Spoilers ahead for the first 6 episodes of Amazon's Carrie.Stephen King's work has been made into plenty of movies and TV shows over the years, and fans of his work were recently treated to a new book to screen adaptation with Mike Flagan's Carrie series. The show is streaming in its entirety for those with an Amazon Prime subscription, and features a number of new takes on the classic story. Although it turns out that the biggest change to Carrie's story actually came from the source material. Let's break it all down.From the first episode of Carrie, it's clear that Flanagan was putting his own spin on the story. That includes the Sue's interviews being used as a framing device, as well as the fact that it "wasn't just Carrie" at the Prom the night of the massacre. During the first few episodes Summer H. Howell's protagonist befriends Thalia Dudek's Emaline West, a new character who is eventually revealed to be speaking to her through astral projections. CinemaBlend spoke to Mike Flanagan about this twist, offering: It was all in reaction to something in the book, which was that Carrie is part of this kind of large sorority of gifted women. And she just, in the book, never lives long enough to find that out. So for us, it was really exciting that yes, if there was this kind of organized group of women with different kinds of gifts, that Carrie might be on their radar pretty early. And how could they possibly get in there to evaluate her either for recruitment or elimination, depending on, on what they think of her? So Emaline was this fantastic opportunity to give her a peer and maybe a friend that could be so much more than that.This might be part of Stephen King's novel, but this is a new take on Carrie for film. She's not alone in her abilities, but is actually part of a sorority of women with powers. Emaline is one of the title character's first few friends, but at the end of Episode 5 it's revealed that she actually isn't a student at Thomas Ewen Consolidated High School. Instead, she's a fellow superpowered teen who has been spying on Carrie and helping her push the limits of her abilities. Having watched all the various versions of Carrie over the years, I love that Mike Flanagan and company still found a way to surprise me. I didn't know what to expect when Emaline was introduced, but I quickly clocked that she didn't seem to be actually interacting with anyone besides the title character. Eventually, it's revealed that this is because she was never actually there in the flesh. (Image credit: Amazon)In some ways this twist also seems to connect Carrie with Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep movie (which is streaming with a Paramount+ subscription). That's why I had doubts about Emaline; we've seen how astral projection works in the director's previous Stephen King adaptation. It also makes sense why Carrie is eventually able to have so much control over her powers at The Prom. She had a "friend" training her and preparing her for that fated moment.Reviews for Carrie praised its first few episodes, and having six out of the eight episodes, I have to agree. Mike Flanagan found a way to bring something new to the beloved story, taking it into the modern age and also switching up the title character's relationship to her mother, as well as Chris and Sue. Then there's Emaline, whose backstory will presumably become more clear in the final two eps. Carrie is currently streaming in its entirety over on Amazon Prime as part of the 2026 TV schedule. It's here just in time for spooky season, and once again Mike Flanagan has proven himself as a master of horror.