It's the episode we've all been waiting for. As Carrie finally arrives on Prime Video, the full horror of the Thomas Ewen High School prom is played out in a brutal 45 minutes.
With spectacular performances (especially from Summer H Howell as Carrie White), gory details, and major changes to the novel, it's difficult to look away from episode 8 - particularly as it seems to leave the door open for more (on that note, check out everything we know about a potential season 2).
Carrie ending explained: What happened to Carrie - and why doesn't she die?
In a major change from King's novel, Carrie does not die at the end of the TV series. The end of the episode sees her being driven away by Emaline (who, it turns out, is real!), to somewhere where Carrie can be among others with powers and learn to harness them properly.
Echoing back to the beginning of the series, episode 8 begins with Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) being grilled by Kate Siegel's unnamed documentarian about Carrie. She wants to know a suspicious amount of detail about her and what happened during the prom, which puts Sue right back in the scene - and we find out exactly what happened.
As Carrie stops the sprinkler system from kicking in, she sees Tommy die before her eyes and is left devastated - until Emaline (Thalia Dudek) shows up, and tells her to "let her take the wheel". From then on, it seems that Emaline is in control, an intriguing change fro the book, as it leaves Carrie with little agency over her own actions.
Amid the chaos, Chris and Billy escape the school and start to drive away - but Carrie soon catches up to them, flipping their car over and crushing it with them inside, killing them. Coming to her senses, Carrie starts to panic, but Emaline assures her she did nothing wrong. Shortly afterwards, Emaline vanishes and Carrie returns home, where her mother bathes her.
Why does Carrie's mother have powers?
In a major change from King's novel, it's revealed that Margaret White has similar powers to Carrie, and saves herself from the wreckage of the house.
Speaking exclusively to Radio Times, Sloyan said of the reveal of Margaret's powers: "I feel like once you know that, if you go back to the beginning, she makes so much more sense - the intensity of what she's protecting Carrie [from] because she knows that this is true. She knows what her daughter can do."
View Green Video on the source websiteHowever, he's ready for fans to be divided over the decision, going on to say: "It was something I knew when we were talking about in the writers' room. I was like, 'People are going to have opinions. People are going to have some thoughts about this.' But it just felt so appropriate as the final button for the two of those characters together. It felt tragic to me."
After the wreckage, we see Margaret being interviewed by the documentarian where Margaret explains that she has had her powers since she was a little girl. It's revealed that Margaret and Carrie share "the TK gene" which, moments of extreme stress, it "rattles something loose" in their brains.
Who is Emaline and is she real?
In the finale, it's revealed that Emaline is an astral projector - someone whose consciousness can split from their real body. And yes, she is real.
Until midway through the finale episode, Emaline projects herself to Carrie (which explains why no one else could see her). However, immediately after Chris and Billy's deaths, when she and Carrie are dancing amid the flames, she's cut off.
The season ends with Carrie realising she can take on - and control - the world if she chooses, with Emaline asking her where she wants to go, very much leaving the show open for a season 2.
However, this episode reveals that she has her own motive. She is associated with the intruders at the prom, all of whom have powers similar to Carrie's.
The documentarian in particular seems powerful, equipped with hypnotic powers and the ability to control others' minds and bodies - shown when her powerful suggestions make their way into Sue's mind, and when she kills Margaret.
Who died in the finale?
Principal GrayleMiss DesjardinChris HargensenBilly Nolan
Margaret White
That doesn't leave a huge amount of characters to return in a potential second season. However, if another instalment is greenlit, it seems likely that the focus would be on expanding the stories of the characters with powers, and seeing Carrie learn to harness hers.
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