If you didn’t shriek “who is The Watcher?!” numerous times over the course of Netflix’s new series The Watcher… well, we don’t believe you.
See, it’s impossible not to be creeped out by the show, largely due to the fact that it’s based on a true story. Yes, not only is the narrative utterly petrifying, but its events happened in real life. The jury’s out on whether we’ll ever fall asleep with ease again.
As a quick refresher, the series is based on a couple named Nora and Dean Brannock (played by Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale, respectively), who buy their dream home, 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. But it isn’t long before they come across a sinister letter written by a person who dubs themselves, ‘The Watcher’. It includes specific, personal details about their family along with freakish, in-depth knowledge of their house and threats to its dwellers.
Of course, the series is dramatised to an extent, but the story did happen to the real life Derek and Maria Broaddus, the former of whom made it his mission to uncover who The Watcher was and bring him to justice.
But was he successful, and was The Watcher ever identified? Read on to find out.
What happens at the end of Netflix’s The Watcher?
The final episode of The Watcher is a mind-bender in itself. Westfield local Theodora (played by Noma Dumezweni) reveals to Dean that is was she who was the previous dweller of 657 Boulevard, and when she was required to travel to Mexico after being diagnosed with cancer, she made the tough decision to sell the house.
As we know, Nora and Dean then bought the house, so the contract was done—but Theodora’s story doesn’t end there. She tells Dean that she then discovered her late husband had left millions of dollars in royalties, and suddenly, she very much wanted the house back—the only way to get it? To drive Nora and Dean out with fear. She tells him it was she who wrote the letters, seemingly concluding the story. So why is there still half an episode left? Well, Theodora was lying.
As Nora and Dean discover later at her funeral, she never sent the letters at all and was simply trying to put Dean’s mind at rest.
So who is The Watcher?
The plain and simple answer in both the Netflix series and in real life is that we don’t know—but a forensic analysis has determined that they are apparently a woman.
That said, the woman in question has never been identified, despite Derek (the real life Broaduss who lived in 657 Boulevard) and the police’s best efforts.
When Derek and Maria received the threatening letters, they went to the police who described their investigation as “exhaustive”. But The Cut reports that no one believes this claim anymore due to the fact that they didn’t even speak to some of the neighbouring locals in the area.
The case eventually moved to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office who conducted a more thorough investigation, including a forensic analysis where they discovered the saliva on the envelops matched that of a female.
In 2018, the prosecutor’s office asked everyone in the neighbourhood to submit DNA samples for a comparison, and they reported that everyone was cooperative. But they also never discovered a DNA match.
What happened to the police investigation?
After the DNA tests returned no results, Derek and Maria begged the prosector’s office to conduct a forensic genealogy investigation, which is a controversial method involving sampling the DNA uploaded by millions of people seeking information about their ancestors. Per The Cut article, it’s touted that about 90 per cent of Americans of European descent can be identified from this data base.
The prosecutor’s office declined the request, and to this day, they say the case isn’t active—but it’s not closed either.
Essentially, this means that they’re no longer actively investigating individuals who could be suspects. But if they receive any fresh evidence or new leads, it’s likely they’ll pursue them.
Does The Watcher still send letters to 657 Boulevard?
After the Broadduses moved out of 657 Boulevard, others have lived there, but none have claimed they received any letters. With this in mind, it appears The Watcher is no longer sending letters to the house.
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