Spoiler Warning: The Watcher (2022)
The viewer currently in the top ten Netflix shows, gripping audiences with an unsolved mystery based on a true story. The show follows the Braddock family as they buy a new home and settle in their new neighborhood. They begin to receive creepy anonymous letters signed by a mysterious stalker who calls himself “The Watcher.”
With strange neighbors and strange situations in their house, the family is shocked and goes to the police to try to find out who is watching them and sending them threatening letters. The investigation leads to some disturbing discoveries about their new home, the neighborhood and the people in it, and families who previously lived in the home. Eventually the Braddock family can’t take it anymore as the stress and pressure begin to drive the family apart.
They decide to put the house on the list and go back to town. When the house is finally sold, Mrs. Braddock thinks they can move on with their lives. But with the matter still unresolved, Mr. Braddock obsessed with figuring out who was responsible for the letters. We don’t find out who The Watcher is, nor the family the show was based on. So that makes us wonder how much of the show is based on reality and how much of it is fictitious.
What is the real story of The Watcher?
First, let’s look at what happened in the real Watcher case. In 2014, Maria and Derek Broaddus bought the house at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. The couple had planned to move in with their three young children after renovations were completed when they began receiving the Watcher’s scary letters. The home’s previous owners, John and Andrea Woods, also received a single letter from the Watcher, but only as they were getting ready to sell the home after living there for 23 years. Unlike the letters the Broadduses received, it was more strange than threatening and she simply thanked the family for taking good care of the house. The Woods couple thought nothing of the letter and threw it away.
The Watcher’s letters changed their tone drastically as the Broaddus family began to renovate. The Watcher condemned them for making changes to the house and made disturbing comments about their children. Derek was the one who read the first letter and notified the police. Both Maria and Derek then contacted the Woods to inquire if they knew who the Watcher might be. The Woods responded to the letter they had received, but they no longer had it to provide to the police. Later, the Broaddus family took precautions by installing a security system.
The family lived on the edge for several more weeks as they received more letters. The letters were even addressed to them by name and contained details about their children. They contained information about the house that only a few people could know, and several neighbors were questioned by the police. After the renovation was done, the family was so overwhelmed with fear that they couldn’t bring themselves to move into the house. And six months later they decided to sell. But at that point, of course, rumors started spreading as to why the house was empty, so the only offers they got were well below the asking price.
For years, the pair struggled with police and private investigators to solve the case, but with very little evidence, they were unable to locate the culprit. The Broadduses even filed a lawsuit against the Woods couple, which was ultimately dismissed. Finally, a family rented the house from them, and again the Watcher sent a letter. However, nothing came of the letter and after another series of tenants, the Broadduses finally sold the house in 2019.
What is fiction?
In addition to the name changes and the number of children the family has, there are quite a few things that have been fictionalized in the show. The neighbors were loosely based on real people, but not everything that happened on the show happened in real life with the Broaddus family.
In fact, the family has never officially withdrawn because of the threats regarding their children. So the events surrounding the killing of Carter’s ferret never happened. The Broaddus family also didn’t have a teenage daughter, so the entire storyline of Ellie having an older boy was fictional.
Pearl and Jasper were based on neighbors they named Peggy and Michael, who were the prime suspects at one point, but were eventually ruled out. Although Michael was described as a strange person and had a history of mental disabilities, he did not break into their home. The house behind 657 Boulevard also had lawn chairs facing the back porch, just like Mitch and Mo from the show.
However, the baby-eating blood cult was never real, and the character of Andrew and his wife and son was also fictional. John Graff and the crimes he committed were also based on reality. Although the murders did not take place within 657 Boulevard and had nothing to do with the Watcher letters, they occurred in Westfield.
Derek Broaddus, like Dean Braddock, became obsessed with discovering the Watcher’s identity. However, he never sent the letters himself. He also did not continue to visit the house after it was sold. Karen, the real estate agent who befriended Nora and ended up buying the house after they listed it, was also completely fictional. It took several years for them to finally sell the house, and the new owners haven’t heard from the Watcher. But just like on the show, the Watcher was never caught.