If the embed goes dark, the teaser is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJTf5CIAcjc
Prime Video has renewed Mike Flanagan’s Carrie for a second season, announced on Thursday 22 October, just over two weeks after all eight episodes of the first dropped on 7 October. No date has been given. There are no spoilers here beyond what Prime Video itself has said in public.
The streamer says the series ranked first in more than 100 territories in its opening fortnight, a figure that, like the weight of a fish, tends to be supplied by the angler. Peter Friedlander, head of global television at Amazon MGM Studios, said the show is connecting with long-time King readers and a new generation, with particular strength among young adults, international viewers and women. Flanagan returns as showrunner and executive producer, as does Stephen King, and Flanagan directed four of the first season’s eight episodes.
Flanagan thanked King for his trust and said they had always imagined a story that goes far beyond the prom. King said he can’t wait for audiences to see what lies down the road for Carrie White. Prime’s own announcement was blunter: Carrie’s story doesn’t stop at prom. For anyone who has read the 1974 novel, that is a bold promise, since prom is rather the point of the book.
As for why it is working, there are several plausible reasons. Flanagan has a name for handling King’s territory of wounded families, and a repertory company, including Samantha Sloyan as Margaret White, who know how to make quiet scenes frightening. The eight-part shape gives cruelty time to accumulate, which is what the story is about, and dropping everything at once in October is hardly bad timing. It also helps that the argument has been lively: some viewers have grumbled about the liberties taken with King’s story, while TVLine readers gave the first season an average A and Dread Central’s reviewer awarded it four stars out of five. A King adaptation that nobody argues about has generally been forgotten by Tuesday.
Flanagan has previously talked about a three-season plan and, according to reports, about drawing in other characters from King’s wider world. Only the second season is confirmed, and in King country “other characters from his wider world” opens the door to a fairly crowded waiting room. When we first saw the trailer in July we thought Flanagan might be one of the few filmmakers able to carry this off. A second season suggests Prime Video is inclined to agree.
Prom committees are advised to keep the decorations washable. They have so far been given no date to work to.
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