Carrie Episodes 1 and 2: Starting at the End, a Brutal Period Scene and a Twist That Has Us Hooked

We came out of the first episode of Amazon's new Carrie saying the same thing: "I'm hooked." The series opens on the burning gym at senior prom, a death toll of 200 and the destruction of a whole town, then rewinds to show how a girl who had essentially never left her house ended up at the center of it.

Going in, the prom scene with the pig's blood was the iconic scene that everyone who knows cinema knows. This is a story that "always hurts my heart," and there was curiosity just to see how it's different for today.

Opening on the Fire Makes Carrie's Classmates Look Like Kids

Starting from the aftermath, with survivors looking back and saying they were just kids trying to do their best, immediately raised a question between us. The question was whether the bullies really deserved what happened. The answer that came back was that perhaps that's what the show is going to explore.

Carrie White was born in the upstairs bedroom, had no birth certificate, and lived in what the social worker calls a cult of three, with no phones, no news and no internet. After her father dies, the conditions are that Margaret has to work for the first time in 15 years and Carrie has to go to school. The reaction: "I feel like it's worse today to come from like not knowing anything and then to go into the jungle that is high school today. That's terrifying."

The Lockdown Drill Shows How Unprepared Carrie Is

Carrie's first day includes a mixed homeroom, a metal detector that flags her necklace, and then a shooter drill she knows nothing about. We both found it scary, and when Carrie tackles Sue to protect her, the feeling was that she'd understand that Carrie didn't understand. We also wondered why the guidance counselor or someone hadn't assigned her a buddy.

Margaret storming into the school afterward got a simple verdict from us: "She's scary." This mom seemed a lot nicer than the one remembered from the original, right before the episode showed how much rage she has inside.

The Period Scene Is Updated for the Phone Era

The locker room scene plays out with Carrie having no idea what's happening, and with a classmate filming it. That moment was "so horrible." Then the final line of the episode arrives: nobody is asking about the strangers who were there, "Because it wasn't just Carrie." Our response was that it's an interesting take, and that this just took a turn.

A Superhero Vibe, and What Margaret Knows

There was something to like in the new route, though it gives an almost superhero vibe, in the sense of mutants, and that part only appealed a little bit. Another suggestion was that maybe they're all just psychics with some sort of psychic abilities.

We went back and forth on Margaret. She says Carrie is awake, which could just mean awake in a Christian way. But the bubble wrap on the windows and the other precautions in the house look like signs they know something's not right, which is probably why they never sent her to school. The dad being a doomsday kind of guy fits that, and it feels like this is more than just about Carrie; it's about her family and upbringing.

Telling the Story Through Interviews Is a Smart Change

The interview sections were enjoyable, a little bit scary but also interesting for the extra details. The thinking was that it's smart because a lot of people already know the story, and starting from the end works because the prom isn't the most interesting part. Neither of us knew whether the strangers come from the book or are a new take.

Setting it today also matters to us. With everybody recording everything, posting something like that on social media is "the worst thing you could possibly do to a child," because it's up there forever and not just classmates can see it.

Why the Period Scene Hits So Close to Home

The scene felt overly mean, and it was hard to imagine not one person stepping in to say it's okay. On a more personal note, there was gratitude for a mom who never pretended periods weren't a thing. Then came a personal memory: walking in on her mom bleeding as a child and crying with her sister because they thought their mom was dying. "I can 110% relate to Carrie not knowing what that is," she said. She also remembered being among the last in her grade and carrying pads for months.

It raised the question of whether her hormones might be affecting the state of her powers. The admission: "That part always makes me so mad," both in the original and again here. We agreed the school, the teacher and the mother are all failing Carrie, with the added note that the mother thinks she's better than all of them.

Young Casting Makes the Tragedy Hurt More

The casting earned praise: the young actress playing Carrie looks so young and innocent that you just want to protect her, and the students all feel age appropriate. "I feel like it hurts more when they're legit like age appropriate."

It feels like the show is going to make us question whether those kids deserved it. The answer: "Nobody ever really truly deserves to die." And if there's anything to know about Mike Flanagan, "it's going to make us question and think and feel things."

The second episode opens in 1982 with a woman lifting a car off a child, an act news outlets called hysterical strength. She could be the woman who opens the school, because it looked like her from the back.

The Ending Left Us Angry at the Storyline and at Carrie's Mom

The end of the second episode left a feeling of being uneasy, on edge, anxious and furious, with the rage of someone who wants to step in front of Carrie and take the hit for her. What came through most was a simple wish: for Carrie to have one friend, one person on her side. Two moments stood out. The girl in the bathroom gave Carrie some solid advice, and the scene in the counselor's office was a very powerful moment. It felt like we got a massive win, and then the show decided to wipe us out right after it. That made the storyline infuriating, though there was also the reminder that "you know the direction that it's going to go."

The anger extended to Carrie's mom too. Her daughter has been through hell at school and shouldn't have to come home to more of it, because the household should be a child's safe zone. Chris came in for harsh words as a spoiled girl. Hopefully Carrie's soon to be stepsister becomes her friend, and we agreed they probably would get along, since they're both studious, smart kids and a little bit awkward. As for the girl who keeps saying she was Carrie's friend, she doesn't come across that way yet, though maybe that will change. Then again, the teacher only just asked her to look after Carrie.

Chris Is Spoiled, and Her Parents May Be to Blame

Speaking from experience, pretty bad things can happen in life without anyone going out of the way to make someone else miserable because of it. There's context, though: Chris is in a situation where neither parent properly wants to parent her. She's spoiled, but whose fault is that? Neither her mom nor her dad asks how she feels or how she's doing. Instead they just tell her what she can't do. She's the kid who never heard no, and now she's hearing it from her teacher about Carrie and from her mom about her future stepsister. So she'll come at them a different way, and Carrie's going to get it.

That different way is social media. Growing up when social media and Instagram were at their peak would have been awful. It's horrible because people can say whatever they want behind a screen, and you can see it with Chris, whose eyes light up because she can bully Carrie from the safety of an anonymous Instagram account where no one has to know.

Kristen and Achara on Growing Up With Rejection

Kristen's childhood was different from the norm. She was acting and modeling from 3 years old, including overseas, and agencies told her she was too thin, not thin enough, not good enough. She came to her own conclusion that no matter what she was, she would never be good enough for them, and she developed a really thick skin young. She sometimes wonders whether she'd have it without that industry.

Achara thinks it's an individual thing. She started modeling and acting older, at 11 or 12, and it broke her. She was a very sensitive child, and the comments were brutal. If she had a child who wanted to get into the industry, she'd ask if they were sure, again and again, and be super protective. Where Kristen decided they either choose her or they don't, Achara's conclusion was that she was terrible and not good enough. Put simply, you could be "forged by fire and come out stronger or you could just burn."

Her courage is also credited to her grandfather, who raised her and was basically her father figure. Whenever she was bullied or knocked down, he'd be on the sidelines saying "Get up" and "Brush it off," then telling her to defend herself. He'd ask, "Okay, it hurts your feelings. Now what?" Tomorrow was a new day, and she could let it keep hurting or choose to have a good day.

Kristen Relates to How Sheltered Carrie Is

Kristen relates to Carrie being sheltered. Growing up overseas, coming to the US was night and day. She never had the sex talk, and in high school she didn't know the real word for her private parts. She raised her hand to ask, and everybody laughed. She was also learning English, which made things harder to understand. She says she has grown a lot with Achara and Jabby, who would pull her aside when she misread people or words. She understands the frustration of trying hard to understand something and getting crucified for it, and part of her just wants to be there for Carrie and protect her.

We agreed Carrie's mom is doing her dirty; she's "the definition of taking the Bible to extremes." When it was just the three of them at home, maybe that was fine, though it's unclear how they planned to keep her home forever. But now Carrie is out in the real world, severely underprepared. Her mom can teach different values, but Carrie will be around other kids doing what kids do, and she needs to be prepared to protect herself.

The Prayer Closet Has to Go

It wasn't clear whether Carrie and her mom were originally praying in the closet when they barged into the house, or whether maybe Carrie was in trouble. Either way, that closet has to go. Even from a religious point of view, it's overboard, the kind of behavior that is off putting and gives religion a bad name. Another view was that taking any religion to an extreme will give it a bad name.

Our Theory About Carrie's Dad

Her dad might have done something bad to her, because we think she's the one who killed him. It could have been somebody else's powers, since the show teased other people, but they didn't notice her until after her dad died, so it seems more likely it was Carrie. He's former military, probably with PTSD, and very distrustful of the government. The response: "For the record, PTSD does not excuse you." The point was that it may be confusing for Carrie, because he's still her dad, and maybe her psychic power protected her and took him out of the equation.

Because it's Stephen King, The Shining immediately came to mind, with people who have the shine and see spirits. Maybe Carrie's power lets her see spirits, and her dad is coming back to haunt her. That's why the girl in the bathroom seemed dead at first, just standing in the corner, not even in a stall, like Moaning Myrtle. That may be making things up, though, since once they talked she was probably just a real girl. She gave solid advice and might not be a great influence, but Carrie just needs someone to be nice to her.

The Counselor Scene Nearly Made Us Cry

The counselor moment was lovely and powerful, and we both wanted to cry. It seems he feels for Carrie because he was bullied and being a gay kid in the '70s was really hard. Her last quote, about being whatever you want and being loved anyway, probably hit him, so he saw a kindred spirit. It's easy to imagine him as a kid seeking refuge in the library, and maybe Carrie will find friends there too. There's a personal connection there too: a love of the library, and having to wait there after school, sometimes forgotten by her mom until it closed.

Achara is having a good time with the show and is curious how it takes the story in a new, interesting direction. How are you enjoying the show so far?