In Stephen King's Carrie, the massacre at the senior prom and the subsequent destruction of Chamberlain were carried out willingly and vindictively by a vengeful Carrie White in response to the pig-blood prank by Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan. However, in the season finale of Amazon Prime Video's Carrie series, she was instead pushed into the massacre by a new character, Thalia Dudek's Emaline West, another girl like her with the TK gene or "the shine."
The Direct was at the 27th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival Honors and had the chance to talk with Summer Howell, the titular star of Amazon's Carrie, on the carpet about the series' now-confirmed second season. We asked Howell about the controversial changes made to the ending of the original story, in which Emaline essentially committed most of the massacre in Carrie's place, and how this would change the trajectory of the title character in Season 2.
Howell explained that the series' creative team was "always making something different with our version of Carrie" and that "a lot of questions will be answered about Emaline" in Carrie Season 2, even acknowledging the hate the new character was receiving online as "unnecessary:"
"We were always making something different with our version of Carrie, and we get to explore the TK gene a bit and all these other special women. I think it sets up the future more, and a lot of questions will be answered about Emaline, and I know she's got a lot of hate online, but I think it's unnecessary."
The concern fans had with this change was that it removed accountability from Carrie and her actions at the story's climax. There are hints that she was consciously along for the ride and not completely blind when she let Emaline "take the wheel," such as Carrie's look of regret after accidentally killing Amber Midthunder's Rita Desjardin, and her final breaking after crushing both Alison Thornton's Chris and Arthur Conti's Billy.
However, Howell assures fans to "just wait" and that Carrie's second season will demonstrate why series showrunner Mike Flanagan, who also directed four of the show's eight episodes, "decided to do it this way:"
"I think if you're here for something new and fresh, I think just wait... You'll see why Mike Flanagan decided to do it this way."
Amazon Prime Video officially renewed Carrie for a second season on October 22, putting Flanagan one step closer to his "dream scenario" of three seasons.
What Questions Could Be Answered in Carrie Season 2?
As Emaline drove Carrie away from Chamberlain in the final moments of the season finale, she called Carrie "a god" and said the world belonged to her, which Carrie repeated to herself with a happy smile. While it's regrettable Emaline took the lead in committing some of Carrie's worst atrocities from the book, this ending showed that Carrie felt little, if any, regret for what she had done and allowed to happen, now seeing herself above everyone else.
If there is another season, Carrie's descent into abusing her powers will likely be a focus, with Emaline egging her on. However, hopefully it will come to a point that even Emaline can control Carrie, who will have agency over her terrible actions as she lets her pain unravel.
Meanwhile, Kate Siegel's Adelaide, who leads a group of women similarly touched by the shine like Carrie, will be after them both. It's unknown what exactly they had planned for Carrie before Emaline helped her escape, but those awnsers will no doubt be revealed next season.
It's possible that Adelaide could be building a sanctuary for people like them, those who have inherited the TK gene, or using Carrie for something more malicious as part of her cult. Something that Katee Sackhoff's Amanda West, Emaline's mother, implied when speaking with Samantha Sloyan's Margaret White about them and how dangerous they can be.
