The Watcher ending explained: Who all were suspected to be the Watcher in this Naomi Scott-starrer Netflix series?

The Watcher is Netflix's latest show, which premiered on Thursday, October 13, 2022. Based on a real-life story, The Watcher follows a family that moves into a new house in the country and starts getting strange letters from an anonymous individual.

While the culprit could not be pinpointed, there were a host of suspects, ranging from the central figure of Dean to Theodora. Later in the show, through DNA testing, the only concrete piece of information that authorities stumbled upon was that the Watcher was a woman.

Written by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, The Watcher is based on an article by Reeves Wiedeman. It was published in New York Magazine's The Cut segment with the same title and has invited a ton of speculation from the audience's side regarding the Broaddus family's similar claims.

The visual adaptation has Naomi Watts as Nora Brannock, Bobby Cannavale as Dean Brannock, Isabel Gravitt as Elli Brannock, Luke David Blum as Carter Brannock, Mia Farrow as Pearl Winslow, Noma Dumezweni as Theodora Birch, Joe Mantello as John Graff aka William Webster, Richard Kind as Mitch, Terry Kinney as Jasper Winslow, Margo Martindale as Maureen/Mo, Henry Hunter Hall as Dakota, and Jennifer Coolidge as Karen Calhoun.

The Watcher begins with Nora, Dean, Ellie, and Carter visiting an open house in New Jersey to look for a potential home. The old Victorian house of 657 Boulevard impressed them instantly.

They moved in despite financial constraints since the couple wanted a good life for their children, and Dean invested all their money into buying the property. The financial investment left them on the verge of bankruptcy, but Nora did not come to know of it until much later.

Having made a hasty decision, Nora and Dean never got to meet their creepy neighbors, including the prying pair of Mitch and Big Mo, aka Maureen, and the archaic siblings Pearl and Jasper.

Once they move in, spooky things start unfolding, beginning with Ellie hearing music from a piano she only knew to play. Carter's first jump-scare moment came with finding Jasper crouched in the century-old dumbwaiter, followed by the death of his ferret.

To top it all off, Dean found Big Mo and Mitch sitting on their chairs and prying with their binoculars while Pearl lectured him on the significance of an old tree near the house. It was later revealed that Pearl and Jasper were part of the self-styled Westfield Preservation Society, which pretended to be an impactful presence in the neighborhood.

The informal association believed it had the right to intervene with a family's decision to renovate the house because the former group considered it a piece of art and history.

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In The Watcher, when did the Brannock family start experiencing the eerieness?

The Brannock family started taking things seriously after the death of Carter's pet ferret. Although Nora and Dean approached Westfield police, the official dismissed it as a trivial incident but promised to post patrol around the house.

The family rubbished the first letter from the Watcher. However, it was the second letter that freaked out the couple. It not only referred to Ellie and Carter as "young blood" and detailed their traits and talents but also called the house "the product of your greed."

As a result of these eerie occurrences and unnecessary renovations, Nora and the kids shifted to a motel while Dean stayed back at the house. They also hired a private detective, Theodora Birch, on detective Chamberland's recommendation, after the department decided to wash its hands off the case.

Things worsened after Dean uncovered facts about the house and lost a partnership at his firm due to underperformance. The house also impacted his relationship with Nora and the kids. He came across Andrew Pierce, who once lived in the house and said that his wife had lost her sanity after they moved into the house.

Andrew made Dean suspect Mitch and Mo because the elderly couple practiced a cult at their place, which his three-year-old son had witnessed. Andrew and his wife were found dead in their house after an argument with Mo. It was later revealed to be staged by his son Christopher. On the other hand, Nora is pestered by her friend and realtor Karen to list the house and sell it.

Amid security concerns, Dean and Nora spent a fortune and installed security cameras across the house. Subsequently, Ellie ended up having a relationship with the owner of the security company, Dakota, a young black man. An enraged Dean caught the affair and alleged that Dakota was the Watcher.

A still from 'The Watcher' (Image via IMDb)

After a DNA test confirmed that Dean's claims were wrong, Ellie uploaded a video where she slandered Dean and called him a racist for thwarting her relationship with Dakota because he was an African-American. This sabotaged Dean and Ellie's relationship since the former kept policing her for her attire.

Meanwhile, another envelope titled "WATCH ME" was sent to Dean's firm and Nora. It came with a pen drive that contained a video of Dean sleeping in his bed, while a young girl with pigtails undressed and moved around.

The video was recorded and shared by Dakota as a way of seeking revenge. However, he was puzzled to see the young girl and later helped Dean debunk the lies that did the rounds. Subsequently, Nora decided to file for divorce.

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How did the The Watcher conclude?

After Nora did not find any signs of infidelity in Dean's call records, she investigated the house's landline records and found the contact of the motel where she stayed with her kids. During her stay, Nora received a call in which she only heard someone breathe and nothing more.

The time on the landline's record was the same as when she received it. Nora concluded that the Watcher was Dean. She shared her findings with Theodora, who used her sources to find out that Dean wrote the third letter. She also disclosed to Nora about Dean's missed chance at the firm's partnership and deduced that the letter could have been his way of convincing Nora to sell the house and, in doing so, recover from the debt he had gotten himself into.

Dean did not deny it when Nora confronted him about the letter, the extensive loan, and the debt of $150,000 from "shady people." While everything seemed dim, Nora's art exhibition became popular and sold out. This saved the family from the possibility of a second bout of bankruptcy.

Meanwhile, the Westfield Police Department got the DNA test results of the first two letters and concluded that the Watcher was a woman. Thus, Karen, Pearl, and Big Mo became their primary suspects.

Nora and Dean confronted Chamberland and Karen at the country club and publicly humiliated them, alleging that they were the Watchers. The confrontation thwarted Nora and Dean's efforts to sell the house.

Karen sought help from a friend in the media industry and got them to write an article about the "haunted" house at 657 Boulevard. Meanwhile, Nora and Dean came across a secret tunnel right under the house, which explained the strange events of the past.

However, when they sought help from Chamberland, the latter refused. Finally, Theodora told Nora and Dean about Roger Kaplan, a former English teacher at Westfield High School, who had a penchant for old houses but was prevented from owning one due to his financial restraints.

Roger was renowned for his class on An Ode to a House, in which students wrote anonymous letters to houses they were attracted to and delivered them to the owners. After Nora and Dean confronted Roger regarding the same, he started showing up outside their house daily.

A still from 'The Watcher' (Image via IMDb)

Dean and Nora listed the house and returned to their old place, but the house did not stop haunting them, particularly Dean. After a sentimental episode, Theodora claimed to be the Watcher, only to be debunked by her daughter. Subsequently, the house was finally bought by Karen.

Karen shifted into the new house and faced similar horrific occurrences that the Brannock family faced during their initial days. As a dark figure emerged behind her, Karen ran out of the house.

Dean, however, could not get over his obsession with the house and its impact on his family. He took up therapy, where he claimed to have moved on from the past but could not stop talking about the house.

The Watcher ended with Dean returning to Westfield, and a new family now occupied the house. Dean introduced himself as John and lied to Nora when she asked him about his whereabouts. After Dean drove off, Nora's car pulled up in front of the house, indicating that she followed her husband.

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All the episodes of The Watcher are currently streaming on Netflix.