Here's What The Real-Life Watcher Family Reportedly Thinks About The Show
TBH, I get it.
A lot of people watched the Brannock family descend into paranoia in The Watcher, but at least one couple has no interest in peeking inside 657 Boulevard. Derek and Maria Broaddus, the real-life inspiration for The Watcher’s Dean and Nora Brannock, apparently have no love for the new Netflix thriller based on their unsolved stalking incident, and unsurprisingly, they aren’t too keen on watching their trauma play out on their TV screen. In fact, the Broaddus family reportedly won’t even watch The Watcher.
Many of the events depicted in The Watcher are pulled straight from the Broaddus family’s lived experience, which became a national fascination after their story was published in New York Magazine in 2018. When the couple bought 657 Boulevard back in 2014, they started receiving the same strangely threatening letters depicted in the Netflix series. The Broadduses grew suspicious of all their neighbors, but after being unable to nail down who was behind the Watcher letters after years of investigating, they finally decided to leave the house. The case still remains unsolved.
Although the Broadduses stopped receiving Watcher letters once they left 657 Boulevard, they’re still haunted by the experience, so it’s no surprise they reportedly aren’t tuning into the Netflix miniseries. ABC7 New York correspondent Eva Pilgrim relayed a statement from the family during her Oct. 18 broadcast, per Entertainment Weekly: “We've been told they have no plans to watch the show; the trailer was traumatizing enough.”
As New York Magazine noted in its initial reporting, the Broaddus family consistently declined all media appearance requests after the Watcher story blew up, and they don’t like to talk about the situation anymore.
While it’s no surprise that the Broaddus family aren’t keen on watching The Watcher, the series’ popularity could provide some hope for them. With a renewed interest in the unsolved Watcher case, there’s never been more incentive for investigators to take another stab at the mystery, or more engaged viewers providing new theories about who could’ve sent those letters. Re-living trauma is never ideal, but hopefully The Watcher can actually lead to some real answers at long last.
