In Carrie Season 1, Episode 5, “Physical Education,” Carrie begins to embrace her powers. Also the campaign to shut down Chris and the CarrieRed_ account is in motion. Then there’s Margaret White and her daughter, who are ready for battle. They won’t let anyone stand in their way.
One thing I never expected to say while watching Carrie is that I’m Team Margaret. But here we are. When Carrie finally let her in on what was done to her by Chris, she did what any mother would do. She went to the principal to get him to do something.
Margaret knows who is responsible for the CarrieRed_ account. She has proof from her own daughter’s mouth. Of course, for Principal Grayle, that is not enough because it’s just word of mouth and basically her and Carrie’s word against Chris’s. While I do understand that, I also understand where Margaret was coming from. She knows her daughter. She knows she has no reason to make up something like that. Unfortunately, without the cold, hard proof, his hands are tied.
The irritation Margaret felt was real. And listen, I may not always agree with her because she’s done some cringe and questionable things this season (see manager’s coffee cup dipped in the toilet). But I enjoyed her Regina George moment of telling kids, “Chris Hargensen is CarrieRed_.” Margaret was tired of the excuses from administration at Ewen, so she took matters into her own hands.
You must respect Margaret’s gangster because I was not expecting her to create her own Realmaggiered Instagram account to let the whole world know Chris is CarrieRed_. Margaret hates technology, and all it represents. The fact that she did this shows how much Carrie means to her. She loves her daughter, and she didn’t know what else she could do. Nobody was listening, so she was determined to make them.
You are your own greatest weapon
After what Chris did to Carrie at the construction site in Carrie Season 1, Episode 4, she’s ready for revenge. Carrie’s taken abuse from Chris since day one. Well, maybe not exactly day one, but you get it. Chris has been making her time at Ewen hell. I can only imagine what was going through Carrie’s head as she stared at her in the cafeteria.
The CarrieRed_ account has made Carrie an outcast. The only person she can really talk to is Emaline. And Emaline understands what she’s feeling and instead of trying to calm her down, she validates her rage. She encourages Carrie to use her powers to inflict revenge on those who have wronged her.
When Carrie’s in the lunchroom, she’s angry. And I would be angry too. If someone took me to the place where my parent was killed for the purpose of pulling a prank on me, I would be ready to fight. Especially because Chris has shown no remorse.
When Chris approached Carrie in the lunchroom, she made a nasty dig at her about her dad’s death, and I just wanted to reach across the table and jump on her. And when Carrie used her powers to break her nose, I felt absolutely nothing but pure joy. She had it coming. I may have even smiled a Grinch smile when Carrie said, “Plug it up!” It was glorious.
Carrie has taken a lot from Chris, and she reached a breaking point. You can only push a person so far before they break. You would think Chris would have taken that as a warning that evil doesn’t go unpunished, but she doesn’t learn lessons.
As for the Sue and Chris of it all, they’re on the outs. But Sue still tries to get Chris to apologize to Carrie for what she did. I’ll be honest, I just wish Sue would let it go at this point. She knows Chris is a b—-. And Chris knows she’s one. She literally said she knows she is one and she will “Never apologize for it.” I feel like Sue’s interference only makes things worse.
Freedom of Speech
In this version of Carrie, Chris gets a lot of screen time. We see so much of her home life that instead of it making me feel bad for her, it only makes me despise her more. She’s nasty to her mom, her mom’s new boyfriend, and his daughter. And she constantly plays the victim.
Even when Sue stops by and makes another plea to her to delete the CarrieRed_ account, she just whines to Sue about how she’s been a bad friend who hasn’t been there for her through her problems. She thinks the CarrieRed_ account is a “Factory of joy.” And because she has “Freedom of speech,” she will never get rid of it. Yes, freedom of speech; that is true. But that freedom of speech also has consequences.
Sue makes a very big decision, and it turns out she’s just as calculating as Chris. But for good. Unbeknownst to Chris, Sue was recording her admitting to being behind CarrieRed_. Sue does the only thing she can think of, which is to share the recording with Mr. Morton. I know that had to be a tough decision for Sue to make. Chris was her friend at one point. And she knows what turning her in will do. But Sue was tired of watching the school in chaos. And seeing the way that life has changed because of the account. She did what she had to do. What comes next will lead to an explosion of epic proportions.
Carrie Season 1 is now available on Prime Video.
