Some first impressions on Carrie: this is really good so far!

Leading up to Halloween I figured I'd jump into some fun television series, one of which has been the recent Carrie television series. I remember the 70s film and liking it, so I was interested in seeing how a modern approach to the story would unfold as a series, especially given it has more time to be fleshed out and do more with the characters. I'm about five episodes in now and I'm genuinely really enjoying it. Though with equal measure finding myself with such frustration over the treatment of Carrie throughout her attempts to learn of life beyond what her mother has displayed to her. The Carrie story is something that really shows the evil of people, but it's something that's heavily exaggerated in this series which actually has you understanding the mother's perspective for the most part.

Sheltering her daughter from the degeneracy and chaos of the modern world by not giving her access to the Internet, to phones, to television. Instead educating her with certain books and music. For Carrie the sudden freedom is fascinating, and that discovery of some of the world's good changes only makes you feel more for her as we see the innocence of her mind and excitement for life get matched with the constantly disappointment and cruelty at the hands of others. Primarily at school from other students, and especially from the character of Chris who is an insufferably, downright evil brat. The telekinesis side of Carrie is constantly weaved in through the episodes as we see her instability and nervousness leading to the manipulation of objects nearby. First a few shakes, then the movement of objects. Over time she starts to become aware. Something I've been loving through the episodes is that build up of her powers. While you constantly feel for her, you just know that those wronging her will eventually get their punishment. That eventually there will be some satisfaction. This is something we even see from Carrie's mother, as she connects to the modern world herself. Finding people insufferable, hating that she's subjected to a work life that is exploitative and shows the worst of humanity. But also seeing that she is also a very vengeful person herself. I'd say the pacing over these episodes has been really good, it pulls you in quite quickly even if it feels little is happening. It's constantly jumping between characters to build itself forward. To show the world beyond Carrie and its workings, each of which slowly leading to her discovery of her strength and thus even more emotional instability.

From a production side of things it's definitely well made. I had my doubts to begin with when I first saw it was made into a television show, but it has clearly been well thought out and it's nice to see the story being spread out a bit more, especially coming from the 70s film. Instead here, we see more of that chaos of the modern world because of the technological and cultural side too. Where phones, the Internet and social media have also played a stronger part in exacerbating Carrie's introduction to the real world. If you're looking for a show to watch over the Halloween month, I definitely recommend this!