Mike Flanagan rewrote the finale of his Prime Video adaptation of Stephen King’s “Carrie” to fit one song, “Shy Girl” by the Los Angeles duo Haute & Freddy, he told the Television Academy. Flanagan heard a demo of the track before its release and rewrote the eighth episode to fit it in. “That song roared out, feeling like the vibe of our show,” he said.
The duo dominates the soundtrack. Flanagan said the series uses nearly the whole Haute & Freddy album, and Carrie wears the band’s shirt in episodes two and three. “Haute & Freddy became our musical identity very early,” he said. Their songs fill the first episode, where a cover of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” also plays.
Other artists share the playlist. Flanagan also said the production rewrote the show around Lana Del Rey’s “Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd.” Wolf Alice, Metric, Bartees Strange, Mallrat and The Last Dinner Party also appear. The Newton Brothers, Flanagan’s regular composers, wrote the original score.
The music shaped the ending, but the story changes run deeper. In King’s 1974 novel, Carrie dies after her mother stabs her. Flanagan’s version keeps her alive. Emaline, a character the writers created, pulls Carrie from her collapsing house and drives her away. Adelaide, played by Kate Siegel, belongs to a circle of gifted women that draws on King’s 2019 novel “The Institute.”
Flanagan describes Carrie confronting Chris and Billy “eye to eye,” acting on a clear, sober decision instead of a flash of rage. He says the scale of the prom massacre matches the book. Emaline’s role in that night raises a pointed question about how much control Carrie held.
King backed the changes. Flanagan says the author took particular interest in the world of powerful women and where it could lead Carrie next. Flanagan has said he built the ending to work as closure while leaving room for more story.
Critics of the novel’s fatalism may welcome that second chance for Carrie. Readers loyal to King’s bleak original may not. Flanagan, a frequent King adapter with credits including “Doctor Sleep,” has bet that a survivor offers more to explore than a martyr.
