The following submit accommodates spoilers for The Watcher‘s finale. Proceed with warning!
Since they’ve resided at 657 Boulevard, little else has mattered to the Brannock household — and to viewers of The Watcher, for that matter — than uncovering the identification of the Westfield denizen writing them creepy and threatening letters. They’ve been circling solutions, and even thought they solved the thriller just a few instances, however a concrete conclusion has so far eluded them.
If you’ve learn in regards to the real-life Watcher story, you understand the letters’ writer has but to be discovered — and Netflix’s adaptation in the end stays true to that ending, with the finale providing zero clear solutions about who despatched Nora and Dean these preliminary mailings.
That’s to not say the finale doesn’t carry forth just a few extra theories. Early on in Episode 7, personal eye Theodora confesses to Dean, on her deathbed, that she was The Watcher all alongside. She claims that she was 657 Boulevard’s earlier proprietor earlier than the Brannocks purchased it; she had bought the home to be able to afford her most cancers remedies, then grew vengeful and resentful when she realized her ex-husband had squirreled away a considerable nest egg, and he or she hadn’t wanted to surrender the home, in spite of everything.
Theodora has an evidence for all the pieces — the John Graff story (she says she made it up), the pigtailed girl in mattress with Dean (a employed efficiency artist), all of it. But days later, Maureen (Margo Martindale) informs Dean that Theodora was neither a resident at 657 Boulevard nor a member at Westfield’s nation membership as she had claimed. When Dean and Nora later attend Theodora’s funeral after she succumbs to her most cancers, Theodora’s daughter confirms that her mother’s confession was false; she concocted the story to be able to give the Brannocks, particularly Dean, some closure, having observed how the case was nonetheless consuming at them.
So, if not Theodora, then who? Well, possibly realtor Karen, who Nora involves be taught is 657 Boulevard’s new proprietor after the Brannocks transfer again to town. Karen had at all times urged the Brannocks to promote, and The Watcher wished the home for themselves, so she’d be a logical decide. But throughout Karen’s first evening alone in her new place, an intruder floods her lavatory, murders her canine (!) and sends a threatening Watcher letter to her by way of the home’s dumbwaiter. Upon discovering her poor slain pup, Karen turns round to see a hooded determine standing on the staircase, however she takes off working down the road earlier than we ever get a great have a look at the perpetrator.
There’s nonetheless the matter of John Graff, who we all know was in these tunnels beneath 657 Boulevard and has been in cahoots with the Winslows all alongside. But the Brannocks by no means determine who was within the tunnels, and John Graff’s continued residence in Westfield kind of stays a secret. The closest we come to any closure on that entrance is a ultimate assembly of the preservation society, which has added Maureen and English instructor Roger Kaplan as members. When John Graff introduces himself as William Webster, Roger pointedly remarks that he acknowledges John from someplace. “How’s your family, Bill?” Roger asks, seeming to know that John killed his family members — however John doesn’t reply, and the assembly strikes alongside.
But the dearth of closure proves maddening for Dean, who stays obsessive about 657 Boulevard and The Watcher’s identification. At the top of the episode, we discover {that a} new household has moved into the home, and so they’re slowly selecting up on their neighbors’ dangerous vibes. When one of many new residents, Ben, spots Dean standing within the highway, wanting up at 657 Boulevard, he introduces himself to Dean — and Dean calls himself John, claiming to reside just some blocks away. “Cool. See you around, then?” Ben asks, to which Dean ominously replies, “Definitely.”
When Dean will get again in his automobile, he watches by means of the rearview mirror as Ben checks his mail and clearly receives a mysterious envelope within the stack — however at this level, it’s exhausting to know if that letter has come from the unique Watcher or from Dean, who had gotten into the behavior of sending his personal unusual letters to Westfield residents out of spite. Dean will get a name from Nora, and he lies that he’s caught in visitors on his approach dwelling from a job interview that he clearly didn’t attend in any respect.
“I’m really happy. I just hope you are, too,” Nora tells him. “I love you so much.” Dean responds that he loves her, too, and can be dwelling quickly… however moments after Dean pulls away from 657 Boulevard and rounds the nook, one other automobile drives as much as the home. The driver is Nora, and he or she’s been tailing her husband; she appears to be like again on the home yet another time, then drives off.
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