The Midnight Club episode 1 review, recap, and analysis: 'The Final Chapter'

Another year, another new Mike Flanagan series on Netflix… Things feel a little bit different this time, however. Flanagan's most recent project, Midnight Mass, was nothing short of a masterpiece – a rich, layered work that examined themes of mortality through the lens of an elegiac horror story. It felt like a real step up for the writer/director's work and one that bodes well for future projects. 

The Midnight Club – based on the 1994 book by Christopher Pike – is nothing like that show, despite the similar titles. Where Mass was haunting and sad, Club has a youthful wit and energy that's perhaps a little surprising given that it is, once again, a series about death. Mostly set in a hospice for terminally ill teenagers, it's a curious mix of ghost story, puzzle-box mystery, and horror anthology. It's driven by an ongoing narrative, but each episode (so far at least, I've seen the first four at the time of writing) includes an extended story within a story as the Brightcliffe residents regale each other with spooky tales to while away the lonely night hours. 

We begin in Sacramento in 1994. Seventeen-year-old Ilonka (Iman Benson) is getting ready to start the next chapter in her life, studying at California's prestigious Stanford University, when a nosebleed and what seems to be a seizure leads to her being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Cut to nine months later and Ilonka is turning 18 in a hospital bed with a shaved head. It's a devastating image that's quickly followed up by the revelation that she is terminal and has perhaps less than two years to live. A spot of desperate googling leads her to discover the existence of Brightcliffe Hospice – a home where terminally ill patients can "transition on their own terms". Most intriguingly, she reads of Julia Jane, a young woman who suffered with the same form of cancer and who claimed to have been mysteriously cured at Brightcliffe.

Most of the episode is taken up with meeting and getting to know the other young residents. There's Kevin (Igby Rigney), who seems kind and friendly. Sandra (Annarah Cymone) is deeply religious and keeps mostly to herself, while no one really trusts rich girl and chronic liar Cheri (Adia). Then there's Ilonka's aggressive, and honestly infuriating, roommate, the nihilistic Anya (Ruth Codd). There are lots more characters too – it's a large, sprawling cast – but we'll get to know those better over the course of the series.

There are some nicely sown seeds for future intrigue. Ilonka, played with an endearing mix of warmth and grit by Benson, has clearly done her research on the place and gives us a handy history of the building. It was built in 1901, used as a halfway house during the depression, and was later owned by a religious cult known as The Paragon before it was eventually bought by Dr. Georgina Stanton (played by horror legend Heather Langenkamp, AKA Nancy from the original A Nightmare On Elm Street) in 1966. Stanton still runs the place today in honor of her dead son. She seems fairly together, but you can’t help but suspect she knows far more about what's going on in Brightcliffe than she's letting on. 

So what is going on in Brightcliffe? Well, ghosts for one thing. Ilonka has several visions of terrifying apparitions throughout the episode. The other kids talk of the lift to the morgue in the basement moving on its own at night and there seems to be some kind of timeslip phenomena at work. Ilonka has visions of the hospice in the past and, when she first meets Kevin, the two seem to recognize each other, despite never having met before.

The most divisive element of the series is likely to be the scenes that earn the show its title. The Midnight Club is a drinking circle where the residents of Brightville gather to tell spooky stories, which we see dramatized on screen. Ilonka is quickly inducted into the club and tells the story of Julia Jane, the girl who was allegedly and supernaturally cured at Brightcliffe. Ilonka puts a horror spin on it to fit in, adding some flourishes about how Julia was able to predict the dates of people's deaths, but it's clear that primarily she's interested in the tantalizing prospect that maybe somebody really did come to the hospice and survive. 

'The Final Chapter' is an engaging first episode that's also far more fun than a TV show about terminally ill kids has any right to be. The cast are strong and there's certainly enough mystery to bring us back for the rest of the season. Still, I’m less convinced by the anthology side of things. Julia’s story is relevant to establishing one of the series’ big mysteries, but it also drags the episode’s momentum to a halt. Still, we have faith in Flanagan and his team and perhaps this element will make more sense as the season progresses.

Brightcliffe notes...

It's well known that Mike Flanagan is a Doctor Who fan – he's said the chance to work on it would be "a dream come true". Still, it's a little surprising to see the 1992 Bally Doctor Who pinball machine (complete with a wee airbrushed Sylvester McCoy) feature so prominently at one point! That's followed up by Anya accusing Amesh (Sauriyan Sapkota) of ripping off his story ideas from old episodes. Even Ilonka's line "That's all any of us are in the end... stories" feels like a nod to a similar line from the Matt Smith era of Doctor Who: "I'll be a story in your head. But that's OK, we're all stories in the end. Just make it a good one."

On the juke box

The music in the show seems to be going for a period-appropriate '90s indie pop vibe. Here are the tunes that pop up throughout the episode. 

• Stereo MCs – 'Connected'
• Cypress Hill – 'Insane In the Brain'
• Shine – 'Collective Soul'
• Flagpole Sitta – 'Harvey Danger'

The Midnight Club is available on Netflix – keep with us for episodic reviews of Mike Flanagan's new show. For more viewing options, check out our list of the best Netflix shows available to watch right now.