The latest TV adaptation of a Stephen King novel makes one of the darkest deaths from his books even worse. Given how most books written by Stephen King belong to the horror genre, it is not surprising that many of the King of Horror’s works feature some brutally dark death scenes.

Another acclaimed Stephen King novel, which was published in 2019, features a similarly disturbing death sequence. Surprisingly, as terrifying as the death scene may seem in the book, its new TV adaptation somehow manages to make it even worse in more ways than one by introducing a few minor book changes.

In Stephen King’s The Institute, twin sisters Greta and Gerda end up at the central facility after being abducted from their home. During a dark set of events, Greta and Gerda are in Harry’s room at the facility, where Harry has a seizure and accidentally kills Greta by slamming her head into a wall.

Since MGM+’s adaptation of The Institute attempts to loyally adapt the source material, it portrays a similar sequence of events. Owing to this, even in the show, Greta and Gerda are seen talking to Harry and consoling him as he tries to recover from his recent experience with Dr. Hendricks’ experiments.

Greta’s murder at the hands of Harry seems far more intentional in the show, which makes the entire story beat even darker than the original.

However, unlike his book counterpart, Harry does not get seizures in the show. Instead, while suffering from the terrible side effects of the tests at the facility, he suddenly loses his temper and hits Greta on the head with a dumbbell. Greta’s murder at the hands of Harry seems far more intentional in the show, which makes the entire story beat even darker than the original.

By giving Greta’s death a darker twist, MGM+’s The Institute highlights everything that is wrong with the oppressive system at the heart of its narrative. The show seems to intensify the brutality and emotional weight of the character’s murder, which underscores how the experiments the kids are forced to endure are making them lose their humanity and turning them into killers.

Harry’s actions and Greta’s tragic demise in the show serve as symbols of how the trapped children’s innocence is being systematically destroyed in the name of science. Although MGM+’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Institute is far from being perfect, book changes like these in its narrative highlight exactly why it is earning more critical acclaim than most recent Stephen King shows.