Carrie's Best Stephen King Connection Throws A Wrench In Season 2's Story

Published Oct 9, 2026, 9:30 AM EDT Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. Warning: spoilers for Prime Video’s Carrie TV show. Stephen King’s Carrie has now gotten its first TV adaptation thanks to Mike Flanagan, and it has a major connection to the rest of the Stephen King universe – however, as good as this link is, it could be a problem for the show if it gets a second season. Some of the best works of Stephen King have been adapted to other media more than once, and one of them is Carrie. After four movies and even a stage adaptation, Carrie now has a TV show streaming on Prime Video. Mike Flanagan’s Carrie is a reimagining of Stephen King’s novel, making various changes and additions to the story but staying true to its core elements. Carrie, then, follows teenager Carrie White (Summer H. Howell), who, after being homeschooled and isolated her whole life, is forced to attend high school after the sudden death of her father. In addition to that, her abusive mother, Margaret (Samantha Sloyan), is forced to get a job if she wants to retain Carrie’s custody. Although Carrie is open to the high school experience and making friends, a bullying scandal completely changes her perspective and awakens her powerful telekinetic abilities. It’s revealed throughout Carrie that other women throughout history have also had the TK Gene that gives them powers, and through this, the show makes two huge reveals about her powers: Margaret also has them, and they are connected to the mysterious powers in The Shining. Carrie's Connection To The Shining Explained It’s implied in Carrie that her powers had always been in her, and the first major display of them was when she was very young and unleashed a rain of stones over her house after her mother punished her for talking to their neighbor. Although Margaret was surprised to see the awakening and extent of Carrie’s powers, which went from closing the door on her face to destroying their house, Margaret had always known Carrie was carrying special abilities because she also had them. The novel explains that the TK Gene is passed down through maternal lineage, implying that Margaret passed those powers to Carrie. Flanagan’s Carrie show confirms this with Margaret herself admitting to having them in her interview with Adelaide (Kate Siegel). Margaret discovered her powers while praying when she was young, but actively suppressed them for the rest of her life, until she used them again to save herself when Carrie destroyed their house. Adelaide tells Margaret that “some people have a bit of shine”, thus confirming the link between the powers shown in Carrie and those in The Shining. The latter introduces the audience to “the shine”, a psychic ability that is described and displayed differently in the novel and Stanley Kubrick’s movie, but at its basis it’s an ability that mostly manifests as telepathy, with other characters also displaying astral projection, telekinesis, and other powers. For years, it had been theorized that Carrie and Margaret had “the shine”, and Flanagan chose to confirm this theory in his version of Carrie. It’s not hard to see a connection between Carrie’s powers and “the shine”, more so after the TV series showed that other women with powers can astral project, mentally track others, and more, which fits with the different things those with “the shine” can do. The casual mention of “the shine” in Carrie’s finale perfectly integrates the show into the rest of the Stephen King universe, but if the show is granted a second season, it will come across some obstacles. The Carrie TV show is a production of Amazon MGM Studios, while the rights to The Shining, its sequel Doctor Sleep, and the TV show It: Welcome to Derry are owned by Warner Bros. It: Welcome to Derry has a direct link to The Shining, as a young Dick Hallorann, played by Chris Chalk, is a main character in season 1 and uses his “shine” to help the Air Force in a dangerous mission. While this clearly doesn’t stop Carrie from mentioning “the shine”, it would make more and bigger connections to the world of The Shining a lot trickier. If Carrie gets a second season, it could continue to explore Carrie’s powers and their connection to “the shine” without mentioning characters like the Torrances and Hallorann, but that would also completely debunk the True Knot theory. It’s believed that Adelaide and her group of psychics could be related to the True Knot group from Doctor Sleep, but with the rights to them owned by another company, this link couldn’t happen. Surely, Adelaide’s group could be similar to the True Knot, but a direct connection to them would be difficult to pull off. However, Carrie can link to The Dark Tower, as Flanagan is developing an adaptation with Amazon MGM Studios, and The Dark Tower is a connecting link between Carrie and The Shining. Why Carrie Should Still Explore The Other Women With Powers If Season 2 Happens Despite the challenges in further connecting Prime Video’s Carrie with The Shining and Doctor Sleep, if Carrie gets a second season, it should still explore the other women with powers. Although Carrie is, at the time of writing, a miniseries, its finale left many questions and the door wide open for a second season. Unlike the novel, Carrie survives and leaves town with Emaline (Thalia Dudek), who tells her she’s taking her to safety as others are looking for them. Those “others” are Adelaide and her group, as one of them was able to mentally find Carrie but couldn’t find her exact location. A second season of Carrie would obviously continue to focus on the title character and her life after the massacre on prom night, but it should also explore Emaline, Adelaide, and the other women with powers. Carrie season 1 left many questions about these other women unanswered, the biggest ones being why Emaline is running away from the other psychics, why Adelaide wants to get Carrie, and why she sent her people to Carrie’s prom. They don’t have to be connected to the True Knot or other characters from the world of The Shining, but through them, Carrie can continue exploring its links to “the shine.” Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network Prime Video Showrunner Mike Flanagan Directors Mike Flanagan, Axelle Carolyn, Hiromi Kamata, Kate Siegel, Kyra Sedgwick Writers Mike Flanagan, Alexandra Magistro, Justina Ireland, Jamie Flanagan, Elan Gale, Rebecca Klingel, Elizabeth Padden, Dani Parker Cast Summer H. Howell Carrie White Samantha Sloyan Margaret White