'Carrie' Ending Explained: How Does Mike Flanagan's Version End?

The following report contains Carrie spoilers.

Carrie, an adaptation of Stephen King 's classic written by Mike Flanagan, has arrived on Prime Video with Summer H. Howell in the role of Carrie White and Samantha Sloyan as Margaret White. Known for productions such as The Haunting of Hill House and The Fall of the House of Usher, Flanagan expands on the original story by further developing the characters and building, throughout the episodes, the events that lead to the tragedy at the prom.

• How the Prime Video Series 'Carrie' Connects to the Kingverse

In the series, the journey to graduation is different and much more gradual. Carrie goes through a series of bullying and harassment situations, starting with humiliation in the locker room and escalating to cyberbullying perpetrated by Christine Hargensen (Alison Thornton) and shared by a large part of the school. The production also introduces Emaline (Thalia Dudek), a mysterious girl with powers who accompanies Carrie during this period, encouraging her to use her telekinesis to defend herself. All of this culminates in the final episode.

What happens at the prom and right after?

The prom at Ewen High School represents the famous climax of Stephen King's story. Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan (Arthur Conti) hatch a plan to humiliate Carrie in front of the entire school. Chris blames Carrie for being expelled and excluded from the prom.

So, the two rig the vote and get her elected prom queen alongside Tommy Ross (Joel Oulette), Sue Snell's (Siena Agudong) ex-boyfriend.

When Carrie steps onto the gymnasium stage to receive her coronation, Chris and Billy, perched on the rafters, pour a bucket of pig's blood on her. Immediately, the guests burst into laughter and film with their cell phones. The humiliation then causes her telekinetic powers to go out of control. Carrie shocks everyone when she uses her powers to make the cell phones explode, locks the exits of the venue, and causes short circuits, starting the fire and leaving a trail of destruction.

Carrie tries to pull Chris and Billy from the rafters, but ends up hitting Tommy and accidentally killing his companion. Thus, a true massacre ensues: the Ewen High School gymnasium catches fire, culminating in hundreds of deaths, among them the most notable being that of Principal Grayle (Matthew Lillard) – who is electrocuted while on stage – and that of physical education teacher Rita Desjardin (Amber Midthunder), who tries to save Carrie after noticing a mysterious woman trying to kill her. Miss D tries to warn the girl, but she instinctively gives her a telekinetic slap, launching her against the stage.

This woman is Amanda (Katee Sackhoff), whom Margaret had met online, and who is also at the prom. She has a daughter with powers and had convinced Margaret that people like Carrie could be dangerous, saying they should be eliminated. During the commotion, Amanda tries to shoot Carrie. But at the prom were also two mysterious young women with telekinesis, who had no connection to the school. That's when they enter and use their own powers to immobilize Amanda and prevent her from killing Carrie. From then on, the episode doesn't explicitly show whether she died, leaving her fate open.

Carrie then leaves the gym as the situation escalates into a tragedy that affects the entire city.

Regarding the survivors, Sue Snell and Tina Blake (Josie Totah), the latter being the popular girl who helped torment Carrie, manage to escape the gym before the doors are telekinetically locked and the floor is electrified.

Chris and Billy also manage to escape, but they find Carrie in the middle of the road. Billy accelerates the car towards her to try to kill her. Carrie uses telekinesis to make the vehicle flip over and crush them both, killing them.

Later, Carrie returns home. Margaret helps her take a bath and, while her daughter is praying, tries to kill her. Carrie reacts and uses telekinesis to defend herself, causing the house to collapse.

What was Margaret White hiding?

Margaret knew about Carrie's powers since her daughter was a child, but spent her life trying to deny this reality. To her, the girl's abilities represented a threat to the control she exerted over her daughter.

Margaret herself, however, also had a connection to the supernatural. In one of the interviews presented in the series, she recounts that, as a child and while praying, she was able to move a cross. The interviewer explains that this ability is related to the so-called TC gene, which can be passed down through generations.

This indicates that Margaret possessed a capacity similar to Carrie's, but never developed that potential. Her religious fanaticism and the need to control what she did not understand caused her to repress that part of herself.

It is in this context that Margaret searches for Amanda online. The woman claims that there are other people with powers and that some of them form groups and cults. She tries to convince Margaret that the two of them need to take control of the situation and even encourages her to eliminate Carrie.

Margaret is shocked by the proposal and realizes she made a mistake in seeking out Amanda. However, Amanda had already decided to act and ends up showing up at the prom to try and kill Carrie.

Who is Emaline and why is she helping Carrie?

Emaline is one of the main new additions to the adaptation. She also possesses powers and tells Carrie that she has suffered persecution because of them. Witnessing the attacks against the girl, she begins to encourage her to use her abilities to defend herself.

In one episode, Emaline takes Carrie to a junkyard to practice her telekinesis. She starts by destroying glasses and objects until she manages to use her powers to destroy a car.

The character also participates directly in the climax. During the prom, Emaline appears and possesses Carrie, taking control and using her power to finish the destruction.

Throughout the series, however, another mystery arises: only Carrie can see Emaline, leading us to wonder if she is a figment of Carrie's imagination. This causes others to believe she is talking to herself, until Carrie herself realizes that not everyone can see her. In the end, we discover that Emaline is real and an astral projector, capable of entering the protagonist's mind – hence why only Carrie can see her.

After the house collapses, Emaline rescues Carrie. The girl wakes up in the car Emaline is driving and discovers she's being taken to an unknown location. Emaline makes it clear that she's not kidnapping Carrie, but taking her to a safe place, away from the people chasing them. She also reveals that there are other people like them.

For Carrie, this is the first time she has the possibility of living free from Margaret's control. In the end, she utters an emblematic phrase: "The world is mine."

Who was behind the interviews?

From the first episode, the series features interviews with people involved in the destruction of the prom and the aftermath of the event for the town. A striking statement by Sue Snell highlights that Carrie wasn't solely responsible for what happened. The girl's neighbor, Stella Horan (Naika Toussaint), is also interviewed, as are Tina and Margaret – who we discover survived the destruction of the house.

In the end, the series reveals the interviewers' identities: they are the women who were at the prom and who helped Carrie during the chaos. These characters are part of a mysterious organization of psychics and telekinetics who are now following Carrie's case.

During the conversation with Margaret, Adelaide (Kate Siegel), the group's leader, uses her powers to cause a cardiac arrest in Carrie's mother. Before killing her, she says she will give Margaret what she always wanted: "the darkness and the God that dwells there" .

The phrase functions as an inversion of Margaret's religious fanaticism. Throughout her life, she treated her powers as something to be denied and controlled, even after experiencing a supernatural manifestation in childhood. In the end, she is confronted precisely by women who have accepted who they are.