has been a cruel figure who punishes her daughter whenever she deems that she might have sinned. Flanagan’s version certainly has that capacity for cruelness within her, but she is far more than just a religious fanatic.

Although religious, Mrs. White, is also a conspiracy theorist, anti-vaxxer, and all round alarmist. She is distrustful of everything provided by the modern world and insists that Carrie does not get drawn into it. Her conversation with the principal after Carrie’s lockdown drill experience shows a cunning, manipulative, and clever side to the character whose influence is going to become very dangerous as the show progresses. This iteration of Margaret White is cut from the same cloth as The Mist’s Mrs. Carmody, and we all know how that turned out…

The Shower Scene Remains Traumatic

De Palma’s Carrie famously opens with Carrie experiencing her first period in the school showers after gym. Having been denied information about menstruation by her mother, Carrie thinks that she is dying. Rather than help, the other girls start throwing sanitary products at her and taunting her. It’s a horrible sequence to watch in every iteration of Carrie and this version is no exception. 

As with everything else in life, Carrie's mother has not prepared her for periods, and the other girls cruelly pelt her with tampons and pads. To give the sequence a modern edge, Chris and her cohorts film Carrie’s hysterics, something which, in the social media age, can only lead to further problems for the teen. 

Sue’s Prom Night Revelation Changes Everything

The biggest revelation during the first episode of Mike Flanagan’s Carrie is that Miss White was not working alone on prom night. As survivor Sue Snell is interviewed about the incident and Carrie's actions, Sue explains what no one else is mentioning: that there were others there that night. Strangers. 

Just after Carrie's shower ordeal, which causes her powers to flare, the camera cuts to a young woman in a lavish house. She is affected by Carrie’s outburst and races to tell an older figure what she has discovered. Then, as Sue recounts that Carrie was not alone, the camera follows from behind a pair of figures as they arrive in the school gymnasium. Carrie having back-up for the Ewen High disaster changes things completely and opens up questions about how Flanagan’s version might fit in with some wider Stephen King properties. Flanagan has already adapted Doctor Sleep which is all about people with psychic powers, so could Carrie find herself being linked into the Shining phenomenon?