By Malone Morchower

Warning: Spoilers ahead.

The Watcher. Image credit: Netflix.

When sitting down to suffer yet another spine-chilling episode of The Watcher, one falls victim to the horrifying truth behind the story. Normally, when avid television watchers sit down to binge the latest creepy Netflix series, they can be comforted by the fact that what they are watching is completely made up. The Watcher is not one of those series. 

The story begins when the Brannocks, a typical upper-class family, move into their dream suburban home: 657 Boulevard. After getting a promotion and taking out a massive loan, Dean Brannock (played by Bobby Cannavale) proudly purchases the multimillion-dollar home in Westfield, New Jersey. The house and neighborhood seem pleasant, besides a few creepy neighbors obsessed with the history of the house. 

A letter “The Watcher” sent the family. Photo credit: Netflix.

Almost immediately after moving into the new home, the family receives a letter from “The Watcher.” This letter is filled with creepily specific details about the family and the home. The Watcher threatens to kidnap the children and complains about the recent renovations on the house. The letter is followed by others. With every new letter, the homeowners’ insanity strengthens until it is an unstoppable force. Dean uncovers morbid history about The Watcher and 657 Boulevard, including a family massacre by a previous owner and cult activity by leaders who lived across the street.   

The Watcher torments the Brannocks until they sell the home. Dean obsesses over the unknown figure, doing whatever he can to uncover the mystery author of the letters. At the end of the series, the family’s private investigator, Theodora Birch (played by Noma Dumezweni), reveals on her deathbed that she was actually The Watcher. The Brannocks are comforted by the truth, but after her mother’s passing, Theodora’s daughter tells the family that her mother lied about being The Watcher. Theodora hated that she could never solve the riddle, and she wanted the family to move on with their lives. So, the story ends inconclusively, and watchers (not the creepy one) are left to decipher their own endings.

The television series has a wide variety of reviews. Sunil Daswaney tweeted that the show “is an edge of the seat suspense and tension filled family drama that keeps you glued to the screen from the start to the end. It’s an All American story in every sense of the word, with brilliant acting, direction, screenplay, and editing.” Conflictingly, Sarah Rintjema explains in a review in the magazine Exclaim! that The Watcher is “above all else, messy and confusing, littered with too many plotlines and half-baked ideas to form a comprehensive story.” Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab said, “I liked the leads, but I did think it was a little melodramatic and drawn out to too many episodes.”

The Broaddus family house in real life. Photo courtesy of The Westfield Leader.

The show is based on a true story, explained by Reeves Wiedeman in an article in New York magazine in 2018. Although the series was somewhat fictional, the premise of the series was based in fact. Before fully moving into 657 Boulevard, the Broaddus family received a letter signed by The Watcher. As time went on, the letters became more threatening and specific. The letters in real life are nearly identical to the letters in the show. The local police didn’t help much, similar to what happens in the show. The father of the family hired private investigators, lawyers, and FBI agents. Eventually, after the search stalled, the Broadduses rented out their place and got a new home. The Watcher had won. 

The inconclusive ending to the real story leaves people feeling uneasy and slightly scared. Most people can handle fully fictional shows, as they can lean on the made-up story. However, with a story like this, viewers do not have this luxury. Much of the audience wishes for a more convincing storyline on TV. Svab said his initial reaction to the ending was, “Uh, that’s it?” 

Throughout the series, my watching experience was defined by fear and disturbance. Around the second episode, I decided that I had to watch during the day, with all the lights on, and my door locked. I realized that this was unhealthy, but the wavering plot drew me in. Although the story was filled with unnecessary, unrealistic tangents, I had to know who The Watcher was, so I kept watching. As you might guess, the unsettled ending deeply frustrated me. I had no idea this series was based on a true story until I finished the series. The nonfictional story left me more intrigued than the show, mostly because the real story was believable, unlike the show.

Overall, this story painted a disturbing picture of what it’s like to live in a neighborhood in the 21st century. Neighbors know too much, friends become enemies, and the media knows it all. When it comes to living in a suburban home in a safe neighborhood, you can trust no one.