Enjoyable, but strange pacing.
Set in a youth hospice and former cult host mansion named Brightcliffe, The Midnight Club follows a group of terminally ill teenagers as they reckon with life, death, and hope.
The show is effectively split into two parts: a supernatural mystery about the supposed healing power of Brightcliffe and the cult and former patients who were allegedly able to harness it; and an anthology of stories spanning multiple genres told at the titular Midnight Club, a nightly meeting where the teenagers tell each other tales to thrill and offer some insight into their character.
In a typical episode, roughly equal time is allocated to the two parts. Unfortunately, they're not harmonious, and they frequently step on each other's toes - especially in the first half of the season. It's not unusual for the mystery component to construct a more urgent pace, only to have it defused unceremoniously by the episode's anthology entry.
This would be fine if the anthology entries justified their inclusion, but they frequently don't. Despite the loving and faithful appropriation of the narrative and presentational tropes and traits of each stories genre, and despite the charmingly meta re-casting of our characters as the characters of the entry - they largely end up underwhelming. There are, however, two emotionally charged and quite consequential entries which serve as standout moments for the show.
Conflict in the show's interplay aside, though, there's a lot to like. The chemistry between the main cast is pretty good, the mystery thread whereby our lead closes in on the rituals practiced by the former cultists and patients is captivating if a little cliche, and there are more than a few genuinely heartfelt moments throughout.
Some will find the season's ending bizarre - it offers little closure on the mystery component, a pair of middling anthology entries, and then fizzles out. The stage is set for a follow-up season, but despite the character's having grown for their experiences - it doesn't feel like the overall context has changed in any meaningful way. It's a strange departure, because Flanagan's other work with Netflix has been much better at tying the threads together into something cohesive at the close - but then those were miniseries' and likely benefited from the tighter scope.
I'll watch the next season, but I hope that they find a better way to handle the interplay of mystery and anthology going forward.
