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Midnight Mass Book I: Genesis
42 Plays5 months ago
Welcome back to Fans o'Flanagan! This season we're finally diving into the limited series Midnight Mass. Guilt, Faith, and lots and lots of Foreshadowing; here is episode one unpacked!
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Fans of Flanagan' and 'Midnight Mass'
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the island where the nights are long. The miracles are suspicious. And the blood is definitely not wine. We're your hosts, Laura and Noah.
00:00:13
Speaker
This is Fans of Flanagan. We know it's late. But it's time for Mass. Midnight Mass. Midnight Mass.
00:00:30
Speaker
Welcome back to Fanzo Flanagan.
Preparations and Anticipation for 'Midnight Mass'
00:00:33
Speaker
going to say it again. I'm Noah. I'm still Laura.
00:00:38
Speaker
And this, now we are going over Midnight Mass. We're finally diving into Midnight Mass. We're here. I fully dove in. I maybe took half of the episode time so I could write notes and and all the
Laura's Movie Experiences
00:00:56
Speaker
things. But we're here for episode one, book one, Genesis of Midnight Mass. But before we go any further, Laura, what have you been watching?
00:01:08
Speaker
Today, i actually took the kids and we saw the live action How to Train Your Dragon in theaters in three d It was really good.
00:01:19
Speaker
The 3D was good? the treat The whole movie was good. The 3D was good. The movie was good. We enjoyed ourselves. You don't want want to know why the movie is good?
00:01:31
Speaker
Well, I know they took... it's it's It is pretty much a shot for shot. It's 99%.
00:01:39
Speaker
Not 99. They added an extra 40 minutes of extra material. But how it was done, how the actors did, how the writing was, the CGI was really, really good.
00:01:51
Speaker
Well, I'm glad you you enjoyed it. I went into it knowing that it was going to be very much a remake, not a retelling, but like a whole just same movie. But that's what we expected.
00:02:06
Speaker
Yeah. So we had fun. We had fun. I'm not going to critique that. Yeah. I'm glad you guys had fun. Like, honestly, that's totally fine. yeah people are going to have fun during other different movies and others.
00:02:19
Speaker
So I'm, yeah, i don't go into it expecting something different from the animated. You're not gonna, it's, it's extra footage, but I think the original was an hour and 40 minutes and this one was just over two hours.
00:02:31
Speaker
okay But I'm glad they didn't change much about it, honestly. It's a very fine line with these live action remakes. If you change too much, you're you know not staying true to the source material. If you don't change enough, you get your critique, which is like, what's the point of going?
00:02:48
Speaker
So what are you going to do? I'm not on board. Exactly. I'm not on board with this remake Trends.
00:03:00
Speaker
Yet I still give them my money. So what does that say about me? Sometimes you just got to go see, you know, sometimes you got to go see. That's what we did. Yeah.
Series Discussion: 'Population 11' and 'The Better Sister'
00:03:10
Speaker
There's a show on prime that I've been watching.
00:03:14
Speaker
i it's kind of entertaining. I don't hate it. It's called population 11. um and I can't remember his name. So i'm going to look it up. Cause I always liked him since, um,
00:03:28
Speaker
He was on Drop Dead Diva and he's been in a bunch of other things also.
00:03:36
Speaker
Good actor, Ben Feldman.
00:03:40
Speaker
Okay. If you don't know him ah by his name, that's okay. Cause I just literally didn't remember his name, but I think he's a solid actor and the show is pretty entertaining. It's set in Australia and it kind of takes like turns that you don't expect. So it's fun.
00:03:59
Speaker
Let me see if there's anything else that's worth mentioning.
00:04:05
Speaker
lunch Well, there's a what's her name? I'm so sorry. am not prepared. Jessica. Oh, no. Jessica Biel series on Prime called The Better Sister.
00:04:22
Speaker
um And it's kind of a ah true crime show, but she had produced, maybe even directed or written one on Netflix called Sinners.
00:04:35
Speaker
Or something. And it did three seasons. And I hated every single one. I watched all of them hoping that they would be better. And they just weren't.
00:04:45
Speaker
Respectfully. So this one doing like another true crime. i was like is it going to the same. And it's not. It's not. It's pretty good. So I don't hate that one.
00:04:57
Speaker
um I might even recommend it.
The Stress of Watching 'You'
00:05:00
Speaker
And my son and I are still making our way through Lost. And watching him watch all of the reveals and the plot twists has been so fun. If you know, then you know.
00:05:13
Speaker
and if you don't, go watch it. i started the new
00:05:21
Speaker
No pressure, Noah, honestly. I started the new season of You, season five. I don't know when I'm going to come back to it. I kind of gave up on episode three.
00:05:37
Speaker
Should I go watch it? if Have you watched any of them? I've seen maybe like one episode of the first season.
00:05:47
Speaker
if you If you like being stressed.
00:05:54
Speaker
sometimes Sometimes it's good because it makes you like, it's it's like an escape, but you would know you're escaping to more stress. ah you He's like an anti-hero because he's totally the bad guy, but you really don't want him to get caught because you like him, but you don't.
00:06:12
Speaker
But you do. Yeah.
00:06:16
Speaker
I know he's the bad guy, but I'm just like, don't get caught. So I might have to watch it again because of, uh, it's very much a lot of grownup material.
00:06:28
Speaker
Yeah. I had to skip a lot. I saw one unfortunate scene where, um, It was over rather quickly. and killas laughed at that.
Fun with 'Dangerous Animals'
00:06:39
Speaker
but Oh, and it looks like Yellow Jacket Season 2 is coming to Netflix, so I'm going to be checking out Season 2, even though the first season really disturbed me. i It's so twisted.
00:06:55
Speaker
And then Sandman Season 2 coming out next month, too. Okay. I have things to look forward to, which is always good for me. Yeah.
00:07:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:10
Speaker
Are you going to revisit the first season? I've already watched the first season. You already have? Two to three times on my own. And then i made my husband my husband watch it again with me. Watch it with me.
00:07:24
Speaker
So i I've already done three rounds. So, uh,
00:07:31
Speaker
I don't know. Probably not.
00:07:34
Speaker
We're going to be gearing a lot of attention towards midnight mass.
00:07:40
Speaker
Yeah. So you don't know if you, if you haven't up to time, we'll see. Yeah. I don't even know if I'm going to wait for my husband to like watch it with me. I think I'm just going to dive into that season two all by myself.
00:07:55
Speaker
There are some things that I'm just like, sorry. Sorry. I'm going. I can't wait for you.
00:08:02
Speaker
What am I going to do? oh What are you watching? Oh, a lot. I have been taking advantage of my AMC membership.
00:08:14
Speaker
And I'll mention some movies. I went and watched dangerous animals, which is,
00:08:23
Speaker
oh oh my word. It's like a serial killer shark movie.
Enjoyment of 'Ballerina' and 'Materialists'
00:08:30
Speaker
Um, yeah.
00:08:34
Speaker
Do you want me to read the IMDB? Let's do that because I don't want to spoil anything. Yeah.
00:08:42
Speaker
When Zephyr, this is me cold reading. Okay, I didn't even know this thing existed. Okay. When Zephyr, a savvy and free-spirited surfer, is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding to the sharks below. Okay, a cult.
00:09:05
Speaker
So you were talking about Australia. ah Yeah. this is Is this in Australia? Yep. And the serial killer is Jai Courtney.
00:09:17
Speaker
It is like. It's so enjoyable. but it's Really? it's it's You know it's not a great movie, but it's so enjoyable.
00:09:29
Speaker
It's so much fun. Those are fun, though. so i This is something I am recommending to you. I think you should see it when it comes out. Oh, he was packed in Boomerang and Suicide Squad. He died pretty quickly in that.
00:09:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:46
Speaker
He's in a lot. Oh, Alita. Yeah. So I do recommend for you to check that out. It's fun. okay
00:09:57
Speaker
Don't take it too seriously. No, no.
00:10:02
Speaker
ah whats one I'm all for a movie that I don't have to.
00:10:07
Speaker
have to think. Yeah. Yes. Yes. That I don't have to think. Yeah. Yeah.
Animated Anthologies and Mixed Feelings
00:10:18
Speaker
Speaking about another movie you don't have to think about, ah Ballerina. oh Was it good? The action's good. it's that's It's good. The action's good. That's good the second John Wick threw to the end. So nice.
00:10:34
Speaker
Hold up. Why are you lumping the first one in there? Because the first one was great all around. The second, the sequel, through the rest of them, the action is good. And that's that's about it. just But I don't even think I watched the last one.
00:10:52
Speaker
My husband watched it without me and I'm sour. There's a ah staircase scene that's it a lot of fun. so That's why you watch John Wick movies. It's because the plot is absurd and hardly there. And you just you're just there to watch John Wick just murder these people in different ways. It's true.
00:11:12
Speaker
I was dying when I – I think it was the third one where he's like using the horse to kick people in the head. And it's just – it's so fun.
00:11:23
Speaker
So that was one of the movies that you didn't to think about too hard. i tried not to think at all for How to Train Your Dragon. watched that one. And then we watched the new rom-com Materialists with Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal.
00:11:42
Speaker
And I loved it. Loved it? I loved it. was I really enjoyed it. Awesome. Yeah. Not a perfect, not a perfect movie, but it was really good.
00:11:55
Speaker
It was really good. oh And the last movie that I want to talk about is on Hulu currently, and it's called Predator Killer of Killers.
00:12:11
Speaker
What? Nothing. Go ahead.
00:12:15
Speaker
it's It's an animated predator movie. It's it's got like three stories of one. It's like an anthology. So it's got three different stories. it's One is about a Norse warrior.
00:12:27
Speaker
The second is about a Japanese, i want to say samurai and a ninja because they're brothers. And then the third one is about a World War II pilot.
00:12:40
Speaker
And it's nothing crazy, but I had fun with it. It was cool. Nice. And um ah just it's just making me more excited for Predator Badlands, which is coming out later this year.
00:12:53
Speaker
um
00:12:56
Speaker
It was fun. It was cool. No, that's awesome. I feel like when sometimes the movies are really bad, if they do like an animated something with it, it ends up being better.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I forgot one movie that I've been dying to talk to you about. um Australia is going to be mentioned quite a lot today.
00:13:18
Speaker
ah Hi, Australia. Eve, it's Australia. I hope it's not New Zealand. oh It's on Netflix. It's called Talk to Me.
00:13:30
Speaker
It was a horror movie that came out, I want to say, either two or three years ago. um it was It got a lot of attention when it first came out. Oh, the hand. The hand. The hand thing.
00:13:43
Speaker
Okay. um I didn't know anything going into it. And it was, I don't know how I feel about it.
00:13:54
Speaker
Like it was good. But maybe the amount of hype that I was hearing from it, it was a little bit it was a little bit overhyped. But it was still good. And i want to see what you think about it.
00:14:07
Speaker
I should watch it. Yeah. it's got That's what you're telling me? Yeah.
00:14:16
Speaker
It's getting a sequel. Oh, it is? Called Talk To me
00:14:25
Speaker
How funny.
00:14:30
Speaker
i'll
00:14:32
Speaker
I'd be interested to see what you thought about it.
00:14:36
Speaker
Okay. Sorry. I'll be brave. yeah During the day with the lights on. Yeah, that's not an option. It'll end up being at night alone. So thanks.
Review of 'Mayor of Easttown' and Comparable Shows
00:14:49
Speaker
And the final thing that I've been watching is a show. ah that we found on HBO. And I, again, when it first came out, it got a lot of praise, but I just never picked it up. It's called mayor of East town with Kate Winslet.
00:15:07
Speaker
It's really good. Really good. i think it's like seven episodes, maybe about 15 minutes to an hour long each. She's a detective like a,
00:15:20
Speaker
like a small Pennsylvania town and this girl gets killed and she has to figure out what happened and it's just heartbreaking all the way through. It's it's heavy but it's really good and definitely deserves a watch.
00:15:41
Speaker
What's that called again? Mayor M-A-R-E of Easttown. Oh, M-A-R-E.
00:15:53
Speaker
Oh, okay. I think I'm going to add that. I think I was looking at this.
00:16:04
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. I think I'm going to put that on my list. Cool.
00:16:11
Speaker
There is one, if you like that, because it kind of has the same vibe, because I was looking at some previews um with David Tennant. Oh. In a British crime show called Broadchurch.
00:16:26
Speaker
That's on my list. I don't know where, but it's on my list wherever it is. Oh, yeah. Heartbreaking, but like. It's just really good. It's really good.
00:16:37
Speaker
It's really good. It's on um Peacock. Peacock. Okay. Yeah. It says season one is on prime video, but says seasons one through three are on Peacock. So have I seen season three? No, I need to know.
00:16:55
Speaker
I think I have, but yeah, I think he'd like broad church. Definitely will have to move that up the list because I have been eyeing it and just never got to it. Like all of our Netflix lists, I guess.
00:17:11
Speaker
Exactly. I don't know. What does your Netflix watch list look like? oh I don't even, it's a graveyard.
00:17:25
Speaker
It's just, it's, uh, it's just a fleeting graveyard of stuff that I found interesting in the moment. And I wanted to remember that I want to watch it. And then I, um,
00:17:39
Speaker
But I had been watching around the same time Jessica Jones, which has David Tennant.
00:17:49
Speaker
And he's oh he's such a good actor that he was so scary. And Jessica Jones, even though the second half of that season was so bad.
00:18:02
Speaker
He did such a good job. He was so scary. And then switch over to like Broadchurch. I didn't even do it on purpose. I was like, oh, a crime show. Oh, a British crime show. Yes, please.
00:18:14
Speaker
ah And he he's just such like a nice, he plays the detective. He's just such a nice guy in that. And then there was something else I was watching him in around the same time. And it was just like this like dichotomy of like David Tennant all over for the place.
00:18:30
Speaker
I was like, I don't know how to feel about him. He's fun. He's like one of those actors where you like and you just want to see more of, at least for me. Yeah, me too.
00:18:43
Speaker
Anything else? That is it. So i think I think we're finally ready to dive in. Oh, he's in How
Deep Dive into 'Midnight Mass' Analysis
00:18:50
Speaker
to Train Your Dragon. He plays Spite Lout in the animated version, at least.
00:18:56
Speaker
don't think he's in the live action.
00:19:00
Speaker
Yeah. Okay.
00:19:05
Speaker
Okay, boss. All right. So for everyone listening, we're going to be doing things a lot different for this episode you had this the series.
00:19:18
Speaker
I gave Noah just a bunch of heart launch. you She's letting me run away with it And the student you are, you gave me homework.
00:19:31
Speaker
I gave you a lot of homework. But I am so glad that you're taking it in this direction that you are because I never would have done this. I never would have done analyses this deep.
00:19:45
Speaker
I'm so proud of you and I'm so excited for this. Like it was such a good call for you to headline the deep dive into this show. Initially, when you're looking at it,
00:19:57
Speaker
because i I'll be honest, what I did is I went up on the internet and it was like, give me book cupb cluster but club questions, give me um like film analysis questions, do all this. And I just put it in a huge list.
00:20:12
Speaker
And I was like, man, this is a lot. I don't want to have to go through and write all this. But as I was going through each question, I was like, oh, this happened and this supports this and like provides this underlying tone and theme and all these things.
00:20:33
Speaker
So it it's helping me have such a deeper appreciation for this show. And I don't know if it's because I'm doing that or if it's how the show is in general, but I feel like Oregon's episode one in the show is just so much deeper than I feel like, hunting of hell house was, and especially Bly. Yeah.
00:20:57
Speaker
Yeah. i know I know we're not going to do nearly, we didn't do it nearly as deep and enough analysis into those, but I just feel like there wasn't too much to go on anyway. We went as deep as it went.
00:21:09
Speaker
I mean, I'm sure we could have we could have done more, but to what end with what it was for, right? Right. right right And already we've got these these themes that are starting to to develop and it's not just over at once. what but We'll get into it. so it Each episode, because with with my husband, we've we've we've done the first three together.
00:21:38
Speaker
um so I've watched the first three recently and today I watched episode one with all of these questions and questions. requests in mind. um It feels like each episode is a movie. Like so many things happen in each episode that like each one feels like it's And they're only about an hour, but you feel like so much more time has passed and so much more has happened because it's not just one thing.
00:22:09
Speaker
It's like several major things happen in each episode, but they all stay on the same level as far as like what the episode is for. Does that make sense? Yeah, which is crazy because even this episode feels like on the surface there's not a lot happening.
00:22:25
Speaker
Yeah. the more you chip away and you're like, Oh, this is going on. tens Tons is happening. Yeah. yeah So to kind of break it down how we're going to be doing it, or at least I will be doing it, is I'll give ah ah just a general recap of what happened in the episode. We're not going to go scene by scene and break it down. I'm just going to list the big events that have happened. and We have too much to go over do that. Too much to go over.
00:22:52
Speaker
um I forgot to mention this to you, but I am keeping a jump scare count because this I know this does have a lot of them. Okay. Okay. but we'll go over it later. Right now we'll go over what happened. We'll go into some minor like details slash notes that we want to kind of mention before we forget about them that happened throughout the episode.
00:23:14
Speaker
And then I feel like we're going go deep into the analysis. So you ready? I'm ready. All right. So what happened? So Riley and Father Hill arrive at the island. But way before that, we see that Riley gets into an accident, um we assume because of drunk driving, because he's slurring.
00:23:35
Speaker
And he kills the girl that he gets into an accident with.
00:23:40
Speaker
Riley gets sent to prison, murdered. I think it's four years that he's there. And then we jump back four years later and he's getting out of prison for the first time.
00:23:54
Speaker
That doesn't make any sense the way I said but he's getting out of prison and he has to take a boat to the island because his ho his hometown is an island. That's where everyone lives. It's it's pretty small.
00:24:06
Speaker
Yeah. um ah Again, I feel like I'm diving way too deep already into the details. ah Monsignor Pruitt, who was the that the Catholic Church's pastor, father, and I don't know.
The Arrival of Riley and Father Paul on the Island
00:24:23
Speaker
can't remember what they call him.
00:24:24
Speaker
He was their previous one. He went out to to, I don't know if they specifically mentioned, where it was it Jerusalem? He was for sure in Jerusalem.
00:24:37
Speaker
They mentioned the Holy Land. And then in a later episode, you see exactly where he was. Got it. Yeah. He was doing the tour where you follow where Jesus was.
00:24:48
Speaker
Yeah. So he was supposed to be coming back ah around the same time that Riley is coming back home as well, but we ended up, he ends up not making it. And at the mass that they have, the new pastor, his name is father, Paul Hill.
00:25:06
Speaker
At least that's the name he's giving right now. um Arrives and says, Hey, but I'm going to be so filling in for him for a little bit until he feels better. But I promise you, your pastor will return.
00:25:22
Speaker
Warren's brother sneaks off to a smaller island to drink and smoke weed with his two friends. And this island is infested with cats. they They hear a bunch of cats fighting and they flash a light over and they see this figure or Warren sees this figure and it scares them. Anybody doesn't see it again.
00:25:47
Speaker
Father, already mentioned that part. The town prepares for this big storm that's supposed to be coming in. And during the storm, Riley sees what he thinks is Father Pruitt out in it and tries to go get him, but he disappears.
00:26:02
Speaker
And the next morning, there are dozens of dead cats washed up on the beach.
00:26:08
Speaker
All right, so small little details and notes that we want to mention before we get into the bulk of this. Do you have anything? I was keeping a tally of, I was keeping notes of things that I didn't notice the first or second time around that are direct clues and mentions of things that are revealed later.
00:26:31
Speaker
um So when the boys are in the upwards, which is that other little island where all the cats live, They mention that they there' like you hear like wings go over them and they're like, oh man, that was like a large bird.
00:26:46
Speaker
I don't remember what bird they compared it to, like a heron or like yeah whatever. It's not what ah Joe Colley mentions later. But yeah you hear the wings and they're like, oh man, was that a...
00:26:59
Speaker
you know what bird was that or something so that i was like oh okay yeah having watched it if you haven't watched it you don't know what it is just keep it in mind i'm gonna try to do like spoiler free as possible in case people are watching it for the first time along with us okay maybe we can do like spoiler alert and y'all can skip 30 seconds okay um And then, and then just today, I realized that one of the boys, I don't know if it's Warren or whoever, says there are too many cats. I wish somebody would do something about that.
00:27:33
Speaker
I just, yes. Oh, it's so, I love this. I loved it. Yeah. Spoiler alert. Give it a beat. The creature, i think, has, there's a lot of clues that he has a lot of sentience about him, that he understands things.
00:27:52
Speaker
um Drunk Joe, Joe Colley, he's the town drunk. says he was chased by an albatross but he was in like this drunken fit when he said it so the sheriff is like okay whatever Joe like and he was like yeah yeah yeah um and if you don't know albatross is a ginormous bird it is Look them up.
00:28:17
Speaker
Oh, look them up and look up like scale. It is a giant, giant bird. yeah um Father Pruitt, before his travels, would wear his... he would like i They talked about it in this episode and I didn't catch it before, but they mentioned he would wear his trench coat and his fedora and he would like... what He has dementia, like raging dementia. He would wander out on the island and then like somebody would see him and didn't like take him home.
00:28:46
Speaker
So when at the end, when Riley sees a man in a coat and a hat, he's like, that's Father Pruitt because that's what Father Pruitt would do is he would put on his coat and his hat and he would, ah you know, wander.
00:28:59
Speaker
ah But they mentioned it that before, you know, that that's what he would do. think Father Pruitt would do. And now there's a figure in the storm when Father Pruitt's supposed to be on the mainland recovering.
00:29:12
Speaker
hmm. In Father Pruitt's coat and hat. So those were all of the foreshadowing clues and mentions that I could catch. There's probably like dozens more because we know how Mike Flanagan is.
00:29:28
Speaker
Like he gives us everything. He gives us everything. He really does. ah To go over some character an actor notes. um It's, it's fun to hear Carla Gugina's voice and not see her. Cause she was the, ah the judge who sentenced Riley.
00:29:47
Speaker
I don't know if you picked on that. I did it. Yeah. She, she voices the judge as as he's being given his, his sentence. um oh Oh, nice.
00:29:58
Speaker
Yeah. The, uh, Sturge is the character name. He seems like one of the, boat marina guys i don't know how else to describe them um that actor i believe is the dad of alanka in midnight mat and midnight club so it's cool to see him here first um i didn't realize it at the when i was watching this at the time for the first time oh i'm sad i missed that um the local town drunk his name is joe and he's um the same actor who played mr was it dudley
00:30:37
Speaker
From, uh, from hunting of Hill house. Yeah. Mr. Dudley, Mr. Dudley. Um, and we see his wife in midnight, uh, of, um, in hunting of Hill house. She plays the doctor in this series as well.
00:30:51
Speaker
So cool to see them. we see the sheriff omar hassan believe is a character's name and we see him that um actor in haunting a blind manner so it's really cool to see him again and warren the brother yeah the kid from the nightclub so it's cool to see yeah all these people like that's fun to see kevin um and i can't remember what the character's name is but the the girl in the wheelchair Lisa.
00:31:21
Speaker
Yeah. She's also in Midnight Club. like ah Sandra, I believe was her name.
00:31:28
Speaker
So some other notes.
00:31:33
Speaker
ah be peen Samantha Sloyan. Yeah. I forgot to mention her. She's perfect here. she already hat Oh my gosh.
00:31:46
Speaker
i love I love that scene when the boys are walking to their little spot on the island and they're talking about the cats. And spoiler alert, because i'm I'm going to say a word, spoiler alert, so skip ahead like 20 seconds.
00:32:03
Speaker
ah The entire talk about cats could be substituted for vampires.
00:32:10
Speaker
They have to be from the mainland. They're taking over the island. They're eating the dead people.
00:32:19
Speaker
Good catch. Yeah. Nice. Yep. So end of the spoiler part. um I also want to mention that when they were talking about in that section, they said when it floods, they were talking about bodies washing up and that's what they the cats feed on.
00:32:36
Speaker
But then Warren said, no, when it floods and rains, all the bones and stuff wash up on my yard and I have to clean it up. And that's very important for at the end of the episode where we see all the cats and they're all dead.
00:32:52
Speaker
And you're like, what the heck? Let's
00:33:01
Speaker
let's see. Let's see. Let's see. Yeah.
00:33:05
Speaker
I saw a seven movie poster hanging up in Riley's room, like the movie seven. And I wonder if we could find characters that fit the seven deadly sins, but I don't know.
00:33:18
Speaker
I don't know. ah I don't know. ah Supposedly there were also, there were also copies of Christopher Pike books in his room. I didn't catch that. Okay. I'll have to go back. And then the dogs, Joe Colley's dog is named Pike.
00:33:35
Speaker
So total reference to Midnight Club and Christopher Pike, the author. That's a good name for a dog. That's a great name. Yeah.
00:33:47
Speaker
And
00:33:52
Speaker
I think that might've been it. I also wanted to mention who's the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom.
00:34:00
Speaker
Mildred Gunning. She is the mother of the to town doctor.
00:34:09
Speaker
Um, if something looks weird with her makeup and, and costume, there's a reason for it. And I totally forgot that. That was one of the things that I first noticed. If you don't want a spoiler, go ahead and skip because spoiler alert here.
Character Introductions and Developments
00:34:27
Speaker
um I knew that people were going to be reversed in their aging because all the adults are in old age makeup. Riley's parents are,
00:34:38
Speaker
You know, the doctor's mother. oh yeah. Oh, yeah. Yep. Several, several people are in old age makeup. That was one of the first things. I don't know if it's because like I've been a makeup artist or I just pay attention too much or don't get me wrong. It's very well done.
00:34:58
Speaker
Like my husband has not caught on to that at all yet. He has not noticed the old age makeup yet. And I love it. Yeah. It's going to be fun twist.
00:35:09
Speaker
Yeah, he's he's going to be like, what? This is going to be a total ADHD moment, but I'm just remembering I wanted it to mention to you how to train your dragon. Okay.
00:35:22
Speaker
You saw Anya. Yes. You saw Anya. It was so cozy. I did. She did so good. It was so fun. And they even mentioned her fake leg. I was like, yeah. I was waiting for it, too. I was like, are they going to bring up? Yep, there it is. yeah So um for those listening, the actor who plays Anya in Midnight Club, she was in the new How to Train Your Dragon.
00:35:49
Speaker
What's her first name? Her last name's Cod. Ruth Cod. Ruth Cod. She's so good. She even had like a good number of lines. I was so happy. She did. She did. Anyway,
00:36:03
Speaker
I think that's all the details that I have. Do we want to do like a character introduction? we were talking about actors and cross referencing with other Flanagan projects, but do we want to talk maybe a little bit about characters and like establish like what they are established so far in the episode?
00:36:23
Speaker
Absolutely. That was going to be that was gonna be um part of it, but that can be the very first thing because that's part of exposition and setup. Okay. I'm following your lead, so don't let me take over. No, you're fine. I'll let you introduce the first main character that we are introduced to.
00:36:39
Speaker
So the first one that we meet is Riley Flynn. He grew up on the island. He was an altar boy. He was religious. He grew up and left the island, became successful, but also became an alcoholic and got into an accident where he killed a teenage driver.
00:36:56
Speaker
I loved all the details in the courtroom to give the girl that died such depth because her family and her supporters and friends were coming to the court hearings and the trial. I don't even know if he had a trial, but he had a sentencing, um,
00:37:12
Speaker
with the signs and just to pile on the t-shirts i mean rightly so he was very very wrong the t-shirts and the signs and um i'm and then i'm glad he pled guilty honestly as a side note and they they gave him they sent us into four years and i i've i don't know if I'm reading into it, but I heard like disappointment from that side that the, Oh, as if he should gotten longer, you know? Well, yeah.
00:37:46
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. So ah Riley serves out his sentence and he comes back to the island an atheist and kind of a nihilist.
00:37:58
Speaker
um And he has conversations with his parents about you are going to go to church. I love the line with his father where his dad's like, you going to church, just consider it part of your probation. And he also mentions part of his probation is going to AA meetings and presently he has to go off island back to the mainland for that.
00:38:17
Speaker
So that's Riley. And he's so sad, it's like depressed. And think the actors that Guilford just plays him so well. And this is my ADHD moment, but I think this is why his character in been nightclub bothered me so much because it's such an antithesis of Riley yeah where he's just like too upbeat and positive and happy. And i I don't know what that says about me that I prefer the depressed.
00:38:49
Speaker
yeah
00:38:55
Speaker
For everyone listening, if you want to get on Laura's good side, be depressed.
00:39:02
Speaker
That's not what I mean. I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm joking. No, I totally get it. I think he definitely portrays his character well. and So good.
00:39:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:17
Speaker
He's got guilt, but there's something else there. You can see it in the way he's standing, in the way he sits, in the way he talks. And later on, spoiler, when he's doing a a meetings with Father Paul, in his point of view, you believe him. You believe that that's like actually what he believes.
00:39:36
Speaker
Yeah. it's not an actor running lines it's like it's he just takes it like all onto him as his character like head to toe he is riley okay who's next the next one is going to be i'm just loving them all together but it's going to be riley's family so we have warren who is his brother teenage brother teenage brother he's an altar boy just like riley was although i didn't know this apparently there's like levels to being altar boys i think accolite was one of the ones that was mentioned there was another um so i think warren is higher than riley was um and then we have
00:40:20
Speaker
ah He's a little bit of a scoundrel, as teenage boys are. you know He likes sneaking out with his friends and smokes a little bit of weed. Doesn't drink, though. but Oh.
00:40:31
Speaker
What? I wonder if he doesn't drink because of his brother. Possibly. That just came into my head. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, we...
00:40:44
Speaker
have his parents next. We have his mother, Annie Flynn, and she's super loving. She's super Catholic. she She loves her son and wrote to him when he was in prison. I think she even gave him a Bible with ah with a scripture on the inside.
00:41:09
Speaker
and Ed Flynn is his dad and he's a little more stern. He definitely is hurt and upset because of Riley's actions and is angry at him.
00:41:25
Speaker
um But besides that, we don't really get too much from him. He's pretty quiet. It's pretty quiet. Yeah. I like the details with his father having like back pain and he's coughing and he's smoking mm-hmm wears glasses and she's also got the old you know like aches and pains that kind of come along with age
00:41:52
Speaker
that's all i'll say so far all right who's your next character let's do um
00:42:03
Speaker
do the doctor. Dr. Sarah Gunning and her mother, Mildred. Her mother's got advanced dementia. And there's this running plot line where her mother keeps trying to go upstairs to her old bedroom. And her daughter has to, Dr. Sarah Gunning, has to take her back down the stairs, you know, because she's a fall risk. And um there's a lot of things that her mother says throughout the first few episodes that are so important.
00:42:31
Speaker
um
00:42:34
Speaker
and Let's talk about Aaron. yeah so Aaron is ah former classmate of Riley, and it's clear that they had some sort of connection, whether they were boyfriend or girlfriend, or if it was just sort of like a mutual attraction kind of thing. They they had a thing for each other.
00:42:56
Speaker
And she also recently returned. She went away for a while. She'd said she went south and then east and then went up to like upstate. So I think at one point she said she was traveling with a rock band in Austin or something like that. yeah.
00:43:13
Speaker
But she found she found God because it I think it was made a little clear that she was a little bit of a heathen as a teenager, ah little problem child, I guess. um And she returned pregnant.
00:43:27
Speaker
And...
00:43:30
Speaker
I think she's technically married. I think that's what they were saying in the show. That's what she said. Yeah. Yeah. And that's all we really get. Yeah. yeah yeah But she's started going back to church and I wouldn't say super Catholic, but she believes.
00:43:48
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And she is now the teacher. She's one of the, yeah. Or yes the teacher in town. Yeah. Yeah. I forgot to mention that. The island is very isolated and I think it has a population of under 130 if I remember right. it's Yeah. remember I think that's what it was. Yeah. Because it said it on screen.
00:44:11
Speaker
Right. And then we've got Bev Keen. And i had to look up like what is exactly her role because they never say it exactly. She just seems to be involved in like everything.
00:44:23
Speaker
So she... at church is a lector. She's lay Eucharist minister. She's a church helper. And then she is also ah school a administrator as her day job.
00:44:36
Speaker
school administrator ah her day job
00:44:43
Speaker
And she's a very, very much a religious zealot in the way that she will judge everybody else while also doing her best to keep up the appearance of doing everything correctly.
00:44:58
Speaker
isn i once I want you and everyone listening to keep her in mind when thinking about what kind of person she would be in in the Bible.
00:45:16
Speaker
I don't want to get too specific. Anyway, um the next person that we have is going to be Sheriff Hassan. His first name is Omar. And some of the residents call him Sharif.
00:45:31
Speaker
Yeah. And I think Bev Keen in this episode even called him Sheriff Sharif or whatever his name is. Yep. Yep. He is a practicing Muslim.
00:45:43
Speaker
yeah He's the new sheriff in town. I don't know how long he's been there, but it hasn't been for very long. And he seems nice.
00:45:55
Speaker
He's widowed. He's widowed and he's got a son. and that's, we don't really get too much else from him right now. Right.
00:46:07
Speaker
And let's see. You want to take the last main person?
00:46:13
Speaker
That would be.
00:46:20
Speaker
ah Father Paul. Father Paul. Yeah. Father Paul. Oh my gosh. Probably like my favorite character.
00:46:31
Speaker
ah so so far, Father Pruitt, Father Pruitt, the Monsignor, left for his Holy Land trek. And when he's supposed to have come back, instead we get Father Paul, um who is the placeholder.
00:46:50
Speaker
in town. He comes across very confident, very experienced, very um passionate in his sermons.
00:47:00
Speaker
And he assures everybody that Father Pruitt will be healing. He is fine. He is in contact with him. And he is, Father Pruitt has told him all about the inhabitants of Crockett Island.
00:47:14
Speaker
Yeah. Yep. So he seems very familiar with everybody, but something is a little bit off. You can tell that something's not quite right.
00:47:28
Speaker
And we'll get into that. Yes. ah Opening scenes are. Oh, what about Joe Colley? Oh, yeah, yeah, Joe. Good old Joe.
00:47:40
Speaker
can. Got Joe Colley. He's the town drunk. And then we've got Lisa Scarborough and her parents. Oh, right. Lisa's in a wheelchair. And I think.
00:47:51
Speaker
Do they mention in this episode what had happened? No, but all I mentioned of her that is she's that fine she's going to be there most of the time for a daily mass. She goes most of the time.
00:48:02
Speaker
um But Joe Colley has a dog called Pike. And that's all we know so far is that he drinks a lot and he's got a dog that he adores. Yep.
00:48:14
Speaker
Yep. Yep. And he he heard something chasing him. He felt like someone was chasing him with wings last night Large bird. Large. An albatross. Huge.
00:48:26
Speaker
Yep. Huge. Huge. So opening scenes are... opening scenes are
00:48:37
Speaker
it's Extremely important. Extremely important to help together. We're trying to be professionals here. I love very professional.
00:48:50
Speaker
am. don't know what's up with you. I got to get together. don't know why you hired me.
Symbolism and Themes in 'Midnight Mass'
00:49:00
Speaker
Maybe nobody else wanted the joke. This will go into my performance review. oh Anyway, so opening scenes are extremely important to any series or film because they set the tone.
00:49:22
Speaker
They describe the world that you're in ah before all the rules change, right? So this opening scene is extremely important to me because it opens on what this is so sacrilege, but I refer to it as a Jesus fish.
00:49:47
Speaker
It's like, it's like the, the, the magnet or thing on the back of the car. that is, that's the Jesus fish. Yeah. That people refer to it as the Jesus fish. I, I, I thought, is it called something else? Am I being like disrespectful?
00:50:04
Speaker
it's got ah It's got an official name. it's it's It's known as ichthys. I believe I'm pronouncing that right. But people, I've also heard people refer to it as the Jesus fish symbol.
00:50:16
Speaker
Yeah, because that's back when Christians were being persecuted, they made the sign of the fish. I didn't know that. Well, that you cross your fingers and that was like, ah it it it translated either like the first word or the first letter of a word, like basically when Christians were being persecuted in the early days of Christianity and you would be killed if you said, yes, I'm a Christian. They would cross their fingers behind their back and say no to spare their own lives.
00:50:48
Speaker
But crossing their fingers behind their back meant I don't really mean it. And I actually don't know if they use that to like signal to other Christians that they were of the faith.
00:51:00
Speaker
But that's where, you know, the whole like crossing your fingers behind your back when you're telling a lie came from also. And then it kind of looks like a fish.
00:51:12
Speaker
you If you open it up. If you open it up, it's got like the fish and then like the tail. Yeah. So that's. The fish. and ah And I don't know.
00:51:23
Speaker
I'll have to, don't know if we care to read more about I was going to say, I did a very brief Google search. Oh, perfect. You're already on it. That's why we like you.
00:51:34
Speaker
I'm taking notes now on everything, guys. It's crazy. of Yeah, it's it's known as Icthys. I hope I'm pronouncing it right. It's an acrostic for the Greek phrase, Jesus Christ, God's Savior.
00:51:47
Speaker
Isus Christos Theos Soter. I'm butchering that really bad, but the symbol itself is a stylized fish and is used by early Christians to help them discreetly identify themselves during a time of persecution.
00:52:01
Speaker
The fish has also been linked to various biblical stories like the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus commissioning the disciples as fishers of men.
00:52:11
Speaker
So already starting out with a religious image right in your face as soon as the screen goes from black, right? And as this is happening, we are getting a song played to us called The Grass Won't Pay No Mind.
00:52:29
Speaker
And the meaning of the song is exactly in the title. The natural world is indifferent to human actions and concerns. So already, already you're getting this
00:52:42
Speaker
this play of themes between Christianity and God and the natural world. So keep that in mind as we continue to go through everything. ah Another important thing,
00:52:55
Speaker
moment in this opening scene is riley's obviously drunk he's sitting on the side handcuffed and he's like is she okay is she okay is she all right and um she we see she's obviously dead and that's a very strong image by the way her lying there on the ground with glass in her face reflecting the police lights off of it it's it's striking is
00:53:23
Speaker
He starts reciting the Hail Mary, which is one of the Catholic. The Lord's Prayer. Yeah, it's the Lord's Prayer. Oh, no, you're right. the the Yeah, I'm sorry. I don't know Catholic prayers, so like please correct Well, the Lord's Prayer is different. No, you were right.
00:53:40
Speaker
Okay. Hail Mary full of grace. Yeah. um It's the Our Father who out in heaven. Wait, no. What does he say?
00:53:52
Speaker
Does he as he say our Father? ah wow, I don't remember. that important? so i don't I don't know but how important it is, but like a Hail Mary is what you would say when you are doing penance for your sins.
00:54:17
Speaker
And the Lord's Prayer is what you would pray for comfort and like your nighttime prayer.
00:54:28
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Well, he's saying one of those prayers and in the middle of this happening,
00:54:42
Speaker
He does the our father, the Lord's prayer. Okay. The kingdom come, they will be done on earth thatus as it is in heaven. Yeah. And that was, that's from the new Testament when Jesus was teaching his disciples how to pray.
00:54:56
Speaker
Okay. Um, And while he's saying this prayer, the EMT is checking him out and he's like, while you're at it, go ahead and ask him why he always takes him so young and why he always lives leaves the drunk ones with nothing but scratches.
00:55:15
Speaker
Yep. Immediately setting up the guilt already just straight away. Like he just killed somebody and he's got nothing but scratches going on. Right.
00:55:28
Speaker
Mm-hmm. So in this opening scene, it immediately establishes the mood, um him being locked up and still seeing the girl.
00:55:42
Speaker
it's It's very isolated, especially when they go to the island because now they're at the population of 120. It's not very big. It's eerie and it's tense.
00:55:52
Speaker
There's something spiritual that is brewing, but it's not necessarily holy.
00:55:59
Speaker
So we move on to the inciting incident. and And the purpose of this is to disrupt the statusus the status quo, to raise questions, and to set the story in motion. So we're given the world and the openings in the and setup.
00:56:12
Speaker
And then we're kind and then
00:56:17
Speaker
kind of putting a storm into into that world. So this happens in three different ways. Father Paul's arrival, it kind of disrupts the rhythm of the island because they were expecting Monsignor Pruitt to come back.
00:56:31
Speaker
Not to mention it's a new person. And as I'll mention later, they don't really take kindly to new people.
00:56:39
Speaker
Along with that is Riley's return, even though he has he was raised there. He's coming back after being in, I think, Chicago, right? um But he's it's known that he is a he did this horrible thing. He caused the accident. He killed somebody.
00:57:01
Speaker
but he's also coming back as an outsider because his atheism is going to be clashing against the, the Catholic population of the town, which is really is the entire town because,
00:57:17
Speaker
even though his mom kind of forces him to go, he doesn't take communion and, um, he lets Aaron know that he's now atheist. And the third sort of inciting incident is a storm that rolls in.
00:57:31
Speaker
It washes dozens of dead cats ashore and foreshadows a supernatural or unnatural shift in the islands balance. It's, I mean, the imagery sort of feels like biblical, almost like plague-like, and it signals that something dark is going is lurking underneath the the surface and things are going to start to happen.
00:57:54
Speaker
An even bigger storm. Exactly. All the dead cats can kind of mirror what happens yeah later, later. Later.
00:58:05
Speaker
wait
00:58:08
Speaker
You have anything about, about the section? i
00:58:16
Speaker
i think I think you covered everything. um he's Riley's return you know um definitely kind of setting a tone.
00:58:27
Speaker
When you first see the island, um it's like to me it was like charming, but it was also kind of spooky at the same time. It's weathered and homey, but it's also so isolated that immediately you're thinking, if stuff happens here, man, they're on their own.
00:58:44
Speaker
The boat comes what twice a, twice a day something like The fairies go twice a day. um so my thoughts on how does his return to the island shape the story's early tension?
00:58:58
Speaker
um So going home like that is not going to be easy. Everyone on the island is going to judge you and they wouldn't really be wrong. So he's haunted by guilt. He lost his faith at the same time. He's trying to find footing in his new life post-incarceration.
00:59:13
Speaker
So like, what are you supposed to do next? And he's not just disturbing the peace. He's like exposing cracks that are already in the community. His shame is simultaneously their shame because he was one of them. And now he's a convicted murderer. So he's reflecting on them. I like that.
00:59:31
Speaker
Yeah. um it's uncomfortable for all of those who knew him as he was growing up and he doesn't really belong there anymore, but he can't go anywhere else.
00:59:49
Speaker
I like it. I like it. And then,
00:59:57
Speaker
so, okay. What else? and So I sort of want to not take too long with the ah the story arc of the episode because there are book club questions that I do want to go over because they're quite important.
01:00:17
Speaker
So we'll go over rising action. Purpose of this is to build suspense, to kind of deepen characters and raise the emotional and narrative stakes. So part of this is going Father Paul's sermon.
01:00:30
Speaker
It's impassioned, it's charismatic, and he quickly earns the trust of his with his knowledge of scripture and pastoral charm, but there's something off about him. We don't know what.
01:00:41
Speaker
um the The attendees seem to like him, but we as an audience are like, there's something not right. There's something weird going on here.
01:00:52
Speaker
if you kind of read Bev Keen's micro expressions of which she has many and they are brilliant this is one of the reasons why I think the actor playing her is fin fantastic is because in real time you will see so subtly her thoughts but if you blink you miss it wo but she just oh it's perfect You're talking about that conversation about the, ah i I can't remember the name of the clothing item, but it she's like, why did you wear a gold one? Why didn't you wear a green one?
01:01:24
Speaker
Just her reactions to everything. Like when something happens and the camera goes to her, you can see it. But it's subtle in the best way. Okay. Okay.
01:01:35
Speaker
And it it happens more and more as things get crazier and crazier. And I will definitely be talking about it because it is one of my favorite parts of just the whole series is her, how her mind works.
01:01:49
Speaker
Not that I'm condoning anything she does. She's not a good person. She's a fascinating character though. Yes. Yeah. fascinating and how she how how the actor plays her is so perfect so good so part of this another part of this is the is riley struggles at home and in a church he can't bring himself to participate in communion he rejects the sacrament mainly because his dad told him to
01:02:22
Speaker
ah But I think also, i don't think he would have done it anyway because he said he didn't want to go to church. His isolation grows, especially in contrast to his devout parents. We see Sheriff Hassan's discomfort and sort of isolation with the religious um homogeny of the town and a slow burn subplot around faith, identity, and otherness.
01:02:45
Speaker
um Sorry, Aaron and Riley reconnect and suggesting a shared trauma and potential emotional anchor for each other.
01:02:56
Speaker
Then we sort of had the climax of the episode. so What I think is really cool about shows is they have story arcs for the entire season and they have bits and pieces in each episode that contribute to the story arc and and inside the episodes themselves they have a story arc.
01:03:18
Speaker
So in the climax for the episode, it's emotional or narrative peak of of what's happening. And Father Paul delivers a stirring Ash Wednesday homily, and he asks the congregation to reflect on repentance, humility, and renewal.
01:03:35
Speaker
Wait, am I? skipping Yeah, Ash Wednesday is is episode two. I'm skipping ahead. Never mind.
01:03:44
Speaker
Okay. Ignore that. that's i I would say you could lump his sermon that he does for for the first mass that he's back as part of that because the whole time we haven't seen his face.
01:04:02
Speaker
There hasn't been a reveal at all. um And that could be part of the climax. And then after that, going into the storm finally coming, right? Mm-hmm.
01:04:13
Speaker
So the storm comes, they, everyone's boarding up their, their windows and everything. And,
01:04:22
Speaker
Riley sees a character or ah a character. He sees a figure out in the storm and runs to go chase it because he thinks it's Monsignor Pruitt who, right like we said before, he thinks because ah it's the same coat and hat that he would wear.
01:04:39
Speaker
So he chases him to try to help him get him back inside and it's gone. I think
01:04:47
Speaker
We also see ah Father Paul in his house. I don't know if if it's house or if it's like a a building close, like outside of the church or whatever. Yeah, it's close to the church, but it's like a little cabin house.
01:05:04
Speaker
yeahp too Yeah. We see the trunk that he had been carrying finally open. We see inside it and there's nothing but dirt.
01:05:16
Speaker
ah And if you look closely, you can also see a trail of dirt ah along, but along his floor. Like someone was walking and he's just sitting there reading. So in this climax, we're getting unnerving visuals that are going on.
01:05:35
Speaker
um
01:05:38
Speaker
In the following action, i would consider this when when Riley sorts and starts to fall asleep and he sees the dead girl again standing up, I think, this time.
01:05:54
Speaker
Yeah, she's standing, but it's from his perspective of laying down. Yeah, yeah. So it's like perpendicular. It's really unnerving. It's extremely unnerving. And the stings, the stings don't help.
01:06:07
Speaker
No. No. No. And I, uh, I think what was really cool is the lighting on his face. Cause it goes from the apparition and then you see the flashes of red and light and then it cuts to the girl and you're just like, Oh, yeah, it's very visceral.
01:06:28
Speaker
Yep. And then that scene it cuts to another image of him being on a boat in the middle of the sea and it's just him and there's nothing else.
01:06:39
Speaker
And that's it.
01:06:42
Speaker
It's so good. So good. ah and That could be representative of how just lonely he feels alone because who else is going to be able to understand what he's gone through and what he has to bear now.
01:06:58
Speaker
Yeah. And in the resolution, that is when, the storm's over, the storm has passed, but there's something left from the storm.
01:07:12
Speaker
It's the, just the piles of dead cats that are up on the beach and the mystery of where they come from and how it happened.
01:07:25
Speaker
that's That's sort of our resolution for the episode.
01:07:31
Speaker
yes I'm so excited to keep getting that. Anyway.
01:07:39
Speaker
ah All right. So. What is the theme of the episode? right To me, it is guilt, faith, and the desire for redemption.
01:07:51
Speaker
And it i think it's clear because of the physical manifestation of Riley's guilt because of he sees the dead, the girl everywhere. Every time he tries to fall asleep.
01:08:05
Speaker
um And like you said, ah think it was brilliant when you said that he's kind of putting that on the town as well. And that's why he's sort of being ostracized and everything. And his family's being awkward with him.
01:08:20
Speaker
His family is awkward with him. The town hasn't interacted with him enough, but all of that is internalized in him already. Like they don't even have to say anything.
01:08:31
Speaker
They don't even have to look at him. He just already knows. for And I don't know if if Bev has interacted with him yet, but you know she would have something to say like when she does. like for sure and I can't remember if she does, but you just know that like those those eyes and judgments are already on you. And so he's so far, just it's in all internal. from He knows how the island works. He knows how his community works.
01:09:03
Speaker
yeah um it's And that is... Followed up with faith and we see, again, some of the groundwork of of the different community members' faith and how that affects them. We see his mom is it's pretty religious. She's like, oh, let's let's all go to church.
01:09:24
Speaker
You're going to church. She kind of laughs at him when when he says, I'm not going to church. She's like, of course you are. And that's something else I want to touch on.
01:09:35
Speaker
we see the faith of, um, Omar and how that is kind of played against
01:09:48
Speaker
how the other town members portray their faith as well. You know, he doesn't really speak about it that much. Um, we see him praying in his home with his son and that's about it.
01:10:00
Speaker
But we see, we, we haven't really seen much of, Oh, what's the character? Beverly, but we definitely will.
01:10:13
Speaker
um Episode one, I think also lays the groundwork for some of the shows for the overarching themes of the show. So like the duality of religion as salvation and destruction, the cost of blind faith versus challenge of doubt, ah death, resurrection, and the humid obsession with eternal life.
01:10:37
Speaker
And lastly, isolation, both physical and emotional.
Island Isolation and Community Dynamics
01:10:42
Speaker
you know Those are things I am so, so excited to talk about.
01:10:50
Speaker
But anyway, what are some of your first impressions of Crockett Island and its inhabitants?
01:11:03
Speaker
So I think I already mentioned My first impressions of the island, it's isolated.
01:11:13
Speaker
So it's kind of spooky, but it's also charming and it feels like home, you know? um Would you ever live on an island like that? Absolutely not.
01:11:27
Speaker
Absolutely not. for me too. Yeah. Nope, I'm good. Thanks. It's not for me. Yeah.
01:11:35
Speaker
be fun to go like visit, but yeah no' there's no reason to live there.
01:11:43
Speaker
Yeah. for me So for me, um
01:11:54
Speaker
ah Crockett Island feels...
01:11:59
Speaker
like like it's up north. i know I know geographically probably, yeah, but kind of socially, it feels like northerners are. of You know how they say like southerners will be like, ah I don't know what i'm trying to say. Well, I'll just say that. don't either. I'm sorry. That's right. Yeah.
01:12:20
Speaker
ah
01:12:25
Speaker
work When they're talking after the sermon, I i think it's the the girl in the wheelchair. What's her name? Lisa. Lisa. I think it's her dad that's talking to you the father or father Paul.
01:12:41
Speaker
I think he's like one of her parents is like the mayor. ah Yeah, I think so. Yeah. can't remember if it's her mom or her dad. Yeah. He says it's always good to see a new face, but I think this is something that's being said, but it's not meant by people because this town, this island does not like change.
01:13:05
Speaker
They don't like change. People don't change. They become their parents. We see that, um, And the doctor, the current doctor, her mom was a doctor before her. Aaron's mother was a teacher. Aaron's mother was a teacher. So all these people are taking over their parents' lives. They're becoming their parents.
01:13:27
Speaker
um They don't really get new people. and In fact, they're losing people. They keep leaving. They go to church. They do their job. And that's it. um Like I said earlier, but Riley said that he isn't going to church and his mom kind of laughs at offenses. Of course you are.
01:13:45
Speaker
As if it was a joke. And it's like, why wouldn't you like, that's what you do. And then there's a way a new sheriff is treated and and not someone who is an outsider.
01:13:58
Speaker
because he's new, but, but religiously as well, he's, he's Muslim and he's already sort of getting treated badly, poorly. Like he's getting passive aggressive jabs at him.
01:14:10
Speaker
Even Joe, who's, seems a little jolly, even though he's a drunk is like, see you later, Sharif. And he's like, that's not my name, dude. vice please chair Yeah.
01:14:22
Speaker
And then we have obviously Bev, her sort of passive aggressive jabs at him during the the town meeting. hmm. when she was like, um, I know you're new here, but everyone's going to the church.
01:14:37
Speaker
Everyone knows to go to the church. We're not going to come here, but if you want to get on a boat and and go to the a mosque, that's fine. so something along the lines of that. I'm just like, Oh my word.
01:14:51
Speaker
Anyway. Um,
01:14:59
Speaker
What stands out to you about Riley as a protagonist?
01:15:04
Speaker
So
01:15:09
Speaker
I think I already went over this too. We already talked about this. Probably. but did. Am I being... Okay. Yeah. I'm like, i already read this part of my notes.
01:15:22
Speaker
We're still figuring out this this format, so it's all right. Yeah, sorry. Sorry, guys. I feel like my notes aren't the best organized. You're okay.
01:15:35
Speaker
I'll briefly mention some things in here. I think he genuinely feels terrible for what he's done. I think he really does because... it's been four years. so We don't get to see that explicit side of him, but he says he's, he tried to find God in jail. That's like one of things that he tried to do. He, he read everything.
01:15:53
Speaker
Right. So he's, that to me is telling me that he's looking for a reason why, why did this happen?
01:16:01
Speaker
I'm searching for answers. And I think that also asks a question of, of of religion, I guess maybe Christianity specifically is why does God do what he does?
01:16:16
Speaker
Riley turned to atheism. And because of that, he doesn't have purpose. Like we, we hear him specifically say that when he's talking Aaron, he doesn't have purpose anymore. He, he, he's just existing.
01:16:27
Speaker
He's just living. And so of again, that provides another question. Does God provide purpose? Is the God, is God the only thing that can provide purpose?
01:16:38
Speaker
Did man invent him to give themselves purpose? Just kind of things to think about. And I don't plan on answering them. I just think it's what the show is asking us, right?
01:16:50
Speaker
No, if we go into our own theologies, we'll never get through anything. Oh, never, never. Yeah.
01:16:59
Speaker
You know I love a good tangent, but we can't afford it right now.
01:17:06
Speaker
yeah I'm so looking at the time and I'm like, I've got to go faster.
01:17:13
Speaker
ah We've already talked about how does guilt manifest in Riley's character after his time in prison. so I'm not going to go over that question again. Obviously it's the dead girl reappearing to him, him feeling like he's isolated in a boat on an Island alone and his turn to atheism.
01:17:31
Speaker
um
01:17:33
Speaker
Do you want to discuss the arrival of father Paul or do you think you've done that? Well, the, um,
01:17:48
Speaker
Sorry, I'm looking through my notes at one of the questions. Like, what are the characters' goals and motivations? Yeah. So we can go over those.
01:17:59
Speaker
Yeah. We've already done story arcs. Yeah.
01:18:06
Speaker
Goals and motivations, I think. So Riley's motivation is he's feeling lost. So he's kind of looking for what is he going to do next. um Contrastly, Erin is settling into a more conventional life back home and she's excited to be a mother.
01:18:23
Speaker
Bev Keen is greed and power. And Father Paul, bless his heart,
01:18:33
Speaker
is really trying to bring what he thinks are miracles and is wanting to save everyone. But we don't know that yet.
01:18:42
Speaker
We don't really know that yet. Yeah. But you could say that for any pastoral leader. Yeah. That's something I think they want for congregations is to show them the way on how to be saved.
01:18:56
Speaker
However you want to use that word metaphorically, literally, spiritually. Yeah. and And like we've said before, that it's it's already laying the groundwork of that discussion in religion specifically.
01:19:13
Speaker
What's the difference between people like Father Paul or Bev or Beverly? um And finally,
01:19:26
Speaker
You're right. Like he is trying to save people. He feels genuine. He wants to know everybody and he, he, it seems like he already cares about them. Like he really listened, listened to what Monsignor Pruitt was telling him about all the people in the town.
01:19:42
Speaker
And when he's talking to Riley, he's like, Jesus went after those who were struggling. like they were his friends. And so I think that it's just perfect. And it immediately shows a difference, you know, because you could say Beverly could be like the Pharisees, you know, they think they're what God wants because they're living perfectly.
01:20:09
Speaker
And that somehow puts them above other people. And here we have father Paul, who's like, No, Jesus was friends with with people who were awful, who weren't good people, who made mistakes, who needed him. needed and And that's who he spent his time with.
01:20:25
Speaker
right And i just, I love that. I love that dynamic already unfurling.
01:20:35
Speaker
So as far as conflict and conflict driving the story, Riley's conflict is within himself with his community, his parents, and his faith.
01:20:48
Speaker
The community themselves has a whole conflict. With the population decline, the overbearing regulations on the fishing trade, that sustains the island's economy. So that's a huge conflict.
01:21:00
Speaker
You've also got the overbearing number of Catholic members. even You can assume that even the ones that don't go weekly because the population the excuse me the congregation at the first few meetings is pretty dismal.
01:21:13
Speaker
But with the tone of how everybody, you know, is is portraying themselves, you can assume that most of the the population on the island, especially since there's not another church that we know of yet, that they are Catholics, even if they're not, you know, going actively.
01:21:30
Speaker
um But that can conflict with those that... are not Catholic either because they don't have their, their, you know, either a non-denominational or they're atheist ah or they are of a different faith.
01:21:46
Speaker
Like, like, like Sheriff Hassan and his son. And then there's a huge conflict right now between Bev and Joe's ah dang dog.
01:22:00
Speaker
oh he's so pretty. Yeah.
01:22:06
Speaker
um I think we talk about conflict, but I want to talk about
01:22:15
Speaker
whatever you could say the opposite of conflict is, but I think Aaron green and Riley are good opposites.
01:22:26
Speaker
Yes. In my opinion. And their relationship, I think is going to be very interesting to see unfold under all like this new pair of glasses that I put on. for rewatching the series, but they're, they're essentially opposites of each other. Right.
01:22:40
Speaker
Cause Aaron wasn't a great kid growing up, I guess from just a little bit that we've heard. She said that she was the heathen. She moved away. uh,
01:22:54
Speaker
went kind of crazy, I guess, and came back pregnant without a husband. So, and, but now she's found God and she goes to church and opposite happened to Riley.
01:23:06
Speaker
He was a altar boy. He was going to church. He was doing all that. And then now he's an atheist. So it'll be fun hear their story unfold. ends up being kind of the theme of their relationship throughout their respective times on the show too.
01:23:25
Speaker
i was, yeah, I was going to say, yeah they get along even though they believe differently. They get along and then their experiences mirror each other and they experience each other's point of view.
01:23:38
Speaker
I don't know how to like explain it more without giving anything away because i don't want to give anything away because it's so perfect. It's can't, No opinions about it yet. But like big things that happen later, they they stay opposite, but then they have each other's experiences, like their points of view, like encompass each other. Does that make sense?
01:23:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Like Riley's point of view, like her, excuse me. huh okay let's see aaron's point of view he takes that and it makes makes it his experience and then she does the same with his point of view later on and just you can see it already from the beginning and it's so cool how it manifests later as things escalate in what will happen and do you do you think it's like they do that because they have been in each other's shoes before you
01:24:35
Speaker
I don't know why. i don't know if I have a reason why other than they listen to each other. but That's what I wanted to say as well. was like
01:24:49
Speaker
I feel like Aaron has empathy for him. Not feel like I know she has empathy for him because... when they finally get back to her house, she's like, how are you?
01:25:02
Speaker
right Really? How are you? yeah She takes the time to listen and he, he feels comfortable enough to open to her, like open up to her about it. Listening without judgment, which I think father Paul does for him later too. But, but yeah, she's the definitely a comfort and a safe space for him to really let his guards down.
01:25:28
Speaker
Yeah.
01:25:30
Speaker
Do you have any, any, uh, quick, quick, like book club questions? Well, you asked, um, in your notes of the many that you sent me, I went a little crazy.
01:25:44
Speaker
No, I love it. I put together like two sets of notes for both rounds. Um, but
01:25:52
Speaker
What elements of horror or the supernatural are subtly introduced in this episode? Do you think these are meant to be metaphorical, literal, or both? Mm-hmm.
01:26:03
Speaker
So it's definitely building the horror slowly. It's a slow burn for sure. And using the subtle supernatural signs and clues, it creates a lot of unease.
01:26:15
Speaker
And at the same time, it's laying this metaphorical foundation for all of the themes of faith and guilt and control and hunger for meaning.
01:26:26
Speaker
i love that. And I love how
01:26:32
Speaker
Flanagan's using fear as a method of control isn't the right word that I want to use, but for for per for this purpose, I want to say control. And I think it's interesting how the show will for well you use that later as well and say a sometimes...
01:26:58
Speaker
religion can control people with fear or like people can control people with fear. Yes. So I'm,
01:27:09
Speaker
I love being back. I hope this wasn't a jumble for everyone listening. It wasn't jumble for you putting all your notes together. i like Like you said, we're we're kind of doing this new and kind of learning again from I think you did great, and I think it's just going to keep getting better.
01:27:26
Speaker
Now, I had mentioned to you off air that I'm watching with my husband, and we're bringing back Corey's comments.
Corey's Predictions and Episode Themes
01:27:34
Speaker
um But this time I have audio.
01:27:37
Speaker
Let's go. so this is from, we were back for Corey's comments and it was,
01:27:46
Speaker
so he and I, as far as what we are at, we're on episode three and I'm just going to play our clip from his thoughts from episode one, his predictions is just raw reactions and like ah we just kind of sat down after we were done watching and he gave me a good audio clip but it was hard in episode three not to like dive in like it was our show and I'm like whoa nope this is just Corey's comments so here we go we'll make sure my volume is up and here's Corey's comments from episode one so for episode one midnight mass first impressions first impressions are i think that the
01:28:29
Speaker
old priest something may have happened on his vacation and i think the new priest was a part of like some sort of vampire order and brought him over in a box so you think in the box was the old priest yeah okay keep going and i kind of like his coffin you know what i mean all right i think the nun is going to be head over heels for this idea.
01:29:00
Speaker
think she's going to roll with it? She's going to roll with it big time because it's going to keep everybody in order. Interesting. Okay. You know, and then I think that the ex-con guy that just got out of ju prison is that's going to be his coming to God moment. He's going see what's going on and fight against it. Okay.
01:29:24
Speaker
if Anything else? Um, No, that's a, that's. Do you like it so far? I do. Yeah. It's, it's an adventure.
01:29:35
Speaker
There you go. Wow. Those are certainly Corey's comments. were some comments Yeah. So on some things I think he's, he's on the right track and he's got a good, he's got a good sense for how things could go.
01:29:51
Speaker
i I love this version of queries comments because I know we were kind of using him in the first couple shows to as kind of like a, Oh, that was cool.
01:30:03
Speaker
and like funny things. Yeah. But now we're, we're getting into this is someone watching it for the first time and we're able to kind of get in their brain and their predictions and see what they're picking up on.
01:30:16
Speaker
Even though this is their first time watching. So Yeah. No, having that perspective is so cool. I'm very excited. Um, I don't have anything else for this episode unless you do.
01:30:29
Speaker
Let me let me see. oh I've got, I've got two things, but I'll let you go. Um, I'm not sure if I have anything else.
01:30:42
Speaker
Cause we've talked about conflict. We talked about motivations. Did we, we talked about the story arcs now.
01:30:51
Speaker
Um, we, you asked me about narrative devices that are being used. So, so far it's a lot of, this is the foundation building episode.
01:31:03
Speaker
There's a lot of foreshadowing, a lot of what I like to call micro, micro clues, micro clues, and a lot of suspense. So the story arc, a smaller story arc for the episode
01:31:19
Speaker
is Just again, it's just laying the foundation. um The whole story arc with Father Pruitt versus Father Paul.
01:31:32
Speaker
And the choices that Father Paul is making so far. yeah
01:31:40
Speaker
Just notable notables. um Another notable note but notable. The scripture that Riley's mom put on the inside of the Bible that she gave him was Genesis 29 or sorry, 39, 21, which important because Genesis is the title of the episode.
01:32:02
Speaker
Genesis meaning beginnings, beginning, um, The scripture itself was this, the Lord was with him. He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden, which it that'll vary but depending on what kind of version of the Bible you get.
01:32:22
Speaker
But the main thing is the Lord was with him. He showed him kindness.
01:32:29
Speaker
and that I think that was important for what she wanted him to know in the moment while he was going through it, but also reinforcing the themes of religion and God and everything we've talked about so far.
01:32:47
Speaker
Now I mentioned that I was keeping a jump scare count again for this series. Yay. The first one is when Warren's in on the ah the, the little Island with his friends at night and he scans the flashlight over and he sees the thing.
01:33:05
Speaker
and Okay. Well, first of all, you see the cats. Yeah. you see the cat Oh my word. And they are level with the ground. You know that they are cats. Then he sees one that's level with the cats, but then it stands up.
01:33:21
Speaker
That's, that's whatever this creature and that he saw. And if you don't know what you're looking at, you're going to think I'm just seeing things. And that's kind of how he reacts big. And then he's like, Oh, I guess it was nothing. Cause it's not going to be.
01:33:36
Speaker
Yeah. What would it be? I don't remember if I've said this before. I think I have, but it's been too long. um I think when I was watching this episode for the very first time, I was watching on a plane and that happened and it caught me so off guard and it scared me. I literally jumped in my seat.
01:33:59
Speaker
Oh no. Oh no.
01:34:03
Speaker
So thought that was fun. so that's one jump scare. I think i would count a second one with when Riley's trying to fall asleep and then we get the music sting and the fast cut to the dead girl.
01:34:18
Speaker
i You don't have to count that if you don't want to, but I think it should. It's a good, it's a very powerful scene and it is with the sting is it's, I would say count it. I think there was more than one sting every time it panned over to the apparition, there was another sting.
01:34:33
Speaker
Yeah. sting I don't remember if it's that particular moment or if it happens or if it's another one I'm thinking of, but yeah, that counts as one. All right. Well, so is that I only had two for the episode.
01:34:49
Speaker
Okay. Cause they did another sting for the cats at the very end. It was very loud. I had headphones in. you want me to count that? I don't know. Okay.
Viewer Discretion and Series Preview
01:35:01
Speaker
I'm really not. that picky Put it down in the comments if you want us to count it. Please. Fans of Planigan pod um on Instagram.
01:35:15
Speaker
So just a note moving forward, this this show might not be, ah Midnight Mass might not be for everybody. It deals with a lot of heavy themes, especially religion, abuse and religion, sacrilege.
01:35:30
Speaker
So... If that is something that is triggering for you um or upsetting, no hard feelings. If you don't join us this time, this is not a show that I would, that I would say you have to watch. I would say, watch it. If you want to keep an open mind about what it really means um or just want to explore these themes.
01:35:51
Speaker
And so just, just that's, that's my, that's my, uh,
01:36:00
Speaker
That's my, ah what what word am I trying to think of? Oh my gosh. Oh no.
01:36:07
Speaker
Trigger warning? but Not trigger warning, but I'll think of it later. Probably 2 o'clock in the morning.
01:36:16
Speaker
But I lost it. But that's, yep, there you go. Yep. That's the thing. That's it. ah that's That's my thing. And if this is not going to be a show for you, what can they definitely catch us with next time?
01:36:34
Speaker
Next time? Yeah. what What's something they can join us on? That's definitely not going to be anything related to this. Not as traumatic as this. Well, I don't know. we haven't seen it yet, but I think we're going to do ah bonus episode of life of Chuck, which is in theaters right now, which I think we'll insert shortly because I like to stay relevant. And so far we have not.
01:37:02
Speaker
We want to get to something on time, at least once.
01:37:07
Speaker
We'll get there eventually. Yeah. Yeah. Join us for that. um And if you haven't already watched Midnight Club, that one is a lot more mild compared to other works that we've covered. So it's true.
01:37:21
Speaker
It's true. There's probably a reason why we have not visited
01:37:26
Speaker
the other series that has come out.
Future Series Revisit and Farewell
01:37:29
Speaker
I need to go back. I really do. And I will. I will go back. Oh my goodness. Like even the title has just left me.
01:37:38
Speaker
poor
01:37:40
Speaker
um
01:37:43
Speaker
my poor brain the The fall of the house of us. The fall of the house of us. Sure. Yeah. That one is rough. Yeah. Well, thank you all for listening into this week and we will see you next week as we progress further and further and into midnight mass.
01:38:03
Speaker
Thanks. Thank you so much. Bye. Bye.