Carrie, Episode Two: “Social Studies, Part 2” and the Powers We Don’t Control
Part 1 showed us a world built on performance. Part 2 shows what happens when the person who can’t perform finally starts to push back, with consequences nobody can predict. Here is what stood out to me.
Is Carrie in the Closet?
One thing this version explores that the original never did is Carrie’s possible sexuality. She spends time with gay friends, and the show leaves room for the idea that she may be questioning, or hiding something. Nothing is confirmed, and that ambiguity is the point. For a girl raised by a mother who treats the whole world as sinful, discovering who you are is not simple. Even a basic wish to belong feels like a betrayal at home. Her gay friend is also the one who feels most for her later in the episode, which suggests that people who know what it is to be an outsider recognize it in others quickly.
A Strange New Best Friendship
After a family fight that Tina stirred up, Tina and Kris become best friends. That raises an obvious question: where is Kris’s old buddy? The show says she’s in bed with her boyfriend, but it fits a pattern. In a social media world, friendships often shift to whoever is useful. Tina collects a pile of selfies with Kris to post on her new influencer account, and I’m sure it will bring her attention. Friendship here works like a trade: you give me visibility, I give you visibility.
Carrie Tests Her Powers
Carrie starts experimenting with her telekinesis. While drunk after the party, she levitates the car Tommy Ross is driving her home in. It’s funny and frightening at once. She isn’t in control, and neither is anyone near her. The show is warning us here: power in the hands of someone who is hurting and unprepared is dangerous, and alcohol only makes that worse.
When she gets home, she has conversations with her dead father. This is a major change from the original, where her father left her mother for another woman and abandoned the family. In this version, he died in an accident on the job. That changes the story’s emotional shape. Carrie isn’t dealing with a father who chose to leave. She’s dealing with a father who was taken from her, and grief can be a stronger pull than anger.
The World Is Evil, According to Mom
The episode stays true to a core idea of the original: Carrie’s mother sees the world as evil. In the original story, she viewed Carrie as a sinner for trying to fit in at school, because to her, school was the evil world. That is still the heart of her conflict. Carrie wants normal life, her mom sees danger and sin in it, and Carrie is left stuck in the middle, loved but controlled.
Cruelty, Posted and Rated
Kris and her friends keep posting on the secret webpage, making fun of Carrie and sharing clips of the party. Then they all pile on in the comments. It’s a group activity where no one feels fully responsible, because everyone only added “one comment.”
I was right about something I predicted earlier: Carrie makes Kris famous. Kris wasn’t well known before. Now people want selfies with Carrie, and the attention flows back to the people who mocked her. It’s a bitter irony. Someone’s humiliation becomes someone else’s fame.
Friends Who Feel for Her
Not everyone around Carrie joins in. Her friends feel for her, especially her gay friend, who seems to understand what it’s like to be on the outside. These moments matter because they give us hope. Carrie isn’t entirely alone, and a few people see her as a person rather than content.
Powers Above and Beyond This World
When Carrie gets angry, all the school lockers vibrate on their own. The scene is a reminder that there are forces beyond what we can see. I believe that’s true: there are powers above and beyond this world. From a faith perspective, those forces are not all the same, and the Bible urges caution about spiritual power that doesn’t come from God. The show frames it as telekinesis, but the idea behind it is older. When someone is truly furious, something outside them can seem to answer, and when it does, gives them help or power, the results can be hard to undo.
Final Thoughts
“Social Studies, Part 2” shows a girl being pushed toward a breaking point, while the people around her chase likes and attention. Carrie’s powers are growing, her grief is unresolved, and her mother’s fear is as strong as ever. The tragedy is that everyone can see something is wrong, but few act.