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Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's The Watcher premiered on Netflix on Thursday, October 13, 2022. It is based on Reeves Wiedeman's article on Derek and Maria Broaddus' experiences after they bought their dream home in New Jersey in 2014.
A self-styled stalker called the Watcher wrote mysterious letters to the family of five, discouraging them from living in their newly-bought house.
Wiedeman's article was published in the New York Magazine's segment called The Cut. It detailed what transpired and tried to present multiple facets of the Broaddus family's story. The series has employed certain changes that are inconsistent with the original article.
The Watcher features a cast of 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 takeaway: 5 elements that were skipped/tweaked in the Netflix adaptation
1) The Broaddus family never moved into their new house
Derek and Maria Broaddus bought their dream home in 2014. However, contrary to what was shown in The Watcher, the family of five never moved into the house. According to Wiedeman's article, in June 2014, the family received its first letter. Even then, Derek was living in the newly bought 657 Boulevard alone. His wife and kids were at their old home elsewhere in Westfield.
After selling their old home, the Broaddus family lived with Maria's parents while they continued to pay taxes and mortgages on the new house.
In the series, the protagonist Brannock's family moved into their new house, and the elder daughter Ellie was the first to encounter the letter and bring it to the rest of the family. Moreover, the series mentioned that the family previously lived in New York, not Westfield.
2) The real-life Nora, Maria Broaddus, grew up in Westfield
Reeves Wiedeman wrote in his article that Maria grew up in Westfield, and "the house was a few blocks from her childhood home." While Maria and Derek lived in the area of Westfield for a decade, Maria's family was around for a longer duration. This information is not referenced in the series, nor is the modest background of both parents mentioned. Derek grew up in a working-class family in Maine and worked his way up in an insurance company.
Although the background information is left out, Dean Brannock's statement about him buying a house where his kids will have their bedroom reflects the protagonist's struggles. However, those who watched the series without going through the article first will neglect this.
3) The Broaddus family has three kids
Derek and Maria have three children in real life. While not much was revealed in Wiedeman's article about the family, it is known that the youngest was five years old, the one in the middle was eight years old, and the eldest was ten years old when the Broaddus family bought the house. The mention of the children in the letters prevented the couple from shifting into the house.
The kids would visit the house with their parents and then leave. Dean and Nora have two kids in the series, Carter and Ellie. Both kids shifted into the house along with their parents.
4) The Broaddus family bought the 657 Boulevard property from the Woods
The Broaddus family bought the property on 657 Boulevard from John and Andrea Woods. The Woods occupied the house for 23 years and received a similar letter from the Watcher once when they moved in. However, they threw the letter away and never heard anything else.
The Watcher series showed that the Brannocks bought the property from an LLC or Limited Liability Company. When the family arrived at the open house, they met Nora's friend Karen, who worked as a realtor and finalized the deal. However, when Dean and Nora started facing threats and approached the realtor company that Karen worked for, they were told that they could not access any records since the LLC was the mediator.
The LLC arrangement protects the identity of the owners and enables them to get several tax deductions.
5) The Broaddus family listed their house on the market in the hope of tracking the Watcher
Reeves Wiedeman wrote in his article that in 2016, the Broaddus family listed their house back on the market, hoping they would get offers from people or families who would overlook the incident.
The couple also hosted an open house and signed everyone that had attended the event. Derek and Maria scanned through the handwriting of all those signed to find out if any matched with the Watcher's. Neither were they able to locate their stalker, nor were they able to find a potential buyer.
In a bid to use the open-house tactic to track the Watcher, Dean and Nora also lost out on potential buyers and ended up selling the house for a much lower price.
All the episodes of The Watcher are currently streaming on Netflix.
