31 Days of Halloween: Moar TV - A Bit of a Shine On

Carrie, 2026, Amazon -- ep. 3-8

Stephen King has a series of books about kids with extraordinary powers: Carrie, Firestarter and The Institute. And let's not forget The Shining which sets up little Danny Torrance to have "the shine". The idea of the shining, a predisposition to magic/psychic powers, makes itself known in many King books. Flanagan is no stranger to this world of King, having directed the spectacular adaptation of King's sequel to The Shining (among others) which introduces a bigger world of magic/power. I think he is about to do the same with this series.

Again, we all know the story about how Carrie White gets a bucket of pig's blood poured over her, causing her to lose control of her telekinetic powers and utterly destroy her school prom. The show ends with that, but we still have to get there.

I was not sure I could settle into this series, but once Flanagan started his usual masterful storytelling, I was hooked. There are so many chef's-kiss story beats here: the "villains" are never entirely unsympathetic and its OK to care for them, Carrie is the most sympathetic but... also shudder, there are always real Bad Guys and real Good Guys, but so many people are... gray. I really enjoyed that Carrie was able to discover her power early on, and even experiment with, gaining a quick mastery. I was, and remain, unsure about a network of other psychically-powered girls, but I applaud Flanagan playing with the crossover worlds of King.

So, that. 

The series is frameworked around Adelaide (Kate Siegel, Hush), a woman interviewing the survivors of Carrie's conflagration, which kills most of the graduating class at prom, burns down the entire high school, and much of the town, as the fire, and destruction, spreads. As the series progresses, we suspect she is more than a "news reporter", as she also has regular voiceover/narration about the history of women with powers, their abuse and misunderstandings. 

The "organization" introduced early on, called The Others, is still only hinted at, especially with the presence of Emaline (Thalia Dudek, The Running Man), who sets herself up as the mysterious counterculture friend of Carrie, and... well SPOILER is not actually physically present -- she is just a psychic projection. We (Marmy and I) caught on early, and once you do, the clues are so obvious (at the party, all the kids drink from typical red party cups, while Emaline's is blue) but we don't know her connection to Adelaide. In the end, she presents as a greater ally of Carrie, and at odds with Adelaide. So, why? So then, what are the goals of The Others? They are obviously an angry, malevolent force, not afraid to hurt or kill people, but... what is their goal?

And there are also those opposed to The Others, represented by traumatized mother Amanda (Katee Sackhoff, Longmire), who is actually Emaline's mother. She is afraid of her daughter, and believes the only way to deal with what her daughter has become, is to kill her, and all like her. She tries to recruit Margaret White, but doesn't quite sell it. Based on the actions directed by Adelaide, tehre are good reasons to oppose these powered girls, but... if their actions are only in response to fear & violence, then... what?  Gray gray gray.

I cannot end the series without also once again applauding Flanagan's loyalty (but, not flagrant) to his cast of regulars: Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli as a troubling teacher at Carrie's school, Flanagan's wife Kate, a cameo by Mark Hammill, Michael Trucco and Katee Sackhoff. But speaking of the last two, Flanagan went all out with casting of the Battlestar Galactica Vancouver crowd, including Tahmoh Penikett, Rekha Sharma, Tricia Helfer, and Aaron Douglas. He also had some fun voiceover casting with people like David Dastmalchian and Carla Gucino, but by far, my favourite cameo was Bryan Fuller as a parent in the prom crowd, who we can only assume dies there.

This wasn't my favourite Flanagan production, but it was more than enough to make me happy and it will be interesting to see if he gets another season, knowing the fleeting interest from the streaming services these days.  But he has lots of options open, as The Exorcist: Martyrs got its trailer, and he had his hand in writing Clayface, so he may get as he asks.

Wait what? Flanagan directed "Life of Chuck" ??? How did I not remember that from Kent's writeup.