Abhiroop Das
Developed by Mike Flanagan for Prime Video, ‘Carrie‘ takes the classic story by Stephen King and frames it in a contemporary context. Following the death of her father, Carrie, who had been raised in a sheltered environment for all of her life, suddenly finds herself at Ewen High School, surrounded by children who are more hostile than friendly. As she endures relentless bullying at school and an abusive upbringing at home, Carrie seemingly develops telekinetic powers. By the end of the series, though, these abilities burst forth without restraint and paint the town in chaos and destruction. Carrie, meanwhile, rides off into the sunset with her friend Emaline, leaving the story on an ambiguous note. Though Prime Video released the horror show as a miniseries, some subtle details in the finale have left fans curious about the question of a potential continuation.
Carrie’s Story Can Potentially Continue Beyond the Stephen King Novel
While season 1 of ‘Carrie’ adapts the eponymous Stephen King novel in its entirety, creator Mike Flanagan has expressed a desire to continue the story in an original direction. In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explained that he does not necessarily view the story as a finite one. “The beauty of not really being beholden to the book or to any of the previous adaptations,” he added, “is (…) the potential of the characters and of the greater world that she (Carrie) belongs to.” That said, he did not create the final episode with a continuation in mind either, and has left the decision for a sequel in the hands of Amazon. As such, if there is enough demand from fans for the story to expand and continue, a second, TV-original season might just get greenlit.
Flanagan’s decision not to write ‘Carrie’ with a sequel in mind came from his experience with ‘The Midnight Club.’ While the show was designed to run for several seasons, it was ultimately canceled by Netflix after the first season. With that in mind, Flanagan and his writing team added enough new elements to ‘Carrie’ to warrant a hypothetical sequel, while still sticking relatively close to the book and delivering a complete narrative package. The introduction of what appears to be a coven of psychics could put this series in the same league as ‘Wednesday‘ and ‘The Umbrella Academy,’ with Flanagan potentially adapting some lesser-known Stephen King novels as part of the same universe.
A Potential Carrie Season 2 Can Focus on the Mysterious League of Psychics
The biggest change that Mike Flanagan makes with his take on ‘Carrie’ is the introduction of a secret coven of psychics, one that is retroactively fitted into this fictional world’s history through the stories of witches, myths, and espers. At the end, one such psychic uses her supernatural abilities to kill Margaret White, which goes to suggest that they likely have a plan in place for Carrie herself. There is also the mystery of Emaline West, supposedly an astral projector who was sent by the psychics to keep watch on Carrie, but went rogue. While we see Carrie and Emaline drive off into the sunset, it’s still unclear whether that scene is set in reality or is a magical construct of sorts. Nonetheless, this conclusion strays from the novel quite sharply and, in turn, opens up a world of possibilities.
While many of Mike Flanagan’s projects seemingly take place in the same universe, there doesn’t seem to be a strong narrative thread connecting all of them together. However, ‘Carrie’ is the first time that he introduces an entire secret league that appears to have been in operation for centuries, and thus, there is room for him to bring all of these stories together. In ‘The Midnight Club,’ for instance, there are many references to witches and psychics, which, in retrospect, can be merged with this larger story. The show ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor,’ on the other hand, can serve as a jump back in time. While a sequel might not necessarily continue with Carrie as the lead, it can still explore this supernaturally complex world in further detail.
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