Warning: spoilers for The Midnight Club episode 10 in this review. Turn back if you don't want to be spoiled!
The Midnight Club wraps up its first – and perhaps only, it's not yet been officially renewed – season with an episode that gives us plenty of feel-good emotional closure and precious little in the way of actual answers. It's a uniquely frustrating way to close out the season, but I guess that, if this really is the end, then at least we can say that the show died how it lived.
After a flashback to 1968 where Shasta/Julia Jayne meets Regina Ballard for the first time, we cut to the present and the conclusion of the last installment's cliffhanger. Stanton bursts into the ritual chamber, just in time to save Ilonka from a fatal poisoning. The police are on the way and Shasta legs it into the night. Stanton elects to help the three cultists, rather than go after her. It's a wise choice - they survive and it'll be interesting to see what they have to say when they recover. That's for next season, however.
Stanton and Ilonka talk, the former revealing that Shasta has tried numerous times in the past to break into Brightcliffe. She strongly denies that there's anything magical or special about the area, picking up the thread from the last episode that maybe there's a rational explanation for all of this. We didn't buy it then and we don't buy it now – not least because we see in the very last scene that Stanton has an hourglass tattoo just like Shasta’s.
And, well, that's about it for the big overarching plot! The rest of the hour is about giving the characters a degree of emotional closure as they each enter the next phase of their lives. Sandra leaves Brightcliffe, physically on the road to recovery and loved by her friends. Kevin parts ways with Katherine, letting her gently off the hook so that she can move on (and he can maybe get with Ilonka). Spence tentatively reconciles with his mother, who finally visits him in the hospice. Amesh introduces Natsuki to his grandparents and learns that his mum and dad have been located. And Cheri? Well, she plays the cello a bit. If we do get a season two then they really need to give Adia some better material as it's weird how sidelined she's been.
Finally, Ilonka meets Rhett, Anya's estranged friend, who has come to pay his respects. In an oblique twist, Ilonka sees that Anya's broken ballerina doll has been fixed. In fact, it doesn't look like it was ever broken at all. No explanation is offered for this, but Ilonka is gobsmacked. We’re left wondering if she is taking this as some kind of sign representing the peace that Anya found at the end of her life.
With the plot dispensed with, there's just enough time to wrap up the club's unfinished stories. Kevin finds an end to his serial killer saga, while Ilonka finishes her witch narrative. In Kevin's tale, Dusty is preparing to kill Sheila but he finds the courage to resist the voices urging him on. This causes his demonically possessed mother to scuttle across the ceiling towards them, but Sheila fights her off. Still, Dusty isn't entirely free of his evil. He tries to attack Sheila again, but manages to hold back long enough for her to injure him. He's arrested and spends the rest of his life in an asylum.
In the second part of 'Witch', Ben is killed (just as he was in Anya's dream world a few episodes back) rendering Scottie's sacrifice in the first part pointless. Heartbroken, Imani decides to atone for her mistakes by healing Scottie - at the cost of her own life. She's tired and wants to be reunited with her dead mother. Before Ilonka can finish her story, however, she breaks down in tears, the heavy emotion of the last few months finally catching up with her. So, in a genuinely powerful moment, Cheri, Amesh, and Natsuki intervene and add their own improvised twists to the story. Characters from the season’s other stories are brought in, including Luke and Becky (apparently alive and well now!) and together they fashion a happy ending for their friend’s tale.
What a deeply odd way to wrap up a season. The Midnight Club isn't an especially plot-driven series and the characters' emotional lives have been the main driving force throughout. That's fine, but it's hard not to feel at least a little frustrated with the way the show simply peaces out without really addressing any of the larger mysteries. Sure, we learn that the two ghosts are the original founders of the estate, Stanley and Vera Freelan, but we're none the wiser as to why they keep appearing to Kevin and Ilonka. The way Shasta has been built up all year, only to leg it 5 minutes into the episode is a big letdown too.
We trust Mike Flanagan. He's a proven asset for Netflix and we've got to assume that we're getting that second season and the answers that we're owed (he has also said that if the show isn’t renewed, he’ll explain things on Twitter… though that’s not quite the same now, is it?). But while The Midnight Club is an enjoyable, well-written and produced show, it needs to find a way to balance both its big arc plot and goofy side stories in a way that doesn't feel like we’re constantly treading water.
Brightcliffe notes...
Amesh's motor functions are deteriorating, as is his eyesight. In an episode that largely focuses on catharsis and reconciliation, this is an important reminder that the remaining teens are still staring death in the face.
On the Jukebox
- Richard Marx – 'Hazard'
The Midnight Club is available on Netflix. For more viewing options, check out our list of the best Netflix shows available to watch right now.
