What happens when a social media account becomes public? Bad things, as we see in Prime Video’s Carrie episode 4, “Dramatic Arts.”
We start the episode with the same voiceover from the documentary narrator, describing how, in a traffic jam in China in 2010, a woman suddenly began to float after she sat on top of her car, and the pressure built up so much that it popped. However, her eyes were closed, and when she opened them and saw she was floating, she instantly fell to the ground to her death.
The posted video was declared “fake,” but it still went viral because everyone loved watching a “woman fall.” We then cut to a montage of what happened to the Carrie Red page, and it keeps growing and growing and growing.
What happens when Carrie Red goes public
Chris (Alison Thornton) continues to post photos and videos of rumors intended to deliberately humiliate people, while also “protecting” Carrie (Summer H. Howell), acting as her friend, as well as Sue.
However, people treat Carrie poorly, as if she’s the one sharing the posts, even sticking gum in her hair. Emaline (Thalia Dudek) says no one really thinks it's her posting them, but because it uses her face, it gives them a target.
Tina (Josie Totah) says it might be Sue posting it because she created Carrie Red, but Sue instantly denies it. Tina knows because she’s the one who sent the videos to Chris in the first place. She’s just being difficult.
At this point, we also get two important tidbits: Sue (Siena Agudong) is late on her period, and Margaret (Samantha Sloyan) finally installs cameras throughout the house to watch Carrie. Margaret also tries to leave the maintenance crew to go back to her old cashier job because she can’t stand not being home when Carrie is, but her manager says no because of her lack of manners with customers.
The teachers try to meet with the principal to see what they can do, since the gossip account has grown and is starting to affect their lives too. However, Mr. Grayle (Matthew Lillard) says that since it’s a public account and the user is anonymous, the best they can do is monitor the school hallways.
That night, Margaret tries to see what’s going on with Carrie, but Carrie says she is okay. Her mother says that if she ever needs anything, she is there. When she leaves for work, Carrie throws out her dinner but accidentally drops the plate. As she cleans up the broken pieces, she spots the certified mail sent to her mother about her father’s remains, and she gets angry, causing the kitchen to vibrate as she feels her grief.
She leaves after that, walking barefoot in the street, seemingly in disbelief that her mother kept this from her, and Sue spots her and brings her inside. There, Sue comforts her and says Carrie is allowed to be angry and ask her mother questions, but Carrie says sometimes it’s better just to put on a smile because she’s afraid her mother would never let her go back to school.
While this is happening, Chris’ father is on the phone arguing about money, and a repo guy shows up to repossess Chris’ car. Chris tries to contact Sue, but Sue says she is with Carrie and can’t come out to get her. Not wanting to stay in her house any longer, Sue reaches out to Billy (Arthur Conti).
What’s going on with these teenagers?
Sue and Carrie continue talking, and Carrie opens up about her father, her past, and how things used to be at home. Sue asks whether or not she would go back to how things were before Carrie’s father passed away if she could. Carrie answers that she wouldn’t, despite everything that’s happened. She sees that it’s better to know about the world than not, even if it’s bad.
Meanwhile, Chris and Billy hang out on top of Billy’s car, where she talks about her divorced parents and everything else going on in her life. He doesn’t seem interested in what she is saying and openly tells her it’s all boring because it’s stuff he experiences every day. He throws a bottle over the bridge just for fun, and Chris yells at him, saying it’s dangerous and it could hurt someone on the highway.
He, however, challenges her viewpoint, saying that he’s actually not the villain in this scenario—he’s the hero who’s taking people out of their misery when the brick drops on them, and that there’s a difference between the person holding the brick and the people who are about to get bodied by it.
Billy also says that if Chris dares him to drop the brick, he will. After some thought, she dares him. He drops it, and it falls onto the highway just before someone hits it, cracking it.
Later that night, after Carrie returns home from her time with Sue, Margaret comes home from work. By then, Margaret has already started inciting and spreading lies about her manager to her co-workers to get her fired. Now, when she gets home, Carrie confronts her about her father’s remains. Margaret is adamant that this isn’t her father anymore and it’s just ashes, and it leads to a fight about how Carrie wants to let him rest, but Margaret is preventing that. Angered that Carrie is fighting back, Margaret forces her into the closet to pray.
The next day after school, Carrie gets into the car with Billy and Chris after Sue initially turns down Chris’ invitation to hang out. Fearing for Carrie, Sue decides to leave with them. At Margaret’s job, we also see from the hallway that her boss is placed on leave because of the accusations she’s made.
Carrie is unknowingly given a weed gummy in the car while they are waiting for Sue in a convenience store. Sue tries to buy a pregnancy test secretly, but Tina (Josie Totah) records her on her phone, keeping the video for herself. After that, they all drive to a padlocked construction area.
Carrie Red’s identity revealed
At the construction zone, Carrie is pretty high, and Sue is upset but can’t do anything about it. She goes to a public restroom to take the pregnancy test secretly while Chris, Tina, and Billy walk around, saying that the real reason she wanted to bring them here is that a worker died there recently.
After a bit, Sue waits for the test to finish; thankfully, it says she’s not pregnant, and she slowly walks back over as the next big scene begins.
Carrie, realizing this is the place where her father died, looks towards the pit where she knows the cement collapsed on him. Chris, still being terrible, says the place is haunted. Carrie spots a hand crawling out of the pit as she approaches slowly but then suddenly collapses. She looks behind her, only to see cinderblocks falling in the same way they killed her father, and she screams.
Of course, Tina starts recording, but eventually they all help Carrie out. She’s covered in mud from the pit. Sue, however, sees that Tina recorded the whole thing and throws Tina’s phone away, but she slips up and says it’s not her posting the videos; it’s Chris as Carrie Red. Tina just records.
This sparks a huge fight between Sue and Chris. Chris says it was all a joke, but it's clear she was trying to hurt Carrie. Carrie catches on and cries, saying that everyone faked being her friend and brought her to the construction zone to mess with her. She runs away. Sue wants to go after her, but Chris calls her out, saying she’s too busy caring about her “charity work” (Carrie) to actually be her friend and that Carrie Red was her joke.
Appalled, Sue asks what's wrong with Chris, but Chris doesn’t really have an answer. Sue refuses to go back with them and instead calls Tommy to pick her up.
Meanwhile, Carrie walks home and screams in anger and grief, causing car alarms to blare and lights to go out. Emaline (Thalia Dudek) spots her in the street helps her get home. When Carrie walks inside, Margaret waits at the kitchen table, ready to chastise her. But when she sees Carrie in this state, covered in mud, she pulls her in for a hug instead, promising vengeance when Carrie begs for help.
All episodes of Carrie season 1 are available to stream on Prime Video. You can keep reading our episodic recaps here at Show Snob.
Add us as a preferred source on Google