‘Midnight Mass’: 5 Details You Might Have Missed in the Netflix Series
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Midnight Mass Season 1, Episodes 1-7.]
Midnight Mass had a lot of twists and turns running throughout its main plot, so it’s unsurprising that viewers may have missed some of the intricate show’s more subtle details.
As with Mike Flanagan‘s past Netflix series, including The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass is filled to the brim with little nods to past works, foreshadowing at future events within the story, and much more. The series follows Crockett Island native Riley Flynn’s (Zach Gilford) return as it coincides with the arrival of a mysterious new priest named Father Paul (Hamish Linklater).
With Father Paul’s arrival comes a renewed religious fervor which unravels in a series of twists and turns too good to spoil. If you have yet to binge the dramatic horror series, turn back now, because below we’re examining some of the Easter eggs, nods, callbacks, and other blink-and-miss-it details from Flanagan’s latest TV venture.
Midnight Mass, Streaming now, Netflix
Riley's Judge
The series opens with a drunk driving accident that leaves Tara-Beth (Ebony Booth) dead. While standing in court for sentencing, Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) learns of his fate from a faceless judge. But keen listeners would recognize the judge’s voice belongs to none other than Carla Gugino, one of Flanagan’s regular stars who featured prominently in Hill House, Gerald’s Game, and Bly Manor.
Riley's Poster
When Riley returns home to Crockett Island after years in prison, he also returns to his time capsule of a bedroom that features posters from his youth. One of the posters is of Gillian Anderson‘s Dana Scully, which is either highly coincidental or a blatant callout to fellow Midnight Mass star Annabeth Gish, who co-starred with Anderson as Monica Reyes in The X-Files.
Mike Flanagan's Cameo
In Episode 3, Father Paul (Hamish Linklater) reveals the truth about his identity as Monsignor Pruitt and recounts his pilgrimage tale to Jerusalem where he met “The Angel.” Before he was transformed and born anew in his youthful state, Father Paul remembered Monsignor Pruitt’s senile haze in the desert. One of his fellow travelers tries to help him from getting lost and if you look closely, the man playing the part is Mike Flanagan himself.
Hush's Big Hit
Before Flanagan became the household Netflix name he is today, the 2016 film Hush introduced the concept of Midnight Mass. The movie starred Kate Siegel as a horror writer who had published a book under the title, which featured characters like Erin (who she plays in Midnight Mass) and Riley. Costarring alongside her in the movie is Samantha Sloyan who plays the overtly devout Bev Keane in Midnight Mass. In Hush though, Sloyan’s character Sarah Greene is an Easter egg in and of herself as the names were both used in Midnight Mass through Gish’s Dr. Sarah Gunning and Siegel’s Erin Greene. The book version of Midnight Mass also had a cameo in 2017’s Gerald’s Game.
"Holly Holy" Foreshadowing
Before the mystery of Father Paul’s miracles is unveiled and the truth about “The Angel” shared with St. Patrick’s parishioners, a montage in Episode 3 teases the growing fervor of Crockett Island’s inhabitants. While the scenes play out, Neil Diamond’s “Holly Holy” plays in the background. The lyrics for the song allude to calling the “sun in the dead of the night, and the sun’s gonna rise in the sky.” The words could serve as a metaphor for the coming dawn that eventually wipes out most of the island except for its two survivors, Warren (Igby Rigney) and Leeza (Annarah Cymone). Or it could hint at Father Paul’s delusion of the miracles he hopes to bestow on those around him as other lyrics reveal, “Touch a man who can’t walk upright, and that lame man, he’s gonna fly.”
