The Ending Of Fear Street Part 2: 1978 Explained
The first two chapters in Netflix's "Fear Street" trilogy have now been released on the streaming service, and if "Fear Street Part 1: 1994" left viewers hungry for more gory suspense, "Fear Street Part 2: 1978" gave fans some much-needed answers even as it dropped another major cliffhanger. At the end of "1994," Sam (Olivia Welch) was possessed by the witch Sarah Fier and attempted to kill Sam's girlfriend, Deena (Kiana Madeira). At the beginning of "Part 2," Deena and her brother Josh (Benjamin Flores Jr.) track down C. Berman (Gillian Jacobs), who barely survived the 1978 massacre at Camp Nightwing. She then tells them about the experience that left many, including her sister, dead.
Viewers are then taken to Camp Nightwing in 1978, where a teenage girl named Ziggy (Sadie Sink) is being tormented by bullies from the neighboring community of Sunnyvale, who accuse her of being "a witch" because she lives in Shadyside. A young Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland), who as an adult in 1994 is the sheriff, intervenes. Meanwhile, Ziggy's sister, Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd), is an uptight camp counselor who has the perfect boyfriend in fellow counselor Tommy Slater (McCabe Slye). Nurse Mary Lane (Jordana Spiro), the mother of formerly possessed serial killer Ruby Lane, has been searching the camp for a way to stop the witch's reign of terror. She tries to kill Tommy after seeing his name on the witch's stone but is overpowered before she can succeed. As she predicts, Tommy begins hearing voices and, armed with an ax, goes on a bloody rampage that very night.
Bullying is a recurring theme in the movies so far
By the end of "Fear Street Part 2: 1978," viewers learn that Ziggy, and not Cindy, is Christine Berman, the survivor of the camp massacre. When viewers first meet Ziggy, she is being tormented by Sunnyvale campers, who hang her by her hands from a tree and accuse her of stealing. Sheila (Chiara Aurelia) then threatens to burn Ziggy as a witch, going so far as to burn her arm with a lighter before Nick intervenes. This bullying is clearly not a new experience for Ziggy, who reacts to everyone with anger and sarcasm as a defense mechanism.
Throughout the 1978 story, the Sunnyvale campers frequently bully their Shadyside counterparts. The Sunnyvale kids mock Shadysiders for their town's urban legend and violent history, and the Shadyside kids resent the good fortune Sunnyvalers seem to have. Not to mention that because of the Shadyside Witch's curse, Shadyside residents are always targeted by the killers.
Deena, a biracial and lesbian teenager, has also experienced bullying, and anger seems to be a fundamental part of her personality. She will soon learn the truth about Sarah Fier since she now seems to be trapped in Sarah's body in 1666. Sarah was obviously persecuted for being a witch, which is why she cut off her hand and made a pact to curse the town. An overarching theme of the series seems to be that unfair persecution can and will lead to revenge.
While Sheila's death wasn't shown, it's possible viewers have seen the adult version of her. Could she be Sam's domineering mother, which means an adult Ziggy — who is watching over a possessed Sam while Deena tries to end the curse — will have a chance at revenge before the trilogy ends?
Time is a prominent symbol in Part Two
In the 1978 story, many of the events play out similarly to those in the 1994 story, proving history in Shadyside repeats itself. At the end of the 1978 story, Ziggy and Cindy unearth a stone that reads "the witch forever lives" and are unable to end the curse in 1978. The sisters are violently stabbed multiple times, with both seemingly dying. An injured Nick arrives and revives Ziggy. Because Ziggy died for a couple of minutes, the connection between her and the witch seems severed. However, viewers know from 1994 that Sam, who died for several seconds to end her connection with the witch, eventually became possessed hours later. C. Berman even warned Deena right before Sam's attack that "it's never over."
One of the burning questions left hanging from the 1978 story is how Ziggy avoided possession after her resurrection — or did she? While her daily reminders, alarm clocks, and alienation from people are quirks easily associated with PTSD, they could also have more meaning, such as how she's avoided the curse, at least in part. It's possible she becomes possessed at certain times of the day, lied in parts of her story, and that reuniting the severed hand with the bones is a red herring to trick Deena and Josh into perpetuating the curse rather than ending it.
The multiple clocks in C. Berman's home are also a hint that time is a key element to the overall Fear Street trilogy, with all three stories ultimately intersecting.
There may be no way to end the curse
While the solution seems to be reuniting the witch's severed hand with the rest of her body, the end of "Fear Street Part 2: 1978" and the teaser for "Fear Street Part 3: 1666" make an end to the curse seem uncertain. When she reunites the body parts, Deena seems to be transported back in time to 1666 inside the body of Sarah Fier, so viewers will certainly learn what prompted the curse and why blood matters to the witch. It seems anyone whose blood comes in contact with the witch's bones becomes a target of her wrath. They also become mentally connected with Sarah, able to see flashes of her life in visions. Considering the diary warns that blood will fall anytime anyone is near the witch's bones, this magic seems to be a defense mechanism, allowing the witch to connect with and target anyone who might threaten her spell over the town.
It can also explain why the massacres happen so frequently in Shadyside. The witch's bones are buried in the town, and as long as they are there, "blood will fall" could also explain the multiple massacres. A teaser for the Netflix trilogy also shows writing on the wall that reads "Goode is evil," implying the Goodes could have made the pact with the devil, not Sarah, which is why Sunnyvale prospers while Shadyside suffers.
Like everything with the Fear Street Trilogy, only time will tell how the story plays out.