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The Midnight Club - Season Two
I'm very disappointed that Netflix has decided not to pursue a second season of THE MIDNIGHT CLUB.
My biggest disappointment is that we left so many story threads open, holding them back for the hypothetical second season, which is always a gamble.
So I'm writing this blog as our official second season, so you can know what might have been, learn the fates of your favorite characters, and know the answers to those dangling story threads from the first season.
So for those of you who want to know what we were planning to do, here's a look at what would have been season 2!
AMESH Season 2 would open with Amesh, his glioblastoma advancing quickly. He would tell the first story of the season, but would be struggling to make it through. We'd focus on his love story with Natsuki for those first few episodes as it becomes clear that Amesh's death is imminent.
Meanwhile, Ilonka is trying to reconcile how she was fooled by Julia Jayne, all while falling further in love with Kevin, and she realizes he may be fading faster than he lets on.
Ilonka begins a serialized story in an effort to encourage him to "stay alive a little longer," like he did in season one. And the story she tells is... REMEMBER ME.
This was the thing I was most excited about for this season.
REMEMBER ME is one of my all-time favorite Pike books - it tells the story of a teenage girl who is pushed off a balcony, and awakens as a ghost. She has to navigate being a spirit while trying to solve her own murder. We would have stretched this story out over 5 episodes. We were going to use it as a vehicle for Ilonka to try to come to terms with the fact that she is going to die, and to begin to trying to wrap her head around being a ghost... but this is the coolest part... the lead character of Ilonka's story wouldn't be played by Ilonka. She'd be played by...
Anya.
Because this is how we live on, isn't it? In the minds of those we leave behind. And Ilonka would use REMEMBER ME as a way to imagine her dear friend Anya, waking up as a ghost, navigating the afterlife. And this sets up one of the best mechanisms of the show - even if a character dies, as long as they're remembered by members of the club, they live on in their stories.
As the story starts to pick up steam, though, the group will have to deal with the death of Amesh, which he greets with grace and bravery.
In his final moments, he sees someone in his room - the Janitor from the first season, as played by Robert Longstreet, who says comforting things to Amesh even though he can't respond.
In his final, final moments, the SHADOW descends upon Amesh, and he is engulfed into it, which reinforces the idea that the Shadow is DEATH...
With Amesh's death comes something that upends the entire thing: a NEW PATIENT. We didn't work out too much about who this would be, but it would be a new roommate for Ilonka. Someone taking Anya's old bed. Ilonka would find herself being initially cold to her - just as Anya was when Ilonka arrived. Even feeling like this new girl shouldn't necessarily be ushered into the Club. But of course they would develop a beautiful friendship over the course of the season. The new girl joins the club, where something else exciting is happening - Cheri is telling a story. We hadn't decided which one, but I think it might have been MONSTER.
Natsuki would be the next to die, which would be heartbreaking. And again, she would talk to the janitor just before it happened... and again, the Shadow would come in the final moments.
For Spence, though, things would take a different turn.
The advancements in HIV treatment in the late 90's would come into play, and we'd see his prognosis change. The HIV cocktail came out in Dec 1995, and we really wanted to explore that.
Spence would ride the swell of antiviral advancements, and by the end of the season, he'd no longer be classified as terminal. In the finale of season 2, Spence would leave Brightcliffe just like Sandra did in Season 1, heading off to manage his disease and live the rest of his life.
But onto the BIG MYSTERIES of the season one... here are some answers: What is up with Dr. Stanton's tattoo and bald head? Well, a few things. First, Dr. Stanton is actually the daughter of the original Paragon cult leader, Aceso. Her nickname was Athena, she wrote the Paragon journal that Ilonka found in S1. She turned on her mother and helped the kids escape, but because she was part of the cult in her teenage years, she had the tattoo.
It was her initials that Ilonka found carved into the tree in season 1 (her maiden name was Georgina Ballard, hence the G.B. that Ilonka finds carved in the tree).
She hated what her mother became, and the atrocities of the cult. She reclaimed the property after her mom was gone, and wanted to change it into a place that celebrated life. She was trying to undo her mother's legacy and leave something behind that was beautiful. She is wearing a wig at the end of S1 not because of a sinister reason, but because she is undergoing chemo. Dr. Stanton has cancer. Having helped so many people deal with disease, she now has to deal with it herself.
Her treatment would be successful, and she'd go into remission, but having to face that - while caring for the terminal kids at Brightcliffe - was going to be a very introspective arc for Stanton.
What about the Living Shadow? It's Death, right? Well... no.
At the end of the season, Kevin will die... followed shortly by Ilonka. And as she is dying, two things will happen. First, she'll find herself talking to the Janitor, played by Robert Longstreet... and she'll make a discovery.
HE is Death. And nothing to be afraid of. It turns out no one else ever saw this character. Stanton has a cleaning service, and the Nurse practitioners make up the rooms - the only people who ever saw this mysterious Janitor were the patients. He is Death, and offers them kind words before they die. Then what was the Shadow?
This is an idea we take directly from the book REMEMBER ME, and we'll see it play out in the final moments of Ilona's final tale. In Pike's book, Shari is pursued by a dark entity called The Shadow. When it finally catches her, though, it turns out it is not a bad thing at all.
The Shadow is THEMSELVES. It's the Unknown. As it engulfs someone, in the last moment of their life, it takes them through a place of understanding and catharsis, preparing them for the next step.
THIS is what happened to Anya in S1 when the Shadow finally reached her - that's why she fantasized a life beyond Brightcliffe, which ultimately let her find acceptance of her death. It looks different for everybody, depending on their mind-set - because it is simply an extension of themselves.
The Shadow is just the final catharsis, a return to our original form - it is a moment of true understanding, and once we experience it, we move on to the next place.
We see the Shadow in full effect when it finally comes for Kevin. KEVIN DIES with Ilonka at his side, and it leads to the biggest reveal of the season:
Who were the Mirror Man and the Cataract Woman?
They were Stanley Oscar Freelan and his wife, who built Brightcliffe (fun trivia, he is named after the real-life Freelan Oscar Stanley, who built my favorite hotel in America - the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley is also the inspiration for THE SHINING!).
But more than that... there's a reason that Ilonka only sees Stanley in the mirror, and sees the Cataract Woman whenever she looked at Kevin. This is something else we took from Pike's original book... these aren't ghosts, but glimpses of PAST LIVES.
Ilonka WAS Stanley Oscar Freelan, and Kevin WAS his wife. They've lived many lives this way, and are true SOUL MATES - they always find each other, and they always fall in love. In this life, they knew it would be a short one, so they agreed to find each other in the house they built. They've been "remembering" who they are, and glimpsing their former selves in reflections, and sometimes when they look at each other. This is also why Ilonka's very first words to Kevin in S1 were "Do I know you?" and why Kevin thought she was familiar as well. They are two souls who always find each other, again and again.
The story is this: Stanley was dying, and built this cliffside home hoping that the seaside air would help him. It did, and he far outlived his prognosis (this is also true of the real-life Freelan Stanley). However, his wife began to succumb to dementia.
She would wander the halls, looking for him ("Darling!") and would even forget to feed herself ("I'm starving...") and she eventually refused to leave the basement. Heartbroken for her, Stanley painted the walls to resemble the woodland view, and the ceiling to resemble the night sky, so that it would be a little more beautiful for her.
He also painted a labyrinth on the floor, which was a technique used to try to curb the effects of dementia. She'd walk the pattern of the maze and it was believed it could help her cognition. Eventually, she developed frightening cataracts, but Stanley loved her through it all.
They were soul mates.
So while they seemed scary in season 1, that was just how Ilonka and Kevin's mind were trying to remember their pasts. We even had their faces distorting in ways consistent with how memories degrade over time. When the Shadow comes for Ilonka, and gives her this understanding - this "remembering" - she realizes she has nothing to fear. She and Kevin will shed these personas and be reborn, and have the joy of finding each other another way. The Shadow comes for her, Death takes her gently, and Ilonka goes off with Kevin back into the cosmos, ready for their next incarnation. The series would end with Cheri telling this story to a whole new table of patients, including our new series leads. Most of our original cast now would exist as stories, a story told to the next "class" of storytellers at the table, all of whom we will have met by the end of the season. A story called "The Midnight Club."
Well, that's it... that was what we had in mind. It's a shame we won't get to make it, but it would be a bigger shame if you guys simply had to live with the unanswered questions and the cliffhanger ending. I loved making this show, and I am so proud of the cast and crew. Particularly our cast, who attacked this story with incredible spirit and bravery each and every day.
But for now, we'll put the fire out, and leave the library dark and quiet. To those before, and to those after. To us now, and to those beyond.
Seen or unseen, here but not here.
I'll always be grateful that I got to be part of this Club.
Imagine the teasing imagine the "You really thought I'd get turned that easily? Come on now, Dazai. I thought you'd have a little more faith in me." and Dazai's just dazed and truly shocked by Chuuya for the first time since they were 15.
There's also some incredibly weird tension now because Dazai basically poured his entire heart out to Chuuya. Twice. But there's no way they'll even try to unravel whatever's going on between them now. Dazai just sits silently while Chuuya patches him up, way too relieved that everything somehow worked out.
AND THENNN we get the thing about trusting people. I mean Dazai was literally hoping that Chuuya would come back to him through the power of friendship and whatnot. I'm in headcanon hell help me.
ok i have some bsd thoughts that i need to get out of my system
imagine how much more impactful it would've been if dazai didn't know that chuuya was just pretending to be a vampire. IMAGINE THE ANGST. dazai thought that he mostly had the situation under control. sure, he couldn't control everything, but there weren't that many wild variables in the prison, right? boom fyodor reveals his hidden card, so dazai starts to get desperate. this was the one thing he wasn't prepared for. he was so sure that chuuya was going to be safe outside, and why didn't ango tell him that chuuya was turned into a vampire? but suddenly he feels the gravity changing in the elevator. maybe chuuya was still in there somewhere, maybe he could bring chuuya back to him. so that's why he starts his speech. but no, chuuya fires the shot. just as he's about to give up and hope that the ada can save the world without him, he feels the bullets being stopped right before they hit him, just like how chuuya used to stop them whenever they did their little act. AND THEN CHUUYA LAUGHS AT HIM AND PATCHES HIM UP AFTER THEY MAKE SURE THAT FYODOR WASN'T WATCHING ANYMORE AAAHHHHH
also who's gonna get transferred WAS THAT JUST A FUNNY LITTLE JOKE MORI MADE CAUSE HE WAS IN ON DAZAI'S PLAN OR WHAT HELLOOOOOOO I NEED TO KNOW
“Never be cruel, never be cowardly.”
Twice upon a Time - 2017
23rd November - Happy Birthday, Doctor Who!
NORMANI Motivation (2019)
Why be angry and sulk in a corner when you can grab your best friend and fake-tango (and crash into other dancing couples more or less on purpose, lol) Someone asked for Ron in Yule robes and I more or less tried to deliver it, with another silly Ron/Harry idea of mine :P
After defeating Darth Sidious, Ben Solo, the last Skywalker heir and his dyad in the force, powerful force user Rey of Jakku, would rebuild the Jedi Order in a new way never seen before.
Couldn’t help but draw a comic based on this post by @reybens that I saw via @thedarkbluemoon
Hope you like it! :)
Apprenticeship | Stand With Me
me waiting for more Lucy Frostblade and Gorgug Thistlespring post to come out
for:@number1kenjakuhater
oh my god it just hit me now - the real reason why Do IL was excited to travel to Netherlands with In Joo is because he wanted to be there when she reunites with her little sister and when she finds out her 70 billion is safe and sound, my man wanted to see her shocked face, share the special moment with her,
he wanted to see her happy
I now like to think that if Laurence was in S2, that's when Garroth would've had his 'Oh. 𝘖𝘩.' moment
JJK's Hidden MVP
I think Megumama is the true MVP of JJK, period.
Cause just imagine JJK verse if she were still alive. Toji wouldn't have spiraled down to his self destructive lifestyle, he wouldn't have left Megumi, wouldn't have returned to being the sorcerer killer, wouldn't have taken the commission to kill Riko, Riko wouldn't have died, Gojo wouldn't have awakened early, Geto wouldn't have a midlife crisis at 16 and become a racist mass murderer, Megumi would've grown up with a complete happy family because you bet Megumama would keep Toji tame, Toji would've given up on gambling and fucking around because he'd be too smitten with her and maybe that way he'd have a better relationship with Megumi, Riko could've enjoyed her youth a bit longer before assimilating with Tengen so Tengen's state would've been more stable, Geto wouldn't be killed, Kenny wouldn't have gotten his hands on his technique, and if still by sheer shit luck shibuya still happened we could've had Daddy Toji making a bitch out of every curse user/curse, Geto wiping the floor with Mahibitch - so NO mass Idle Transfiguration and NO culling games AND GOJO WOULD NEVER HAVE GOTTEN SEALED! And there's SO much more!
We don't even know Megumama's name, but SHE is a BIG catalyst of JJK and people don't talk about this enough. We could've had it all if only Gege was a bit less of a sadistic kitty... *sigh*
Rest in power, Megumama. Throughout heaven and earth, you truly did no wrong.
Watch ""Allemagne Zero Points (Official Release)" - Jan Böhmermann | ZDF Magazin Royale" on YouTube