Warning: spoilers for The Midnight Club episode 6 in this review. Turn back if you don't want to be spoiled!
'Witch' is a hard episode to rate. In its first half, it embodies all of the things that have made The Midnight Club as a whole a well-intentioned but overall slightly frustrating watch. Around the halfway point, however, it switches focus and delivers some of the show's strongest material to date.
If, like me, you've often found the series’ plethora of meta-narratives a little bit slow and tedious, you're going to hate the opening half of this. We begin midway through Kevin's ongoing serial killer narrative. His alter-ego Dusty has started to fall for Sheila (played by Ilonka), but the evil driving him wants him to kill again..
Once again Kevin ends his story on a cliffhanger and we're starting to wonder what the greater significance of this will be. Are we meant to think that he secretly harbors a darkness that will put Ilonka in peril? That seems unlikely and we suspect that it will turn out to have a more metaphorical link to Kevin's emotional state, likely related to his complicated feelings about his family and, especially, his mother. No doubt we’ll get a third (and final?) installment before the season is out.
Kevin wraps things up relatively swiftly and it looks like we're about to move into the meat of the episode when Ilonka throws a curveball. She has a tale that she wants to sell. "Double story!" shouts Natsuki excitedly. "Oh...," sighs your reviewer, slightly annoyed.
Ilonka's tale, 'Witch' focuses on a young girl, Imani, who is learning to use her magical powers. She falls in love with a young man, Ben - played, of course, by Kevin actor Igby Rigney. She has a premonition that he will die and sets out to try and save him - a foolhardy mission, we suspect. Stopping off at a gas station late one night, Imani and Ben get embroiled in a robbery that looks like it will end with him taking a bullet to the face. Before we discover his fate, however, Anya collapses, prematurely ending the story.
We've said this before, but it's genuinely impressive how, in just a few episodes, Ruth Codd’s Anya has gone from being an almost entirely dislikable bully to the heart of the series. Everyone is worried about her and the situation forces them to confront their own mortality. Natsuki is starting to come around to the idea that death may be a literal presence haunting the hospice but Ilonka, for her part, is mostly just really, really angry.
She storms outside to collect water from the stream (it's allegedly in a healing vortex, remember?). Predictably, she runs straight into Shasta, who shows her the hourglass tattoo on her wrist and who tells her how to conduct a ritual that might be able to save Anya's life.
Desperate and ready to try anything to help her friend, Ilonka talks the gang into taking part in it - except Sandra, of course. She's come a long way since falling out with Spence a few episodes back, but pagan rites are a step too far for her. It's a nice touch that, while the characters have all been quite critical of her religion, her decision here is treated with respect.
The ritual requires sacrifice, both of blood drawn from each participant’s palm, and the donation of something meaningful to them. Ilonka gives up a bracelet that belonged to her late foster mum. Kevin hands over a medal he won for running a 400 metre race. Spence gives up a collection of ticket stubs - all of the films that he saw with his estranged mother. Amesh burns the only photo he has of his dad. Sandra donates a coin that was given to her by a boy who loved her - and who it's implied she could not love back because of her religion. Natsuki drops in the key to a car that she almost died in. Most touchingly Cheri - and surely we're getting an episode about her soon? - hands over the notes she was given by a girl she secretly loved.
It's a genuinely tender and powerful moment, all of these characters giving up the things that matter the most to them on the slim chance that it will help save their ailing friend's life. After a slow start to the episode, it reminds you of how genuinely touching this show can be.
Does the rite work? We don't know yet, but it doesn't look good for Anya... ‘Witch’ ends with black tendrils emerging from the ether towards her. Perhaps the next episode will see Anya fully recovered, but we can't help but think that this is part of some evil plan by Shasta. Never trust a wellness guru…
Brightcliffe notes...
Dr. Stanton’s cautionary speech about people getting too obsessed with conquering death both ties into Ilonka's story and, perhaps, backs up the idea that she might be Athena, the daughter of Regina Ballard.
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.
