User Reviews

First, I simply disagree with the reviewers who complain that the season finale didn't answer all their jiggling questions. The goal, after all, was several seasons, so I expected some of the questions to remain open for development.

Second, sorry, but this show lost a 9 from me when it violated one of my personal expectations from good fiction. Understand, I want to be fair. I expect some aspects of The Midnight Club to be tailored to a teen/YA audience, so naturally I expect a degree of naïveté from the teen characters. Naïveté, however, doesn't mean stupidity or blind obedience from a character who has been repeatedly touted as intelligent. When Dr. Stanton begins haranguing Ilonka for not being honest with her, I expected to see some spark of that intelligence respond. Sure, I get that Ilonka has had a shock, sees that she's been used, feels guilty for endangering her comrades. That's still no excuse for the sudden huge gaps in Ilonka's memory of Stanton's earlier statements.

In this episode, Stanton essentially claims that she's been honest with Ilonka and believes she's earned honesty in return. Really? Has Ilonka forgotten that Stanton feigned ignorance of Julia and withheld knowledge of the woman's past crimes? If Stanton had been more forthcoming in the first place-when Ilonka made it pretty clear she came to Brightcliffe solely because of Julia's miracle story-perhaps Ilonka would have been on her guard. Now, however, after Ilonka has nearly been assassinated, Stanton admits that Julia's been a source of trouble for the hospice for years.

As far as I can see, the only thing Stanton has earned from Ilonka is litigation.

Having just recently watched The Midnight Club, I wasn't really put off by the lack of "wrapping up" the series in the last episode, as it was intended to potentially be continued. That said, I'm glad it wasn't renewed, as I feel like it had already overstayed its run. As a one-off series of maybe 7-8 episodes, I think it would have been great. It did suffer after Anya was gone, I feel as though the standouts here were Ruth Codd and Sauriyan Sapkota as Amesh. Igby Rigney is a distracting mix of Hayden Christensen and Emile Hirsch in the looks department, and although I didn't feel like Kevin offered a whole lot to begin with, the quieter character definitely grew on me over time. I don't think any of the actors were weak links at all, and most had some shining moments individually, but it ran its course.

As per the usual, this Mike Flanagan-created series does a fine job of making the viewer care about the main characters. The problem with "The Midnight Club", though? Not only is the plot more of a distraction than anything (and "ends" with little closure), but thematically it loses focus on what should have been the thoroughfare.

For a very basic overview, "Midnight Club" is the story of Brightcliffe, a hospice for terminally ill children. Focusing on newcomer Ilonka (Iman Benson), the youngsters must come to grips with what dying at such a young age really means. Each night, they "sneak" into the manor's library and tell each other spooky (yet heartfelt) stories. But then, after a chance off-grounds encounter with the enigmatic Shasta (Samantha Sloyan), Ilonka discovers some secrets about Brightcliffe that may just hold the key to healing her and her newfound friends.

Without a doubt, the hallmark of "Midnight Club" is that Flanagan is able to make each of the children compelling in their own unique way. Even when other elements waxed and waned, I continued watching because I wanted to see what would/might happen to them. This is especially seen with characters like Anya (Ruth Codd) and Spencer (William Chris Sumpter)--two incredibly written-and-acted roles.

Another notch for this series? The ability to feel like a "90s show" (capturing that current nostalgic vibe) without completing bowing to it. Just some nice, relevant references in each episode that squarely place the series in time.

Unfortunately, "The Midnight Club" suffers from two rather large issues:

First, any plot element other than "story time in the library" fails--and pretty close to miserably. At first it is only mildly compelling, and then it simply ends on a cliffhanger with no promise of anything further. This was an unexpected disappointment from the master of such tightly-scripted tales as "Haunting of Hill House" and "Haunting of Bly Manor".

Also, each episode here essentially succeeds/fails on the back of it inherent story. Some are wonderfully compelling--others not so much. Plus, the story--that of Kevin (Igby Rigney)--which is deemed finale-worthy did not connect with me like some of the others.

All told, I think the major problem with "Midnight Club" is not what it did do but what it didn't: focus on the emotional angst of living as an adolescent with terminal illness. When those themes are explored, the series reaches some emotional moments for sure--but as the focus shifts to underground societies and storytelling tropes, it loses that emotional core. Combine that with a vague, abrupt ending and the whole endeavor fell a bit flat (at least compared to Flanagan's earlier canon).

If you're looking for answers, you won't find them here. It's story time in the library, to say goodbye to characters who are already gone. (Unpopular opinion, I hated Anya.)

The cliffhanger from the previous episode is not expanded on in any way. Weirdo Shasta/Julia disappears and the other sisters end up in hospital with their stomachs pumped. Big deal.

Kevin finally finishes his story but does anyone really care anymore? Everyone tears up with Ilonka's story, but I dozed off. These stories bored me to tears anyway.

The final scene is the only one worth watching, but as of right now, I just don't care enough to come back for S2 if there is one.

Very disappointing finale to a overly drawn out season.