The seventh episode of Mike Flanagan’s new Carrie TV series for Amazon Prime, titled “Romantic Literature,” is written by Jamie Flanagan and directed by Mike Flanagan himself. The previous episode of the series, “Home Economics,” was a notable high-water mark for the season thus far, as all of the various threads of the series began to coalesce in a refocused fashion that made for immensely satisfying viewing. That meant that expectations were especially high heading into this new episode, and I am thrilled to say that “Romantic Literature” lived up to those expectations and then some. This is another fantastic episode of television that really showcases how Flanagan’s take on this material can shine through.
Given just how great “Home Economics” and now “Romantic Literature” are, it has also become plainly apparent that the lion’s share of the driving motivations behind the entire structure and craft of this series are housed within this final stretch of episodes. That’s not to besmirch any of the mid-season episodes, but rather to point out that some of the more befuddling creative choices made within those episodes were clearly reverse-engineered to ensure that these final few episodes could culminate in the way that they do. That is certainly not a bad thing; it’s a mark of frequently great television. But the difference in terms of pacing, propulsion, and overall impact between these latter episodes and the mid-season ones are stark.
Propulsion is really the key word, because the degree to which “Romantic Literature” could have been a ‘setting up all the dominoes’ kind of episodes cannot be overstated. There was a lot of ground for this episode to cover, teeing up all the various details of the impending prom night and establishing the who, what, when, where, and why of each member of its ensemble cast. As such, I had just kind of assumed that prom itself would be saved for the final episode of the series, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that. Thus, the fact that midway through “Romantic Literature,” it’s full-blown prom night for Carrie White is genuinely shocking, and it rules.
Carrie episode 7 review: "Romantic Literature"
The first part of the episode is primarily split between setting up various characters’ roles at prom and a tribunal in which students, parents, and teachers debate whether or not to have a prom at all, given the fallout of the attempted mediation and resulting riot in the previous episode. I mentioned that the mediation sequence was especially great in really re-centering the focus of the series on Carrie as a character (played so incredibly by Summer H. Howell), and that very much carries through here. In fact, the conflict between Carrie’s relative centricity to the story is made an even more explicit element of the series, both within the narrative and in the metatext.
At the tribunal, Margaret White (the remarkable Samantha Sloyan) stands up and gives an entire deposition about why prom shouldn’t happen. And in response to this, Carrie stands up and details why prom isn’t just a want but a need for these students. It’s a phenomenal moment that sees the conflict between Carrie and her mother escalating in fascinating ways, and sees Carrie taking the most active role within the narrative that she’s had in the entire series. What makes this all the more fascinating is how this would-be triumphant moment is, of course, tinged with dread. Having Carrie stand up and be the voice that essentially successfully convinces everyone to have a prom, knowing what audiences know about how Carrie White’s night at prom is destined to go, is brilliant stuff.
This is what is most remarkable about “Romantic Literature” to me; the ways in which Jamie Flanagan’s writing and Mike Flanagan’s direction are able to painstakingly milk suspense out of every interaction. The show itself has made it explicitly clear that prom will end in disaster, so every concrete step taken towards that moment feels all the more impactful and painful.
This suspense is further elevated by Mike Flanagan's visual choices once prom gets underway. Cutting back and forth between the prom festivities and Chris Hargensen and Billy Nolan’s (played by Alison Thornton and Arthur Conti, respectively, both with shit-eating palpable malice) dastardly deeds is great, and interweaving characters like Tina Blake (played by Josie Totah, who does her best work of the season in this episode) and Sue Snell (Siena Agudong, doing phenomenal work as well) into it, cluing them in and allowing their attempts to stop the blood-letting to really ramp things up and foreground the suspense, is ingenious. Perhaps the single greatest testament to this series as a whole is the fact that you honestly believe for a moment that maybe things are going to go a different way for Carrie White on prom night, which of course makes the inevitable end of this episode all the more heartbreaking.
I also have to take a moment to point out the brutal bluntness with which Mike Flanagan stages the actual pig’s blood-spilling itself. Obviously, Brian De Palma’s Carrie from 1976 loom large here. There’s even a phenomenal interaction between Carrie and her mother earlier this very episode where Sloyan’s performance begins to go full-Piper Laurie, complete with a riff on the “they’re all going to laugh at you” line. In that film, De Palma turns Carrie’s winning of prom queen and subsequent undoing into cinematic high-opera, utilizing things like slow-motion, split-screens, split-diopters, insane lighting, ridiculously complex crane shots, and more to elongate and elevate the entire sequence to this insanely affecting degree. Rather than attempting to mimic this, Flanagan makes the inspired choice to charge in the opposite direction: his staging of Carrie’s humiliation is matter-of-fact, in a way that is both surprising and resonant. It simply happens, and after an episode of almost convincing us it wouldn’t, we as an audience are left powerless to stop it.
Jamie Flanagan’s scripting is fantastic throughout; the way in which they interweave motifs that have been established across the series to such phenomenal effect here is sublime. Chris and Billy’s “dare me to” drop moment, utilizing this episode’s cold open to unexpectedly begin to bleed into the narrative proper, the carrying over of stars as a defining visual motif for Tommy and Carrie, it’s all great. And speaking of, what they’ve done with Tommy (as played so tenderly and warmly here by Joel Oulette) is great. Making Tommy taking Carrie to prom a much more active decision on his part, rather than at the behest of his actual girlfriend Sue (as it was in the novel and the De Palma film) is a great change that adds an entirely new resonance to him and Carrie’s relationship. It's really wonderful.
Verdict
“Romantic Literature” is exactly what I was hoping for out of Mike Flanagan’s Carrie; an inspired and passionate take on this material that articulately interweaves new themes and character arcs into King’s iconic story, pairs it with phenomenal performances from a stellar ensemble, and is all captured with distinct visual clarity and motivation. This absolutely rules, and has me obscenely eager to see what the finale has in store.
GRADE: A
Add us as a preferred source on Google