Utter garbage. Boring as hell. Trailer is all you need to waste your time on. Some big names don’t make a bad plot good… 5 jump scares, all cramped into a decent looking trailer. This arrogant family who feels too good for their downtown NYC apartment (next to common folk) deserves much worse than some letters.
Why, WHY, did they never go down in the basement again to inspect the belongings and where the tunnels lead to? I found it infuriating that the characters just simply ignored those tunnels after they discovered them.
Right?!?! Throughout the serie, the writers introduced several plot twists that were later never addressed. Girl in pigtails, tunnels, blood cult, etc. Very frustrating.
Yeah I think there is still something weird about that we’ll never know about. Like the John Graff story that Theodora said was fabricated, and Roger questioning him.
@@thealpha2549 the daughter told dean at Theodora’s funeral that her mom made that up so they would b at peace with the situation. She didn’t want to die without the mystery being solved, so she made up her own ending.
@@muziworldwide Yes, true. But during the last meeting with the society, Roger implies that he remembers William and it almost seemed like his remembrance was something bad. The show left us with some open-ended views.
For me it looked like the show started as a 10 episodes show and after the sixth episode someone told the producers that they have to finish it in 7. The first 6 episodes were good, tension was built and I was really keen to find out how it would all come to an end. But then…. 1. Why did they just ignored the tunnels? Dean was so obsessed to find who the watcher is, so why didn’t he inspect the tunnels??? 2. The deal with Karen was just stupid. Buying an enormous house for herself and then get scared out of the house after one night. They rushed through this way to quickly 3. I didn’t find it realistic nor believable that Theodora would just make this story up that she was the watcher. And again, they rushed through it. They find out 5 min later that it was a lie. 4. Who is this John guy? 5. Who was the girl in the dress? 6. The fact that Mo’s son just randomly shots two homeless people to get the life insurance is so unbelievable. And what funeral was held in their place? Did they really not do an autopsy? I really didn’t like the ending.
That was the point of here story, from a narrative perspective. To show to viewers how all could have a reasonable and conclusive explanation. Especially since it had an open end, it gives a sense of resolution, even though there is no resolution in the actual story. It is also satisfying to skeptics, like detective Scully reasonable explanations in X-files
@@Alkis05 they wanted it to remain a mystery after pulling our strings all the way through it. When Nora and Dean visited the detective in the hospital, she asked Nora what was wrong. Nora explained, "It's Dean... he's really... really losing it. He's got the whole wall of suspects up again at the apartment." Then the detective responds, "I have seen that happen... a mystery you can't seem to solve. It will drive you crazy. It's... the human condition. That need to know... not knowing. That's the killer." The writers were playing off of this idea the whole time. The human condition. They want us to feel how Dean was feeling... by not being able to really figure out who was who.
A theory of mine is Pearl is the watcher, and when she says "trees have roots that connect them as a social system" could be a metaphor towards the tunnels she's in
I watched this series ages ago so i could be wrong, but wasn't there a scene where Dean & Nora chased the supposed "Watcher" wearing a black cloak through the tunnels and at the end, Bill aka the fake John knocked on a wooden door saying to Pearl "They're onto us now"?
I think John is living in the tunnel. Remember the bed and small room down there. If he did in fact kill his family, maybe that’s where he’s been hiding out.
My two cents: The watcher is anyone who is "watching" the house in their own way. Some creep in tunnels, some send letters and others are just being weird neighbours. Each person/group has their winning, in either keeping the house in it's original state or like the surveillance kid - making tons of money for setting up security around the house. It also feels like whoever gets exposed to this house somehow gets obsessed with it and becomes the "watcher", e.g., Dean and Nora at the end. - The watcher
I personally think that dean beginning to send letters to the house shows why every person who had every lived in that house becomes “the watcher”. The house has such a strong appeal on people that they want it all for themselves which is why they end up sending letters to the house to scare the new buyers out. It’s a tale of selfishness and greed.
If Nora didn’t make him apologize to the neighbors for the letters at the end he would have never found out that the detective wasn’t the watcher and he would be fine.
@@mckenzieallen4054 Nora was awful. Lol remember how she definitively had Dean pegged as "the watcher?" Also, never supported him when it came to their family, "what is wrong with you?" when he'd get upset with the daughter about sneaking around and such (which if she denied to him but was doing just that), or his confrontations with the security guy. Lol and every time, Nora still held to her disdain and disbelief of her husband's actions. Also, her being upset with him still even after the security guy essentially cleared Dean from actually having sex with the girl in the video, much less knowing who she even was, and neither Nora or the daughter ever apologized to Dean for their behavior regarding any of it. Lol that was infuriating.
Roger was the watcher when John lived in the house and John was the watcher when dean and Nora were in the house and now dean is the watcher for the new family. Each separated 20 years apart just like they said in the movie 🤯
It was all over the place. I couldn’t tell what the tone was. Especially after the first episode, the horror elements disappeared for me. There was no payoff at the end. Good idea, terrible execution.
This was based on a true story, the characters were depicted as they were in the real life story. It did an amazing job portraying the real life unsolved mystery.
Why was Roger not alarmed when he blatantly knew he was sat in the same room as someone who murdered their whole family? Why did Dean say his name was John at the end? Why did Nora turn up just after Dean leaves in the final scene? I feel like the producers of this series really fucked up towards the end. I was addicted to this the whole way through but was just left disappointed and confused by the last episode. 😕
I've got some theories. Dean said John because it was the first name that came to mind maybe as they mention before "it's a common name". Nora was worried about Dean losing it that's why she was following him to make sure he didn't do anything crazy. The part about Roger knowing John I don't really know tho...
My theory is that the house causes everyone to lose their minds, basically cause the neighbourhood is obsessed with that house due to the majority of them having done that critically acclaimed lessons of ode to a house. A psycho house obsessed generation of students that in that hood loved that house. Then dean and Nora get the house being from out of town and the neighborhood started they’re antics which toward the end cause the family to have PTSD and dean ends up like the neighbours by not letting go of the house as it was a signature of a failure in his life and contributes to driving the next family out. Kind of like a chain letter concept
@@darcymusicpy4274 I don’t think Nora knew Dean was there. Since we saw Andrew in front of the house in the ending scene, it’s more likely that the house drives the owners crazy and now Dean and Nora are obsessed with it too.
At the end of the series, there was a scene where every charaters still watched the house. For me, i feel like they tried to send a message that the Watcher is a name for the people who had history with the house. Even Dean and Nora came to watch the house at the end. Andrew still came to watch the house because he couldnt let go of his wife, Dakota had been watching the house and he put his ads in the mailbox as soon as the new owner moved in because he knew what was gonna happen. The thing is the watcher might have nothing to do with those crazy neighbors. He might be just some random guy who have been sending letters to that house for decades. But everytime the owner got paranoid from the crazy neighbors, they eventually thought it was the watcher who did it.
I feel like it was obvious that it was pearl and that John guy… they had secret passages through the house it seems like it could of been them writing the letters the whole time? Idk
@@christianbarth5792 i feel the same, it was definitely them that caused the troubles to the owner eventhough i'm still not sure about their intention. John might lived under that house like in Parasite movie, so the noise and mysterious person the owner saw might be him moving around the house at night. Pearl look like she had some kind of mental disorder and she like to be conservative, she might do that just to chase the owner away to keep the house as it was. But the letters are all over the places, even that old lady lived far away from the house also got the same letter from the watcher. it might be the same person, or it might not. For me i feel like it could be anyone.
My understanding of the film is that "the watcher" may not be one person but all the old neighbors who live nearby. Even though they don't have the money to buy this perfect house right next to them, all of them still want to retain the original construction and decoration style (the neighbors have been expressing themselves in the show how much they want to maintain the original house style ), so they used the secret tunnels and all sorts of pranks scare each family who can afford the house away in order to achieve their dream…
And it becomes a vicious circle as the family that is scared out of their home wants to find out who replaced them and stole their dream home, making them the watcher.
On the last episode, there was clearly a past between John and Roger. I have a theory. In episode 3, Theodora tells Dean that Johns daughter had a Halloween party, where he caught her dancing with her school teacher. Roger was also a school teacher. Maybe Roger was her teacher too, and they also had an inappropriate affair… just a thought on why that interaction was so uncomfortable
@@brucel6413 I’m aware this isn’t the same teacher she was dancing with. I’m just curious if she also was “boy crazy” about Roger, who was also a teacher.
This was a really disappointing ending. I saw a lot of people on Twitter were mad because it didn't have a proper resolution. That wasn't my issue with it though, I think it's totally possible to have a great ambiguous ending. My issue was that at the end it kind of felt like they didn't know how to "land the plane" and the result was a huge change in tone. For the majority of the episodes there was so much pressure, it did an amazing job of making the audience feel the phobia of being watched and the confused panic that would come with that kind of situation. But towards the end it just felt like all that pressure just deflated and then it just went all over the place. The Karen revenge angle was just awful. It felt like the bad guy in an early 2000's action comedy getting "what they deserve" at the end of the movie, like the villain making a "oh noooo" face right before the building they're in explodes while the heroes escape. That was my least favorite part, very hard to take seriously. Then the rest just felt so scattered, it felt like it was trying to do too many things without really being successful with any of them.
@@PajamaPantsClan woww, true. I actually didn't even realize Ryan Murphy was behind this, I just started watching the other day and got hooked. It all makes sense now.
@@PajamaPantsClan He didn’t know how to end it bc it’s based off a true story that was never solved so there isn’t many ways to rlly end a show like that
The question of who the girl in the dress is was totally left unanswered and there isn’t even a suspect that could possibly have done it. Theodora’s story answered a ton of questions, but obviously it was a lie. And after that many things were never revisited
When Dean suspiciously goes to Pearl’s house to see if the tunnel leads there, he hears a sneeze…he should have broken in and investigated that and discovered John hiding. I think they missed there.
Lol Dean was on Thin ice from that point Remember the cop At the station basically threatened to Book Dean if there was any more outbursts from him notice he ain’t snap till they left the house
I simply feel like it was pearl and John doing all of this, in the first episode when jasper was found in the dumb waiter she tells dean that the owners always let him do that, they started off the relationship bad from the beginning which could lead to a motive of pearl wanting them out of the house because she always obsessed on keeping the house the same. Then the pigtail girl scene in deans room pearl has pigtails… then the tunnel scene when dean is chasing the person it was the John guy coming out at the end of the tunnel at pearls house… then dean tries to see if the other end of the tunnel is at pearls house she wouldn’t let him.. I mean cmon people it’s very obvious
Yes but I think she is merely a cooperative in that whole scheme. I would say that John Graff who is npq part of their "club" behind it al and getting them to do his dirty work of raising suspicion upon them while he is traumatising the family at night. Yet stil, I completely don't understand what is motivating him him to do all lf it cus if he juat wanted zo kill them he could have done it a long time ago
I can see the pitch meeting to Netflix. "The twist is we never reveal who the Watcher is! We leave it up to the viewers to decide." One red herring after another and no closure. What fun is there making guesses all along if you never find out if you were right? If you love murder mysteries with the last page missing, this is for you. I was enjoying it up until the end when I realized there was no ending.
I thought it was pretty clear that the watcher was John Graff. We see him fleeing through the tunnels and escaping. Both of the neighbors are the watchers and they use John to infiltrate the house and scare whoever is living in there
@@jonesy1589 The real life story only involved the family receiving some letters similar to the ones in the series. All of the characters and events were pure fiction so I don't think that is a good excuse for not naming the Watcher.
@@valiant971 your argument sucks. It’s very much based on the real story and the watcher hasn’t been found. but we do know she’s female. So it’s probably you
The way I took it was that greed was a pre-requisite of owning the house. When an owner leaves the house on less than happy terms they long to have the house back again. Over time this cycle has repeated and produced many watchers (prior owners). This is evidenced by John who i think was the main watcher in the show. However, Dean at the end of the movie became a watcher as he was consumed by his obsession with the house. This is further supported by the fact that Dean and Nora are both lying to one another while also both staying close to the house. Nora has in essence also become a watcher. She also made the comment at the end stating "i will be watching."
For those interested, the John/William storyline is based on a true crime: the John List family massacre. It occurred in a mansion in guess where? Westfield, NJ.Almost exactly as it really occurred including the music playing throughout the house. Very interesting true crime case, it occurred in 1971 and can be easily found.
Screw the tunnel, John graff was obviously shown leaving it and going to pearls house. The real question that the tunnel has made everyone stop focusing on is the glass milk bottles that seemed to be use to drink the blood after John graff murdered his family, it aligns with the story that the guy told him that previously lived there. I think everyone who wants to watch the house is the watcher and I don't think John Graff drank the blood. How Jasper finally spoke at the end was quite strange, the old teacher was also strange, John Graff and Pearl were super strange, I had suspicions about the realtor too at first but that came to pass. Update: I have now fallen victim to the tunnel clan. Surely there must be another tunnel if they were still able to get in and kill the realtors dog after the wall was sealed, not only that but the vampire clan in me tells me that there's another tunnel to Mo's house as the previous owner said he saw Mo in his basement sucking blood from his child's finger. About Jasper, isn't it strange how he only appeared coherent around John but according to the dates it was in fact the Graff murders that traumatized him in the first place yet he seems unfazed when around John. About John, do you think he kills the animals because they can lead owners to tunnels? Do you think it's just their warning? Do you think they drink the animals blood? More about John..Do you think it was noted that the teacher had been killed because they wanted the audience to know he didn't just have a mental break down and went nuts but he had actually become a serial killer too? Do you think the teachers death was only noted because they wanted to give John's character emotions? As the death of the teacher implies that John had feelings and he felt that the teacher was the cause of him disliking his family.. hope there's a season 2 because not only did he become a serial killer but the use of different weapons implied that he was a skilled serial killer, I want to know the guy's background. Lastly as a proud sub-member of the pigtail clan I would like to nominate pearl, yes I know the thought is insane but I'm throwing the finger, screw it.
Based off the letters saying they would reward him for the sacrifice I don't think it was John who killed the teacher but the watcher who killed him for John
@@gatorsminks I can pretty much tell you what happened in real life. Family moves in, starts receiving threatening letters. Gonna chalk it up to a disgruntled potential buyer that got out bid (people have mental issues) Police were shown the letter, it’s a small town there’s probably a staff of 30 tops. They chalked it up as a prank and told the family there was nothing they can do. Threatening letters kept coming, family said we don’t need this shit let’s get out of here. Case unsolved
I thought the ending was disappointing. I appreciate that the case is unresolved, but why showing John Graff running in that tunnel going to Pearl and Jasper’s house? A figure running would had been more ambiguous. Also the whole thing about John Graff who butchered his family but stayed in town working at the library? Never seeing him again after he spoke to Dean would have also let us question the fact Dean may be trying to see connections between a man named John and the information Theodora found. It’s a shame, the series was very promising and it felt like the final episode was written by a different writer
The way I saw it, everyone who lived nearby was The Watcher. I think they all had once lived in the house or at the very least spent time in the house and fell under its spell. Through some supernatural attraction, they could not find a life away from it and moved in nearby so, even if they could not live in it, they could watch it and still be involved with it. When they showed Nora and Dean coming back to the house, we witnessed the start of a couple of new Watchers who I think will eventually join the preservation society like the rest of them.
There was no explanation whatsoever for the girl in Dean's bedroom in pigtails. At this point I can only conclude that she was a ghost of John Graff's daughter. He said she was boy crazy and even had some sort of fling with her much older teacher so it makes sense she was curious and attracted to Dean as her life was cut short and the flirtatious exploration of her sexuality was interrupted
The more mundane explanation would have been someone trying to set him up, like the PI said. Someone that was put their because someone besides Dakota knew that there was a camera in the bedroom, probably John Graff since he got there to inspect the house. He was there between the cameras being installed and the family coming back. And he knew about the cameras being installed, since he watching Dakota and even saw him flirting with the daughter. He could have got the idea if he saw Dakota installing the camera in the bedroom. That would explain how the girl got in (through the tunnel) and why she was wearing that dress (because he chose it).
The explanation for that was the tunnel, who the person actually was makes no difference. She never entered the house apparently but I would like to know how she knew he'd be in there sleep.
They are all watchers in their own way. Some write letters, some creep around the house via tunnels and some just stand in front of the house and watch. They also do it for different reasons. Some want to preserve its initial state, same share happy or dark memories of it, some are jealous and some just don't like the noise coming from the new owners. That's my view of it.
I don’t understand. Who was actually that John Griff guy in the series? They said they never found the watcher but what was all that about? The tunnel? John Griff was real also? Why didn’t go back to the tunnel to examine and its ending where it leads. Lots of questions.
@VictoryEternal I mean, why they didn’t look after the tunnel and who lived there. There was literally a room in the tunnel. I would have found out what is on the other side of the tunnel like tear down the wall. Because probably who was in the tunnel is the watcher.
@@colecampbell5328 I agree, it's like the house is cursed and drives the owner crazy or something. But what about Karen? she didn't fit that profile....
one thing that bugged me is they never explored the tunnel any further. if it was me, by hook or crook, with a chainsaw and axe, I would be finding out where this tunnel leads and going through the room where there was a bed and some belongings with a fine tooth comb. staking it out. John Graff and Pearl were sticklers for preservation and busy bodies, but the watcher seemed to care more about "greed" in the letters, so that didn't add up. This kind of thing does have precedent. typically it is to get people in the house out for the financial gain of others.
They basically threw in 4 plots with no ending, and the excuse to it for being trash is that the real case is unsolved. The show is ok tho, had some good comedy.
There were some dialogues throughout the show that I definitely thought were hints to helping identify the watcher, but they never paid off and that infuriated me. 1. The use of the term "barking up the wrong tree" by both Theodora and the chief detective was pointed out by Nora 2. The use of the term "pigtails" by both Theodora and Karen was also pointed out by Nora, but nothing came of it... 3. Karen smelling her napkin/serviette and commenting on her own acute sense of smell. these all felt like clues that would payoff later, but never did.
1. Barking up the wrong tree is a subliminal message. Chief Detective dates Karen, the realtor, and she has dog - the dog is killed later in the house, just like Sprinkles. It's also supposed to suggest "alarm" as you, naturally, will imagine a dark barking which is an intense warning signal. Just the thought makes anyone feel jumpier. This adds to the creepiness of finding the dog dead, who never had a chance to bark at the end because that surprise grows. It's a setup for that payoff. 2. It was a subliminal both in narrative and in story. The suspicious neighbor wears pigtails - and this was to show how much they were retreading ground. Karen and Theodora would have seen the neighbor and as such, the mentioning of pigtails is not likely to matter one bit. What does matter however is that we, the audience, know the neighbor has been using the secret passage to shuttle someone. The neighbor has invaded their house, and it's subtly suggesting that Nora subconsciously knows this but can't seem to consciously confront it. This is a simple deduction for her, because while they were in the tunnels you could easily measure the distance to the other houses - and likely knows exactly where that man fled to. She just can't bring herself to really think about it and theodora, the ever logical detective, apparently won't either. Something is mentally shifting their focus to other problems, which is also likely both of them trying to create a form of closure in different ways - Nora tries to submit to denying the need entirely, and Theodora is thinking of other leads that may lead to conclusions instead of the literal dead end the tunnel suggests. Theodora also knows the police chief is apparently so useless as to be unlawful, so she's chasing other leads - because she also just doesn't believe the neighbor is the Watcher. Theodora wears gloves constantly because she's that fastidious, so she doesn't jump to conclusions - or follow dead ends. 3. Karen's sense of smell is a character trait. She drinks heavily, eats heavily, because she's "hungry" to buy the house. Heavily being somewhat healthy, but she talks about food in almost every scene. Vinegar is a subliminal because while it can mean cleaning supplies covering up evidence, it also can smell like unwashed people. That's the subliminal for the creep factor, due to vinegar's ambiguity - but also to suggest she's a fastidious eater. She wants not only to eat, but she's patient and tactical - she wants to do it cleanly. Also if you see Exorcist III, which is a film that was obsessed with subliminals, you can see the correlation between the hooded figures and the style, and those scenes make more sense. There are many details in the show designed to be red herrings, but also 70's style subliminals (see The Shining and Kubrick's work for that) riddle the thing... but most people make the mistake of thinking The Watcher in general has to be one person. The infiltrator (the man we see in the tunnels) is the man we see at the end of the show, who *presumably* killed the dog in that scene... but there's no reason to suggest that even is the person who is writing the letters. If you include that possibility it becomes a lot simpler. We know the tunnels can be accessed by anyone in the neighborhood committee, at the very least, but if you look at the infiltrator's behavior only in the scenes where you see *them* and then simplify odd character behavior to 'who benefits' it also becomes clearer. I suspect if you dig deep enough there's a conclusive character who is writing the letters. My money's on Miko sending the letters. Kaplan makes it clear he can't afford those houses - yet he joins the neighborhood committee on these houses anyway. Kaplan also makes it clear that Miko couldn't even finish her wine after that confrontation and their relationship distress is leading to something more (possibly a divorce), yet at the end of the show we can see Kaplan taking a walk with Miko as she assists him. Miko, having been confronted in the grocery alley, is very likely trying to distance herself from Kaplan so if she's caught he won't take the brunt of it. Miko also says as a student in the past, "Can you write a letter about your own house?" and Kaplan, in his youth, said absolutely not - Miko's obsessed with Kaplan. If she keeps writing notes and the house keeps lowering in value, he likely will be able to get it - and it has a romantic symmetry. Miko's appearance in the last scenes is very conspicuous too, as is the camerawork during that confrontation. They blur her out - but look at her. She looks stirred far deeper than being cornered and she's noted as being outspoken and eager in her younger scenes. The character change isn't subtle. More damning is the timing. Kaplan's last loving letter is sent right before the first creepy letter arrives - only Miko would know that. It could be a coincidence, but if you also listening to the wording of the letters, you can hear a diligent hand in the writing. This suggests a greater narrative - Kaplan got depressed and Miko got angry. I'm pretty sure you could use the process of elimination to figure it out as well, there's many suspects who get eliminated in the few scenes where you see the infiltrator, you can eliminate many many suspects I just finished the series but I'm 100% sure you can objectively figure out who it is using deduction techniques. You just have to ignore ALL the red herrings, you have to throw out a lot of data and just stick to what you know and the timeline presented. You can also use the infiltrator's actual appearance on screen at the end to judge their height and weight. It's important to note that whoever is in that outfit is wearing shoulder pads to obscure sex, but is fairly tall. If you freeze on it you can see the efforts made to make them ambiguous - but the height and the hands opening the floor plate on the stairs are telling. The infiltrator at the end may not have been the one in the tunnels, but you can clearly see the tunnel infiltrator's shoes - and they are male belonging to someone with a slim build and they have a flat sole - it's a dress shoe. That narrows it down considerably. Focus on these clues, not the narrative's presented by the characters who are naturally subjectively biased. Stick to facts you can verify as a viewer. Kaplan's introduction to the group at the end of the show largely excludes him - but moreso the fact that he is the one most likely to know about ALL the tunnel entrances and wouldn't need the committee's assistance. He's not the tunnel infiltrator, as he's too tall and also just plain wouldn't get caught. He may have been kept out of the group officially until late in the timeline, but then why be so confrontational? It's convoluted. Kaplan's a likely suspect due to his absence in most of the show, but his height writes him out often. Keep eliminating suspects and you can narrow it down. Just keep eliminating suspects based on what you know and then ask, "who benefits?". Everyone's got a reason to do things. Oh one last thing - we see an infiltrator using the roof music to draw people away, this is a rope-a-dope. You play the music when you're cornered in the house. You go up, play the music, sneak out the door - this gets you back into the floor room. If you do something in the house, you can't do it and run back to the basement - you have to sneak. This means anytime something happens, they use the cloak to hide - but often let something spooky distract while they escape back into the basement quietly... or the stairwell. That's the reason for all the creepy moments. You could get a host of clues and eliminate more suspects based on this. Bear in mind the infiltrator can change every time, given that "it's a maze of tunnels down there" meaning there's likely more tunnels on tunnels... but if you take each incident and think about what was accomplished during that time, it becomes much clearer. You can absolutely iron out who it was in each scenario (for instance the motel call infiltration would have to be by someone who knew they'd be there, and that limits many suspects). You also have to factor in roof access, because the chimney is notably large enough for someone like say, Kaplan from getting in - or more likely Miko if she was so inclined. Miko I suspect is behind the letters - but also, it could be more than one person considering half the town knew about the letters by the end. The "shotgun" effect of all these suspects is that, very likely, it's more of a merry-go-round scenario than any 1 person, but using these techniques you can determine who it was and when. It helps that many characters builds eliminate them from suspicion - but they are likely letter senders. So the data you have isn't useless, if you ever watch it again I'm sure you will have the "aha" moments as context clues give away who it was, when, and mostly because you'll know "why" and also can eliminate many suspects with the data you have. So enjoy it.
Well the old ginger lady, jaspers sister was talking about trees and how they cummunicate using there roots, maybe "barking up the wrong tree" means her and the "pigtails" was another nod to her since she has pigtails. What if she is the master mind behind the whole thing. even shows us her sitting down with everyone and taking the part off a leader saying that jasper was only the secratary and everyone knows her, maybe somehow she is the big fish.
You know the power of fear? That's where the movie is all about. As human beings, whe're naturally scared for imposters. The thaught of someone or something watching us in our private environment and not being able to find its source can drive us mad. It initiates an natural based fear, because when we don't know where the supposed danger comes from, we feel (and actually are) vulnerable. Besides showing the impact of fear, The film also demonstrates how harmfull stalking can be. That it can go as far as people actually starting to distrust theire own family, getting depressed by it, or even worse.. For this film, we shouldn't lay the focus on finding out who "The Watcher" actually is (if there really is one). The film wants to show us how harmful fear can be: that it can turn stable persons into wracks etc.. On top of that; one's fear is the fuel for someone's elses fear. Thats also what the end suggests: By becoming scared for an unknown source, people react in a sertain way, causing them to become the source of turmoil themselves. Thats why at the end, all of them end up visiting the house, just.. WATCHING it. Some themes I would give it are: FEAR (duh XD), COMPETITION, CYCLE, MARRIAGE and RELATIONSHIPS, CHANGE, LOSS.. I really liked it.
Real life story: Family bought house, received a few creepy letters, become paranoid, and sold house at loss. Netflix version: Murdered pets, insane neighbours, police coverups, secret tunnels, blood cults, mass murder, underage romance, endless conspiracies, wise cracking private investigator, and Mia Farrow playing herself.
I know this was based off a true story so the producers can only do so much… But I was really hoping the ending was going to be Dean burning the house down to the ground 😂 there are still so many questions left unanswered 😢
So no one is ganna talk about the blood cult and drinking baby blood? In the first episode the first words jasper says are “did you know new born babies have 100 more bones than adult skeletons?” And pearl makes multiple references to babies, like when she says the wood of the old tree is the best for making baby cradles. She was also all about “preservation” hence drinking baby blood to preserve her own youth. Im not sure how it could relate to the story or ending but i think its an interesting take away.
Yeah there was a lot they never reflected back on, but I think they said these things initially to just unsettle the viewer into immediately thinking its them.
I liked the idea of a baby sacrificing cult that went all the way to the top of the fbi and government. Would of been a more creepy story. Maybe if they make second series they could make it about that.
They zoomed in on moe 's lips when she supped her tea at pearls .... I'm sure they are the ones who drank the blood from the graff family from the milk jugs ... sure of it
I felt that this show was well executed. It is a story about how obsessions/addictions will rule your life if you let them. The Brannigans wanted the perfect, safe, suburban life, the conservation society with their obsession with vintage architecture and avoiding change. I believe that this was the “horror” element. The conservation group really did not want ANYONE living in the house they just wanted it to stay the same and admire it from outside. Everyone who bought the house wanted to turn it into a version of their greed-filed, over indulged, life fantasy. And that was the conflict. “The Watcher” letters were the collective manifestation of that greed, wielded as a tool, to achieve their own individual obsessions. Dean was the worst, Obsessing about his family’s safety, his daughter’s impending maturity, avoiding the collapse of his all-in bet on that property, eventually the house consumes him as he loses everything, but his family, on his quest to “solve” the mystery. This is why all of them are the “The Watcher.” I liked the ending. The Payoff reveal is the perspective of all the suspects as the new owners (victims) arrive. That house has taken hold of ALL of them. Life is not filled with concrete answers and tidy reasoning. It is all messy. Dean was on a partner track at his firm and Nora was a struggling artist at the beginning and by the end Dean is unemployed and really does not care and Nora if the new hot clay medium artist. Shows how quickly life can change when you let obsession rule your decisions and cannot let go and move on. Some marketing for this said it was a mix of “Pacific Heights” (Great early 90s Michael Keaton film shows how this would have went in the 20th century before the internet.) and “American Horror Story” which is very misleading. AMS is every horror trope cranked up to 12 with an extra bucket of blood for good measure. No, “The Watcher” is true horror. Where the evil is in everyone’s own mind battling the demons we carry with us each day…
Did Mo really drink the Andrew's kid's blood in the basement? Who was the girl in the videotape in Dean's bedroom? What's John's deal? Who called Nora when she was in the Motel?
That scene of Mo "kissing" the little boy cut finger with the bloody smile was creepy as fuck! I think that is what Andrew saw, in his perturbed mind, but not what really happened. But no, I think their interest was in keeping away 'bad' neighbors. Anyway, what makes the series great is how it leaves open ended if things are as fucked up as the character's paranoia seems to indicate or if it is just a bunch of weird creepy but normal people living there.
Yeahh. Some say Andrew was on drugs so he was seeing wonky stuff. But what about his kid saying he saw a blood cult ritual? Or when his wife was scared shitless because she was seeing abnormal things in the house?
@@Peanutnut2907 His kid was that, a kid. Three or four years old. Not exactly a reliable witness. His wife had a mental problems even before moving to the house, although she was getting better for a while.
I think it was pearl who phoned Nora up because the person in the cloak walking past deans bedroom looked like a girl and the breathing sounded like it too. But that’s just my opinion
They gave much of a F..the police didn't though, they sealed it up but it was useless because John Graff still went back and killed the realtor's dog. The tunnel apparently wasn't the only way in. Maybe there's another tunnel to Big Mo's house because the previous owner said his kid saw Big Mo and her husband drinking blood and more blood was drank inside of the house after the Graff murders. Pearl and John were definitely working together, Pearl didn't want them to touch the basement and it's strange to me that what John did made Jasper traumatized and mute but he talks around John just fine.
Such a good show!!, At the end I felt like everything was left open for our imaginations, questions and concerns. I guess that was the plot of this story, for us to keep interested in this house like the watchers themselves.
What ever happened with the music playing over the old intercom? Too many plot lines that went nowhere or were just ignored. The biggest one was Dean and Nora never investigating the tunnels. Seriously??
So I think Pearl is the one mastermind around it. They said that the DNA was that of a female and she had pig tales like that girl from the security camera. I think John Graff is one of the ones watching and she is also watching but I think she writes the letters and John spies. And when she talks about roots and how they’re all connected it could be a reference to there are more people involved in the one thing.
They Better have a season 2 to this anybody who watched it is already emotionally invested in it I had a feeling they were gonna end it like this without us knowing who really was the watcher all in all good series but I need a proper conclusion
@@Caerulis Right? Not gonna lie, the show started off strong. I was invested all the way until the ending and all the clues and plot points left out and unexplained: who really was John Graff? What about the tunnels under the house? The explanation about prohibition seems logical, but there’s no follow up to it. Was Detective Chamberland really in on all of it? So many points left out
@@johnmcquade8337 yeah imo they either thought that leaving out so many details would work for them to create speculation or they just decided to rush the ending. I’m betting on the latter
I believe It was definitely the John or “Willam” guy making those thudding noises. There was a cult but i don’t think it was a blood cult it was to keep the town the same, including the values. Notice how mo wasn’t unsettled by the noises because she knew it was john hiding out. Pearl was the main watcher. The DNA said it was female and her family was there forever. She inherited the house from her parents. Johns story might have been true to a certain extent because he was living in that tunnel and hiding in pearls house. She had the whole town in on it, including the police force. They covered it all up so the image of the town wasn’t tarnished. Imo.
Sorry but Ryan Murphy has a terrible track record with endings and after I binge watched The Watcher, he still does. Love his work but his endings are literally not worth watching and I’m thinking of skipping them going forward so I can just end them myself. lol but not kidding.
I was expecting so much more especially horror wise but was quite disappointed on that end and It was to all over the place and a shit ending but overall, good acting and scriptwriting
The first episode set up some real good jump scare moments and abrupt transitions to make you feel uncomfortable, but after the first episode they kind of fell off!
@@BrainPilot yes i 100% agree there , the first episode was good with some good jump scares and creepy people but then towards the end it fell off with that type of directing
Personally, I hate jump scares. In that other horror series, midnight club, they even make explicit fun of it, calling it cheap and making one story that is made 100% of jump scares. I liked that they went for an unsettling creepy atmosphere and characters than cheap jump scares.
Everyone, how did Midge die? In one scene, you can see him coming back to the house with Mo and then, in her next scene, Mo is by herself. Did I fall asleep and miss a scene/talking point?
Mo told Dean, that her husband died. I forgot of what he dies. She told him in the scene, where Dean visits her to apologize for writing a fake letter.
I feel like there still is something about the house that makes people obsessed with it and become “watchers” Whether that’s just a vicious cycle of trauma with the residents repeating the same behaviour (and the ecosystem of paranoia in the people surrounding it) or something else entirely, it has strong “The one ring” energy
The watcher is not one person. It is the preservation club, that is actually the façade for some kind of cult. Pearl is the cult leader. The house either internally or externally or because of the ground it was built in has something sacred (in a wicked way) that should stay just as it is to keep the cult going. The house is haunted and this explains the whole attractive thing of the various owners. I would also say that in the show there are many reference to age and tradition. Maybe eternal life is the reward for the cultist, thanks to the blood drinking. They all look out of their time and they might well be people from the 1920s. In fact, the final owners of the house, with young children who could be sacrificed could fit the “club” expectation. This is why they don’t buy the house. They could do it all toghether and maybe they do as the mysterious firm which is mentioned from time to time but then they re- sell it to families in order for the house to be “fed”. I think the whole series is more of a political and anthropological metaphor of some aspects of American society. Envy, competition, greed, a wicked sense of understanding what “tradition” is. I liked the fact that unlike many other shows it did not make any easy criticism but everything is nuanced and complex. No one is innocent, just like in our society (except for the babies… wonder why the house pray on them…)
That does make sense. It could explain how the Watcher is able to know so much of the house and why there are different DNA prints. That was always my headcanon too
And also, I noticed that too. The other neighbors looked more out of touch with time. Mo and Mitch looked like two people from the 60s, John Graff dresses like he’s from the 50s, etc.
i hated the ending but after reading the comments i wonder if they wanted to create that annoyance of not having an answer so we can feel exactly how Dean feels.
Yes! I was already ripping my hair out half way through watching it trying to figure it out myself, and after its over feel just like Dean in that I can't let it go until I know who it was! I think this was definitely the whole point of the show.
Personally, even if it doesn’t line up at all. I feel like the true identity of the Watcher was the house itself. Somehow this story of The Watcher started happening to each generation who lived inside the house. Then when they start to drive themselves insane over this mystery, they consequently become the replacement Watcher. That’s the impression that I got when Dean called himself John at the end of the series. He couldn’t figure out the mystery for himself, so as a way of coping he makes sure the family that proceeds him experience the same hell his family went through. He lays out his own vague clues for the next family to figure out, possibly using the same tunnel system that the previous Watcher had used. And once the father of this new family has gone insane trying to figure out who this guy is and insistently become the new Watcher, that’s when Dean can let go. Because now he knows there’s another family who’s suffered just as much as he has and he can move on knowing some form of justice has been served. Except, now all Dean’s left is the next replacement for The Watcher for the next family to move into the house and eventually drive insane so that they can become the next Watcher for the next family to movie into the house. This endless cycle of toxicity could have possibly been going in the house for decades before. And presumably after.
@@melaniebiberger2191 were talking about this particular character. my point is its silly to base the decision of not having a girl on this character..because youre worried she'd turn out that way.
I found it riveting and entertaining, I thought I heard about this story before and that there was a family living in the attic and the owners did not know about it. I originally thought it was the realtor because from a business point of view made sense, first she sold it and got commission then create a mess and force the current owners to sell at a lower price so she could buy it up again and sell for more profit. I actually thought starting from episode 2 that it was like a whole community who is on on this and they get to pick and choose who gets to stay in the house. If they were good neighbours they get to stay and if they're not they would make their lives hell. It got confusing when the husband started writing letters but I think you explained it well, everyone who's lived there becomes obsessed with the house and how they lost everything and they don't understand why. Then they themselves become the watcher because they can't live with the guilt that someone else is enjoying the home and it's not them. Which is why in the end the other previous owners were outside envying the current owners.
We saw the answer, it was pearl and John doing the letters, John got chased out the tunnel and knocked on pearls door saying there on to us whys everyone confused lol
It's not for sure that it was them since theyre never actually shown delivering the letters and if Pearl is to be believed she also got a letter. Assuming that's true then there's still someone out there delivering letters. All we know for sure is that they've been sneaking in an out of the house because they're obsessed with it.
I feel like it was just a big misdirection. Not saying they're not responsible for creeping around the house but not the letter writers. John got the letters himself that's why he went crazy and is now bound to the house too.
I’m so confused about John Graff, didn’t Theodora say she made him up, How does Rodger know who he is if he is made up? There’s too many questions coming out of this with no answers
she just said she made up the story to dean so he could rest his mind and not go crazy, to make him believe he had it figured out. Is most likely one of those satanic coven towns where many people are in a secret society, even the cops.. kinda like sandy hook town
It’s frustrating that we never know who the watcher is because I was actually under the impression from the jump that it was Theodora, but once that was shot down, I had my attention snatched again just for the watcher to be a debate. I can appreciate the idea of the audience never knowing because in a way it ties in to what Theodora and Dean feel but it’s excruciating. Nothing wrong with a mysterious ending but the writers themselves probably didn’t know how to make it anymore intriguing.
Great video. I just commented on another video saying 'The Watcher' is most likely a collective. I agree that the Westfield Preservation Society has the motive and is most likely behind the letters. As far as John Graff goes, he's an avatar for John List, who murdered his family in Westfield, NJ. Even with the embellishments, the dark tone of this series stayed true to actual events. I loved the series and will rewatch it again soon.
It is said in the first letter that they receive that the house has had different watchers in different times. The current watcher introduced himself to Dean & Nora saying that it's now his time to be the watcher. So, yes, many people are a "watcher" of the house. But as for who wrote the letters, maybe John and Pearl, to get them to sell, because they didn't like the renovations they were doing to the house. And John who murdered his family supposedly also received letters. So maybe this has just become a contagious dark twisted thing.
Yeah the detective being a dickhead and totally useless was what pissed me off. He just seemed weird from the beginning. Could have reported him to internal affairs and just have a competent person take over their case.
The whole thing was pretty interesting. Leaves alot of our own interpretations, theres so much things that happen you dont know whats connected and whats coincidence, what is random etc. Its was pretty good overall. Good mystery, reminded me of things like Number 23, Shutter Island type thing at times.
Best show I've watched in years. Perfectly executed to have such a mystery and suspension the entire way through. People are just butt hurt that they didn't get an answer because they themselves are also like dean. Eaten up to know who and why
Because it is written badly, so the 4 major plot points (John Graff story, Karen scamming Nora, Pearl and Mo being creepy neighbors, and then they added Roger's story) are all supposed to be unrelated? Not realistic at all. If the John Graff/Bill character is supposedly meant to be the Watcher then it makes no sense at all. Also the ending with the shadow emerging from the stairs was too cheesy in supernatural, felt way off. You might call it nitpicking but it just doesn't make any sense. Many writers just play the whole "let the viewer decide for themselves" card too often and it's lazy
great show, nice breakdown and interesting idea that the whole group represents The Watcher. Agree with other comments that the ending is too open ended and leaves too many questions unanswered
I actually think the watcher is harmless if you don’t get involved with his mind games, but there are maybe other missing details in the actual incident that’d make the owner go crazy. I’m mostly interested in the tunnel part, but it’s not part of the true story.
Here’s my theory, the story that was “made up” from the theadora about John graff wasn’t actually made up. She tells Dean this but my take is that she was threatened by chamberlain that she was Revealing the truth of Westfield. What makes me confused is when theadora tells John those murders were really from “Colorado” pat graff is in the year book for Westfield. Also what are the chances that he met a guy named John who has a daughter who was sexually active and went to the Lutheran church just like she said in the story. But the main reason of why I beileve that theadora was actually telling the truth was the music she played to dean. It was the same exact music we heard from the intercom and this could not be a coincidence. Now you may say how could John graff be the watcher if he was getting those letters. Remember when he was reading that one Note about how if he killed his family he would be given what he wants and then some. Well what if (and hear me out) he wanted to take the roll of the watcher. Now this doesn’t answer the question of who was the original watcher but I do believe it was roger. Roger notices John when they are having the meeting and knows he killed his family and only person that could possibly know that was the original watcher From her I want to explain the girl that walked in on dean when he was asleep. The only to people that know about that passage way are pearl and “John the inspector” which explains why the alarm never went off and no one entered the house. My conclusion her is that Karen somehow knows about this tunnel. She went to pearls house and paid her to have a girl in ponytails show up and try to deem dean as a cheater. If you remember when Nora and Karen were having dinner Karen describes the scene in the video exactly how it is. Now you wonder how they exactly got the video which leads to Dakota. Dokota and pearl must have had some kind of deal to put a camera in there room and give pearl permission to look at the video. Now you may say that he put the video camera up there thinking dean was the watcher (which is what Dakota said) but he knew that wasn’t true and in the end I think Dakota felt bad and showed video evidence/proof of no one entering the house. In which he then says in the movie that someone is living in the house. Another theory that I was thinking about was that the girl in the video could actually be Ellie. In one of the dinners that Nora and Karen are having she says that Ellie’s tic too videos are inspiring. Ellie could have been so made at her dad and Karen took this opportunity to have her dress up and try to end dean. So now rapping up (finally) chamberlains goal is to keep a good rep in the town which is why no murders are ever Released. Mitch and Mo are very weird. Jaspers is innocent to everything. John graff is actually the watcher. Pearl teams up with John graff and gets his information from him to where she would write the notes. This explains no Y chromosome for the DNA test. I also believe chamberlain was completely lying when he said the dna matched no one in they knew. Karen hates dean and teams up with pearl in a goal to dean divorced. And rip theadora all here truths were truths and her lies were even truths.
I rememebr this case in real time: THE FAMILY NEVER MOVED IN. They were doing revovations, and received literally 3 creepy letters. It was and still is suspected, they wantedan excuse to not move in, and based on that state's laws, it enabled them out of their contractural debts. There is nothing else going on here
I actually was enjoying this until the last episode, and then I got lost and didn't really understand the ending. I looked it up on Google, and I sort of see now. I loved the characters of Mo and Mitch - fancy having those 2 as neighbours, lol, and as for Karen......well.........😳🤣.....it was OK, tbh. 🇬🇧
They're all in on it. The real estate agent befriends the wife and tells her that she needs to sell the house divorce, her husband is having an affair with a younger lady etc. All of the things that were told to her happened. People in the neighborhood watch the house all night. However I feel like the characters in the series were way too ignorant of certain points. They think the camera boy is the guy but he's 19 and the other homeowner got the letters 20 years ago
@@koledevos349 I think what they’re trying to do is keep they’re neighborhood the same for decades. Like this one scene the PIGTAIL lady was talking about the oak tree that’s been there. Another scene when they’re talking about what went wrong that caused changes correct me if I’m wrong
I'm not familiar with the history this series is supposed to be based on, so I don't know if some story elements were dropped/not explained at all because it never was inspected in reality or because the show was supposed to be 10 episodes but was suddenly cut short. 1: tunnels. They never went down there again. There are multiple isntances where it shows that both Nora and Dean are obsessed, tenacious and downright vicious when it comes to their home. So they see tunnels, a creepy living space and what? They just leave it as is? They didn't start to investigate? There was a smell Nora mentioned multiple times when down there... And it's like a labyrinth. So how come they just sealed the entrance they knew about and let it go? How come Dean's going around and asking neighbors if he can look at their basements for entrances instead of they investigating from their own end? 2: history: the first letter says the house was watched in the 20s, then in the 50s and so on and so forth. John/Bill also got letters from someone - that supposedly drowe him mad. Why didn't Dean and Nora went down that road and investigate more of the history of their house/previous owners/neighborhood/etc? They are so angry and lashing out on everyone, isolating themselves with accusations but don't even google some expressions or neighborhood history stuff? I mean the house should be a historically acclaimed beautiful construction - it should be mentioned in at least some archives. Sure a country club membership's nice, but what about a library card? (Where there are apparently typewriter classes - don't even let me go down that way!) 3 dead pets: Okay, they did dirty by these furry babies. As I said I'm not familiar with the history of this thing that happened, so I don't know if it actually happened and the police really didn't/couldn't do anything or it was another dropped thing? Where I come from a dead pet is taken pretty seriously if it could indicate violence. It could be a first sign of anything from forced entry, act of fearmongering and terrorising or even domestic abuse if it comes down to it. The police should have been acting more ready, or taking the issue more seriously (esp. after the letter). The family should have been even more shocked. The kid was kind of sad for like five minutes, but pushing 4 numbers on the alarm system solved it. If it would have been my ferret I would have screamed and cried until we moved away. I would be in therapy until uni and maybe even after that. 4: dumbwaiter: is there a secret basement or subbasment dumbwaiter door? Why didn't they set a camera in it and send it up and down a few times, when it turned out there are secret tunnels in the house? Dean and Nora leapt to crazy conclusions, but didn't incestigate the very walls of the house? (Especially after the "secrets in the walls" line?) They had construction workers everywhere. A guy with a billion tiny cameras. And crazy determination to protect their home. Why didn't they tear out the wall panels or sent cameras up and down? 5: blood in the milkjugs: why? For who? Did John/Bill drank them eventually? Is there a crazy blood-cult? Is the house haunted with evil demons demanding "young blood", tormenting the men of the households to murder their families? 6: girl with pigtails: Who is she? She can't be Pearl, half of the scandal is about how young she looks. I can imagine how she got there, but where did she get her nightdress, why lay in bed with Dean and why isn't Nora as vicious to find out her identity as she's to accuse her only friend in town? She's shown devoted to her family, trusting her husband even when shit happens around them, constantly trying to solve the puzzle together with Dean (except the 5 minutes they are apart) - so why isn't she a crazy lioness about this lady who was apparently in her house? One that was laying in HER bed and was later proved to set her husband up. Is the girl a ghost? 7: intercom: The music through the intercom. Why does the Ring-cycle play? Does John/Bill plays it from his secret room? Which hours? Why? What does this piece of music mean in this context? There's no music when the Watcher kills the pets, but Andrew's wife sometimes heard it play during the night? Why don't Nora and Dean investigate the intercom? Why didn't the previous owners cut the cords if it was driving the wife crazy? Is it being haunted? Cursed to play the music that was playing during the supposed blood sacrifice and "set the scene" scene? 8: Christopher: I ignore the fact that him killing two homeless people were swept under the rug with a shrug. As I said I don't know the history, so I don't know if it actually happened or not. But. How did Christopher know that Dean and his mother had a fight? How did he know enough to fake a s*** note? 9: the ex-wife: the teachers ex-wife sees a troubling, violent lettet from the Watcher and goes immediately; yeah, that's my ex. How? Why? And how did they all believe it immediately? The tone of the letters are completely different. The addressee of the letters are different. The teacher writes to the houses. The Watcher writes to the tennants. Why did they all believe her immediately? Also why did the Watcher leave the old lady alone after she screamed the them in the night? It was a good suspense but I didn't find answers for many things - and some things I should have understood even if it's based on an unsolved case.
It pisses me off how Dean just forgets about the sneeze he heard from someone else in the house, and had the door shut when questioning it. Not to mention you could simply map the tunnel back to their house
Dean and nora disappointed me in how dumb they were at times. As soon as they got a new bit of key information or evidence they went and confronted that person or let that person know they had found out. Better off playing it cool and out thinking their enemy. Like chasing that guy down the tunnel or confronting the realtor in the country club. Dean shouldnt have gone down the tunnel. Better off pretending he never knew about the tunnel and waiting for these creeps to come in and then block them from leaving while he phones the police and has them arrested. All done under the surveillance cameras so that the police are forced into doing something or face a lawsuit.
1)I think the girl in pigtails was Dean's daughter (can't remember her name). I mean she did set him up as a racist & said there was nothing that she wouldn't do hurt someone. 2)I think John Graff lived w/Pearl in hiding & that was his little room in the tunnels. 3)I think Pearl & John were most likely the ones sending the letters.
I feel like the actual watcher is actually John Graff? idk? Even at the end Dean restarts the loop saying that his name is John. In my opinion it's like that: -The Watcher is John Graff, no one knows his true identity tho -The Watcher is not scary on his own but since the neighbours want the new owners to sell the house, they use it to scare the owners -The black detective said that she was the Watcher to calm Dean -idk why the neighbours started acting normal with Dean after he sold the house? Seems kinda strange but also, that might've been apart of their plan because now Dean is even more confused. -The series doesn't actually give us an answer to what is happening, it's meant to be like this because it wants us to do this kind of theories when, in reality, even the autors didn't even know what to do with the script, that's why the ending is so shit. -Also, i feel like the brother of the sister knew who really was John Graff because when the guy started saying that he saw the other dude somewhere, he shuts everything down because he didn't want anyone to realize who John Graff really is and because of that, I THINK THAT THE BROTHER OF THE SISTER IS ACTUALLY JOHN GRAFF. -The sister and the brother are the main "antagonists" because even at the start of episode 1 we see them staring at the house so i think they are the headleaders of everything
Arent anyone going to speak about that John were up in the window at 657 for the new family when they were moving in? He were clearly still keep using his secret tunnel, he is living with the crazy lady and Jasper and goes under the tunnel to update them for all the new construction which is to be done. Rhen they speak about it in their club. Then they togheter make the watcher lettere togheter. as we remember John also had the watcher, and as said in the letters «it is now my turn» i belive the watcher goes on from person to person. John probably had an old one many years ago, and now he haa been for years and to everyone while hiding in the tunnel and at Jasper. And now Dean is obsessed and he wil like to join in also beeing the watcher.
I am so confused on episode 4 I thought mitch and mo committed suicide but somehow came back to their house??? Its like someone is playing a mind trick with them
The thing that got to me the most with this show is that it isn't even a mystery. It's lies after lies to keep progressing the story. There are so many scenarios in this show that make no sense and are the least bit logical
My first impression of the ending was that Dean had this horrible obsession now and he was completely pissed off that he didnt know who was doing this to him and his family. So he started the cycle all over again, leaving a letter for the new owners in order to "pass on" some of his own fear, obsession, anger to someone else. Like do unto others, what has been done to me.
Concrete in a small area - they are also underneath a road, which is city property. We know it leads across the street. The workers won't smash anything outside the property line and the police wouldn't allow a search warrant. It's not your property if it's not on your property line. You break it down, since it's sheer concrete you'll need to repair that... and if you know anything about concrete, that will likely be absolutely insane to adequately repair. You might take a chunk out of someone's foundation. It will also take hours with a jackhammer, and you'll be stopped immediately by the neighbors calling the police. It is frustrating though, because they could have easily called the state police to supercede the police chief's authority - who has a legal obligation to investigate this crime. That didn't add up. If the state police found out about this massive scandal, and that it wasn't being investigated, that's grounds for removal. But the characters weren't smart enough to put that together, and we are trapped in their subjective view.
I find the idea of no pictures of John Graff kind of weird. He may have cut his face from all family portraits but he moved from New York to New Jersey. Both states require to have a government issued identification. Either a drivers license or non driver id with your picture from their respective department of motor vehicles. He also would have had a personnel file at his job and social security number. So why didn’t Dean and Theodora put in a freedom of information act from his old employer, the New York and New Jersey department of motor vehicles or the social security office. Roger Kaplan clearly recognized John Graff, Kaplan was the local high school teacher at the time of the murders and would have taught Johns daughter meaning he would have met John at parent teacher conferences. I doubt he would forget the face of one of his murdered students much less her father. I think Pearl was the original watcher and sent the letters to John then blackmailed him into joining her in exchange for keeping him hidden. Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. Mitch and Mo moved into the neighborhood a year after the murders so Mo wouldn’t recognize him but Kaplan, Pearl and Jasper would. I think the inspiration for the watcher letters came from Kaplans lesson.
The watcher could be John or Pearl. However, the convolution & complications of events in the story added up to the mystery & suspicion on who the watcher is. Nora looks like she continued to be the watcher, but I dont beleive she was. The house is so precious that mostly every owner was emotionally attached to it, and even awed by other people. Every home owner with emotional attachment and even those who awe the house are/were possibly the watchers, or continued by the previous owners to be the watcher. I liked the story, I enjoyed watching it.
I was so confused how the workers are down there Al day but we never see them leave at night. Maybe one of them was messing with them specially since we never saw the stairs thing before when family was there . Poor Karen run for her life .
I think it was great. An old fashion suspense story, very creep, that gets to your nerves. They hint at the possibility of something super natural, probably because of viewers expectations, but they keep it very well grounded in reality. Something that is quite refreshing. The story from the private eye also serves another purpose, a narrative one. It makes it possible for them to spill out a possible explanation of how things could have happened and explain how and why every thing happened, or at least what a solution would look like. Even though it was not that way, it gives a little bit of resolution to the viewers, if not for Dean.
This series gripped me in an utterly obsessive way that I haven't been gripped by for years.... literally couldn't put it down... And then I saw the ending......
Where to start, I loved and yet hated this series. It pulled me in and captivated me, good acting all around, and yet had so many holes with no real answers. 1: The tunnels once discovered, weren't addressed again and never explored for answers. 2: Mo's Son decided while they were on vacation to kidnap/kill two people that resembled his parents to fake a life insurance claim? Why wouldn't he have just killed them? No autopsy done on the bodies to verify? 3: All those camera's and yet none faced the driveway, specifically towards the mail box? 🤣 4: Is this the end, or just the end of the season? I assume that was it, for good. I'm so confused what just happened. ha ha!
What did you think of The Watcher on Netflix? Comment your thoughts below!
Coming soon season2?
@@user-ct1jr4sc3n No, most likely not. Its a real life true case, so most likely- if there is no new leads (there isn't) there wont be a 2nd season.
crazy psychopath
Garbage
Utter garbage. Boring as hell. Trailer is all you need to waste your time on. Some big names don’t make a bad plot good… 5 jump scares, all cramped into a decent looking trailer.
This arrogant family who feels too good for their downtown NYC apartment (next to common folk) deserves much worse than some letters.
All credit goes to the actors, scriptwriters because they keep you hanging on for 7hrs of absolutely nothing happening.
Now that you mention it, almost nothing did happen lmao
That’s a great point because nothing really did happen outside the murders of two pets 💀
@@LekeO 2 people were killed at least
So accurate😂. I was punching the air after the last episode
I found most of the writing and acting to be brutally bad. The plot kept me interested
Why, WHY, did they never go down in the basement again to inspect the belongings and where the tunnels lead to? I found it infuriating that the characters just simply ignored those tunnels after they discovered them.
Yessss
DNA tests from the bed - who stayed down there
Yeah feels like they opened clues and didnot give a proper resolution.
@@beedee9236 the police weren’t willing to investigate
Right?!?! Throughout the serie, the writers introduced several plot twists that were later never addressed. Girl in pigtails, tunnels, blood cult, etc. Very frustrating.
It was bizarre how Mo's son stealing some random old people and murdering them in his parents house was barely a mention.
yh especially how Mo said it ‘exact same body type’ was kinda weird
Yeah I think there is still something weird about that we’ll never know about. Like the John Graff story that Theodora said was fabricated, and Roger questioning him.
@@thealpha2549 the daughter told dean at Theodora’s funeral that her mom made that up so they would b at peace with the situation. She didn’t want to die without the mystery being solved, so she made up her own ending.
@@muziworldwide Yes, true. But during the last meeting with the society, Roger implies that he remembers William and it almost seemed like his remembrance was something bad. The show left us with some open-ended views.
Big Mo
For me it looked like the show started as a 10 episodes show and after the sixth episode someone told the producers that they have to finish it in 7. The first 6 episodes were good, tension was built and I was really keen to find out how it would all come to an end. But then….
1. Why did they just ignored the tunnels? Dean was so obsessed to find who the watcher is, so why didn’t he inspect the tunnels???
2. The deal with Karen was just stupid. Buying an enormous house for herself and then get scared out of the house after one night. They rushed through this way to quickly
3. I didn’t find it realistic nor believable that Theodora would just make this story up that she was the watcher. And again, they rushed through it. They find out 5 min later that it was a lie.
4. Who is this John guy?
5. Who was the girl in the dress?
6. The fact that Mo’s son just randomly shots two homeless people to get the life insurance is so unbelievable. And what funeral was held in their place? Did they really not do an autopsy?
I really didn’t like the ending.
same here they didn't close the loop
I hate that they didn't go more into the tunnels and who that girl in the dress truly was
I was so puzzled with the tunnel! And that pigtail neighbor who was with Bill. I mean what’s up with them?
@@travelwithvincem3904 Who was Bill?
@@bluem5620 John the fake inspector
What always grinds my gears is why they never placed a camera facing the mail box.
did the mailman not deliver them?
Or the basement once they found out about the tunnel
They’d catch the mail man red handed
haaaaaa they spent 8gs on camera but ignored the mailbox
@@melozzy9787 7 g’s*
I know Theodora just wanted to give them peace, but I liked her ending much more
That was the point of here story, from a narrative perspective. To show to viewers how all could have a reasonable and conclusive explanation. Especially since it had an open end, it gives a sense of resolution, even though there is no resolution in the actual story. It is also satisfying to skeptics, like detective Scully reasonable explanations in X-files
Nah it's creepier that way
@@Alkis05 they wanted it to remain a mystery after pulling our strings all the way through it. When Nora and Dean visited the detective in the hospital, she asked Nora what was wrong. Nora explained, "It's Dean... he's really... really losing it. He's got the whole wall of suspects up again at the apartment." Then the detective responds, "I have seen that happen... a mystery you can't seem to solve. It will drive you crazy. It's... the human condition. That need to know... not knowing. That's the killer." The writers were playing off of this idea the whole time. The human condition. They want us to feel how Dean was feeling... by not being able to really figure out who was who.
@@drew9453 But we do know who did it, just not how. John and Pearl were doing it, maybe mo too
@@thierrymulder4512 actually john joined them after..we are yet to know who the real watcher was from the very beginning
A theory of mine is Pearl is the watcher, and when she says "trees have roots that connect them as a social system" could be a metaphor towards the tunnels she's in
Nice one
I thought of that
I watched this series ages ago so i could be wrong, but wasn't there a scene where Dean & Nora chased the supposed "Watcher" wearing a black cloak through the tunnels and at the end, Bill aka the fake John knocked on a wooden door saying to Pearl "They're onto us now"?
@@xuserakx that's correct
I think John is living in the tunnel. Remember the bed and small room down there. If he did in fact kill his family, maybe that’s where he’s been hiding out.
My two cents: The watcher is anyone who is "watching" the house in their own way. Some creep in tunnels, some send letters and others are just being weird neighbours. Each person/group has their winning, in either keeping the house in it's original state or like the surveillance kid - making tons of money for setting up security around the house.
It also feels like whoever gets exposed to this house somehow gets obsessed with it and becomes the "watcher", e.g., Dean and Nora at the end.
- The watcher
This was pretty much my take away. I thought it was perfect!
Same couldn’t have said it any better , everybody is the watcher
Yes
True 💯
That’s what I got from the ending.
I personally think that dean beginning to send letters to the house shows why every person who had every lived in that house becomes “the watcher”. The house has such a strong appeal on people that they want it all for themselves which is why they end up sending letters to the house to scare the new buyers out. It’s a tale of selfishness and greed.
Reminds me of Hill House where the house consumes them
@@laume8622 truee!!
If Nora didn’t make him apologize to the neighbors for the letters at the end he would have never found out that the detective wasn’t the watcher and he would be fine.
@@mckenzieallen4054 Nora was awful. Lol remember how she definitively had Dean pegged as "the watcher?" Also, never supported him when it came to their family, "what is wrong with you?" when he'd get upset with the daughter about sneaking around and such (which if she denied to him but was doing just that), or his confrontations with the security guy. Lol and every time, Nora still held to her disdain and disbelief of her husband's actions. Also, her being upset with him still even after the security guy essentially cleared Dean from actually having sex with the girl in the video, much less knowing who she even was, and neither Nora or the daughter ever apologized to Dean for their behavior regarding any of it. Lol that was infuriating.
@@Mojo32 right on the money!
Roger was the watcher when John lived in the house and John was the watcher when dean and Nora were in the house and now dean is the watcher for the new family. Each separated 20 years apart just like they said in the movie 🤯
Agree
What about Andrew? Who was watching Andrew
@@originaldc211 good question
@@originaldc211 could be Mou
@@originaldc211 I think mo wanted his son so it was her. But he's a weird character. It's hard tell if he's actually insane or not
It was all over the place. I couldn’t tell what the tone was. Especially after the first episode, the horror elements disappeared for me. There was no payoff at the end. Good idea, terrible execution.
Kind of like real life, eh
harsh
Great review
Nah I think it's a masterpiece
This was based on a true story, the characters were depicted as they were in the real life story. It did an amazing job portraying the real life unsolved mystery.
Why was Roger not alarmed when he blatantly knew he was sat in the same room as someone who murdered their whole family? Why did Dean say his name was John at the end? Why did Nora turn up just after Dean leaves in the final scene? I feel like the producers of this series really fucked up towards the end. I was addicted to this the whole way through but was just left disappointed and confused by the last episode. 😕
I've got some theories. Dean said John because it was the first name that came to mind maybe as they mention before "it's a common name". Nora was worried about Dean losing it that's why she was following him to make sure he didn't do anything crazy. The part about Roger knowing John I don't really know tho...
My theory is that the house causes everyone to lose their minds, basically cause the neighbourhood is obsessed with that house due to the majority of them having done that critically acclaimed lessons of ode to a house. A psycho house obsessed generation of students that in that hood loved that house.
Then dean and Nora get the house being from out of town and the neighborhood started they’re antics which toward the end cause the family to have PTSD and dean ends up like the neighbours by not letting go of the house as it was a signature of a failure in his life and contributes to driving the next family out. Kind of like a chain letter concept
The real case is unsolved so the writers just come up with bullshit and can basically get away with anything
@@darcymusicpy4274 I don’t think Nora knew Dean was there. Since we saw Andrew in front of the house in the ending scene, it’s more likely that the house drives the owners crazy and now Dean and Nora are obsessed with it too.
Was she watching to check on dean or was she still obsessed with the house like the others?
I loved every scene with Theodora
Yeah she was a great character!
YES!!!!!! And her final conversation with Dean was so 😢😢😢
Ditto. That actress was awesome & would love to see her in more shows & movies!!
literally!!
I started to suspect Theodora as The Watcher, and when she made the confession. 😳😯 But it was a false confession.😐
It amazes me how the music theadora played to dean is never brought up. The story she told about John graff is 100% true.
At the end of the series, there was a scene where every charaters still watched the house. For me, i feel like they tried to send a message that the Watcher is a name for the people who had history with the house.
Even Dean and Nora came to watch the house at the end. Andrew still came to watch the house because he couldnt let go of his wife, Dakota had been watching the house and he put his ads in the mailbox as soon as the new owner moved in because he knew what was gonna happen.
The thing is the watcher might have nothing to do with those crazy neighbors. He might be just some random guy who have been sending letters to that house for decades. But everytime the owner got paranoid from the crazy neighbors, they eventually thought it was the watcher who did it.
Omg you’re a damn genius
I feel like it was obvious that it was pearl and that John guy… they had secret passages through the house it seems like it could of been them writing the letters the whole time? Idk
@@stevenfast5764 theories like this aren't usually true. We will probably see a continue proving all of this wrong
@@christianbarth5792 "they're on to us!"
@@christianbarth5792 i feel the same, it was definitely them that caused the troubles to the owner eventhough i'm still not sure about their intention.
John might lived under that house like in Parasite movie, so the noise and mysterious person the owner saw might be him moving around the house at night. Pearl look like she had some kind of mental disorder and she like to be conservative, she might do that just to chase the owner away to keep the house as it was. But the letters are all over the places, even that old lady lived far away from the house also got the same letter from the watcher. it might be the same person, or it might not. For me i feel like it could be anyone.
My understanding of the film is that "the watcher" may not be one person but all the old neighbors who live nearby. Even though they don't have the money to buy this perfect house right next to them, all of them still want to retain the original construction and decoration style (the neighbors have been expressing themselves in the show how much they want to maintain the original house style ), so they used the secret tunnels and all sorts of pranks scare each family who can afford the house away in order to achieve their dream…
And it becomes a vicious circle as the family that is scared out of their home wants to find out who replaced them and stole their dream home, making them the watcher.
Well done sherlock
@@lolita960 +1
@@lolita960 This was my theory as well.
On the last episode, there was clearly a past between John and Roger. I have a theory. In episode 3, Theodora tells Dean that Johns daughter had a Halloween party, where he caught her dancing with her school teacher. Roger was also a school teacher. Maybe Roger was her teacher too, and they also had an inappropriate affair… just a thought on why that interaction was so uncomfortable
omg yes
He killed the teacher in the flashback
@@brucel6413 I’m aware this isn’t the same teacher she was dancing with. I’m just curious if she also was “boy crazy” about Roger, who was also a teacher.
and Roger ended up marrying a student, so it would make sense that he might have tried something with another lol
the teacher was killed in his car
Theodora was a brilliant character in this! I had a lump in my throat at the end 😢
Ikr I loved her 😭
This was a really disappointing ending. I saw a lot of people on Twitter were mad because it didn't have a proper resolution. That wasn't my issue with it though, I think it's totally possible to have a great ambiguous ending. My issue was that at the end it kind of felt like they didn't know how to "land the plane" and the result was a huge change in tone. For the majority of the episodes there was so much pressure, it did an amazing job of making the audience feel the phobia of being watched and the confused panic that would come with that kind of situation. But towards the end it just felt like all that pressure just deflated and then it just went all over the place. The Karen revenge angle was just awful. It felt like the bad guy in an early 2000's action comedy getting "what they deserve" at the end of the movie, like the villain making a "oh noooo" face right before the building they're in explodes while the heroes escape. That was my least favorite part, very hard to take seriously. Then the rest just felt so scattered, it felt like it was trying to do too many things without really being successful with any of them.
Bohoo
That's Ryan Murphy for ya. King of not knowing how to end things
@@PajamaPantsClan woww, true. I actually didn't even realize Ryan Murphy was behind this, I just started watching the other day and got hooked. It all makes sense now.
@@PajamaPantsClan He didn’t know how to end it bc it’s based off a true story that was never solved so there isn’t many ways to rlly end a show like that
Ended as a comedy lol. I agree. One the time changed it was ruined for me
The question of who the girl in the dress is was totally left unanswered and there isn’t even a suspect that could possibly have done it. Theodora’s story answered a ton of questions, but obviously it was a lie. And after that many things were never revisited
İ think that girl ellie...
@@SuSu-rz1ixtrue it happened right after ellie said hes racist to dakota on the internet but we will never know
@@Winguplayz It can't be Ellie otherwise the cherry nightdress of John's daughter must have been a coincidence which is most probably not.
I loved Dean he had such a great performance.
He's a great actor. Whoever played Theodora was awesome too.
People say he just has 3 emotions
@@kenzieusa3356 People say that Dean does or the actor? What r the 3?
@@bluem5620 the actor I think 😂
homies is the butcher from Mr robot
It’s one thing to have a solid open ending with several plausible outcomes. It’s another to have this ending that we got form this show.
I thought the ending was pretty solid. The main characters didn’t get to solve the mystery yet we the viewers got all the answers.
@@scarredfaces that's some bull! lol the answer is no answer....
@@carlosespinoza6182 that's the point they never caught the watcher. It's based on a true story so it stays true to that
@@carlosespinoza6182 which is literally an answer to a mystery lol do you want series on one solved mysteries to be done??
I WAS SO ANGRY 😤
When Dean suspiciously goes to Pearl’s house to see if the tunnel leads there, he hears a sneeze…he should have broken in and investigated that and discovered John hiding. I think they missed there.
the craziest thing is they never even addressed that again dumbass writers 😭 created loopholes they couldn't close
Lol Dean was on Thin ice from that point Remember the cop At the station basically threatened to Book Dean if there was any more outbursts from him notice he ain’t snap till they left the house
He should have not broken into her house haha
I simply feel like it was pearl and John doing all of this, in the first episode when jasper was found in the dumb waiter she tells dean that the owners always let him do that, they started off the relationship bad from the beginning which could lead to a motive of pearl wanting them out of the house because she always obsessed on keeping the house the same. Then the pigtail girl scene in deans room pearl has pigtails… then the tunnel scene when dean is chasing the person it was the John guy coming out at the end of the tunnel at pearls house… then dean tries to see if the other end of the tunnel is at pearls house she wouldn’t let him.. I mean cmon people it’s very obvious
Exactly
Totally agree
I agree! And John said "they're onto us" when he got back into Pearl's house from the tunnels after nearly being discovered
that young girl wit pigtails wasnt tje old lady tho obviously 😂
Yes but I think she is merely a cooperative in that whole scheme. I would say that John Graff who is npq part of their "club" behind it al and getting them to do his dirty work of raising suspicion upon them while he is traumatising the family at night. Yet stil, I completely don't understand what is motivating him him to do all lf it cus if he juat wanted zo kill them he could have done it a long time ago
I can see the pitch meeting to Netflix. "The twist is we never reveal who the Watcher is! We leave it up to the viewers to decide." One red herring after another and no closure. What fun is there making guesses all along if you never find out if you were right? If you love murder mysteries with the last page missing, this is for you. I was enjoying it up until the end when I realized there was no ending.
Because the watcher in real life hasn’t been solved
It's based on a true story that was never solved
I thought it was pretty clear that the watcher was John Graff. We see him fleeing through the tunnels and escaping. Both of the neighbors are the watchers and they use John to infiltrate the house and scare whoever is living in there
@@jonesy1589 The real life story only involved the family receiving some letters similar to the ones in the series. All of the characters and events were pure fiction so I don't think that is a good excuse for not naming the Watcher.
@@valiant971 your argument sucks. It’s very much based on the real story and the watcher hasn’t been found. but we do know she’s female. So it’s probably you
The way I took it was that greed was a pre-requisite of owning the house. When an owner leaves the house on less than happy terms they long to have the house back again. Over time this cycle has repeated and produced many watchers (prior owners). This is evidenced by John who i think was the main watcher in the show. However, Dean at the end of the movie became a watcher as he was consumed by his obsession with the house. This is further supported by the fact that Dean and Nora are both lying to one another while also both staying close to the house. Nora has in essence also become a watcher. She also made the comment at the end stating "i will be watching."
Yes 👍
For those interested, the John/William storyline is based on a true crime: the John List family massacre. It occurred in a mansion in guess where? Westfield, NJ.Almost exactly as it really occurred including the music playing throughout the house. Very interesting true crime case, it occurred in 1971 and can be easily found.
thats crazy! gonna look into it
Screw the tunnel, John graff was obviously shown leaving it and going to pearls house. The real question that the tunnel has made everyone stop focusing on is the glass milk bottles that seemed to be use to drink the blood after John graff murdered his family, it aligns with the story that the guy told him that previously lived there. I think everyone who wants to watch the house is the watcher and I don't think John Graff drank the blood. How Jasper finally spoke at the end was quite strange, the old teacher was also strange, John Graff and Pearl were super strange, I had suspicions about the realtor too at first but that came to pass.
Update:
I have now fallen victim to the tunnel clan. Surely there must be another tunnel if they were still able to get in and kill the realtors dog after the wall was sealed, not only that but the vampire clan in me tells me that there's another tunnel to Mo's house as the previous owner said he saw Mo in his basement sucking blood from his child's finger.
About Jasper, isn't it strange how he only appeared coherent around John but according to the dates it was in fact the Graff murders that traumatized him in the first place yet he seems unfazed when around John.
About John, do you think he kills the animals because they can lead owners to tunnels? Do you think it's just their warning? Do you think they drink the animals blood?
More about John..Do you think it was noted that the teacher had been killed because they wanted the audience to know he didn't just have a mental break down and went nuts but he had actually become a serial killer too? Do you think the teachers death was only noted because they wanted to give John's character emotions? As the death of the teacher implies that John had feelings and he felt that the teacher was the cause of him disliking his family.. hope there's a season 2 because not only did he become a serial killer but the use of different weapons implied that he was a skilled serial killer, I want to know the guy's background.
Lastly as a proud sub-member of the pigtail clan I would like to nominate pearl, yes I know the thought is insane but I'm throwing the finger, screw it.
Based off the letters saying they would reward him for the sacrifice I don't think it was John who killed the teacher but the watcher who killed him for John
You’re giving too much thought to it it’s just simply bad writing. Hopefully whoever wrote this show never works in Hollywood again
@@richyholly5189 who do you think had the cojones? Can't see any of the other characters dragging around a hacky sack that large...
@@ActionJacksonForever well I kinda thought the creators entire plot was to cause confusion and premature suspense
@@gatorsminks I can pretty much tell you what happened in real life.
Family moves in, starts receiving threatening letters. Gonna chalk it up to a disgruntled potential buyer that got out bid (people have mental issues)
Police were shown the letter, it’s a small town there’s probably a staff of 30 tops. They chalked it up as a prank and told the family there was nothing they can do.
Threatening letters kept coming, family said we don’t need this shit let’s get out of here.
Case unsolved
I thought the ending was disappointing. I appreciate that the case is unresolved, but why showing John Graff running in that tunnel going to Pearl and Jasper’s house? A figure running would had been more ambiguous. Also the whole thing about John Graff who butchered his family but stayed in town working at the library? Never seeing him again after he spoke to Dean would have also let us question the fact Dean may be trying to see connections between a man named John and the information Theodora found. It’s a shame, the series was very promising and it felt like the final episode was written by a different writer
The way I saw it, everyone who lived nearby was The Watcher. I think they all had once lived in the house or at the very least spent time in the house and fell under its spell. Through some supernatural attraction, they could not find a life away from it and moved in nearby so, even if they could not live in it, they could watch it and still be involved with it. When they showed Nora and Dean coming back to the house, we witnessed the start of a couple of new Watchers who I think will eventually join the preservation society like the rest of them.
It’s the Realator lady
@@amelialove5411 no, its not karen. did you finish the series? karen was a victim of the watcher.
This show had me just as obsessed as Dean this show was really inticing i think what makes it really scary is that the The Watcher was never caught 😳
There was no explanation whatsoever for the girl in Dean's bedroom in pigtails. At this point I can only conclude that she was a ghost of John Graff's daughter. He said she was boy crazy and even had some sort of fling with her much older teacher so it makes sense she was curious and attracted to Dean as her life was cut short and the flirtatious exploration of her sexuality was interrupted
The more mundane explanation would have been someone trying to set him up, like the PI said. Someone that was put their because someone besides Dakota knew that there was a camera in the bedroom, probably John Graff since he got there to inspect the house. He was there between the cameras being installed and the family coming back. And he knew about the cameras being installed, since he watching Dakota and even saw him flirting with the daughter. He could have got the idea if he saw Dakota installing the camera in the bedroom.
That would explain how the girl got in (through the tunnel) and why she was wearing that dress (because he chose it).
The explanation for that was the tunnel, who the person actually was makes no difference. She never entered the house apparently but I would like to know how she knew he'd be in there sleep.
I reckon it was pearl in the pigtails her house was connected to the tunnels
@@juannito6318 I thought the same see as how she and John were in cahoots. However it could've been someone else, a whole new character perhaps.
The blond friend of the wife mentioned he might have a affair with a young girl with pigtails. That super sus
They are all watchers in their own way. Some write letters, some creep around the house via tunnels and some just stand in front of the house and watch.
They also do it for different reasons. Some want to preserve its initial state, same share happy or dark memories of it, some are jealous and some just don't like the noise coming from the new owners.
That's my view of it.
That’s a good view to have on it!
I don’t understand. Who was actually that John Griff guy in the series? They said they never found the watcher but what was all that about? The tunnel? John Griff was real also? Why didn’t go back to the tunnel to examine and its ending where it leads. Lots of questions.
@@colecampbell5328 I also thought of the John List murders as well.
@VictoryEternal I mean, why they didn’t look after the tunnel and who lived there. There was literally a room in the tunnel. I would have found out what is on the other side of the tunnel like tear down the wall. Because probably who was in the tunnel is the watcher.
@@colecampbell5328 I agree, it's like the house is cursed and drives the owner crazy or something. But what about Karen? she didn't fit that profile....
What about the girl in the pigtails?
Was it Mia farrow ?
one thing that bugged me is they never explored the tunnel any further. if it was me, by hook or crook, with a chainsaw and axe, I would be finding out where this tunnel leads and going through the room where there was a bed and some belongings with a fine tooth comb. staking it out.
John Graff and Pearl were sticklers for preservation and busy bodies, but the watcher seemed to care more about "greed" in the letters, so that didn't add up.
This kind of thing does have precedent. typically it is to get people in the house out for the financial gain of others.
That’s so true! The letter focus was greed but the person who we seen cloaked in staircase didn’t seem to match the height of the suspects.
if the letters talked about preservation of the house it would be way to obvious who the prime suspects are
I took the ending as the wife and the husband both becoming the new watchers. Not that he was getting caught and followed by her.
They basically threw in 4 plots with no ending, and the excuse to it for being trash is that the real case is unsolved. The show is ok tho, had some good comedy.
There were some dialogues throughout the show that I definitely thought were hints to helping identify the watcher, but they never paid off and that infuriated me.
1. The use of the term "barking up the wrong tree" by both Theodora and the chief detective was pointed out by Nora
2. The use of the term "pigtails" by both Theodora and Karen was also pointed out by Nora, but nothing came of it...
3. Karen smelling her napkin/serviette and commenting on her own acute sense of smell.
these all felt like clues that would payoff later, but never did.
1. Barking up the wrong tree is a subliminal message. Chief Detective dates Karen, the realtor, and she has dog - the dog is killed later in the house, just like Sprinkles. It's also supposed to suggest "alarm" as you, naturally, will imagine a dark barking which is an intense warning signal. Just the thought makes anyone feel jumpier. This adds to the creepiness of finding the dog dead, who never had a chance to bark at the end because that surprise grows. It's a setup for that payoff.
2. It was a subliminal both in narrative and in story. The suspicious neighbor wears pigtails - and this was to show how much they were retreading ground. Karen and Theodora would have seen the neighbor and as such, the mentioning of pigtails is not likely to matter one bit. What does matter however is that we, the audience, know the neighbor has been using the secret passage to shuttle someone. The neighbor has invaded their house, and it's subtly suggesting that Nora subconsciously knows this but can't seem to consciously confront it. This is a simple deduction for her, because while they were in the tunnels you could easily measure the distance to the other houses - and likely knows exactly where that man fled to. She just can't bring herself to really think about it and theodora, the ever logical detective, apparently won't either. Something is mentally shifting their focus to other problems, which is also likely both of them trying to create a form of closure in different ways - Nora tries to submit to denying the need entirely, and Theodora is thinking of other leads that may lead to conclusions instead of the literal dead end the tunnel suggests. Theodora also knows the police chief is apparently so useless as to be unlawful, so she's chasing other leads - because she also just doesn't believe the neighbor is the Watcher. Theodora wears gloves constantly because she's that fastidious, so she doesn't jump to conclusions - or follow dead ends.
3. Karen's sense of smell is a character trait. She drinks heavily, eats heavily, because she's "hungry" to buy the house. Heavily being somewhat healthy, but she talks about food in almost every scene. Vinegar is a subliminal because while it can mean cleaning supplies covering up evidence, it also can smell like unwashed people. That's the subliminal for the creep factor, due to vinegar's ambiguity - but also to suggest she's a fastidious eater. She wants not only to eat, but she's patient and tactical - she wants to do it cleanly.
Also if you see Exorcist III, which is a film that was obsessed with subliminals, you can see the correlation between the hooded figures and the style, and those scenes make more sense.
There are many details in the show designed to be red herrings, but also 70's style subliminals (see The Shining and Kubrick's work for that) riddle the thing... but most people make the mistake of thinking The Watcher in general has to be one person. The infiltrator (the man we see in the tunnels) is the man we see at the end of the show, who *presumably* killed the dog in that scene... but there's no reason to suggest that even is the person who is writing the letters. If you include that possibility it becomes a lot simpler. We know the tunnels can be accessed by anyone in the neighborhood committee, at the very least, but if you look at the infiltrator's behavior only in the scenes where you see *them* and then simplify odd character behavior to 'who benefits' it also becomes clearer.
I suspect if you dig deep enough there's a conclusive character who is writing the letters. My money's on Miko sending the letters. Kaplan makes it clear he can't afford those houses - yet he joins the neighborhood committee on these houses anyway. Kaplan also makes it clear that Miko couldn't even finish her wine after that confrontation and their relationship distress is leading to something more (possibly a divorce), yet at the end of the show we can see Kaplan taking a walk with Miko as she assists him. Miko, having been confronted in the grocery alley, is very likely trying to distance herself from Kaplan so if she's caught he won't take the brunt of it. Miko also says as a student in the past, "Can you write a letter about your own house?" and Kaplan, in his youth, said absolutely not - Miko's obsessed with Kaplan. If she keeps writing notes and the house keeps lowering in value, he likely will be able to get it - and it has a romantic symmetry. Miko's appearance in the last scenes is very conspicuous too, as is the camerawork during that confrontation. They blur her out - but look at her. She looks stirred far deeper than being cornered and she's noted as being outspoken and eager in her younger scenes. The character change isn't subtle.
More damning is the timing. Kaplan's last loving letter is sent right before the first creepy letter arrives - only Miko would know that. It could be a coincidence, but if you also listening to the wording of the letters, you can hear a diligent hand in the writing. This suggests a greater narrative - Kaplan got depressed and Miko got angry.
I'm pretty sure you could use the process of elimination to figure it out as well, there's many suspects who get eliminated in the few scenes where you see the infiltrator, you can eliminate many many suspects I just finished the series but I'm 100% sure you can objectively figure out who it is using deduction techniques. You just have to ignore ALL the red herrings, you have to throw out a lot of data and just stick to what you know and the timeline presented.
You can also use the infiltrator's actual appearance on screen at the end to judge their height and weight. It's important to note that whoever is in that outfit is wearing shoulder pads to obscure sex, but is fairly tall. If you freeze on it you can see the efforts made to make them ambiguous - but the height and the hands opening the floor plate on the stairs are telling. The infiltrator at the end may not have been the one in the tunnels, but you can clearly see the tunnel infiltrator's shoes - and they are male belonging to someone with a slim build and they have a flat sole - it's a dress shoe. That narrows it down considerably. Focus on these clues, not the narrative's presented by the characters who are naturally subjectively biased. Stick to facts you can verify as a viewer.
Kaplan's introduction to the group at the end of the show largely excludes him - but moreso the fact that he is the one most likely to know about ALL the tunnel entrances and wouldn't need the committee's assistance. He's not the tunnel infiltrator, as he's too tall and also just plain wouldn't get caught. He may have been kept out of the group officially until late in the timeline, but then why be so confrontational? It's convoluted. Kaplan's a likely suspect due to his absence in most of the show, but his height writes him out often.
Keep eliminating suspects and you can narrow it down. Just keep eliminating suspects based on what you know and then ask, "who benefits?". Everyone's got a reason to do things.
Oh one last thing - we see an infiltrator using the roof music to draw people away, this is a rope-a-dope. You play the music when you're cornered in the house. You go up, play the music, sneak out the door - this gets you back into the floor room. If you do something in the house, you can't do it and run back to the basement - you have to sneak. This means anytime something happens, they use the cloak to hide - but often let something spooky distract while they escape back into the basement quietly... or the stairwell. That's the reason for all the creepy moments. You could get a host of clues and eliminate more suspects based on this. Bear in mind the infiltrator can change every time, given that "it's a maze of tunnels down there" meaning there's likely more tunnels on tunnels... but if you take each incident and think about what was accomplished during that time, it becomes much clearer.
You can absolutely iron out who it was in each scenario (for instance the motel call infiltration would have to be by someone who knew they'd be there, and that limits many suspects). You also have to factor in roof access, because the chimney is notably large enough for someone like say, Kaplan from getting in - or more likely Miko if she was so inclined.
Miko I suspect is behind the letters - but also, it could be more than one person considering half the town knew about the letters by the end. The "shotgun" effect of all these suspects is that, very likely, it's more of a merry-go-round scenario than any 1 person, but using these techniques you can determine who it was and when. It helps that many characters builds eliminate them from suspicion - but they are likely letter senders.
So the data you have isn't useless, if you ever watch it again I'm sure you will have the "aha" moments as context clues give away who it was, when, and mostly because you'll know "why" and also can eliminate many suspects with the data you have.
So enjoy it.
Well the old ginger lady, jaspers sister was talking about trees and how they cummunicate using there roots, maybe "barking up the wrong tree" means her and the "pigtails" was another nod to her since she has pigtails. What if she is the master mind behind the whole thing. even shows us her sitting down with everyone and taking the part off a leader saying that jasper was only the secratary and everyone knows her, maybe somehow she is the big fish.
SEE ME TOO! I thought it was so odd that they all said the same thing but never explored it?…
And why did they show John running through the tunnels and say “they’re onto us” but just end up not exploring that?…
You know the power of fear? That's where the movie is all about. As human beings, whe're naturally scared for imposters. The thaught of someone or something watching us in our private environment and not being able to find its source can drive us mad. It initiates an natural based fear, because when we don't know where the supposed danger comes from, we feel (and actually are) vulnerable.
Besides showing the impact of fear, The film also demonstrates how harmfull stalking can be. That it can go as far as people actually starting to distrust theire own family, getting depressed by it, or even worse..
For this film, we shouldn't lay the focus on finding out who "The Watcher" actually is (if there really is one). The film wants to show us how harmful fear can be: that it can turn stable persons into wracks etc.. On top of that; one's fear is the fuel for someone's elses fear. Thats also what the end suggests: By becoming scared for an unknown source, people react in a sertain way, causing them to become the source of turmoil themselves. Thats why at the end, all of them end up visiting the house, just.. WATCHING it.
Some themes I would give it are: FEAR (duh XD), COMPETITION, CYCLE, MARRIAGE and RELATIONSHIPS, CHANGE, LOSS..
I really liked it.
To find the watcher you have to be the watcher
To find the watcher is actually to be just somewhat involved in the house
Real life story: Family bought house, received a few creepy letters, become paranoid, and sold house at loss.
Netflix version: Murdered pets, insane neighbours, police coverups, secret tunnels, blood cults, mass murder, underage romance, endless conspiracies, wise cracking private investigator, and Mia Farrow playing herself.
At least we didnt have any gays or lesbiens like netflix always do
Exactly
Don't forget political propaganda... they just had to throw in the racist and blk people have it tough with cops storyline....
I know this was based off a true story so the producers can only do so much… But I was really hoping the ending was going to be Dean burning the house down to the ground 😂 there are still so many questions left unanswered 😢
So no one is ganna talk about the blood cult and drinking baby blood? In the first episode the first words jasper says are “did you know new born babies have 100 more bones than adult skeletons?” And pearl makes multiple references to babies, like when she says the wood of the old tree is the best for making baby cradles. She was also all about “preservation” hence drinking baby blood to preserve her own youth. Im not sure how it could relate to the story or ending but i think its an interesting take away.
Yeah there was a lot they never reflected back on, but I think they said these things initially to just unsettle the viewer into immediately thinking its them.
I liked the idea of a baby sacrificing cult that went all the way to the top of the fbi and government. Would of been a more creepy story. Maybe if they make second series they could make it about that.
They zoomed in on moe 's lips when she supped her tea at pearls .... I'm sure they are the ones who drank the blood from the graff family from the milk jugs ... sure of it
yup and talked about lizard people in the last episode.
I felt that this show was well executed. It is a story about how obsessions/addictions will rule your life if you let them.
The Brannigans wanted the perfect, safe, suburban life, the conservation society with their obsession with vintage architecture and avoiding change.
I believe that this was the “horror” element. The conservation group really did not want ANYONE living in the house they just wanted it to stay the same and admire it from outside.
Everyone who bought the house wanted to turn it into a version of their greed-filed, over indulged, life fantasy. And that was the conflict. “The Watcher” letters were the collective manifestation of that greed, wielded as a tool, to achieve their own individual obsessions. Dean was the worst, Obsessing about his family’s safety, his daughter’s impending maturity, avoiding the collapse of his all-in bet on that property, eventually the house consumes him as he loses everything, but his family, on his quest to “solve” the mystery.
This is why all of them are the “The Watcher.”
I liked the ending. The Payoff reveal is the perspective of all the suspects as the new owners (victims) arrive. That house has taken hold of ALL of them.
Life is not filled with concrete answers and tidy reasoning. It is all messy. Dean was on a partner track at his firm and Nora was a struggling artist at the beginning and by the end Dean is unemployed and really does not care and Nora if the new hot clay medium artist. Shows how quickly life can change when you let obsession rule your decisions and cannot let go and move on. Some marketing for this said it was a mix of “Pacific Heights” (Great early 90s Michael Keaton film shows how this would have went in the 20th century before the internet.)
and “American Horror Story” which is very misleading. AMS is every horror trope cranked up to 12 with an extra bucket of blood for good measure.
No, “The Watcher” is true horror. Where the evil is in everyone’s own mind battling the demons we carry with us each day…
Great analysis Daniel, I totally agree with this take!
Good comment Daniel
Perfectly said!!! Someone with my train of thought !! I thought I was alone on this! Lol
Also touches on trauma- emotional abuse, yes your mental state/mind. Yes this was the comment I been looking for!
Did Mo really drink the Andrew's kid's blood in the basement? Who was the girl in the videotape in Dean's bedroom? What's John's deal? Who called Nora when she was in the Motel?
So many plot twists I wanna know every thing lol
That scene of Mo "kissing" the little boy cut finger with the bloody smile was creepy as fuck! I think that is what Andrew saw, in his perturbed mind, but not what really happened.
But no, I think their interest was in keeping away 'bad' neighbors. Anyway, what makes the series great is how it leaves open ended if things are as fucked up as the character's paranoia seems to indicate or if it is just a bunch of weird creepy but normal people living there.
Yeahh. Some say Andrew was on drugs so he was seeing wonky stuff. But what about his kid saying he saw a blood cult ritual? Or when his wife was scared shitless because she was seeing abnormal things in the house?
@@Peanutnut2907 His kid was that, a kid. Three or four years old. Not exactly a reliable witness.
His wife had a mental problems even before moving to the house, although she was getting better for a while.
I think it was pearl who phoned Nora up because the person in the cloak walking past deans bedroom looked like a girl and the breathing sounded like it too. But that’s just my opinion
The real horror in this film is that nobody gives a F about that tunnel
They gave much of a F..the police didn't though, they sealed it up but it was useless because John Graff still went back and killed the realtor's dog. The tunnel apparently wasn't the only way in. Maybe there's another tunnel to Big Mo's house because the previous owner said his kid saw Big Mo and her husband drinking blood and more blood was drank inside of the house after the Graff murders. Pearl and John were definitely working together, Pearl didn't want them to touch the basement and it's strange to me that what John did made Jasper traumatized and mute but he talks around John just fine.
Or that stairway entrance at the end
@@thomastalks3841 didn't see it, just remember the old owner saying big Mo was sucking blood off their child's finger in the basement
Or how the "ode to a house" dude knew, that John Graff was sitting in front of him in that meeting and it wasnt enough to bother him to leave.
@@gatorsminks i reckon nora unblocked the tunnel when the realtor moved in.
Such a good show!!, At the end I felt like everything was left open for our imaginations, questions and concerns.
I guess that was the plot of this story, for us to keep interested in this house like the watchers themselves.
What ever happened with the music playing over the old intercom? Too many plot lines that went nowhere or were just ignored.
The biggest one was Dean and Nora never investigating the tunnels. Seriously??
So I think Pearl is the one mastermind around it. They said that the DNA was that of a female and she had pig tales like that girl from the security camera. I think John Graff is one of the ones watching and she is also watching but I think she writes the letters and John spies. And when she talks about roots and how they’re all connected it could be a reference to there are more people involved in the one thing.
The real horror is the fact that it's based on a real story. 🤯
So true!
I don’t think it was one story they just mixed up with other true stories.
@@sunshinesunny6582 it has to be the original story is actually borning
They added a lot to it though like the actual family never even moved into the home.
I live in Westfield, about 4 blocks from the watcher house. Most of the series was fiction mashed with random pieces of true events.
They Better have a season 2 to this anybody who watched it is already emotionally invested in it I had a feeling they were gonna end it like this without us knowing who really was the watcher all in all good series but I need a proper conclusion
Does anyone remember the scene where a thudding noise was coming from somewhere in Pearl's house? What was she hiding?
Could’ve been John Graff coming back out from the tunnels
@@johnmcquade8337 yeah probably. so many subtle details in the show creep me out
@@Caerulis Right? Not gonna lie, the show started off strong. I was invested all the way until the ending and all the clues and plot points left out and unexplained: who really was John Graff? What about the tunnels under the house? The explanation about prohibition seems logical, but there’s no follow up to it.
Was Detective Chamberland really in on all of it? So many points left out
@@johnmcquade8337 yeah imo they either thought that leaving out so many details would work for them to create speculation or they just decided to rush the ending. I’m betting on the latter
I believe It was definitely the John or “Willam” guy making those thudding noises. There was a cult but i don’t think it was a blood cult it was to keep the town the same, including the values. Notice how mo wasn’t unsettled by the noises because she knew it was john hiding out. Pearl was the main watcher. The DNA said it was female and her family was there forever. She inherited the house from her parents. Johns story might have been true to a certain extent because he was living in that tunnel and hiding in pearls house. She had the whole town in on it, including the police force. They covered it all up so the image of the town wasn’t tarnished. Imo.
Sorry but Ryan Murphy has a terrible track record with endings and after I binge watched The Watcher, he still does. Love his work but his endings are literally not worth watching and I’m thinking of skipping them going forward so I can just end them myself. lol but not kidding.
Ryan Murphy would of had a much better movie had he stuck to the original family.
I was expecting so much more especially horror wise but was quite disappointed on that end and It was to all over the place and a shit ending but overall, good acting and scriptwriting
The first episode set up some real good jump scare moments and abrupt transitions to make you feel uncomfortable, but after the first episode they kind of fell off!
@@BrainPilot yes i 100% agree there , the first episode was good with some good jump scares and creepy people but then towards the end it fell off with that type of directing
Personally, I hate jump scares. In that other horror series, midnight club, they even make explicit fun of it, calling it cheap and making one story that is made 100% of jump scares.
I liked that they went for an unsettling creepy atmosphere and characters than cheap jump scares.
Everyone, how did Midge die? In one scene, you can see him coming back to the house with Mo and then, in her next scene, Mo is by herself. Did I fall asleep and miss a scene/talking point?
Mo told Dean, that her husband died. I forgot of what he dies.
She told him in the scene, where Dean visits her to apologize for writing a fake letter.
Could of mo killed Mitch?
I feel like there still is something about the house that makes people obsessed with it and become “watchers”
Whether that’s just a vicious cycle of trauma with the residents repeating the same behaviour (and the ecosystem of paranoia in the people surrounding it) or something else entirely, it has strong “The one ring” energy
Pearl is the mastermind Watcher. And everyone who lives in the house becomes a watcher themselves and she recruits them to watch the new owners.
If that was true they would have met each other from the beginning not in the finale lol
I concur. 👏🏾 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Nice observation. 👍🏾
The watcher is not one person. It is the preservation club, that is actually the façade for some kind of cult. Pearl is the cult leader. The house either internally or externally or because of the ground it was built in has something sacred (in a wicked way) that should stay just as it is to keep the cult going. The house is haunted and this explains the whole attractive thing of the various owners. I would also say that in the show there are many reference to age and tradition. Maybe eternal life is the reward for the cultist, thanks to the blood drinking. They all look out of their time and they might well be people from the 1920s. In fact, the final owners of the house, with young children who could be sacrificed could fit the “club” expectation. This is why they don’t buy the house. They could do it all toghether and maybe they do as the mysterious firm which is mentioned from time to time but then they re- sell it to families in order for the house to be “fed”. I think the whole series is more of a political and anthropological metaphor of some aspects of American society. Envy, competition, greed, a wicked sense of understanding what “tradition” is. I liked the fact that unlike many other shows it did not make any easy criticism but everything is nuanced and complex. No one is innocent, just like in our society (except for the babies… wonder why the house pray on them…)
That does make sense. It could explain how the Watcher is able to know so much of the house and why there are different DNA prints. That was always my headcanon too
And also, I noticed that too. The other neighbors looked more out of touch with time. Mo and Mitch looked like two people from the 60s, John Graff dresses like he’s from the 50s, etc.
Good point about how they dress thats interesting
i hated the ending but after reading the comments i wonder if they wanted to create that annoyance of not having an answer so we can feel exactly how Dean feels.
Yes! I was already ripping my hair out half way through watching it trying to figure it out myself, and after its over feel just like Dean in that I can't let it go until I know who it was! I think this was definitely the whole point of the show.
Personally, even if it doesn’t line up at all. I feel like the true identity of the Watcher was the house itself. Somehow this story of The Watcher started happening to each generation who lived inside the house. Then when they start to drive themselves insane over this mystery, they consequently become the replacement Watcher. That’s the impression that I got when Dean called himself John at the end of the series. He couldn’t figure out the mystery for himself, so as a way of coping he makes sure the family that proceeds him experience the same hell his family went through. He lays out his own vague clues for the next family to figure out, possibly using the same tunnel system that the previous Watcher had used. And once the father of this new family has gone insane trying to figure out who this guy is and insistently become the new Watcher, that’s when Dean can let go. Because now he knows there’s another family who’s suffered just as much as he has and he can move on knowing some form of justice has been served. Except, now all Dean’s left is the next replacement for The Watcher for the next family to move into the house and eventually drive insane so that they can become the next Watcher for the next family to movie into the house.
This endless cycle of toxicity could have possibly been going in the house for decades before. And presumably after.
the freaking daughter pissed me off so much xD i hope i'll get a son whenever i have kids
Same she was a nightmare
Calling the cop on his own father and making false accusation against him… I was just like🤬🤬
..her character was written by men. all the women on this show were written by men. what you're saying is beyond silly.
@@tig3rtail females written by other females tend to be cringe and often worse than females written by men 🤣 your point?
@@melaniebiberger2191 were talking about this particular character. my point is its silly to base the decision of not having a girl on this character..because youre worried she'd turn out that way.
I found it riveting and entertaining, I thought I heard about this story before and that there was a family living in the attic and the owners did not know about it. I originally thought it was the realtor because from a business point of view made sense, first she sold it and got commission then create a mess and force the current owners to sell at a lower price so she could buy it up again and sell for more profit. I actually thought starting from episode 2 that it was like a whole community who is on on this and they get to pick and choose who gets to stay in the house. If they were good neighbours they get to stay and if they're not they would make their lives hell. It got confusing when the husband started writing letters but I think you explained it well, everyone who's lived there becomes obsessed with the house and how they lost everything and they don't understand why. Then they themselves become the watcher because they can't live with the guilt that someone else is enjoying the home and it's not them. Which is why in the end the other previous owners were outside envying the current owners.
We saw the answer, it was pearl and John doing the letters, John got chased out the tunnel and knocked on pearls door saying there on to us whys everyone confused lol
It's not for sure that it was them since theyre never actually shown delivering the letters and if Pearl is to be believed she also got a letter. Assuming that's true then there's still someone out there delivering letters. All we know for sure is that they've been sneaking in an out of the house because they're obsessed with it.
I feel like it was just a big misdirection. Not saying they're not responsible for creeping around the house but not the letter writers. John got the letters himself that's why he went crazy and is now bound to the house too.
Security guy never thought about setting up a camera towards the mailbox?
Seems not!
This series had me hooked, I couldn’t stopped watching….but the ending was super unsatisfying. The actor who played Dean was phenomenal.
It's coming back for a Season 2 - so maybe it will get better the more it goes on
@@BrainPilotwhen did you hear about season 2? When should we suspect it?
I’m so confused about John Graff, didn’t Theodora say she made him up, How does Rodger know who he is if he is made up? There’s too many questions coming out of this with no answers
She was lying she didn’t make him up
she just said she made up the story to dean so he could rest his mind and not go crazy, to make him believe he had it figured out. Is most likely one of those satanic coven towns where many people are in a secret society, even the cops.. kinda like sandy hook town
It’s frustrating that we never know who the watcher is because I was actually under the impression from the jump that it was Theodora, but once that was shot down, I had my attention snatched again just for the watcher to be a debate. I can appreciate the idea of the audience never knowing because in a way it ties in to what Theodora and Dean feel but it’s excruciating. Nothing wrong with a mysterious ending but the writers themselves probably didn’t know how to make it anymore intriguing.
It was the whole preservation group. They tied all of them in throughout. It was a collective effort.
Great video. I just commented on another video saying 'The Watcher' is most likely a collective. I agree that the Westfield Preservation Society has the motive and is most likely behind the letters. As far as John Graff goes, he's an avatar for John List, who murdered his family in Westfield, NJ. Even with the embellishments, the dark tone of this series stayed true to actual events. I loved the series and will rewatch it again soon.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
It is said in the first letter that they receive that the house has had different watchers in different times. The current watcher introduced himself to Dean & Nora saying that it's now his time to be the watcher. So, yes, many people are a "watcher" of the house. But as for who wrote the letters, maybe John and Pearl, to get them to sell, because they didn't like the renovations they were doing to the house. And John who murdered his family supposedly also received letters. So maybe this has just become a contagious dark twisted thing.
They looked for DNA in envelop, but not in the tunnel room.
Detective decided not to help, and thats it?
Yeah the detective being a dickhead and totally useless was what pissed me off. He just seemed weird from the beginning. Could have reported him to internal affairs and just have a competent person take over their case.
The whole thing was pretty interesting. Leaves alot of our own interpretations, theres so much things that happen you dont know whats connected and whats coincidence, what is random etc. Its was pretty good overall. Good mystery, reminded me of things like Number 23, Shutter Island type thing at times.
I feel pretty safe since I can't even afford a one bedroom apartment
I fucking love this show I don’t understand why people think it’s bad
Best show I've watched in years. Perfectly executed to have such a mystery and suspension the entire way through. People are just butt hurt that they didn't get an answer because they themselves are also like dean. Eaten up to know who and why
@@combatwa4les253 I feel like nora is a part of it somehow, Dean got to deep into it is getting delusional
My favorite character was Dean, Bobby is becoming one of my favorite actors because of this.
Because it is written badly, so the 4 major plot points (John Graff story, Karen scamming Nora, Pearl and Mo being creepy neighbors, and then they added Roger's story) are all supposed to be unrelated? Not realistic at all. If the John Graff/Bill character is supposedly meant to be the Watcher then it makes no sense at all. Also the ending with the shadow emerging from the stairs was too cheesy in supernatural, felt way off. You might call it nitpicking but it just doesn't make any sense. Many writers just play the whole "let the viewer decide for themselves" card too often and it's lazy
@@phoqueme that part disturbed me I thought it was pretty chilling tbh giving the context of what was happening
great show, nice breakdown and interesting idea that the whole group represents The Watcher. Agree with other comments that the ending is too open ended and leaves too many questions unanswered
I actually think the watcher is harmless if you don’t get involved with his mind games, but there are maybe other missing details in the actual incident that’d make the owner go crazy.
I’m mostly interested in the tunnel part, but it’s not part of the true story.
He did kill the kids pet so I wouldn’t say harmless , maybe they were hinting of a fear they had of him doing worse ?
@@lprsandra I meant in the true story~
Here’s my theory, the story that was “made up” from the theadora about John graff wasn’t actually made up. She tells Dean this but my take is that she was threatened by chamberlain that she was Revealing the truth of Westfield. What makes me confused is when theadora tells John those murders were really from “Colorado” pat graff is in the year book for Westfield. Also what are the chances that he met a guy named John who has a daughter who was sexually active and went to the Lutheran church just like she said in the story. But the main reason of why I beileve that theadora was actually telling the truth was the music she played to dean. It was the same exact music we heard from the intercom and this could not be a coincidence. Now you may say how could John graff be the watcher if he was getting those letters. Remember when he was reading that one Note about how if he killed his family he would be given what he wants and then some. Well what if (and hear me out) he wanted to take the roll of the watcher. Now this doesn’t answer the question of who was the original watcher but I do believe it was roger. Roger notices John when they are having the meeting and knows he killed his family and only person that could possibly know that was the original watcher
From her I want to explain the girl that walked in on dean when he was asleep. The only to people that know about that passage way are pearl and “John the inspector” which explains why the alarm never went off and no one entered the house. My conclusion her is that Karen somehow knows about this tunnel. She went to pearls house and paid her to have a girl in ponytails show up and try to deem dean as a cheater. If you remember when Nora and Karen were having dinner Karen describes the scene in the video exactly how it is. Now you wonder how they exactly got the video which leads to Dakota. Dokota and pearl must have had some kind of deal to put a camera in there room and give pearl permission to look at the video. Now you may say that he put the video camera up there thinking dean was the watcher (which is what Dakota said) but he knew that wasn’t true and in the end I think Dakota felt bad and showed video evidence/proof of no one entering the house. In which he then says in the movie that someone is living in the house. Another theory that I was thinking about was that the girl in the video could actually be Ellie. In one of the dinners that Nora and Karen are having she says that Ellie’s tic too videos are inspiring. Ellie could have been so made at her dad and Karen took this opportunity to have her dress up and try to end dean.
So now rapping up (finally) chamberlains goal is to keep a good rep in the town which is why no murders are ever Released. Mitch and Mo are very weird. Jaspers is innocent to everything. John graff is actually the watcher. Pearl teams up with John graff and gets his information from him to where she would write the notes. This explains no Y chromosome for the DNA test. I also believe chamberlain was completely lying when he said the dna matched no one in they knew. Karen hates dean and teams up with pearl in a goal to dean divorced. And rip theadora all here truths were truths and her lies were even truths.
I rememebr this case in real time: THE FAMILY NEVER MOVED IN. They were doing revovations, and received literally 3 creepy letters. It was and still is suspected, they wantedan excuse to not move in, and based on that state's laws, it enabled them out of their contractural debts. There is nothing else going on here
Dean is like a mix of barrack Obama with a little Aaron rodgers sprinkled on...with a little zest Robert bourone
Yasssssss
I actually was enjoying this until the last episode, and then I got lost and didn't really understand the ending. I looked it up on Google, and I sort of see now. I loved the characters of Mo and Mitch - fancy having those 2 as neighbours, lol, and as for Karen......well.........😳🤣.....it was OK, tbh. 🇬🇧
They're all in on it. The real estate agent befriends the wife and tells her that she needs to sell the house divorce, her husband is having an affair with a younger lady etc. All of the things that were told to her happened. People in the neighborhood watch the house all night. However I feel like the characters in the series were way too ignorant of certain points. They think the camera boy is the guy but he's 19 and the other homeowner got the letters 20 years ago
Was I the only one wondering why they didn't close the curtains and buy some less translucent ones..
That’s a very good point!
I feel like it’s that lady that lived there for a while. She had PIGTAILS & knows about the secret tunnels
I definitely feel that it’s pearl ( the old pigtail lady ) and John graff or whoever that is but I still don’t understand their motives
Maybe some type childhood games lol sickos
@@koledevos349 I think what they’re trying to do is keep they’re neighborhood the same for decades. Like this one scene the PIGTAIL lady was talking about the oak tree that’s been there. Another scene when they’re talking about what went wrong that caused changes correct me if I’m wrong
I'm not familiar with the history this series is supposed to be based on, so I don't know if some story elements were dropped/not explained at all because it never was inspected in reality or because the show was supposed to be 10 episodes but was suddenly cut short.
1: tunnels. They never went down there again. There are multiple isntances where it shows that both Nora and Dean are obsessed, tenacious and downright vicious when it comes to their home. So they see tunnels, a creepy living space and what? They just leave it as is? They didn't start to investigate? There was a smell Nora mentioned multiple times when down there... And it's like a labyrinth. So how come they just sealed the entrance they knew about and let it go? How come Dean's going around and asking neighbors if he can look at their basements for entrances instead of they investigating from their own end?
2: history: the first letter says the house was watched in the 20s, then in the 50s and so on and so forth. John/Bill also got letters from someone - that supposedly drowe him mad. Why didn't Dean and Nora went down that road and investigate more of the history of their house/previous owners/neighborhood/etc? They are so angry and lashing out on everyone, isolating themselves with accusations but don't even google some expressions or neighborhood history stuff? I mean the house should be a historically acclaimed beautiful construction - it should be mentioned in at least some archives. Sure a country club membership's nice, but what about a library card? (Where there are apparently typewriter classes - don't even let me go down that way!)
3 dead pets: Okay, they did dirty by these furry babies. As I said I'm not familiar with the history of this thing that happened, so I don't know if it actually happened and the police really didn't/couldn't do anything or it was another dropped thing? Where I come from a dead pet is taken pretty seriously if it could indicate violence. It could be a first sign of anything from forced entry, act of fearmongering and terrorising or even domestic abuse if it comes down to it. The police should have been acting more ready, or taking the issue more seriously (esp. after the letter). The family should have been even more shocked. The kid was kind of sad for like five minutes, but pushing 4 numbers on the alarm system solved it. If it would have been my ferret I would have screamed and cried until we moved away. I would be in therapy until uni and maybe even after that.
4: dumbwaiter: is there a secret basement or subbasment dumbwaiter door? Why didn't they set a camera in it and send it up and down a few times, when it turned out there are secret tunnels in the house? Dean and Nora leapt to crazy conclusions, but didn't incestigate the very walls of the house? (Especially after the "secrets in the walls" line?) They had construction workers everywhere. A guy with a billion tiny cameras. And crazy determination to protect their home. Why didn't they tear out the wall panels or sent cameras up and down?
5: blood in the milkjugs: why? For who? Did John/Bill drank them eventually? Is there a crazy blood-cult? Is the house haunted with evil demons demanding "young blood", tormenting the men of the households to murder their families?
6: girl with pigtails: Who is she? She can't be Pearl, half of the scandal is about how young she looks. I can imagine how she got there, but where did she get her nightdress, why lay in bed with Dean and why isn't Nora as vicious to find out her identity as she's to accuse her only friend in town? She's shown devoted to her family, trusting her husband even when shit happens around them, constantly trying to solve the puzzle together with Dean (except the 5 minutes they are apart) - so why isn't she a crazy lioness about this lady who was apparently in her house? One that was laying in HER bed and was later proved to set her husband up. Is the girl a ghost?
7: intercom: The music through the intercom. Why does the Ring-cycle play? Does John/Bill plays it from his secret room? Which hours? Why? What does this piece of music mean in this context? There's no music when the Watcher kills the pets, but Andrew's wife sometimes heard it play during the night? Why don't Nora and Dean investigate the intercom? Why didn't the previous owners cut the cords if it was driving the wife crazy? Is it being haunted? Cursed to play the music that was playing during the supposed blood sacrifice and "set the scene" scene?
8: Christopher: I ignore the fact that him killing two homeless people were swept under the rug with a shrug. As I said I don't know the history, so I don't know if it actually happened or not. But. How did Christopher know that Dean and his mother had a fight? How did he know enough to fake a s*** note?
9: the ex-wife: the teachers ex-wife sees a troubling, violent lettet from the Watcher and goes immediately; yeah, that's my ex. How? Why? And how did they all believe it immediately? The tone of the letters are completely different. The addressee of the letters are different. The teacher writes to the houses. The Watcher writes to the tennants. Why did they all believe her immediately? Also why did the Watcher leave the old lady alone after she screamed the them in the night?
It was a good suspense but I didn't find answers for many things - and some things I should have understood even if it's based on an unsolved case.
It pisses me off how Dean just forgets about the sneeze he heard from someone else in the house, and had the door shut when questioning it. Not to mention you could simply map the tunnel back to their house
Dean and nora disappointed me in how dumb they were at times. As soon as they got a new bit of key information or evidence they went and confronted that person or let that person know they had found out. Better off playing it cool and out thinking their enemy. Like chasing that guy down the tunnel or confronting the realtor in the country club. Dean shouldnt have gone down the tunnel. Better off pretending he never knew about the tunnel and waiting for these creeps to come in and then block them from leaving while he phones the police and has them arrested. All done under the surveillance cameras so that the police are forced into doing something or face a lawsuit.
1)I think the girl in pigtails was Dean's daughter (can't remember her name). I mean she did set him up as a racist & said there was nothing that she wouldn't do hurt someone.
2)I think John Graff lived w/Pearl in hiding & that was his little room in the tunnels.
3)I think Pearl & John were most likely the ones sending the letters.
I think the watcher is the girl. She was accepted to an ivy League university which indicates her intelligence
@@zimdollar3229 That's a good theory. I kept thinking that it was her too but then those people in the tunnels...Idk. I wish it had a better ending.
I had the same idea about the daughter, but then again the parents would recognize her in the video, even if they can't see her face.
I feel like the actual watcher is actually John Graff? idk? Even at the end Dean restarts the loop saying that his name is John. In my opinion it's like that:
-The Watcher is John Graff, no one knows his true identity tho
-The Watcher is not scary on his own but since the neighbours want the new owners to sell the house, they use it to scare the owners
-The black detective said that she was the Watcher to calm Dean
-idk why the neighbours started acting normal with Dean after he sold the house? Seems kinda strange but also, that might've been apart of their plan because now Dean is even more confused.
-The series doesn't actually give us an answer to what is happening, it's meant to be like this because it wants us to do this kind of theories when, in reality, even the autors didn't even know what to do with the script, that's why the ending is so shit.
-Also, i feel like the brother of the sister knew who really was John Graff because when the guy started saying that he saw the other dude somewhere, he shuts everything down because he didn't want anyone to realize who John Graff really is and because of that, I THINK THAT THE BROTHER OF THE SISTER IS ACTUALLY JOHN GRAFF.
-The sister and the brother are the main "antagonists" because even at the start of episode 1 we see them staring at the house so i think they are the headleaders of everything
wow this is a great theory but isn’t it stated that John Graff himself was terrorized by the watcher in 1995 so doesn’t that exclude him ?
Arent anyone going to speak about that John were up in the window at 657 for the new family when they were moving in? He were clearly still keep using his secret tunnel, he is living with the crazy lady and Jasper and goes under the tunnel to update them for all the new construction which is to be done. Rhen they speak about it in their club. Then they togheter make the watcher lettere togheter.
as we remember John also had the watcher, and as said in the letters «it is now my turn» i belive the watcher goes on from person to person. John probably had an old one many years ago, and now he haa been for years and to everyone while hiding in the tunnel and at Jasper. And now Dean is obsessed and he wil like to join in also beeing the watcher.
Can see this was supposed to have more episodes and just didn't have the budget, brilliant idea shocking execution
Is he related to Obama ?
Did the stairs opening at the end come from the tunnel we know about or another tunnel?😱
I am so confused on episode 4 I thought mitch and mo committed suicide but somehow came back to their house??? Its like someone is playing a mind trick with them
The thing that got to me the most with this show is that it isn't even a mystery. It's lies after lies to keep progressing the story. There are so many scenarios in this show that make no sense and are the least bit logical
My first impression of the ending was that Dean had this horrible obsession now and he was completely pissed off that he didnt know who was doing this to him and his family. So he started the cycle all over again, leaving a letter for the new owners in order to "pass on" some of his own fear, obsession, anger to someone else. Like do unto others, what has been done to me.
That’s what I got out of it
Projection identification defend mechanism
Break down the other side of the fucking tunnel. Damn, that’s what I was thinking about the whole time and they didn’t do it
Concrete in a small area - they are also underneath a road, which is city property. We know it leads across the street. The workers won't smash anything outside the property line and the police wouldn't allow a search warrant. It's not your property if it's not on your property line. You break it down, since it's sheer concrete you'll need to repair that... and if you know anything about concrete, that will likely be absolutely insane to adequately repair. You might take a chunk out of someone's foundation. It will also take hours with a jackhammer, and you'll be stopped immediately by the neighbors calling the police.
It is frustrating though, because they could have easily called the state police to supercede the police chief's authority - who has a legal obligation to investigate this crime. That didn't add up. If the state police found out about this massive scandal, and that it wasn't being investigated, that's grounds for removal.
But the characters weren't smart enough to put that together, and we are trapped in their subjective view.
@@BigMac8000 o dayum. you right
I find the idea of no pictures of John Graff kind of weird. He may have cut his face from all family portraits but he moved from New York to New Jersey. Both states require to have a government issued identification. Either a drivers license or non driver id with your picture from their respective department of motor vehicles. He also would have had a personnel file at his job and social security number. So why didn’t Dean and Theodora put in a freedom of information act from his old employer, the New York and New Jersey department of motor vehicles or the social security office. Roger Kaplan clearly recognized John Graff, Kaplan was the local high school teacher at the time of the murders and would have taught Johns daughter meaning he would have met John at parent teacher conferences. I doubt he would forget the face of one of his murdered students much less her father. I think Pearl was the original watcher and sent the letters to John then blackmailed him into joining her in exchange for keeping him hidden. Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. Mitch and Mo moved into the neighborhood a year after the murders so Mo wouldn’t recognize him but Kaplan, Pearl and Jasper would. I think the inspiration for the watcher letters came from Kaplans lesson.
The watcher could be John or Pearl. However, the convolution & complications of events in the story added up to the mystery & suspicion on who the watcher is. Nora looks like she continued to be the watcher, but I dont beleive she was. The house is so precious that mostly every owner was emotionally attached to it, and even awed by other people. Every home owner with emotional attachment and even those who awe the house are/were possibly the watchers, or continued by the previous owners to be the watcher. I liked the story, I enjoyed watching it.
I was so confused how the workers are down there Al day but we never see them leave at night. Maybe one of them was messing with them specially since we never saw the stairs thing before when family was there . Poor Karen run for her life .
Poor Karen? F her 😂
I think it was great. An old fashion suspense story, very creep, that gets to your nerves. They hint at the possibility of something super natural, probably because of viewers expectations, but they keep it very well grounded in reality. Something that is quite refreshing.
The story from the private eye also serves another purpose, a narrative one. It makes it possible for them to spill out a possible explanation of how things could have happened and explain how and why every thing happened, or at least what a solution would look like. Even though it was not that way, it gives a little bit of resolution to the viewers, if not for Dean.
This series gripped me in an utterly obsessive way that I haven't been gripped by for years.... literally couldn't put it down...
And then I saw the ending......
Where to start, I loved and yet hated this series.
It pulled me in and captivated me, good acting all around, and yet had so many holes with no real answers.
1: The tunnels once discovered, weren't addressed again and never explored for answers.
2: Mo's Son decided while they were on vacation to kidnap/kill two people that resembled his parents to fake a life insurance claim? Why wouldn't he have just killed them? No autopsy done on the bodies to verify?
3: All those camera's and yet none faced the driveway, specifically towards the mail box? 🤣
4: Is this the end, or just the end of the season? I assume that was it, for good. I'm so confused what just happened. ha ha!