The Watcher, which has a mystery based on a true story, is presently among the top 10 Netflix series. The Braddock family is followed as they buy a new house and adjust to their new neighborhood in the episode. They start to get creepy anonymous messages addressed to them from “The Watcher,” a mystery stalker.
The family is alarmed by their unusual neighbors and strange occurrences in their home and calls the police to try to identify who is keeping an eye on them and threatening them. The research yields some unsettling revelations regarding the folks who previously resided in the house, the neighborhood and its residents, and their new home. They decide to sell the house and relocate back to the city. Mrs. Braddock thinks they will finally be able to go on with their lives once the home sells. But since the case hasn’t been solved, Mr. Braddock is still driven to identify the author of the letters. We never learn who The Watcher is, just as the family on which the show was based never does. This raises the question of how much of the show is fictitious and how much is based on fact.
What Happened in The Watcher?
Let’s first discuss what occurred in the Watcher case. The house at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey, was purchased by Maria and Derek Broaddus in 2014. When the renovations were finished, the couple was preparing to move home with their three young children when they started getting ominous letters from the Watcher. John and Andrea Woods, the previous owners, also had one letter from the Watcher, but it came just as they were preparing to sell the home they had lived in for 23 years. It was not as menacing as the letters the Broadduses had received and merely expressed gratitude for the family’s excellent housekeeping. The Woods couple threw the letter away without giving it any thought.
When the Broaddus family started renovations, the Watcher’s messages took on a very different tone. The Watcher made unpleasant remarks about their children and criticized them for making changes to the house. The first letter was read by Derek, who then called the police to report it. The Woods were then called by Derek and Maria to see if they knew who the Watcher may be. The Woods responded to them regarding the letter they had received, but they were unable to give the police a copy since they had lost it. The Broaddus family afterward installed a security system as a precaution.
As further letters arrived, the family’s level of anxiety persisted for several weeks. The letters even featured information about their kids and were addressed to them by name. Several of the neighbors were questioned by the police since they possessed information about the residence that only a select few people could know. The family was so overcome with fear when the renovations were finished that they could not decide to move into the home. And they decided to sell six months later. However, by this time, tales about the reason the house lay empty had naturally started to circulate, so the only offers they received were much below the asking price.
The couple worked with police and private investigators for years to solve the case, but because of a lack of evidence, they were unable to identify the offender. Even though the Broadduses’ lawsuit against the Woods family was ultimately rejected, it was filed. They eventually left the house to a family, and the Watcher wrote to them once again. The Broadduses finally sold the house in 2019 despite the letter’s failure to have any effect. Below is the trailer for The Watcher: