‘The Midnight Club’ Creator Reveals What Would’ve Happened Next
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Midnight Club Season 1.]
It’s always a sad day when a show with lingering mysteries is canceled, but such is the case with The Midnight Club at Netflix.
Inspired by the works of Christopher Pike and hailing from horror auteur Mike Flanagan, The Midnight Club‘s chances for survival shrunk after it was revealed Flanagan and collaborator Trevor Macy had signed a new multi-year deal with Amazon Studios, a direct competitor with Prime Video. Just hours after the deal was announced, The Midnight Club was axed by Netflix.
Unlike Flanagan’s past works like The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club‘s first season ended with plenty of lingering questions and cliffhangers. Thankfully, he’s not leaving fans hanging any longer as the creative took to Tumblr to share details about what would have happened in Season 2.
“I’m very disappointed that Netflix has decided not to pursue a second season of The Midnight Club,” Flanagan began his Tumblr post. “My biggest disappointment is that we left so many story threads open, holding them back for the hypothetical second season, which is always a gamble.”
(Credit: Eike Schroter/Netflix)
It’s for that reason, Flanagan said, “I’m writing this blog as our official second season.” In other words, spoilers ahead!
Season 2, Flanagan reveals, would have begun with Amesh’s (Sauriyan Sapkota) glioblastoma advancing quickly and for that reason, he would have told the first story of the season.
Much of his storyline would focus on his romance with Natsuki (Aya Furukawa) before his death becomes imminent. Meanwhile, Ilonka’s (Iman Benson) story would have focused on her conflicted feelings after being fooled by Julia Jayne (Samantha Sloyan) and her growing relationship with Kevin (Igby Rigney).
Like Amesh, Kevin begins to fade as well and in an effort to keep him around, Flanagan said, “Ilonka begins a serialized story.” The story would have centered around Pike’s Remember Me, and across five episodes, Ilonka would have shared this tale which would have featured her deceased roommate Anya (Ruth Codd) as the leading character.
As the season would have progressed, Amesh would die, meeting the next chapter “with grace and bravery.” Flanagan points out, “In his final moments, he sees someone in his room – the Janitor from the first season, as played by Robert Longstreet, who says comforting things to Amesh even though he can’t respond.”
(Credit: Eike Schroter/Netflix)
According to Flanagan, death isn’t the shadowy figure looming over these patients, but Longstreet’s janitor who is only ever seen by the patients. The warm and cordial figure helps them greet the afterlife in peace.
Meanwhile, the shadow, Flanagan said, “is themselves. It’s the Unknown. As it engulfs someone, in the last moment of their life, it takes them through a place of understanding and catharsis, preparing them for the next step.”
Following Amesh’s death, a new patient would arrive at Brightcliffe, occupying the space left behind by Anya. At first, Ilonka would show resistance, but ultimately, the girls would become friends.
Natsuki’s illness would be the next to take over as she dies shortly after talking with the janitor. But it isn’t all sad as Spence’s (Chris Sumpter) prognosis takes the opposite turn. “The advancements in HIV treatment in the late 90’s would come into play, and we’d see his prognosis change,” Flanagan wrote. “The HIV cocktail came out in Dec 1995, and we really wanted to explore that.”
In the end, Spence’s HIV would no longer be classified as terminal and he’d leave Brightcliffe just like Sandra (Annarah Cymone) had in Season 1. Another detail that Flanagan shares is Cheri (Adia) would tell a story for the first time in the club, and it would have likely been Pike’s Monster.
(Credit: Eike Schroter/Netflix)
As for some of the series’ overarching mysteries, Flanagan revealed that Dr. Stanton’s (Heather Langenkamp) secret isn’t so nefarious. She’s actually the daughter of Paragon cult leader, Aceso (Katie Parker). She wrote the journal Ilonka found in Season 1 and left Brightcliffe until her mother was gone and she collect the property.
Vowing to make Brightcliffe a place for celebrating life, Stanton turned it into a hospice house. Flanagan further explains that Stanton’s bald head is revealing her own cancer journey and the Paragon tattoo is from her youth.
Ultimately, Stanton would have gone into remission though. “having to face that – while caring for the terminal kids at Brightcliffe – was going to be a very introspective arc for Stanton,” Flanagan shares.
At the end of the season, Flanagan revealed Kevin would die and Ilonka would follow not far behind. It’s upon her death that she would discover that the Janitor is death. Upon Kevin’s death, the mystery of the “Mirror Man” and “Cataract Woman” as Flanagan calls them, would be answered.
They were Stanley Oscar Freelan and his wife Vera. “But more than that… there’s a reason that Ilonka only sees Stanley in the mirror, and sees the Cataract Woman whenever she looked at Kevin. This is something else we took from Pike’s original book… these aren’t ghosts, but glimpses of past lives,” Flanagan wrote.
“Ilonka was Stanley Oscar Freelan, and Kevin was his wife. They’ve lived many lives this way, and are true soul mates,” Flanagan added.
Ultimately, Season 2 would have concluded with most of the original cast dead or gone, with a new cast set in place to tell new stories. But some former Brightcliffe patients would remain present through the stories of the club.
While viewers may never get to see these things play out onscreen, Flanagan has certainly provided plenty of answers, offering closure. See his full in-depth breakdown on Tumblr, and relive The Midnight Club anytime on Netflix.
The Midnight Club, Streaming now, Netflix
