Mike Flanagan's long-awaited adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 novel Carrie has arrived, with all eight episodes in tow. If you've completed your binge-watch, there's a chance that you might be a wee bit confused... as the final episode takes a detour from what we know about the book and novel and sets things up for a multi-layered, potential second season.
The new Prime Video show follows a modern-day Carrie White who, after being homeschooled by her doomsday prepper, overly religious mother, goes to public school for the first time. If you know the OG story, you know that it doesn't go very well. But to add insult to injury, the story takes place in the digital age, and that means those bullies have phone cameras and anonymous Instagram accounts on top of the inherent cruelty that already comes with being a teenager.
Below, we've answered all of the questions you might have after watching Carrie episode 8. But be warned: there are massive spoilers for the Carrie finale below. Don't scroll ahead unless you've already watched the new series.
Carrie episode 8 ending recap
The finale begins with Sue recounting her version of events to Kate Siegel's unnamed documentarian character, though it's intercut with accounts from Tina and later Margaret White. We cut to the moment when Chris and Billy dump pig's blood onto Carrie as she's being crowned prom queen. The crowd of prom-goers, though initially shocked, begins to laugh at Carrie and whip out their phones to take pictures and record. Enraged, she uses her powers to make every single cell phone explode.
The stage catches fire, Tommy is knocked out, a bulb with a live wire hits Principal Grayle on the head, and Emaline appears. She gently asks Carrie if she can 'help,' and we assume at this point that this is just a metaphor for Carrie taking her own powers into hyperdrive.
The woman who Margaret called in order to "take care" of Carrie's telekinesis begins shooting at Carrie... but the two other strange women begin using their own telekinesis to stop her. Sue, in her telling of events, remembers seeing a shadow standing behind Carrie, and that the shadow 'exploded.' During the explosion, Principal Grayle is electrocuted to death. Carrie teleports down from the stage and locks the gymnasium doors. She begins throwing kids out of her way, as the fire begins to consume the entire gymnasium. She leaves, and promptly goes after Chris and Billy.
The doomed couple escapes in Billy's car, but Carrie and Emaline are not far behind. Carrie stands in the middle of the road and makes the car flip over. Chris and Billy are still alive after the wreck, but Carrie promptly ends their lives by bringing the roof down onto them. In a moment of euphoria, Carrie and Emaline dance in the street as the entire town burns around them. However, the destruction itself startles Carrie, and she begins to regret what she's done. She runs home, ignoring the pleas from her neighbor to evacuate, and promptly hugs her mother.
Margaret washes the blood off Carrie, but upon realizing that her daughter is a deadly force that cannot be controlled, she attempts to stab her to death with a pair of scissors. Carrie telepathically removes the scissors, plunging them into Margaret's back. She makes the entire house shake before bringing the roof down on both of them, but Margaret survives... as she's revealed to have telekinetic abilities of her own.
Carrie survives and is whisked away into a car by Emaline... who is real. As Kate's character reveals, Emaline is a "dangerous" astral projector. Kate then reveals herself to have telekinetic powers, and stops Margaret's heart. Two of the telekinetic strangers from prom night burst into the room, revealing themselves to be part of one big overarching group of telekinetic women that is hunting down Carrie White.
Meanwhile, Carrie and Emaline quite literally drive off into the sunset.
Does Carrie die?
Though it's canon for Carrie to die, as it happens in the original 1974 Stephen King novel and each movie remake, Flanagan had different plans this time around. When Carrie brings the roof of the house down on herself and her mother, she intends for it to be a murder-suicide of sorts. This is implied when she, while lying in the wreckage, sees her dad lying at peace next to her. However, she (and her mother) survive the impact. Emaline, revealing herself to be a real person after all, picks Carrie up off the ground and puts her into her car. We don't know where she's taking her, but it's definitely not a hospital.
Is Emaline real?
Yes. You might recall that Billy and Chris steal video footage from Carrie's house, which was taken during her fight with Emaline shortly after she broke Chris's nose. When the video is shown to Carrie, it appears as though Carrie is arguing with herself... and that Emaline is simply a manifestation of Carrie's power and confidence (think of it as the personification of positive self-talk).
However, it's Emaline who picks Carrie up and rescues her from the ruins of the White house. This means that Sue was right: it wasn't just Carrie who set the high school on fire and killed 200 people... but it wasn't the strangers either. It was Emaline, who Kate Siegel's character says is a powerful and dangerous astral projector. Emaline and Carrie drive off into the distance before the credits roll, though we don't know where they're going. It's likely that we'll learn all about Emeline in season 2, should season 2 get the green light from Prime Video.
Who are the strangers?
When Sue tells Kate Siegel's character, "It wasn't just Carrie," she's referring to the three women who entered the gymnasium and quickly disappeared. In the final moments of the finale, we learn that two of the strangers are involved with Kate, who is interviewing survivors for the documentary and is revealed to have telekinetic powers of her own.
Remember: when Carrie uses her powers in episode 2, a woman with telekinetic powers in an unknown building is able to feel them. This woman is likely part of Kate's crew, who have been studying Carrie. The woman that Margaret contacts in order to "take Carrie down," and shoots at her with a literal gun during the prom scene, is also part of this shadowy cabal full of telekinetic women... but here's where it gets confusing. The blonde woman came in with the two other younger women who were dressed in black, but Kate's character makes a point to ask Sue if she recognized that woman. She then goes on to convince Sue that the two other women, who are revealed to be working with Kate, were never there in the first place.
Overall: we don't know who they are, but we know they're dangerous... especially given that they decide to kill Margaret White in order to hide evidence. Because they are aware of Emaline's existence and deem her to be a threat, it's likely that Emaline knows that she and Carrie are being hunted down – not just by police, but by the cabal as well.
What is the documentary for?
We can infer that Kate Siegel's character contacted the survivors with seemingly positive intentions, perhaps claiming that they were making a documentary on what really happened on prom night. They also make themselves seem like authority figures, as they seem to have every single detail as to what went down, including exact time stamps and names of every single deceased individual. However, it now appears that they're using it as a way to collect any and all information that they can on Carrie White... and to manipulate the events as they see fit.
Remember: they convince Sue Snell that she never saw anyone else at the prom at all, and that all of the destruction had to have been caused by Carrie. They also ask Sue and Tina to remember what specific sensations they felt as Carrie was using her powers.
It's worth noting here that Sue can't see Emaline, and therefore thought the strangers aided in the destruction of the town... but it was Emaline who helped set fire to the gym and kill Billy and Chris.
Sue does see a shadow and says that the shadow exploded, but again, does not know that this was Emeline. The reason she could be seen as a shadow is because Emaline, who is real, was present in the gym via astral projection.
Who dies in the Carrie finale?
As Sue Snell states, 200 people die on prom night. The death toll includes Principal Grayle, who is electrocuted; Tommy, who is accidentally knocked out by Carrie; Rita Desjardins, who is thrown backwards onto the fire in the gymnasium; and Billy and Chris who are killed by Carrie in Billy's car. Separately, Margaret White is killed by Kate Seigel's mystery character.
Will there be a Carrie season 2?
Prime Video hasn't greenlit a Carrie season 2 yet, but creator Mike Flanagan certainly has high hopes and plans for a second, and even third season. From the very first episode, we know that there is an overarching shadowy cabal full of telekinetic women watching Carrie White (though this doesn't really become clear until the final episode). We know that the two strange girls who entered the gym on prom night work with Kate Siegel's character, who was interviewing survivors under the guise of making a documentary. We also know that all of these telekinetic women are a) obsessed with Carrie White, and b) consider Emeline to be an enemy. Now that Carrie and Emeline have escaped together, the finale definitely sets things up for a second season where the pair is being hunted down.
In a recent interview with Collider, Flanagan said: "In my dream scenario. I think it’s three seasons. In my dream scenario, I think Carrie has a wonderful three-step arc. It’s a trilogy, really." We'll just have to wait and see what the gods over at Prime Video have to say about that.
Carrie is streaming on Prime Video now. For more, check out our guide to the best Stephen King adaptations and keep up with all the upcoming horror movies you need to know about.
