When I first heard about the possibility of a Carrie TV show by Mike Flanagan, my reaction was pretty much the same as everyone else. Knowing we live in the age of reboots, remakes, legacy sequels, and that Flanagan is great at adapting King stories to screens big or small, it made sense to me that he would write and direct more of the Kingverse… But Carrie? The book that inspired an unbeatable, iconic film from the 70s, a 1990 sequel, a 2002 film for TV, a 2013 remake, a stage musical adaptation, while having strong enough influence on pop culture to inspire multiple other works across all media? I wanted this to be good, but just wasn’t sure it could work. Nevertheless, I was curious and hopeful.
Weeks ago, SpoilerTV was granted access to all episodes of Carrie’s first season thanks to Prime Video, and I had the pleasure of watching them and seeing whether my fears were reasonable or Flanagan and his team had done it again. In the process, I wrote two reviews: this one you’re reading, spoiler-free, published a week prior to the show’s release, and another longer one, discussing in detail everything that happens in the show, to be published after all its episodes are released on October 7.
Let me cut to the chase and start by telling you that I didn’t love the first two episodes. The cast seemed nice, and I had a blast seeing old faces from previous Flanagan projects, but aside from that, the setup didn’t feel exciting to me. It was like watching a spin on the older adaptations mixed with parts of the book that were probably coming to life for the first time in the show. By the end of episode 2, I felt tired and questioned whether the decision to release all eight episodes on the same day was justified. Those initial episodes felt like a different, slightly worse version of something I had already seen, which had me fearing for the rest of the batch.
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| Carrie. Pictured: Summer H. Howell as Carrie, Samantha Sloyan as Margaret. Photo: Liane Hentscher /Prime ©2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved |
I watched episodes 1 and 2 on a Saturday morning. At night, I decided to continue with episode 3 before I went to bed — just one episode, I said to myself. By the time I actually went to sleep, way deep into the night, I had watched the whole thing but the last two episodes. And I was feeling thrilled and amazed by the show, in equal parts curious and excited by the inevitable chaotic, tragic ending — so much that despite sleeping late, I woke up early that Sunday to finish it.
People will talk about Carrie (2026) in terms of how good it is as an adaptation. They will compare it to the book, to the previous movies, to their expectations, good or bad, reasonable or not. But for me, it’s when the show starts doing its own thing that it shines the most — and this happens from episode 3 onwards. That’s when the show takes liberties with new characters and unpredictable storylines while also exploring unexpected facets of characters I thought I knew. It’s also when it finds its footing as a supernatural teen drama, kind of turning away from the book.
While we are at it: perhaps attempting to target younger audiences, this Carrie doesn’t aim to create really disturbing, striking imagery, playing safe most of the time with the gore and the horror of it all. The forces of evil in this show are infuriating at times, but even at their vilest moments their actions don’t go too far in terms of violence, physical or psychological. Judging by the story legacy over the years, it’s clear to me that this show makes choices most wouldn’t expect for a Carrie adaptation. So I write this fully aware that Carrie (2026) is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea: I like it a lot. I love that it’s something new and unexpected, and that it creates an universe of its own. I had a blast with how this recreation discusses issues of our time. Summer H. Howell is so lovely as Carrie; she makes it so easy to understand how this iteration of the character is supposed to see the world and root for her. And every time she’s acting opposite Alison Thornton, who plays her nemesis Chris, and/or Samantha Sloyan, who plays Carrie’s mom (and maybe her biggest antagonist) Margaret, it’s impossible to look away. The three of them are all magnetic and work as the foundation of this first season.
So if you are interested in this new version of Carrie, take whatever you want from this, but I don’t feel like Flanagan and his team were mainly trying to make the best possible adaptation of Carrie the book. For me, they were trying to find answers to these questions instead: What if Stephen King had written Carrie to reach kids nowadays? What choices would he make, what themes would be a part of it, and what long-term goals would he try to achieve with its ending? After the curtain calls at the finale, most of these questions will have an answer. And when it comes to the last one… Maybe if enough people watch this season, we will know one day.
All episodes of Carrie will be available to watch on Prime Video on October 7.