Everyone Is Watching Netflix’s ‘The Watcher,’ But Not Everyone Is Thrilled By The Ending

[Spoilers for Netflix’s The Watcher below]

The Watcher, the seven-episode series that’s currently #1 on Netflix‘s top-10 list, tells the real-life story of Maria and Derek Broaddus, who thought they bought an unassuming home in Westfield, New Jersey — until they received a letter in the mail.

“Dearest new neighbor at 657 Boulevard, allow me to welcome you to the neighborhood,” the typed note — with no return address — began before taking an ominous turn. “How did you end up here? Did 657 Boulevard call to you with its force within?” It goes on, “Do you need to fill the house with the young blood I requested? Better for me. Was your old house too small for the growing family? Or was it greed to bring me your children? Once I know their names I will call to them and draw them too me.” The letter was signed “The Watcher.”

There are numerous differences between The Watcher and Reeves Wiedeman’s New York magazine article the show is based on, including Maria and Derek’s names being changed to Nora and Dean, played by Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale, but one thing remains the same: the identity of The Watcher. Or lack there of. As Netflix’s Tudum writes, “To date, Westfield police have not uncovered the identity of the Watcher.”

This is not news to anyone who read the article, but a lot of people who are experiencing the story of The Watcher for the first time through the Netflix series are feeling let down by the ending (the last thing viewers see before the credits is, “The Watcher case remains unsolved”). And they’re unsurprisingly voicing their frustration on social media.

https://twitter.com/itsallbollocks/status/1581239704087072768

Counterpoint: not knowing the identity of The Watcher is creepier than if it was, like, the next-door neighbor, or whatever. But it wouldn’t be a Ryan Murphy show without some controversy.