WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fear Street Part 2: 1978, now streaming on Netflix.
After meeting C. Berman, a.k.a. Ziggy, the Camp Nightwing survivor goes into what happened back in 1978. While the focus is primarily on the massacre itself, Fear Street Part 2: 1978 shows the build up to this tragic night, with Cindy Berman and several counselors discovering the witch's home while Ziggy is targeted by bullies. However, Ziggy manages to get her revenge in an homage to Stephen King's Carrie, yet there is more to this reference than just a prank.
The 1978 portion of Fear Street Part 2 kicks off with Ziggy being pursued by group of Sunnyvale teens, who accuse her of theft and being possessed by the witch. They take this to an extreme by hanging Ziggy by her wrists and burning her arm with a lighter. Thankfully, Nick Goode intervenes, yet Ziggy is still reprimanded and nearly kicked out of camp, despite being the victim.
This fits in with Fear Street's depiction of how ostracized and damned the citizens of Shadyside are despite doing nothing other than simply being born into this town. Ziggy in particular seems to be a stand out in the eyes of the Sunnyvale bullies because, unlike her sister, she is more so a non-conformist, even dubbing herself the "weird girl from Shadyside" later in 1978.
In that sense, Ziggy is already similar to Carrie White, the titular protagonist in King's novel and its film adaptations. While the two are immensely different in terms of personality, with Ziggy being more of a rebel and Carrie being more of a sheltered introvert, they are both targeted by the popular kids because of their differences.
Along with that, some of the language used to bully Carrie is similar to what Ziggy goes through. Along with being called a witch, Ziggy discovers her cabin has been defaced with graffiti. "Ziggy is a witch bitch," "monster" and "Ziggy sucks cocks in hell," are just some of the horrific messages plastered across her bunk. Meanwhile, Carrie is called "Scary Carrie" by a child in the 1976 film, and after her death, Sue Snell -- a classmate who escaped prom -- dreams of Carrie's resting place, which has been defaced with the words "Carrie White burns in hell."
The wording is not the exact same, yet both teens are demonized and seen as monsters. Carrie's case is different since she actually has telekinetic abilities and murders many of her classmates; however, the emotional and verbal abuse she experienced started long before she showed any supernatural capabilities. Meanwhile, Ziggy is just a kid who doesn't fit in and is from a town that has a wicked history.
On top of the taunting and verbal abuse these teens go through, their bullies take things further physically. While Ziggy is restrained and burned, Carrie is cornered in the bathroom and pelted with tampons. Along with this, there is the famous scene of the pig's blood being poured on Carrie at prom. The extent these bullies go to torment Carrie and Ziggy, while different in terms of execution, causes similar levels of physical and emotional pain.
This torment eventually leads to Carrie and Ziggy getting their revenge. For Ziggy, she plans on pulling a prank on her main bully, Sheila, that's taken literally from the pages of Carrie. At first she plans on dumping a bucket of red paint on Sheila in place of pig's blood; however, Nick proposes that instead they use a bucket of bugs, which they do moments before locking Shelia in the bathroom.
As for Carrie, her revenge is not planned, as it's a near instant response to her main bully, Chris, dumping a bucket of pig's blood on her and inadvertently knocking her prom date unconscious. After being bullied for so long and having the best night of her life ruined, Carrie finally breaks, using her telekinetic abilities to trap her classmates in the burning gym while she walks away.
It's no surprise that Ziggy would be a fan of King's work, specifically Carrie, as she can easily relate to the titular character. While Ziggy is not a real witch, Sunnyvalers treat her as such, just like Carrie's classmates and mother treat her as a freak. They're both outsiders and victims, and now, Ziggy can unfortunately relate more to Carrie, with both going through traumatic events; however, where Carrie was behind the bloodshed, Ziggy was the unlikely survivor of a night of terror.
Directed and co-written by Leigh Janiak, the Fear Street trilogy stars Sadie Sink, Kiana Madeira, Olivia Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Darrell Britt-Gibson, Ashley Zukerman, Fred Hechinger, Julia Rehwald, Jeremy Ford and Gillian Jacobs. Part 1: 1994 and Part 2: 1978 are now streaming on Netflix, followed by Part 3: 1666 on July 16.