Welcome to the Heavy Spoilers show I'm your host Paul and Midnight Mass a Midnight Masterpiece.
The show is a 10 out of 10 for me and I feel like starting a Fang Club for Mike Flanangan
as he's completely knocked it out the park with his brand new horror show.
There's so much to sink your teeth into and throughout this video we're gonna be breaking
down the plot, ending, the easter eggs and all of the double meanings within it.
Full spoilers ahead so if you haven't seen it then I suggest you get out of this video
in the neck of time.
If you enjoy it then please smash the thumbs up button and don't forget to subscribe so
there isn't any bad blood between us.
With that out the way, thank you for clicking this, now let's get into Midnight Mass!
Ok so Mike Flannagan has done a lot of projects I've absolutely loved, Oculus, Doctor Sleep
and Haunting Of Hill House are all classics in my eyes with the latter being one of my
favourite TV shows of all time.
When The Haunting Of Bly Manor was announced I was extremely excited for it but unfortunately
I was a bit disappointed and found it to be a show that was a retread of the aforementioned
series without any of the inginuity that made it really stand out.
Flannagan has been planning the series for over 10 years years and nods towards it appeared
as Easter Eggs in his previous projects.
Midnight Mass is the name of a book in both Geralds Game and also Hush.
The blurb on the book even read: But the 512 souls on sleepy Crocket" and "church put
Riley face to face with a terrifying secret."
The eyes of the undead also look very similar to the True Knot and it’s clear for Flanagan
that there’s a lot at STAKE here.
Now we open on the symbol of the ichthus which was created after Christ multiplied fish and
loaves of breads in order to feed far more people than they should have been able to.
This idea of symbol tied to Christianity is quickly juxtaposed by the horrific crash that
kick starts the season and it subtly sets up the idea that we will be facing several
themes such as religion which will be interlaced with death.
In real life we've seen the horrors of what religion can lead to in the likes of Jones
Town which similar to season ended up with those indoctrinated sipping the Cool Aid after
they heard the promise of a better life.
It all begins with Riley a man who caused a catastrophic car crash thanks to his drinking
which lead to the death of a young lady named Tara Beth.
After serving four years in prison he's sentenced to serve parole and he returns home to Crockett
Island, a backwards fishing community struggling to stay relevant in an ever changing world.
Riley attempted to escape his life destined to be a fisherman by entering the world of
tech, but alas, he would end up back from whence he came.
He’s an atheist, having read every single religious text from every religion Riley very
much sees life as a waste of time that sucks worse than a Vampire.
This is what makes this show so layered and no that's not a garlic pun...or is it onions.
Now usually religious horror is explored simply through the eyes of Christianity, but in this,
many different view points are explored from Riley’s Atheism.
There's a lot of examples such as a Sheriff's unwavering belief in honour of his wife in
Islam and Bev, a Delores Umbridge-esque do gooder who carries a hatred of anything that
isn’t Christian.
Riley is clearly wracked with guilt and over the course of the series he must come to terms
with what he did, and his own mortality as well as how his family and neighbours view
him.
He returns home to his family and tries to adjust to life on the island but Tara Beth
watches over him, never letting him forget.
At night he dreams that he's out on a boat in the middle of the ocean and we'll talk
about how the idea of life being but a dream is paid off in this imagery later on.
Life on the island mainly focuses around the church, St Patricks and the core faith of
each character is explored in great detail.
Spooks and jump scares are swapped for lengthy monologues and discussions which are delivered
expertly.
Faith is key as the show rumbles on as we meet each character such as Sheriff Hassan,
an NYPD veteran, pushed out due to racism.
Erin who wants to embrace religion and her home once more as well as a mysterious new
priest called father Paul who arrives after telling us that the last one fell gravely
ill.
Now as soon as I saw the large chest and cats being eaten I said that it would be f**king
Vampires.
Those who've read Bram Stoker's Dracula will know that the vampire arrived on the coast
of Whitby in England through a chest just like this and if you've visited the fishing
village you'll know it's a similar sort of set up to what we see in the show.
The Cathedral there looms over the entire area much like the church in this and though
Flannagan isn't beating us over the head with references it's clear he's giving nods to
the most famous Vampire story of all time.
Paul is later revealed to be Pruitt who traveled on a religious pilgrimage but due to his dementia
he got lost and came across a Vampire.
Believing it was an angel he cried out for help and the beast fed him his blood which
restored his health and healed him.
It's important to note that communion is very much seen as drinking the blood of Christ
and again it's sort of like Poetry they rhyme.
Vampire of course need familiars in order to travel out into the Sun and Pruitt very
much becomes the Angels.
Now upon his return to the island it’s hinted that we are facing the end of days as a gigantic
storm rolls in.
The rain washes up the bodies of cats across the beach which is reminiscent of the infamous
plagues and Riley is adamant that he had seen Monsignor Pruit which is brushed away as being
shadows in the dark.
Paul or should I call him Pruitt starts mass, explaining how the island will rise again
and over time he becomes a popular figure on the island.
I love how this seems like just empty words and faith at face value except he does have
a plan in that he wants to use the blood of the angel and well to change the fortunes
of the island.
Many are down on their luck including Leeza who was paralysed by the town drunk Joe who,
like Riley and Hasan is seen as an outsider.
The treatment of those in need but not seen as socially acceptable like Joe by Bev shows
the nasty, selective side of religious people.
Though it's never confirmed, Bev ends up poisoning Joe's Dog and it seems like she kills Paul
too which resurrects him.
We never get this for definite but he seems to die much like the dog does with blood coming
out of his mouth and of course let me know below if you disagree.
In the series we learn that if one dies whilst the Angel's blood is within their system then
they'll rise up as a Vampire that wants to feast on human flesh.
There's a lot of people confused over why Paul could handle the light early on but at
this point he wasn't technically a vampire, he just had the vampire's blood in his system.
Now Bev mentioned that the Bible speaks of angels with burning skin in Revelation and
both she and Paul use this to justify their actions throughout the show.
The pair cherry-pick scripture moving away from the bibles altruistic messages and though
she seems to Paul despite when he changes his mind at the end, she pulls out more scripture
that justifies her turning her back on him.
The idea of the angels in Midnight Mass comes from the notion that the myth of vampires
and angels derives from an oral history that evolved into the myth we know today.
When revealed to her what has happened and what the angels do by feeding on blood, Sarah
surmises that the myths of these angels could come from a blood disease that creates a drastic
need for iron.
Of course the idea of these angels is incredibly similar to vampires but Christian ritual and
belief could be explained by these beings.
The sacrament asks worshippers to take wine said to be the blood of Christ and he himself
died and came back three days later.
Sarah quite rightly explains this is indeed where the Christian ritual could come from.
Sharing his blood would mean empowering and curing people, explaining the miracles from
the Bible.
Pruitt has a plan for improving their life by continuing to use the tainted angel blood
for the sacramental wine, regenerating the cells of those that come to Church.
He intends to make everyone’s life better and the healing properties of it allow Leeza
to walk again.
This Miracle brings more people to the Church and thus it gives Paul a bigger flock to infect.
Hints start to show that something peculiar is going on, as people start visibly healing.
Riley’s dad back mends itself, his wife no longer needs glasses and she starts to
look young and Sarah’s Mother basically does a Benjamin Button down that blouse you
Gilf.
Now It seems Flanagan has replaced hidden ghosts for hidden heals and though it initally
seems like good news it also has adverse effects in that it kills Erin's baby.
Atheism and faith in an era of miracles is explored in great detail with Hassan struggling
to get his child to follow Islam, as Ali wants to fit in and choose his faith, making this
a multilayered exploration of what it is to believe.
Bev is vile towards the religion and only becomes more and more emboldened as her idolisation
of Paul increases, someone she was dismissive of at first.
After his death Paul starts jonesing hard and he kills Joe before drinking his blood.
This happens after he points out the similarities between Paul and a Young Pruitt and also pays
lip service to the affair that the latter was apparently having with Sarah's mother.
Another hint towards an eventual reveal comes when she said she thought she saw Sarah's
dads face at her bedroom window but this is brushed away as being a side effect of her
demention.
Later on it's revealed that Paul is indeed Sarah's father and we learn he was peering
into houses which was set up nicely in that moment.
Bev involves other town members, namely Sturge and Leeza's father and slowly everyone begins
to get their hands dirty in order to keep up the sanctity of Church.
One night Riley on a chance encounter turns up at the rec centre and sees Paul pouring
angel blood into the sacrament and Mr X, sorry the angel who kills him and turns him into
a creature of the night.
If there was one core message I took away from this show it is that not everyone is
as virtuous as they claim to be.
Paul explains to Riley what happened and urges him to remember him by telling a story about
an altar boy who brought him a dying rat which turns out to be Riley.
Pruitt lied to instill Riley’s faith leading Riley to then have unrealistic expectations
growing up that he has now stepped away from.
There's an incredible scene with both Riley and Erin in which they talk about what they
imagine death to be.
Because of his distrust of church the former very much sees nothing at the end whereas
Erin who is grieving her baby imagines being embraced by her family in the afterlife.
When Erin dies in the show she changes this thinking and instead views herself as simply
a manifestation of the universe dreaming of itself and what life would be like.
Einstein famously said that energy can neither be created or destroyed and we are all simply
here and then gone back into the greater whole.
She summises The energy that happens when her brain is firing must come from somewhere
and she sees this as simply being absorbed back into the everything upon passing away.
Our consciousness came from seemingly nowhere but we all have our own thougths and feelings
and when we cease to exist we will return to whatever we were before.
It's a beautiful conversation and it somewhat foreshadows Riley's death which comes not
long after.
Paul explains he wants to heal the community but really he’s a self serving person who
has just accepted these awful things that need to happen, citing scripture as a good
reason.
Paul intends for people to convert to being an angel and be welcomed peacefully into this
new life but they will all very much be forced to follow what he says.
Riley manages to break free and Paul lets him, which just felt a bit misguided and naive
of Pruitt and eventually this constant faith in him being correct about everything is what
leads to his downfall.
With Erin, Riley heads out onto the ocean and explains that this is very reminiscent
of his dream.
He finally finds his purpose and Riley to me is someone who had two options.
He could live for eternity as a self serving vampire that would feed upon others to get
his wish or he could finally break free of this and avoid hurting the ones that he loved.
Alcoholism, especially drunk driving is often seen as a very self centred act and the character
doing this in the intro led to the death of an innocent woman.
However it also hurt his family on top of it and because of this he's lived a life of
misery.
Riley could easily feast upon Erin at this point but instead he burns himself and gives
her the knowledge that he needs to take down Pruitt and his followers.
This to me is why he's joined by the spirit of Tara Beth at the end who has clearly forgiven
him because he learned from his mistakes.
Rather than being alone on the boat as he was he has his greatest mistake forgiving
him and thus he can forgive himself as he passes away...in a beautif...oh myyyyy goood
this is absolutel horrific.
Now Erin returns back to the island as the night time mass is being prepared for easter
vigil.
This is one of the most popular times for church attendance and thus he can recruit
more to the cause.
However Easter itself is also about the death and rebirth of Christ which is a theme that
is used at the ceremony.
Erin plans to work with Sarah and her mother to stop the converted however it ultimately
fails as they fall in line and head to the church.
Fire is a very suitable idea and metaphor to kill the angels and converted which is
used heavily later in the show as Sarah attempts to burn down the church.
Fire in the bible is often used for purification which fits in with these people who want to
wipe the island of those that don’t fall in line.
At The church the attendees are offered up a cup filled with Bev's poison and most of
them willingly end their lives in order to be reborn.
However they're hungry for flesh and the undead turn on the living which leads to a blood
bath.
Bev heads out into the night with the newly converted and they cast judgement on all,
killing all of the islanders.
We see some of the best sequences in the show as the rabid angels go around feeding and
burn everything to the ground believing that revelations in upon them.
We witness Bev’s twisted view that God is preparing his believers for the end of days
and that the conversion will help them in the perpetual night.
Her truly awful nature is exposed as she turns on Pruitt and won’t even feed on Hassan
believing his blood to be tainted.
The converted have their hubris ruined it for themselves by burning most of the places
they could have hidden during the day and we see Erin, Sarah and Hassan navigate to
the only hiding spots left to bring them down in a blaze of glory.
It shows they are truly sinful and just like Lucifer, their gift has been taken away damning
them to burn alive come dawn.
Pride and hubris is one of God's most hated traits according to the Bible so he does truly
give and take away.
In the end For all his sins, Pruitt saw the error of his ways and finally spoke to his
daughter without the burden of hiding the truth.
He realized that he had lost his way and just before this, the fundamental difference between
Bev and Pruitt was exposed.
She saw the church as being an ark and a base to spread the conversion.
He explains it was about God and he wanted to do right by his community except Bev has
taken it to the extreme and accuses him of switching to ‘human things’ and not the
divine.
In reality, the hole he felt in his life has been filled as he can now acknowledge his
secret sin.
He can finally leave the church, which he wanted to all these years and end his life
on his terms with his family around him.
Now one question you might have is did the angel die?
As Erin lays there dying she manages to cut his wings as he feast on her neck.
Warren explains that the angel would need to fly around 30 miles to beat the sun which
would be very difficult for it.
He’s unsure if the angel can make it the distance but in the end we just don’t know.
This creature has of course survived for centuries and I don’t think that you can count it
out either way.
It’s very much a schrodingers angel but I do think that thematically we can say that
it’s gone too as it’s life was tied pretty closely to the lives of islanders in the show.
However there’s always the possibility there if Flannagan wants to do a sequel.
Now in the end we do have two survivors in Warren and Leeza.
After gaining Chekovs sniper rifle they managed to flee the island on a boat in order to wait
it out until dawn.
Both were virtuous with Warren abstaining from drink and Leeza showing forgiveness to
Joe leading them to survive.
Leeza cannot walk or feel her legs which is of course due to the angel blood running out
in her system.
Now Leeza may be back to square one but she has rejected false prophets, something that
the bible has countless verses on.
In a twist of irony, Bev says similar verses to Paul when he starts to doubt turning his
flock into vampires and over the suggestion burning down the town is a bad idea.
Bev quotes Matthew 23:9 “And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have
one Father, and he is in heaven.”
Leeza and Warren’s escape could be looked at as the rapture, escaping the damned Crockett
Island much like Christian’s say how the believers will be saved and the rest left
to judgement.
The others had twisted their religion to justify awful things and twisting the gift they were
given, showing that humans have not really changed that much from the original sin.
However Riley preferred to end his eternal life on his terms and could not abide by what
he would need to do, and sought redemption in ending or trying to end what was going
to happen.
The survivors of Crockett sought peace in the sun rise and look to wash themselves away
in the divine light of god.
The bible itself said in Luke 1:78-79: “Because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the
sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in
the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
The sunrise is a symbolic nature that it is a new day and the sins of the past are washed
away.
We also see the ash of their bodies blow over the boat and this is very symbolic of the
saying ‘ashes to ashes’ and ‘dust to ‘dust’ which of course pulls from the
bible.
As they die everyone on the island sings nearer my god to thee and this has significance for
a number of reasons.
Firstly it contains lyrics about angels beckoning those on Earth into Heaven and how they will
finally meet God.
However it was also the last song to be played on the Titanic as it and it's passengers sunk
into the ocean to their deaths.
Though it should be seen as a tragic ending for Leeza she has very much avoided the easy
road and though she is back to being paralysed she is still alive, unlike all the others
who gave into sin and the temptation of a better life.
Her defeating this tempation and breaking away from the flock is what saves her life
in the end and it stands firm as a positive message.
The series shows us that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and though she
could have given in at any point due to pressure from her parents, an authority figure and
her community, she didn’t and thus now gets to live.
In the end it’s has a very powerful meaning and overall the show was a stunning work of
acting, writing and the portrayal of a wide range of beliefs.
This was merged into a layered and nuanced view on the spectrum of belief and religion
that is a real page turner.
I know that phrasing doesn’t work here but you know what I mean, it was an easy binge.
It’s something each viewer will take their own meaning from, just like the good book.
While Midnight Mass is a wild departure from The Haunting series and though some may take
a time to adjust to it, it is an absolutely outstanding series that I can’t praise high
enough.
It’s rare that we give shows or films a 10/10
Now obviously I’d love to hear your thoughts on the show and what you took from it as I
know a lot of people will have different views on the series.
We're running a competition right now and giving away 3 copies of the Zack Snyder DC
Trilogy on the 30th Of September.
All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is like the video, make sure you
subscribe with notifications on and drop a comment below with your thoughts on the episode.
We pick the comments at random at the end of the month and the winners of the last one
are on screen right now so message me @heavySpoilers if that's you.
If you want something else to watch then make sure you check out our breakdown of Squid
Game which will be linked on screen right now.
That’s another amazing Netflix series you should check out so hopefully I see you there
right after this.
With that out the way thank you for sitting through the video, I’ve been Paul and I’ll
see you next time.
Take care, Peace