“	You killed my wife. I wanted to go back in there, but you...	”
–Carter, to George, at the memorial service.

Carter Daniels is an antagonist in the film The Final Destination. He is a survivor of the McKinley Speedway crash and the second survivor to die.

Biography

Carter lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was a member of local PTA and NRA chapters in McKinley, Pennsylvania. He worked as a tow truck driver for Destiny Towing and was married to a woman named Cynthia. However, he was racist and held neo-fascist ideologies.

The Final Destination

Carter is visiting the McKinley Speedway with his wife when Nick O'Bannon has a premonition of a deadly race car crash. Shortly before the premonition, a security guard tells Carter to move his foot out of the aisle after he makes a racist remark. When Nick panics and leaves the stadium, he accidentally bumps into Carter, who follows him out of the stadium, but tells Cynthia to stay behind. Once outside, he witnesses the accident occur, and attempts to go back for his wife, but the security guard, George Lanter, refuses to let him go back inside, which causes him to resent George.

A couple of days later, Carter attends the memorial service being held at the speedway, where he confronts George and blames him for Cynthia's death. He makes several racial slurs and thinly veiled threats before leaving.

Death

Later that night, a drunken Carter goes to George's house in his tow truck to burn a cross on his front lawn. While Carter is setting up the cross, the horseshoe-shaped keychain hanging around the rear-view mirror of the truck falls and turns on the radio, alarming Carter. A six-pack of Hice Pale Ale beer then falls on the gear shift, and the truck starts rolling down the hill. Carter rushes to stop the truck, but Death locks the truck doors. He fails to notice when a gas canister in the bed of the truck tips over and leaks on the road. As he shouts at the truck, his pants get caught by the towing cable, and he is dragged down the road. The chain strikes the ground and creates a spark, which ignites the gas and creates a fire.

George rushes outside after hearing cries for help and finds Carter being dragged down the street on fire. The trail of fire finally reaches the gas tank of the truck and causes it to explode, blowing Carter to pieces, and his severed head lands on George's lawn.

Signs/Clues

• In the premonition Nick has of the stadium being destroyed, Carter was killed when a burning car hood flew through the air and cut him and Cynthia in half at the waist.
• At the memorial, Carter is wearing a necklace that has a hook-shaped pendant.
• Nick has a vision of a death involving George's house, a cross, a horseshoe, a hook attached to a chain, and fire.
• On his way to George's house, Carter listens to the song "Burning Bridges" by Anvil.
• The hat Carter wore during his attempted cross-burning had a skull on it.
• The name on the back of the tow truck and the paperwork inside it is "Destiny Towing."
• The song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" by War begins playing right before Carter is hooked. Ironically, this song played after he did cross burning because he hated George.
• Carter's death, being set on fire and dragged behind a truck, is an ironic reference to how some racist lynch mobs would execute their victims.
• The next morning, after Carter's death, Lori is watching a Tex Avery cartoon, "Red Hot Rangers". A character, also named George, was shown engulfed in flames.
• As Nick was having a vision of Carter's death, as the hook caught on fire and exploded, the words "IT'S HERE" can be seen emblazoned in red among the flames. The words can also be seen in some of the other visions that Nick had of the characters other than Carter.
• When Carter pulls up at George's house, George is reading an Alcoholics Anonymous book, while Carter is drinking a can of Hice Pale Ale beer.
• Carter drinks a Hice Pale Ale beer, from Final Destination 2 & 3, and the one that starts his truck.
• It's bad luck for a horseshoe to point downwards.
• If you look closely at the truck, you can see where it says "Destiny".

Appearances

• The Final Destination (portrayed by Justin Welborn)
• Final Destination 5 (archive footage in ending credits) (portrayed by Justin Welborn)

Trivia

• Carter Daniels is referenced in the opening credits of Final Destination 5 by a fiery hook swinging on the screen.
• Carter is quite similar to Ian McKinley and Peter Friedkin, as all three become insane when the ones they love die and try to kill someone.
• Carter shares his first name with Carter Horton, a high schooler who was meant to die by fire in the Flight 180 explosion. This is one of the many references to the previous Final Destination movies in The Final Destination, which were probably included because it was supposed to be the last movie.
• In the original script, he is described as: CARTER DANIELS, his death was slightly longer, and he had a couple more setbacks, including setting off George's sprinklers by accident. In the movie, you can see that George's sprinklers are on when Carter tries to stop his tow truck, so some of this may have been filmed, but not enough to warrant a deleted scene.
• The song used in the original script was "Ball and Chain" by Social Distortion.
• In the race track, Carter's tattoo is visible. It depicts a swastika, further evidence of his racial intolerance.
• There is irony in his death. Racists used to execute their victims by tying them to the back of a truck and dragging them up the road for meters until they die. In this case, he ends up getting killed instead.
  • Carter's ironic death may be partially inspired by the murder of James Byrd Jr. at the hands of three white supremacists (Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and John King) in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Brewer and King have since been executed for the murder, while Berry will be eligible for parole in 2038 at the age of 63.
• Carter's death is very similar to Brian Gibbons' death since both were blown apart.
• He's the most hated character in the Final Destination series.
• The Tex Avery cartoon "Red Hot Rangers" Lori was watching the following morning after Carter's death, has altered dialogue for unknown reasons. The character George was yelping "My ass is on fire!" while in the original, George yelped "Hey Junior! Bucket of water, bucket of water! Quick!"
• The newswoman who reported his death mentioned that Carter used to live in Fort Wayne, Indiana. However, this should not be taken as confirmation that the film takes place there, as there could be many reasons why he was residing in McKinley at the time.
  • Similarly, the newspaper reporting Samantha Lane’s death used the title “Lakeview Woman”, which also does not indicate the film’s setting. Taken together, both characters’ references clash and cancel each other out since the film’s overall setting cannot have two names at once, leaving McKinley, Pennsylvania as the only viable option, which was already highly probable.

Navigation

The Final Destination
Disaster(s)
McKinley Speedway | Tagert Theatres 13
Survivors
Nick O'Bannon | Lori Milligan | George Lanter | Hunt Wynorski | Janet Cunningham | Jonathan Groves | Andy Kewzer | Samantha Lane | Carter Daniels | Nadia Monroy
Casualties
Cynthia Daniels | Nadia Monroy | 51 unnamed people
Others
Edward Lane | Ryan Lane | Luke Lane | Danny Wall | Cheyenne | Richard | Dee Dee | Pedicurist | Pam Smith | Officer Craig Perry | Girl on Top | Homeless Man | Browning | Mrs. Lanter | Ms. Lanter | Larry | Usher | Mr. Suby | Scaffolder | Jackie Bissley | Jason Koffeman
Locations
Indianapolis, Indiana | McKinley Speedway | Death by Caffeine | Salon Dante | Grandstate Customs | Forest Lawn Country Club | Springfield Centre Mall | Tagert Theatres