Viewers slam Netflix’s ‘utterly horrible’ The Watcher for ‘worst ever ending’
The house that The Watcher is based on (Google Maps)
New Netflix show The Watcher, which is based on the true story of a couple who move into their dream-home-turned-waking-nightmare, is being widely criticised for what viewers are calling the ‘worst ever ending’.
Currently sitting at just 41 per cent audience approval score and 29 per cent from critics on review site Rotten Tomatoes, the show has not been a critical success for creator Ryan Murphy.
Set in Westfield, New Jersey, the series features Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale as Nora and Dean Brannock, who are harassed by a mysterious figure with an obsession with their new house.
They start receiving letters signed by ‘The Watcher’, and the invasion of privacy ramps up from there; a decent premise, but one that has left fans enraged by its ending.
Spoilers ahead – obviously.
In the show, Theodora (Noma Dumezweni), a private detective hired by the family, confesses to being the eponymous ‘watcher’.
She convinces the family she was the former occupant of the house who attempted to scare them in order to move back in.
Later, though, it’s revealed that Theodora is terminally ill and lied about being the ‘watcher’ – purely because she wanted the family to feel some relief prior to her death, having seen how traumatised they were.
This means that the entire crux of the programme – the mystery of ‘the watcher’s’ identity – remains entirely unsolved and unsatisfactory. This is the same conclusion as in real life; ie, no conclusion at all.
Fans have been venting their anger on Twitter.
‘Seven hours I’ll never get back’
One wrote: “The ending of the watcher might be hands down the worst ending to any piece of cinema I’ve ever had to see. All the directions they could’ve went and THAT is how they end it? Utterly horrible.”
Another added: “Are you telling me I just wasted 7 hours of my life to NOT find out who the watcher is??????”
A third said: “If you’re thinking of watching “the watcher” on netflix… DON’T. the most underwhelming pointless series i have ever seen. 7 hours of my life i will never get back.”
Others tried to defend the series, arguing that this was a true conclusion to the story the series is based on.
To be fair, there is no true ending. This happened in real life and the family told Netflix to change things.
— Brooklyn Dun (@brooklyn_dun) October 16, 2022
Another actually praised Theodora’s character for her sacrifice in confessing to a crime that wasn’t hers.
Theodora so real she was willing to die as the villain to give their family some closure and peace of mind, and thought about their family to her last even when she could have been spending it with her own. #TheWatcherNetflix #thewatcher pic.twitter.com/HmeHiRZpsH— Naru-The Ninja (@NarutoTrickzxTv) October 16, 2022
Because of the letters, despite paying $1.3million (£1.1million) for the house in 2014, Maria and Derek Broaddus never actually ended up living there. They sold the property in 2018 at a greatly reduced price.
The Watcher is currently streaming on Netflix.
