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Editor's Note: The following contains The Watcher spoilers.From its initial moments, The Watcher banks on a primal fear to attract its viewers' undying attention. The film world is not alien to tales of mysterious houses eager to ditch their inhabitants at the first opportunity. The Watcher seems to tread the same line until it becomes clear that it was all a trick to misguide the real watcher - the audience. Although The Watcher starts off giving the impression that it's another traditional slasher story like Hush, by the time the curtain falls on the story of the Brannocks, it becomes evident that the Watcher is symbolic of the many horrors that exist within the society. Until the very end, The Watcher plays its cards well to disguise itself as another thriller with an innocent family being haunted by a bloodthirsty stalker. But before delving into the ending, it's important to trace the events that lead to it.
What Happens in 'The Watcher'?
It all starts when Dean Brannock (Bobby Cannavale) and Nora Brannock (Naomi Watts) choose the town of Westfield for a new house. The couple gets their hands on their dream home when they buy a heritage property situated on Boulevard 657 in Westfield. Although Dean had been through some financial losses recently, he still goes ahead with purchasing the $3.3 million house. However, the days of peace are short-lived as the family starts receiving letters from a mysterious man called the Watcher. The Watcher claims to be part of a family that has been keeping an eye over the house on Boulevard 657 for years. To the horror of Dean and Nora, the Watcher shows a special interest in their children, Ellie and Carter, often referring to them as "young blood."
When the couple knocks on the door of Detective Chamberlain from the Westfield Police Department, they struggle with Chamberlain's laid-back attitude. Dean's constant entanglements with his neighbors due to Dean's decision to make renovations to the heritage property add to the trouble caused by the Watcher's threatening letters as Dean finds himself being cornered. The tense relationship Dean shares with his teenage daughter aggravate his agony. Finally, Dean resorts to the services of Theodora Birch (Noma Dumezweni), a jazz singer-turned-private eye, who takes the challenge of finding the Watcher. Theodora helps Dean connect with a former owner, Andrew Pierce, who also shares his story of undergoing a similar ordeal at the house. According to Andrew's testimony, the neighbors Mitch and Maureen are part of a blood-drinking cult that kills babies for their blood.
Nora Suspects Dean Is the Watcher
With Theodora's investigation proceeding, Dean places his suspicion on Jasper Winslow, the neighbor who often breaks into Dean's house to ride the dumbwaiter. Theodora finds out that Jasper used to be completely normal before 1995 when supposedly something happened to him. On further digging into the history of the house, Theodora discovers that a man named John Graff lived in the house until 1995, according to police records. Much like Dean and Andrew, John also received letters from the Watcher. Things kept going downhill from there, and one day, John killed his entire family, drained the blood from his family's dead bodies, and supposedly fed on the blood for days before disappearing forever. On hearing this story, Dean believes that the same John appeared at his house some days before under the pretense of the building inspector.
The situation gets worse for Dean particularly when he gets publicly tagged as a racist by his daughter after he grounds Ellie for her proximity to Dakota, the Black 19-year-old who fixed security cameras around the house. To take revenge, Dakota sends a video, in which Dean can be seen sleeping while a young girl roams around in the room, to Dean's boss. When questioned by Dean, Dakota agrees that he fixed the camera but denies knowing the girl. Upon closer inspection, Dean realizes that the girl in the video was Pat Graff, the daughter of John Graff. Taking Theodora's assistance, Nora finds out that Dean invested all the savings into the house. This revelation strengthens Nora's suspicion that Dean has been pretending to be the Watcher to scare Nora into selling the house.
The Curious Case of Multiple Watchers
Dean gets a long rope from Nora as she encounters contradicting theories about the Watcher's existence way before the Brannocks moved in. Also, Dean manages to prove his innocence as Dakota confirms that nowhere in the videos can the girl be seen entering the house. However, Dean does admit to writing the last of the letters to scare Nora. However, the couple decides to keep their differences aside to focus on the Watcher. Thanks to a united front, Dean and Nora deduce that the Watcher could be someone who would benefit from the house's sale. Karen (Jennifer Coolidge) - Nora's friend and the real estate agent who had been attempting to convince Nora to sell the house at a lower rate – becomes the target of the Brannocks.
However, the focus quickly shifts to Roger Kaplan, a former Westfield High School professor, known for introducing the 'Ode to a House' assignment in which students were asked to write about a house they loved deeply. Roger himself had an undying obsession with architecturally beautiful houses like that of Dean and Nora. Dean and Nora's suspicions grow as Theodora also reveals that post-retirement, Roger started writing letters to a house in the neighborhood expressing his fascination at its beauty until one day, the letters turned bitter and started coming under the name of the Watcher. The couple adds another enemy to their list when they decide to confront Roger, who denies the allegations. It is also revealed that the man who appeared at Dean's house as John Graff was William Webster, a member of the Westfield Preservation Society along with Jasper Winslow and his wife, Pearl Winslow. William frequents the houses of the neighborhood to keep an eye on any changes the owners make to their houses. He was also chased down by Dean and Nora when the latter found him roaming in the prohibition-era tunnels below the house, although William did not reveal his face.
Fed up with the house, Dean and Nora decide to pack their bags and sell the house – attempts of which are spoiled by Karen who sponsors malicious news articles around the house to get back on the couple for humiliating her in public with baseless allegations. As the couple struggles to find buyers for their home, Dean continues to foster his obsession with the Watcher, even going to the extent of writing letters to all his neighbors under the Watcher's identity. While Nora attempts to keep the family afloat with her success at work, Dean falls into an endless trap as his life starts revolving around the mystery of the Watcher.
Theodora Birch Admits To Being The Watcher
By this time, Theodora has been admitted to the hospital as her cancer has relapsed. On her deathbed, Theodora confesses to Dean that she was the Watcher who wrote letters to Dean and Nora. Pretending to be a former owner who had to sell the house out of financial compulsions, Theodora convinces Dean that she pretended to be the Watcher so that she can buy back her lovely home. She admits to evoking the myth of the Watcher after receiving the 'Ode to a House' letter one day during her stay at Boulevard 657. Theodora goes on to admit that she fabricated all the evidence, which she presented to Dean over the months, to convince the Brannocks that something was truly wrong with the house. The Brannocks do end up believing Theodora's story until they find out that Theodora never lived at the house. After her death, Theodora's daughter reveals to Dean and Nora that her mother only created the story to eventually give some peace to the couple. Soon after Theodora's death, the Brannocks move out of Boulevard 657. Much to Nora's surprise, her former friend Karen buys the house. However, Karen's stay is cut short as on the very first night, Karen is scared away by a mysterious individual in the house. Possibly a trick by Nora to get back on Karen, the stunt forces Karen to sell the house within 48 hours.
After Dean and Nora move to a new house, Dean starts taking therapy to get over his obsession with the house and the Watcher. Eventually, a new family moves into the house on Boulevard 657. Even with new occupants, the fascination of the many people interested in the house continues to exist. The list of candidates includes the neighbors Jasper and Pearl Winslow and Maureen, the preservationist William Webster, the retired professor Roger Kaplan, and the former owner Andrew Pierce. The list expands as Dean also joins the lot as the latest entrant whose delusions continue to haunt him. When the new house owner catches Dean admiring his house from the roadside, Dean introduces himself as John, choosing to become a part of the eternal myth that lurks around the house. Dean has found himself a place among the many watchers who nurture a keen interest in the house and its fortunate owners. Dean even lies to Nora about staying away from the house without knowing that Nora has been keeping track of his movements. It becomes clear that Dean's obsession has lured him to become a part of the same group that was responsible for much of his and his family's miseries.
The Watcher's Ending Deceives and Implicates the Audience
First thoughts post the rather inconsequential ending would lead one to believe that Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan have failed in concluding what was an otherwise brilliantly told thriller. In this deception lies The Watcher's greatest strength as Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan avoid the trap of presenting a fictionalized resolution to the mystery at large. Instead, not zeroing down on one suspect provides the opportunity to shed light upon the larger problem. Although the Watcher is believed to be the cause of the misery of Brannocks and the many others who lived in the house, it becomes questionable that what conspired was indeed the consequence of one individual's actions. While the Watcher is believed to be one person, he becomes the personification of a collective whole that continues to take interest in the lives of others. In the case of the occupants of Boulevard 657, the awe-inspiring house made its owners easy targets of the jealousy that thrived in suburban Westfield. Upon being deprived of the pleasure of owning the house, Dean Brannock also joins the jealous group that seeks pleasure from the torment of the "lucky owners."
The neighbors in The Watcher and their actions prove to be caricatures of society's tendency to break laws around privacy and surveillance at its own will. The Preservationist Society in The Watcher proves to be a microcosm of the larger commune that desperately defends the rationale behind its voyeurism. The Watcher establishes that often when it comes to surveillance and privacy, the members of an otherwise morally upright society readily compromise on every publicly defended principle if it serves the individual interest. The Watcher proves to be a symbolic metaphor for the human curiosity that can't resist the temptation of having a peak in others' lives. The real villain in the Watcher is the tendency of society to thrive on schadenfreude. The Watcher is a manifestation of the various forces at work, attempting to bring down whoever lived in the house. By not putting a face to the Watcher, the makers let the viewer choose the real culprit. The Watcher's ending elegantly seeks introspection from the audiences responsible for propagating the hypocrisy around privacy and surveillance. In the guise of a great thriller, The Watcher not only implicates its audience but also seeks accountability at various levels.