Warning: spoilers for The Midnight Club episode 9 in this review. Turn back if you don't want to be spoiled!
The Midnight Club episode 9 opens by answering the hot question of the last few episodes: which of the gang is in recovery? It's not, in fact, Ilonka - in itself not that surprising, her absolute certainty last episode was a big giveaway that she was about to fall flat on her face. Instead, it turns out to be Sandra, the member of the club who wanted the least to do with the Five Sisters ritual. Either by magic or - as she suspects, simple human error - it turns out that she no longer has terminal lymphoma.
This is good news, of course, but it hits the group like a bomb. Ilonka is personally devastated having convinced herself that she'd been magically cured. Sandra feels overwhelming guilt that her friends are still ill and that's compounded when she comes clean that the spooky voice that Spence heard on the intercom was actually her. She faked supernatural events around the hospice in the hope that it would help bring some of the club to faith. Obviously, this does not go down well.
In fact, this episode briefly flirts with the idea that all of the magical events that have taken place over the course of the series might have rational explanations. While Kevin and Ilonka say that they’ve both seen the same ghosts – the old man and woman – the others deny having seen anything. Still, despite Amesh suggesting that they are experiencing a case of folie à deux (the madness of two) simply too much has happened for it all to be so easily explained away.
Ilonka reacts to all of this – and to an absolutely disastrous encounter with Katherine, which ends with her venting her rage and cruelly reducing Kevin's girlfriend to tears – in the way that she's reacted to every extreme event this season. She goes and sees Shasta who suggests that they recreate the ritual themselves later that night. If you're thinking that her demands to be snuck into Brightcliffe sound a bit suspicious and probably a really bad idea then you are not wrong. Ilonka, however, is too blindsided by the reveal that Shasta is, in fact, Julia Jayne, something that most of the audience probably worked out several episodes ago.
Spence, at least, is having a good time, despite Sandra's revelations. Mark takes him to meet a group of LGBTQ activists and he is astonished to find people who accept him for who he is and who don't treat him with fear or disgust. His growing confidence and self-acceptance has been one of this season's most affecting character arcs and William Chris Sumpter’s performance is terrific. The meeting gives Spence the boost he needs to return to Brightcliffe and accept Sandra's apology with love before telling a story at that night's Midnight Club.
'The Eternal Enemy' is an amusing mix of The Terminator and the long-forgotten late '90s show Early Edition. Spence's character Chris discovers that his VCR can predict the future. At first, he and his boyfriend Rel use it to make a few bets and earn some easy money. When it predicts that a girl will be accidentally killed, however, Chris feels like he has to intervene. He succeeds in saving her life, but in doing so draws the attention of a mysterious hooded figure who turns out to be Rel from the future.
This yarn isn't too dissimilar to Amesh's time travel tale from ‘See You Later’, but the point of it is fairly clear. In cyborg Rel’s future, humanity has eliminated all imperfections and defects - but what are we without those? Chris learns to accept himself just as Spence has come to accept his sickness.
So, a fairly heartwarming conclusion to the penultimate episode – until Shasta swoops into Brightcliffe with three of her Good Humor goons. Ilonka has snuck them inside the building so that they can perform the healing ritual again. She goes along with it, but pauses when Shasta hands her a mysterious potion to drink. She's considering it when Stanton busts into the chamber and the three cultists collapse, writhing to the floor in agony. They've been poisoned by Shasta - and she's coming for Ilonka next…
A weird episode, this. Sandra’s recovery is a cool, unexpected choice (my money was on Natsuki) and Spence’s scenes continue to be highly emotional without being overly cloying. Elsewhere, though, it feels like the main arc is still only inching along and we have a lot of unanswered questions going into the season – and possibly series – finale.
Brightcliffe notes...
The previous episode ended with Ilonka finding Kevin confused and alone in the secret chamber. He admits to her that he sleepwalks and often finds himself waking up in the room and sometimes in the bed that's down there.
Kevin and Spence share a heart-to-heart here about Ilonka and Katherine, with Spence gently pointing out that Kevin's attempts to keep everyone happy are simply making things more muddled and confusing for everyone. It's clear that Kevin and Ilonka have feelings for each other. They don't have much time left, so shouldn't they be spending it together, rather than dragging out the end of his relationship with Katherine?
Amesh is right, 'Folie à Deux' is a fine episode of The X-Files.
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.
