Are you ready for the bloody conclusion of Prime Video’s Carrie season 1? Because this episode, “AP Physics,” will stick with you and set up a whole new installment
Instead of starting where you thought it would — at prom — we open on Sue (Siena Agudong) in the interview section of the documentary again. She is asked about her time with Carrie (Summer H. Howell) and how she truly felt about her. Sue admits it was like talking to a little sister; she felt inclined to take care of her because of how much she didn’t know and because she was just so nice, which is so rare in this generation.
She explains that when she saw Billy’s (Arthur Conti) car, she knew she had to run to the school to see what was happening. The documentary host (Kate Siegel) shows her a picture of the strange woman Margaret (Samantha Sloyan) met in the previous episode and asks if she knows her. Sue says she did not. She asks Sue what she felt when she walked in, if her hair stood up on the back of her arms, or anything else. Sue thinks back to that night.
We see a repeat of what happened: Chris (Alison Thornton) and Billy drop the blood on Carrie, and the crowd is in shock before turning into a light chuckle. And then we see the first thing that caused the screams. Carrie makes everyone’s phone cameras to suddenly shatter into their skin, causing intense gashes of pain and blood. All phone lines in the gym suddenly go dead, and no one has service.
Tina (Josie Totah) appears later in the documentary, telling the woman that fact, still clearly recovering. Tina then remembers the fire, mainly, and we jump back to prom night.
Who does Carrie kill?
Remember those 200 deaths mentioned in the beginning? That starts here.
Chris and Billy start running after they see what Carrie does, but Carrie hears them and tries to bring down the metal catwalk on the stage. It not only causes a light to fall and hit Mr. Grayle (Matthew Lillard) on the head but also makes the catwalk break and collapse. Carrie quickly turns it to the side to avoid getting killed, but it hits Tommy (Joel Oulette), gravely wounding him.
Carrie looks down in horror as the curtains from the collapsed stage light catch fire behind her, but Emaline (Thalia Dudek) suddenly reappears in her mind, telling her to let her take the reins. We don’t know what that means, but Carrie then begins to wreak havoc, with Emaline seemingly controlling her.
The strange woman, Amanda, tries to run over to Carrie to stop her, but the two girls from the previous episode use something like Carrie’s powers to stop her.
We cut back to Sue in the chair in present day, trying to remember what happened after she ran onto the stage to Billy. She sees a shadow behind Carrie, which triggers massive panic and makes things shatter around them. The fire sets off the smoke alarms, bringing water down onto the gym floor. Carrie levitates down to the ground as some people, including Chris and Billy, escape.
As she walks, Amanda attempts to run at Carrie again, this time with a gun. Rita (Amber Midthunder) steps in her way to stop her, but Carrie, stuck in her rage, sends Amanda flying and Rita straight into the fire. Amanda, however, is not seen again. We don’t know if she’s dead or not just yet.
Carrie leaves the gym and locks everyone else inside. She causes a wire from the ceiling to fall and electrocute everyone who is on the floor, killing them all instantly. Only a few with powers—the two girls—and Sue, who is on the stage and avoids the water, survive. They stumble out as Sue watches them go.
Sue tells the woman from the documentary that it wasn’t just Carrie that night, but the woman asks if she’s truly sure. Sue doesn’t know.
The chaos of Carrie’s hometown
Margaret is outside, watching the destruction in the nearby town. Billy and Chris drive away, confused about what is happening, but Carrie still follows them. As Billy attempts to drive his car to run her over, Chris reaches over at the last second and tries to swerve the car out of the way.
Carrie instantly flips the car over and over until it crashes. She walks over and stares at Billy and Chris through the car. Billy cries out in pain. Emalina, from within Carrie’s mind, is disgusted. A second later, Billy is crushed and killed. Chris tries to say she’s sorry, but Carrie crushes her before she can.
In that moment, Carrie seems to break out of her reverie and screams at what she’s done, but Emaline tries to calm her down, reminding her that these people made it hard for her to exist. She encourages Carrie to scream out, “F**k you, I exist!” which she does, and then encourages her to dance through the streets.
This leads to a montage of Carrie and Emaline supposedly dancing through the streets together until Emaline suddenly vanishes as a gunshot echoes in the distance. At first, you might think it was Carrie who was shot, but she is perfectly okay. Seeing the destruction, Carrie walks home.
When she heads inside, Margaret is sitting at the dinner table and hugs Carrie despite her being covered in blood. She bathes her upstairs after admitting that so many people are dead because of her, and Margaret attempts to keep her cool and continues to take care of her, even when the power goes out.
After Carrie’s bath, Margaret suggests that they pray together. Carrie asks her if she can be forgiven, and Margaret says “Of course.” She then asks Carrie if she could forgive her for what she’s done, and Carrie answers “Of course, mama.” She opens the door for Carrie to pray, and we see Margaret grab what looks like a knitting needle.
As Carrie begins to pray, Margaret prays to God to give her the strength to stab her daughter. Just as she breaks the skin, Carrie realizes what is happening and stops her, instantly pushing Margaret off. She grabs scissors and stabs Carrie in the shoulder, but then Carrie sends Margaret flying into the kitchen counter.
Carrie uses her powers to aim the scissors right at Margaret’s back, screaming “Why?” at her mother just as the house begins to collapse. Margaret attempts to jump at her with a knife she grabs at the last minute, but the house falls on top of them before she can.
Carrie and Margaret’s fates
Unlike in Carrie the book, Carrie does not die. Carrie emerges from the rubble and sees that her mother is still alive but supposedly levitating something above her head. Before Carrie can approach her, the rubble falls.
Emaline appears and holds out her hand, and Carrie takes it, revealing that Emaline is actually there, not just a ghost in her mind. She helps her out of the rubble and says she's sorry for disappearing earlier. She was shot, explaining the sound from before.
We cut back to the documentary, where we discover that Margaret is still alive and being interviewed. She learns that Emaline is actually an AP—an astral projector—who has been speaking to Carrie this whole time.
Margaret is asked if she ever experienced moments like this when she was younger, when she could make things move under intense duress. Margaret says she once made a cross move and that this is a specific gene she inherited that sometimes skips generations, but in moments of stress, it can emerge. Margaret is also asked if she could ever find that strength again, but she says no, insisting that she just wants to know where her daughter is now.
The woman says that Margaret could never give Carrie what she truly needs but that she has a good heart. As she speaks to Margaret, she exerts control, slowly causing Margaret’s heart to stop, with the beats lessening each time Margaret prays for redemption. She dies after that.
The two girls, whom we saw in the gym, come in, and the woman making the documentary tells them to bring Margaret back to her hotel, where it’ll be assumed she “died in her sleep” from the stress.
The last scene shows Emaline explaining everything to Carrie, who is very confused. Carrie asks who Emaline is, growing frantic. Emaline tells her she is escorting her to safety and that she is her friend and that this is the world, the one that Carrie always wanted to explore.
Carrie asks, "It’s my world?” And Emaline agrees, saying the whole thing is hers, and asks where she’d like to go. Instead of answering, Carrie smiles, and we cut to black. Talk about a way to end the season.
All eight episodes of Carrie season 1 are streaming on Prime Video. Do you want to see another installment of Mike Flanagan’s latest horror show? He’s looking to do three seasons.
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