Hey! Sorry if this one is particularly messy even by my standards! I've had a jumbly brain all week and dealing with some stuff in the ~real world~ but I hope you enjoy!
Marry me and things will be fine 😂 no but for real I def connected that to the midnight society … I miss that show… “are you afraid of the dark,” just amazing.
"Smart teenagers are the worst because they never realize how *stupid* they actually are." - As a former smart teenager I feel this in my very soul, oh boy.
Same. I also thought about what Stanton told Anya about having trouble dealing with someone she recognizes herself in, when I started getting really annoyed by Ilonka's bad choices with trusting Julia etc
Also, while I am sure a lot of you guys and Ilonka are actually smart, in my experience adults have a tendency to perceive introverted kids as smarter than their peers. Especially kids who are introverted and read a lot of books, that might talk more formally than other teens, bc they learned their speech habits from books rather than their peers. Adults often find that charming, while other kids your age may find it odd and awkward, thus making it harder for you to befriend them. That again might make you buy into this idea that you really must be more Smart and Mature than your peers, since you struggle so much with relating to and making relationships with them. That feeling of superiority might make other kids even less interested in getting to know you. In the end that leaves you with a socially isolated kid who thinks they're too smart and mature to be manipulated and make mistakes, lacking refined social skills and support, who is probably also lonely. Making them very easy to manipulate for adult with bad intentions unfortunately
Oh. Oh, I don’t like you. WHY would you highlight this. While knowing damn well that INEVITABLY I’m going to read this???? The audacity, friendo. I don’t appreciate it.
Really drove me nuts that Ilonka ignored so many glaring red flags, it was like watching a toddler touch a hot stove and cry over and over for hours lol
I think she was blinded by her will to live, not to say the other kids has completely given up, but Ilonka is the only one that persistently believe in "the miracle" till the end. Also she is very stubborn. On this note, she kind of remind me of Viola. I think if Ilonka died before finding out the truth, by stubbornness alone, her soul will haunt and create a gravity of will, that would trap all souls at Brightcliffe, just like how Viola haunt Bly Manor. idk just a fun thought I had 😂😂
Not related to the show, but that example reminds me of a story from one of my friends. When she was little her mom was cooking and told her, “don’t touch the stove, it’s hot.” So my friend proceeded to slap her hand down directly on the hot stove. She apparently touched the hot stove on two other occasions after this as well.
at the end illonka is a kid and julia is an adult and if you watch closely you can tell julia is intentionally manipulating illonka by stroking her ego and saying "you're righg" "you are a bright girl" so how much can you really blame illonka for being manipulated
I had interpreted the ballerina statue as healing since in the first ritual the kids used each of their most precious items to heal Anya. So therefore, her most precious item was healed. 🤷♀️ if they had instead done the ritual with human sacrifice then Anya would have been healed.
The way I understand it is that an object was healed because they sacrificed objects. If actual human lives would have been sacrificed, then Anya would have been healed. So it's very tragic.
That’s was me. As soon as I saw the numbers, I knew it was Dewey Decimal. Every time they were in the library, I wondered when they would figure it out. 😂
I'm a medical academic librarian and have only dealt with NLM and LC call numbers as a professional, but I used Dewy as a kid. It was so obvious that it was a dewy call number, and I kept yelling it too. :) I even remembered that it was religion, so go me...I spent a lot of time in public libraries as a child.
I haven't used the dewey decimals in decades, but the character who outright states they know how to use the system somehow not realizing that the mysterious number was a book drove me up a wall. 😂
I just met Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel yesterday and we got to talk about Midnight Mass, Midnight Club, and how he's apparently going to be doing something for Amazon Prime (hopefully The Dark Tower). He also gave me great tips about working on my screenplays. They were both an absolute delight!
Natsuki’s story was definitely my favorite of them all. As someone who has dealt with problems similar in the past, the story is so accurate as to the conflicting feelings and wanting to go on but realizing it will always be hard. Loved how the two sides of her mental state were represented as hitch hikers who are passengers of her journey. The hitch hikers come out of nowhere and invade her car, like mental illness can sometimes feel like it comes out of nothing and takes over your life. Story had me sobbing.
That was my favourite story hands down. I did not see the twist coming and I just started crying, as someone who attempted suicide, it was incredibly well done and heart felt. I loved Amesh's story but this one hit me in the feels.
That story for sure hit a beat with me and was one of the most gut punching. once that twist came i burst into tears especially when the versions started talking as, while i've never gone that far I have dealt with both sides of the voices they depicted.
Kids in the 90s had to learn the Dewey decimal system in elementary school. Plus if you wanted to find a book in a library during the 90s you needed to know the system. So it was common for people especially kids to know it.
Yep. I was in high school 93-97 so I can confirm that the Dewey Decimal System was ground into us from kindergarten (preschool in some cases) so deeply that I already know for sure I'm going to know it until I slough off this mortal coil lol
92-96 here, and then I worked in my college library from 96-98 until I transferred schools. It bugged me no end, lol. Also frustrated me when they were singing Good Riddance at Ruth's memorial because I was POSITIVE that it came out after I graduated High School (yay, turns out I'm right) and also I just find it so ironic that no one seems to even know that the song is a rebuke to a former love of Billy Joe Armstrong and not the heartfelt graduation song that it came to be used as. Ahh, the Gen X irony is not lost on me with that one, lmao
Can we just...take a moment to appreciate the cast? Like, they're all wonderful and beautiful and charismatic and especially Ruth Codd. She killed it as Anya and I'm so excited to see what her future projects are gonna be.
I lost my sister recently due to cancer so the show was hard to see at first... but i got through it and I'm glad. I really enjoyed the show. Definitely not that scary. Works better as a mystery drama.
Hey, sorry for your loss. I’m sending you and your fam all the peace and healing. I just wanted to give you props and some love for being able to get through a show like this after experiencing such a tragic loss. It’s so hard for me to get through things still after a year of a loss for me, so I think that speaks to your strength and I will be thinking of you. ❤️
Sorry for your loss. My grandpa passed away recently and just thought I'd recommend you a book thats helped me a bit: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. It's a fiction book about a coffee shop that lets you go back to the past for as long as a cup of coffee. Really beautifully written and the audiobook is really well narrated if you'd prefer listening.
Mike Flanagan is such a unique and interesting creator. Everything he does is so different from the thing before. I went into this kind of expecting more of a midnight mass thing, but I loved the 90s teen drama vibe, that still had his signature haunting psychological terrors. I feel like he could make anything and I'd probably watch it.
There was one thing that kept bothering me after I watched the series. it was the “bright girl” comment from Shasta and then in the flashback episode when Julia found Aceso, and she called Julia that. It had me thinking of a body swapping result to the ritual and that’s how the person can live on, sort of like the skeleton key movie, but that’s just my theory.
That makes sense. And now, Aceso (in Julia's body) wants to steal Ilonka's body. What about Stanton though? By your theory, it makes me think that her son may now be living in her body.
@@chimiko13 I don’t know, when she was looking at the photo of Julien on her desk, it didn’t seem like someone who was looking at a former picture of themselves. but who knows how this is going to play out next season. I’m gonna stick with it to figure this out along with all of you.
I saw this as something she liked from her mentor so she took it on as a phrase herself, nothing more. The ritual sacrifices 4 women for the 5th to be healed and survive. If that survivor is somehow now possessed by the soul of one of the sacrifices it makes no sense. There would have to be a special part of the ritual for choosing who she possesses.
@@BeansKnees I didn't think for a second that Aceso was about to heal some random girl, and not grasp the opportunity to live forever herself. So the body swapping theory makes sense actually.
While all of the actors were brilliant, Ruth Codd's Anya definitely stole the show. I was NOT expecting that ending cliffhanger, and I hope that it gets renewed for a second season!
One thing - it's stated by Ilonka that the button in the elevator looks newer than the rest of the panel and that it was probably added after, which might mean that the original owners didn't actually have a connection to the cult.
Natsuki's story is so sad and too real. As someone who's been through it I knew immediately what was going on. I watched it with my fiance who was intrigued and wanted to hypothesize what it was about with me. He was very surprised that I was so sure and in the end when I was right he was confused how I knew. Because when you've been there it doesn't matter how beautifully cryptic and poetic it's written you just just know.
I loved how the connections among the club members progressed as the series did, with each story told that revealed an intimate part of themselves. It was so surprisingly wholesome! I was confused about the ages of the characters, though - the way they acted at times felt a lot more juvenile than I think they actually were.
@@diogosimao Yeah, in the book, most of them are 18. Spencer is the oldest at 19, while Ilonka is the baby of the bunch at 17, about to turn 18. Let's just say late teens is the norm.
The Two Danas story, the Anya ep and road to nowhere story were some of my favorites. Just so well done and so many feels at this show and this cast of characters. Hope it does get a second season.
I think that the original cult leader Regina managed to transfer herself into Julia's body because of the line "bright " child or something that both of them say .That's how Julia was healed
I feel like Julia looked up to Regina and wanted to take the role of Aceso like how Regina did during the original ritual, that's why she imitated Regina
I like this idea! I’ve been reading what people think about the show and who they think Stanton is. Seeing the clip when Regina was caught during the original ritual, I was reminded she was BALD! Then I thought of Stanton in the final scene taking off her wig to be the same person. Stanton could very well be Regina!
@@thefootenotes5524I think she's more likely Regina's daughter. They're about the same age,slightly older than Julia, she's not into the cult but has the same tattoo,she bought the house
I watched this because I'm a baby with horror, and it seemed like the right level for me. It was definitely spooky and got to me, but the story and drama was amazing! I was expecting Sabrina level horror and drama, but this was so deep and had a lot of heart. I'm so excited to see you talk about it since I'm always wondering how Amanda would review a new thing I love lol.
The great thing about Mike Flanagan’s shows is that they always have a lot of heart and beautiful bittersweet scenes that make you feel all the things.
@@Sajirah I only saw Hill House (and was scared by the few monsters for months), but I DID really love it. And honestly, the power of the story told and the way the monsters were used helped me be less anxious about it, weirdly? I'm still working my way up to Bly Manor, but I think I'm a fan of his work as well c:
Is it gory? I really want to watch it but I can’t handle super gory stuff. (Just showing a lot of blood is fine, but showing anything deeper than that is rough for me)
I have cried so much at this show - episode 7 ‘Anya’ broke me! I also want Stanton to be more nuanced because by herself she’s been broken up by the kids dying and to undercut that would be jarring.
33:15 the reincarnation theme might apply well since the show concentrates so much on the imagery of circles and cyclacle things....the house is full of circle motifs on the windows, hallways, and front doors. and the skylight in the foyer of the hospice also has a round circle with what looks like a labyrinthine design on it's center.
Flanagan's admitted he used "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" as an inspiration. Like the whole thing of the Midnight Club being a generational thing passed on from kid to kid, that's very much like the Midnight Society, both in the original "AYAOTD" and in the current revival series.
@@mst3KGf Oh, didn't know there's a revival of Are You Afraid of the Dark. I'd be happy if they just keep doing a miniseries of the show every year around spooky season.
I lost my mom to cancer this year, so Midnight Club hit home way to harder for me, because I could see every step of the illness she went through in all of the kids. It is like Flanagan had manage to built a mosaic with the kids, each one picking up aspect for the illness. And yep... it was terrifying to see.
I'm sorry for your loss! My mom also died from cancer and it's terrifying to witness the terminal stages of the disease. My mom tried the herbal remedies so I was almost annoyed to see that in the series because they don't work.
@@alepvl8951 I'm sorry for your loss too. Yeah! Mom went for herbs too last year...it was really annoying to see this too. it is this...hope they have you know it wont work but at the same time you dont qant to sound "pessimistic".
jump scares don’t usually ever get me but boy when that old lady came crawling out of the darkness saying “i’m hungry” when ilonka was in bed, i did yell
I am so excited to see what you think of the show. Coming from The Haunting of series' and Gerald's Game, there were a lot less scares than I was expecting but I thought it was interesting. Seemed more like Mike Flanagan for teens, which wasn't bad at all, just unexpected for me. The scene with all the jump scares was really funny though 😅
As someone with a chronic condition that is treatable but could have very drastic turns for the worse if a relapse were to occur in a very unlucky part of the brain, there's so so very few shows/stories out there that deal with this topic in a way that feels real or realistic. Even taking away the more supernatural aspect of it all with the cult and ghost couple, just the way they show how the teens deal with their respective conditions and how different everybody is from each other in how they do so (or sometimes how similar), just got to me in the best of ways. Especially Anya's story broke me to pieces but in a very cathartic way and I love this show for it. All in all, I just enjoyed this show and its characters so much and it's definitely the top show of the year so far for me.
what I did not expect when watching this was being spoken to on a very personal level and it be turned into a forced grief counseling session (that was admittedly cathartic but also damn I was not ready for that!) dammit Flanagan stop being so damn good at turning horror into therapeutic sorrow! 😭😭😭 Also as a warning: do NOT watch Midnight Club while high! For God's sake DON'T DO IT!!!
I was hoping for another Haunting or Midnight Mass but this was something new, maybe I was less emotionally devastated because I finally managed to pace myself and didn't binge the whole thing in a night. I'm a little worried about Flanagan going for several seasons because this usually means inconsistency and a decline in quality if a creator just stretches the show out as much as possible, I hope he has a plan like the Dark creators for only a small number of seasons to tell the story they had in mind.
I liked the show. It didn’t pull me into the story as hard as Hill House or Bly, but still had me shed some sweet tears like Flanagan is so good for. Still excited to see a second season, so hopefully it’ll be picked up.
Eveything about Anya's character broke me. The two Danas story, Ruth Codd's acting ("I don't wanna die", literally chills), the life she could have had. I loved every second of it. I felt like all the characters played an important role and I loved how this didn't just feel like Ilonka's story! But yeah, the Julia Jayne/Shaska twist was pretty obvious. Final comment: The old lady climbing unto's Ilonka's bed, saying "sweetheart", honestly made me shit my pants
"So, yeah, you might have messed up in life, but I bet you haven't messed up to the tune of accidentally orchestrating a death cult in your basement...or maybe you have - I don't know your life." I love you Amanda. Great overview/review of The Midnight Club.
I've only seen two episodes so far, and this is what I saw: Dr. Stanton: Okay, who wants to share today? Amesh: I do. Anya: Oh fucking great! Amesh: I'm really bummed that I'm going to miss out on all the cool video games that are gonna come out after my death. Anya: Boo-fucking-hoo! You think you're the only fucking person in the world with fucking problems? Sandra: I'll pray for you Anya. Anya: Oh fuck off! We're all gonna fucking die! Cheri: My dad's a famous director. Anya: Shut the fuck up! Kevin: Hey, Ilonka, wait up! Ilonka: Were you following me? Kevin: Yeah, I'm totally simping you. Ilonka: Okay. Hey, did you know a cult used to own this building? [Creepy grandma shows up. Cue credits]
I think it's really cool to see someone with such a range in their ability to make horror. Like, it's so impressive that he can make something with more mature over tones like bly manor and hill house and then turn around and make a still good YA feeling series. I also really like that just because it kinda has that YA vibe doesn't mean it treats the audience like a child. This all based on just what I saw in the video though, I can say I'm very excited to give the series a watch
I really enjoyed this show, I cried many times, and I understand that Mike Flanagan wants to make a season 2, but I felt kind of empty when the season ended because nothing was answered
Sucks this show was canceled 😞. Hopefully, Flanigan continues it with Amazon. While the paranormal parts, along with some other things, are a bit clunky or predictable, I feel this show works incredibly as a character, drama type show. The interactions between the characters I feel worked so well and felt so real, and I love the inclusion of the other novels in the kids' stories and how he made the stories relate to the kids.
I didn't like this and I thought I would. My least favorite Flannigan. If they wanted it to be set in the 90's they should not have the kids saying "that's on brand" and "what the actual fuck" given those sayings were not around in the 90's. As a 90's teen, I know. He could have watched "My So-Called Life" to see how most 90's teens talked if he doesn't remember. Unfortunately, the one shoulder overalls are correct except that was a couple years earlier not in 1994.
Not surprised you had to lean on the book so much for explanations, because this show doesn't stand on its own. I have really enjoyed all of the other Flanagan Netflix shows, but this one was not it. The main character is a bit of a mary sue with no development whatsoever. The "plot" is loose at best and left open ended to invite further seasons. Honestly not great, even with the big reveal at the end, I will be hard pressed to watch season 2. The only redeeming quality of the show was the decent development and side stories of some of the side characters like Spence and Anya.
After finding out that is was not greenlit for season 2, I was disappointed. Luckily, Flanagan released what was supposed to happen in Season 2 and tied up loose ends.
in the 90s we all knew the dewey decimal system tho. thats how we found the books to do all our research papers. the internet was really not all that useful back then. library used to be a class in grade school, you learned dewey decimal and how to use the card catalog, had to do actual exercises where you find or reshelve books. then we could check out what we needed or wanted to read at the end of library class. it was like once a week or something
Ilanka started to annoy me towards the end. I also didn't care for the cult plotline. I loved the stories they shared during the club and I love the relationships they all formed. But once the cult stuff popped up on screen I would tap out
The hourglass icon is cool cause it looks like it's drawn so that all of the sand is in the bottom of the hourglass, invoking the idea of being out of time, like for example being terminally ill in hospice
I don't know with ya'll but I felt REALLY bad for Katherine. I mean it sucks that her bf is dying, and it also sucks that she's not aware of how difficult and painful it is for her bf to try to be "normal". Still, she didn't deserve what Ilonka said to her.
So I finished this show in like 2 days, right after it came out. I JUST realized why Sandra didn't tell a story on screen...that wrinkled my brain. Ugh I loved this show.
Update: I didn’t know that this was meant to have more than one season, so that definitely contributed to me not liking it as much. You’re right though, Hill House/Bly Manor are miles better.
I liked the show, it's theme and the stories that were told seemed to be a nice balance between emotional, happy, and sad. As with the Nike's, there were a few times I was taken out of the atmosphere due to these current societal phrasings. I was in highschool the same time as the stories are taking place and I can assure you almost no one knew about email or the internet and we definitely didn't say "on brand" for anything. Great video, good insight and I always love your enthusiasm.
I love how Mike Flannagan wants to tackle young audience by doing the most emptional, depressing and mature story... Please don't let him do anything for children 😂 But jokes aside... I think I never cried this much on a Mike Flannagan show
The show bored me to death. I couldn’t believe I made it to the end. Hopefully whatever he has ready for us next Halloween will be better than The Midnight Club.
I honestly found the Midnight Club to be very boring and the characters flat- aside from the Jesus Girl, she's my favourite and Cheri (why didn't she get to have a story?!). I also didn't like Anya, even though her story was compelling, I thought that she was too much of a bitch to properly like. I felt like this show was a horror version of those CBS shows like Riverdale, Teen Wolf and Vampire Dairies, where they have spooky premises but the show mainly focuses on the Teen Drama. On top of that, I felt like somethings weren't explained or explored properly, like the ghosts or the cult. Or how about the fact that none of the kids who died ever made a ghost apperceive or something. Which is a shame, because I felt like the M.C had an interesting premise but was just poorly executed.
Im much in the same boat love the stories cant do the movies. I know this is a no no but I cant recommend Decker Shado enough. Does reviews of Horror Movies similar to Amanda, has a solid back catalogue. Also does the occasional break way to other types of movies. A particular favorite was the "Summer of Steven Seagal." Does have the occasional co host which is either love hate but its not that many.
I struggle with jumpscares (especially living alone) but love the psychological and thematic side of horror, and I consume most of my horror content through the Dead Meat channel! The Kill Count for getting to enjoy the film while having quips and nice music over it (much less stressful) and the podcast for more in-depth thematic discussions and reviews
I honestly don’t understand so much of the story..who’s the creepy old lady/guy that keeps appearing, why dont they explain julia’s stuff after she gets caught trying to poison the girl, ect..
I've loved Pike since I was about 11 so seeing this show was almost magical. I honestly loved the additions to the story. It worked really well for this format
In 1994, every American teenager would have known the Dewey Decimal System, because as 80s kids we all learned it -- it was the standard way to locate anything before there was any kind of computer system to keep track of things.
Yeah, I didn't like this one as much either. It was cool, and the stories are super interesting, but I just couldn't get behind IIonka as a character. We keep being told she's so smart and such a bright girl (and admittedly some of that is Julia Jayne trying to manipulate her) but she completely misses all the very obvious red flags everywhere. Maybe it's because she's in denial and hype-rfocused on trying to find a miracle, but it just didn't seem super believable to me. She doesn't seem like a very nice person or good friend to be honest. Also this particular show fell back on more of the cliche jump scares and sound effects and that was disappointing.
(currently at 16:20) if the cult people did their research on the greek gods, they'd realize that human sacrifice is a HUGE no-no lmao (alikali has a really good vid on this if you want to learn more)
I lost my sister to cancer so it doesn't help every time I unknowingly watch something involving terminal illness, not that I didn't appreciate the positive emotional moments with this. That aside, it was nice seeing Bev not being Bev for a minute and I hope season 2 doesn't have 'Nancy'-I mean, Stanton-going someplace dark. Edit: I just reread the description and my brain completely missed the "mysterious hospice" part. 🥴
I'm sorry to say, but what I think really made me not to like this series as much as I expected to was how annoying I found the main character. At the beginning I really did feel sorry and empathize with her, but as the episodes went through I found her more and more self-centered, even toxic sometimes. I can understand the desperation and the hope to live, but as I watched it didn't seemed to me those were the main reasons to behave like she did. Even when Julia talks to her, yes, hope may be one reason for her to believe what she tells her, but I think all the flattery (all the "you're so smart, 'bright girl'" stuff) played even a bigger part. I've read someone mentioning "saviour complex" and I see the point, but even that worked in the worst way possible, because in fact in the end she wanted to be the one who got healed (and therefore the rest to die), even getting pissed when that doesn't happen (which I could understand). So it was not that she wanted to save the others (even only in her mind), but that she wanted to _think herself_ as the saviour instead. So at the time she tells her story about failing to save everyone until she self-sacrifices, I found it frustratingly and annoyingly delussional, even with the given circumstances.
Before I say anything I’m going to say I definitely understand where you are coming from. I also loved hill house. I felt very similarly with Steven in Hill House. It pissed me off how stubborn he was about everything. Even if you don’t believe in ghosts you shouldn’t be belittling your siblings and disregarding what they are saying. If you think it’s just mental illness in your family then you should listen to the stories of what you siblings saw. Even if they were delusional it will have some sort of meaning. When faced with the fact that ghost were real (when his father first told him about the clock repairman and the tree house) he disregarded it adamantly. I see Ilonka (I’m pretty sure I spelled her name wrong.) very similar to Steven. She wouldn’t believe she was sick. When faced with signs that she was sick she just disregarded it. Where Steve turned the supernatural into a false illness; Ilonka took a real illness and turned it supernatural.
I don't usually comment until a video is over, but I already don't trust Shasta because she looks too much like Rose the Hat, who is...*checks notes* A CHARACTER FROM DR. SLEEP WHICH WAS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY MIKE FLANAGAN. We need to keep our eyes on Flanagan. He puts out damn good shows, but he's up to something. Edit: In the immortal words of Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, "God I'm tired of being right!"
The fact that you s/o the golden OG Canadian legend Are you Afraid of the Dark makes my heart soar further than it's ever been. You forever make my day Amanda. Love you and your content so much dude!
Buying all of Pike's work from Thiftbooks was one of my better life choices. They are the same generation of copies I read as a 90's teen. Really too bad that so many are out of print. Also, everyone knew the dewey decimal system in the 90s. It was like knowing about wikipedia now.
I'm glad you said Mike's name at the beginning! I've been skipping past this one for a couple weeks now not realizing who's behind it. I'm stopping your video to go binge it first! (ETA) Wow, that took 9 hours and my face hurts from crying! Gotta love that catharsis!
34:14 i thought this was the weakest of the Flanaganverse stories. i was a little frustrated when I would figure out one of the clues way before the characters but the show spent a couple of episodes lingering on the mystery and thus making me wait until then for the story to progress. examples of this was the hour glass symbol on the elevator, which as you mention we linger on in earlier scenes, and the library numbers (why make a big deal about the library if not to hide something away....also the dewey decimal thing wouldn't necessarily be common knowledge but even then the library connection was obvious) which was most frustrating because two episodes went by before Ilonka was GIVEN the information by Shasta to figure this out. i never experienced this in Bly House, Hill house, or Midnight Mass so this was a bit frustrating in this show. I still liked the season but I want the second season to set these mysteries up more elegantly.
Fantastic video! Your theory of reincarnation must probably be true but I guess we'll never know thanks to Netflix cancelling this promising young show
I HAVE BEEN WAITING 4 THIS VIDEO. Literally binge watched the show just so I am ready when ur video goes up. I havent watched the video yet, but im just. Telling my toughts. This is probably my least favorite of Flanagan shows but i still had a good time. Was it kinda cheesy/on the nose sometimes? Yes. But I felt like that was on purpose. But idk. First twoish episodes didnt hook me and i found many characters annoying but then i just. Started having fun with it. And yes it did made me cry. Road to nowhere hit hard ngl
I think it's on similar footing with Midnight Mass for me? I think they both do things exceedingly well then have other elements I don't feel work as well.
@@AmandaTheJedi thats valid. I guess i just vibed with midnight mass more. I think my list goes 1. Hillhouse and bly manor (they are so different i dont want to chose. Right now i like hillhouse more but i think Bly's characters are more charming) 2. Midnight mass 3. Midnight club
this show didn’t get as much flowers as it should’ve. the characters, the plot, everything was so well put together. i was so emotionally invested i spent 3 hrs crying after finishing it💀😭
Here goes Mike Flanagan, crushing my soul again 😭. Fr though. I adore this man’s work. I love the vibe and the deep theme’s he works with. Hill House it still my favorite, but this was another great addition to his body of work. Side note: I kept accidentally calling it the Midnight Society
I hate when I'm trying to switch between youtube and discord and click the dislike button by accident on my laptop!! The video's very good and I hit like instantly after my mistake
I grew up reading Pike books and I've loved Flanagans other series so I was pretty excited for this series and it really didn't dissapoint. I think I cried through a large portion of it tbh especially natsukis story and anyas ritual / passing. I think the series was a really beautiful and haunting look into mortality and all the feelings that surround that, I really enjoyed it.
This show was very difficult to watch to me, I cried a lot. I've lost my father in March (sepsis), then my mom was diagnosed in June with cancer. She's under treatment and her blood results look good, but still, very scary times. Loved the show, especially Anya's character
Having read all of Pike's books, I did wonder if Shasta is Aceso in Julia's body, and if the ritual, when done in full and correctly, not only heals, but swaps bodies (to the youngest). If you're trying to turn over the hour glass, it's not enough to heal an illness, you need a younger body to truly live longer. At the same time, if Aceso was after Ilonka's body, that body was very clearly about to drink poison, so maybe I'm off. But, there's a decent amount of body swapping for various reasons in many of Pike's books.
Fun fact: Midnight Club started filming almost immediately after Midnight Mass so it's mostly the same crew. Although the production halted for 3 weeks due to recasting after their first week of shooting.
I actually stopped this video and went to watch the show. Finished it in a day & then finished your review. 10/10 would recommend on both :) now to read the book!!
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but the builder of Brightcliff is named Oscar Stanley Frelan, which is a pretty blatant reference to Freelan Oscar Stanley, of Stanley Hotel fame. There’s even a moment when ‘Shasta’ tells Ilonka she’s “so full of light, just… shining”. Stanley’s wife Flora even developed cataracts later in life, similar to Vera’s ‘milky’ eyes in the show. There’s also a lot of significance to the name Shasta, and they make a point of mentioning Mount Shasta and the springs. There’s a few legends about the area, and it drew attention from several new age groups/cults. Guy Ballard and the I Am movement, and it’s branches, is especially worth looking into. That rose at the center of the labyrinth in the basement is a reference to a prayer labyrinth (like in Chartres) and possibly Crowley’s Thelema. Just a few examples of how detailed and layered Flanagan’s work is. Seriously one of the best creators around right now.
Recently got my thyroid removed due to cancer and couldn’t make it past first episode after her diagnoses 😔 thanks for the video just because I wanted to see if it was even worth it but I think it might be to soon for me
This show was quite good, I thought the relationships between the characters were quite cute and wholesome. Also I didn't realise it was set in the 90s until like half way through so the Julia thing didn't add up to me immediately.
Hey! Sorry if this one is particularly messy even by my standards! I've had a jumbly brain all week and dealing with some stuff in the ~real world~ but I hope you enjoy!
No worries, Amanda, thanks for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to make this video for us. 🥰
Dude don’t worry, it’s fine - I hope you’re doing ok!
Every time we hear your take is a treat, I just finished the show and your timing couldn't be more perfect❤️
Marry me and things will be fine 😂 no but for real I def connected that to the midnight society … I miss that show… “are you afraid of the dark,” just amazing.
aa this video was so cool to watch! its completely ok and i hope everythings going well for you
"Smart teenagers are the worst because they never realize how *stupid* they actually are." - As a former smart teenager I feel this in my very soul, oh boy.
I felt personally attacked by this
Same. I also thought about what Stanton told Anya about having trouble dealing with someone she recognizes herself in, when I started getting really annoyed by Ilonka's bad choices with trusting Julia etc
That's why all I hated all the other smart teens I met cause they were too much like me
Also, while I am sure a lot of you guys and Ilonka are actually smart, in my experience adults have a tendency to perceive introverted kids as smarter than their peers. Especially kids who are introverted and read a lot of books, that might talk more formally than other teens, bc they learned their speech habits from books rather than their peers. Adults often find that charming, while other kids your age may find it odd and awkward, thus making it harder for you to befriend them. That again might make you buy into this idea that you really must be more Smart and Mature than your peers, since you struggle so much with relating to and making relationships with them. That feeling of superiority might make other kids even less interested in getting to know you. In the end that leaves you with a socially isolated kid who thinks they're too smart and mature to be manipulated and make mistakes, lacking refined social skills and support, who is probably also lonely. Making them very easy to manipulate for adult with bad intentions unfortunately
Oh. Oh, I don’t like you. WHY would you highlight this. While knowing damn well that INEVITABLY I’m going to read this????
The audacity, friendo. I don’t appreciate it.
Really drove me nuts that Ilonka ignored so many glaring red flags, it was like watching a toddler touch a hot stove and cry over and over for hours lol
Still loved the show tho
I think she was blinded by her will to live, not to say the other kids has completely given up, but Ilonka is the only one that persistently believe in "the miracle" till the end. Also she is very stubborn.
On this note, she kind of remind me of Viola. I think if Ilonka died before finding out the truth, by stubbornness alone, her soul will haunt and create a gravity of will, that would trap all souls at Brightcliffe, just like how Viola haunt Bly Manor.
idk just a fun thought I had 😂😂
That's called bad writing/character development
Not related to the show, but that example reminds me of a story from one of my friends. When she was little her mom was cooking and told her, “don’t touch the stove, it’s hot.” So my friend proceeded to slap her hand down directly on the hot stove.
She apparently touched the hot stove on two other occasions after this as well.
at the end illonka is a kid and julia is an adult and if you watch closely you can tell julia is intentionally manipulating illonka by stroking her ego and saying "you're righg" "you are a bright girl" so how much can you really blame illonka for being manipulated
I had interpreted the ballerina statue as healing since in the first ritual the kids used each of their most precious items to heal Anya. So therefore, her most precious item was healed. 🤷♀️ if they had instead done the ritual with human sacrifice then Anya would have been healed.
That's a very interesting thought, maybe the ritual can only heal what you give it? So if people had died, a person would survive?
The way I understand it is that an object was healed because they sacrificed objects. If actual human lives would have been sacrificed, then Anya would have been healed. So it's very tragic.
@@alepvl8951 Now the show makes sense cause I didn't get it at first
Well that just makes me way sadder than before. 😑😭
Good thinking, though.
Wow that makes so much sense!
I’m a librarian so I was just screaming DEWEY NUMBERS for like 3 episodes. Drove me crazy
That’s was me. As soon as I saw the numbers, I knew it was Dewey Decimal. Every time they were in the library, I wondered when they would figure it out. 😂
I haven't even been to a library for many years and I was screaming the same thing
I'm a medical academic librarian and have only dealt with NLM and LC call numbers as a professional, but I used Dewy as a kid. It was so obvious that it was a dewy call number, and I kept yelling it too. :) I even remembered that it was religion, so go me...I spent a lot of time in public libraries as a child.
I'm a reader and was doing the same thing!
I haven't used the dewey decimals in decades, but the character who outright states they know how to use the system somehow not realizing that the mysterious number was a book drove me up a wall. 😂
I just met Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel yesterday and we got to talk about Midnight Mass, Midnight Club, and how he's apparently going to be doing something for Amazon Prime (hopefully The Dark Tower). He also gave me great tips about working on my screenplays. They were both an absolute delight!
I love Kate oh man that sounds so cool! I really hope it is The Dark Tower 😍
@@Alexissleepy97 same! Kate is amazing!
The only person I trust with Stephen King adaptations anymore.
Oh, no...he's going to work with Amazon Studios? That worries me. They're terrible.
@@FreyjaJ true! I'm just mostly excited to see what he can do over there 😊
Natsuki’s story was definitely my favorite of them all. As someone who has dealt with problems similar in the past, the story is so accurate as to the conflicting feelings and wanting to go on but realizing it will always be hard. Loved how the two sides of her mental state were represented as hitch hikers who are passengers of her journey. The hitch hikers come out of nowhere and invade her car, like mental illness can sometimes feel like it comes out of nothing and takes over your life. Story had me sobbing.
That was my favourite story hands down. I did not see the twist coming and I just started crying, as someone who attempted suicide, it was incredibly well done and heart felt. I loved Amesh's story but this one hit me in the feels.
That story for sure hit a beat with me and was one of the most gut punching. once that twist came i burst into tears especially when the versions started talking as, while i've never gone that far I have dealt with both sides of the voices they depicted.
your comment really hit me. I hope you are doing okay now. all the best.
@@geekgroupie42 thank you, that made my day.
no seriously, never have a suicidal story resonated with me as much as this one
Kids in the 90s had to learn the Dewey decimal system in elementary school. Plus if you wanted to find a book in a library during the 90s you needed to know the system. So it was common for people especially kids to know it.
I have vivid memories of my elementary school’s card catalog.
I forgot all about that since I was born in 95. I was bad at understanding it and never thought about it again when I entered high school 😅
Yep. I was in high school 93-97 so I can confirm that the Dewey Decimal System was ground into us from kindergarten (preschool in some cases) so deeply that I already know for sure I'm going to know it until I slough off this mortal coil lol
92-96 here, and then I worked in my college library from 96-98 until I transferred schools. It bugged me no end, lol. Also frustrated me when they were singing Good Riddance at Ruth's memorial because I was POSITIVE that it came out after I graduated High School (yay, turns out I'm right) and also I just find it so ironic that no one seems to even know that the song is a rebuke to a former love of Billy Joe Armstrong and not the heartfelt graduation song that it came to be used as. Ahh, the Gen X irony is not lost on me with that one, lmao
Don’t forget those fees attached to your card when you were late returning your book.
Can we just...take a moment to appreciate the cast? Like, they're all wonderful and beautiful and charismatic and especially Ruth Codd. She killed it as Anya and I'm so excited to see what her future projects are gonna be.
The cast is INCREDIBLE. Flanagan’s team hires amazing actors.
I lost my sister recently due to cancer so the show was hard to see at first... but i got through it and I'm glad. I really enjoyed the show. Definitely not that scary. Works better as a mystery drama.
Sorry for your loss 😪
Hey, sorry for your loss. I’m sending you and your fam all the peace and healing. I just wanted to give you props and some love for being able to get through a show like this after experiencing such a tragic loss. It’s so hard for me to get through things still after a year of a loss for me, so I think that speaks to your strength and I will be thinking of you. ❤️
Sorry for your loss. My grandpa passed away recently and just thought I'd recommend you a book thats helped me a bit: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. It's a fiction book about a coffee shop that lets you go back to the past for as long as a cup of coffee. Really beautifully written and the audiobook is really well narrated if you'd prefer listening.
The best films that want the horrors to be truly experienced, they’re exactly this.
Mike Flanagan is such a unique and interesting creator. Everything he does is so different from the thing before. I went into this kind of expecting more of a midnight mass thing, but I loved the 90s teen drama vibe, that still had his signature haunting psychological terrors. I feel like he could make anything and I'd probably watch it.
I was right to be worried it would be Tiger beat horror. First Flanagan that didn’t click with me.
@@littlewing6231 What is tiger beat horror? Sounds like a weird rhythm game where you're hunted by a big cat lol
@@littlewing6231 Nvm, just used my big brain to Google it, I get it now :b
I agree with u 💯
Mike gets a little too far up his own @@@.
There was one thing that kept bothering me after I watched the series. it was the “bright girl” comment from Shasta and then in the flashback episode when Julia found Aceso, and she called Julia that. It had me thinking of a body swapping result to the ritual and that’s how the person can live on, sort of like the skeleton key movie, but that’s just my theory.
The wife and I picked up on that too. It wasn't just saying bright girl either, it was her tone of voice when she said it too.
That makes sense. And now, Aceso (in Julia's body) wants to steal Ilonka's body. What about Stanton though? By your theory, it makes me think that her son may now be living in her body.
@@chimiko13 I don’t know, when she was looking at the photo of Julien on her desk, it didn’t seem like someone who was looking at a former picture of themselves. but who knows how this is going to play out next season. I’m gonna stick with it to figure this out along with all of you.
I saw this as something she liked from her mentor so she took it on as a phrase herself, nothing more. The ritual sacrifices 4 women for the 5th to be healed and survive. If that survivor is somehow now possessed by the soul of one of the sacrifices it makes no sense. There would have to be a special part of the ritual for choosing who she possesses.
@@BeansKnees I didn't think for a second that Aceso was about to heal some random girl, and not grasp the opportunity to live forever herself. So the body swapping theory makes sense actually.
While all of the actors were brilliant, Ruth Codd's Anya definitely stole the show. I was NOT expecting that ending cliffhanger, and I hope that it gets renewed for a second season!
maybe they are briliant in harry styles school of actings
@@Shinigami344 Anya was good stfu
I can't believe it was her first acting role! And the actor who plays Amesh' first role too!
It's Netflix, better not to get your hopes up.
Some of these actors are…….not great, fam
The fact that it took her so long to figure out out was the Dewey decimal system is proof that Ilonka is a fake reader.
One thing - it's stated by Ilonka that the button in the elevator looks newer than the rest of the panel and that it was probably added after, which might mean that the original owners didn't actually have a connection to the cult.
Stanton is played by the same actress that played Nancy in the original Nightmare on Elm Street. She’s horror movie royalty.
Natsuki's story is so sad and too real. As someone who's been through it I knew immediately what was going on. I watched it with my fiance who was intrigued and wanted to hypothesize what it was about with me. He was very surprised that I was so sure and in the end when I was right he was confused how I knew. Because when you've been there it doesn't matter how beautifully cryptic and poetic it's written you just just know.
I loved how the connections among the club members progressed as the series did, with each story told that revealed an intimate part of themselves. It was so surprisingly wholesome! I was confused about the ages of the characters, though - the way they acted at times felt a lot more juvenile than I think they actually were.
Arround 18/19...
I think it was the dialogue that made them sound a lot more childish
@@may.k_me I agree!
@@diogosimao Yeah, in the book, most of them are 18. Spencer is the oldest at 19, while Ilonka is the baby of the bunch at 17, about to turn 18. Let's just say late teens is the norm.
The Two Danas story, the Anya ep and road to nowhere story were some of my favorites. Just so well done and so many feels at this show and this cast of characters. Hope it does get a second season.
I think that the original cult leader Regina managed to transfer herself into Julia's body because of the line "bright " child or something that both of them say .That's how Julia was healed
bright girl
I think she just copied it
I feel like Julia looked up to Regina and wanted to take the role of Aceso like how Regina did during the original ritual, that's why she imitated Regina
I like this idea! I’ve been reading what people think about the show and who they think Stanton is. Seeing the clip when Regina was caught during the original ritual, I was reminded she was BALD! Then I thought of Stanton in the final scene taking off her wig to be the same person. Stanton could very well be Regina!
@@thefootenotes5524I think she's more likely Regina's daughter. They're about the same age,slightly older than Julia, she's not into the cult but has the same tattoo,she bought the house
As soon as Shasta told her since you are out in these woods collecting the water you must be smart and called her bright girl alarm bells went off.
I watched this because I'm a baby with horror, and it seemed like the right level for me. It was definitely spooky and got to me, but the story and drama was amazing! I was expecting Sabrina level horror and drama, but this was so deep and had a lot of heart. I'm so excited to see you talk about it since I'm always wondering how Amanda would review a new thing I love lol.
The great thing about Mike Flanagan’s shows is that they always have a lot of heart and beautiful bittersweet scenes that make you feel all the things.
@@Sajirah I only saw Hill House (and was scared by the few monsters for months), but I DID really love it. And honestly, the power of the story told and the way the monsters were used helped me be less anxious about it, weirdly? I'm still working my way up to Bly Manor, but I think I'm a fan of his work as well c:
Is it gory? I really want to watch it but I can’t handle super gory stuff. (Just showing a lot of blood is fine, but showing anything deeper than that is rough for me)
@@CeCeBookworm07 No, not at all. Some jump scares and creepy stuff but no gore at all really.
@@Sajirah Thanks! I know Flanagan isn’t known for doing gory stuff, but some teen stuff gets gory. (Fear Street)
I have cried so much at this show - episode 7 ‘Anya’ broke me!
I also want Stanton to be more nuanced because by herself she’s been broken up by the kids dying and to undercut that would be jarring.
It broke me so bad it took me 2 days until I finally decided to continue the show
@@alexwashere1601 four days for me!
33:15 the reincarnation theme might apply well since the show concentrates so much on the imagery of circles and cyclacle things....the house is full of circle motifs on the windows, hallways, and front doors. and the skylight in the foyer of the hospice also has a round circle with what looks like a labyrinthine design on it's center.
As someone who was there, I can confirm there was a weird amount of 1997 in that version of 1994
It was honestly surprisingly good. So emotional and inspiring. My mind also went to the Midnight Society 😂
But that cliffhanger did piss me off
Flanagan's admitted he used "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" as an inspiration. Like the whole thing of the Midnight Club being a generational thing passed on from kid to kid, that's very much like the Midnight Society, both in the original "AYAOTD" and in the current revival series.
@@mst3KGf thanks for letting me know, I kinda figured but wasn't sure. Are there interviews out there that I may have missed out on?
@@Dastardly_Duo Look for the IGN interview on UA-cam where Flanagan talks at length about "AYAOTD" and its influence on "Midnight Club."
@@mst3KGf Oh, didn't know there's a revival of Are You Afraid of the Dark. I'd be happy if they just keep doing a miniseries of the show every year around spooky season.
I lost my mom to cancer this year, so Midnight Club hit home way to harder for me, because I could see every step of the illness she went through in all of the kids. It is like Flanagan had manage to built a mosaic with the kids, each one picking up aspect for the illness. And yep... it was terrifying to see.
I'm sorry for your loss! My mom also died from cancer and it's terrifying to witness the terminal stages of the disease. My mom tried the herbal remedies so I was almost annoyed to see that in the series because they don't work.
@@alepvl8951 I'm sorry for your loss too. Yeah! Mom went for herbs too last year...it was really annoying to see this too. it is this...hope they have you know it wont work but at the same time you dont qant to sound "pessimistic".
The first time he trys putting a multiseason show out and it gets canceled lolololol
jump scares don’t usually ever get me but boy when that old lady came crawling out of the darkness saying “i’m hungry” when ilonka was in bed, i did yell
I am so excited to see what you think of the show. Coming from The Haunting of series' and Gerald's Game, there were a lot less scares than I was expecting but I thought it was interesting. Seemed more like Mike Flanagan for teens, which wasn't bad at all, just unexpected for me. The scene with all the jump scares was really funny though 😅
As someone with a chronic condition that is treatable but could have very drastic turns for the worse if a relapse were to occur in a very unlucky part of the brain, there's so so very few shows/stories out there that deal with this topic in a way that feels real or realistic. Even taking away the more supernatural aspect of it all with the cult and ghost couple, just the way they show how the teens deal with their respective conditions and how different everybody is from each other in how they do so (or sometimes how similar), just got to me in the best of ways. Especially Anya's story broke me to pieces but in a very cathartic way and I love this show for it. All in all, I just enjoyed this show and its characters so much and it's definitely the top show of the year so far for me.
what I did not expect when watching this was being spoken to on a very personal level and it be turned into a forced grief counseling session (that was admittedly cathartic but also damn I was not ready for that!)
dammit Flanagan stop being so damn good at turning horror into therapeutic sorrow! 😭😭😭
Also as a warning: do NOT watch Midnight Club while high! For God's sake DON'T DO IT!!!
I was hoping for another Haunting or Midnight Mass but this was something new, maybe I was less emotionally devastated because I finally managed to pace myself and didn't binge the whole thing in a night. I'm a little worried about Flanagan going for several seasons because this usually means inconsistency and a decline in quality if a creator just stretches the show out as much as possible, I hope he has a plan like the Dark creators for only a small number of seasons to tell the story they had in mind.
Bly Manor made me sob the most and then Natsuki’s Road to Nowhere may be the second hardest I’ve cried at something Flanagan has done
I liked the show. It didn’t pull me into the story as hard as Hill House or Bly, but still had me shed some sweet tears like Flanagan is so good for. Still excited to see a second season, so hopefully it’ll be picked up.
Eveything about Anya's character broke me. The two Danas story, Ruth Codd's acting ("I don't wanna die", literally chills), the life she could have had. I loved every second of it.
I felt like all the characters played an important role and I loved how this didn't just feel like Ilonka's story!
But yeah, the Julia Jayne/Shaska twist was pretty obvious.
Final comment: The old lady climbing unto's Ilonka's bed, saying "sweetheart", honestly made me shit my pants
"So, yeah, you might have messed up in life, but I bet you haven't messed up to the tune of accidentally orchestrating a death cult in your basement...or maybe you have - I don't know your life." I love you Amanda. Great overview/review of The Midnight Club.
I've only seen two episodes so far, and this is what I saw:
Dr. Stanton: Okay, who wants to share today?
Amesh: I do.
Anya: Oh fucking great!
Amesh: I'm really bummed that I'm going to miss out on all the cool video games that are gonna come out after my death.
Anya: Boo-fucking-hoo! You think you're the only fucking person in the world with fucking problems?
Sandra: I'll pray for you Anya.
Anya: Oh fuck off! We're all gonna fucking die!
Cheri: My dad's a famous director.
Anya: Shut the fuck up!
Kevin: Hey, Ilonka, wait up!
Ilonka: Were you following me?
Kevin: Yeah, I'm totally simping you.
Ilonka: Okay. Hey, did you know a cult used to own this building?
[Creepy grandma shows up. Cue credits]
Pretty sluggish and a little to CW in style for my taste.
I think it's really cool to see someone with such a range in their ability to make horror. Like, it's so impressive that he can make something with more mature over tones like bly manor and hill house and then turn around and make a still good YA feeling series. I also really like that just because it kinda has that YA vibe doesn't mean it treats the audience like a child. This all based on just what I saw in the video though, I can say I'm very excited to give the series a watch
I really enjoyed this show, I cried many times, and I understand that Mike Flanagan wants to make a season 2, but I felt kind of empty when the season ended because nothing was answered
Sucks this show was canceled 😞. Hopefully, Flanigan continues it with Amazon. While the paranormal parts, along with some other things, are a bit clunky or predictable, I feel this show works incredibly as a character, drama type show. The interactions between the characters I feel worked so well and felt so real, and I love the inclusion of the other novels in the kids' stories and how he made the stories relate to the kids.
I didn't like this and I thought I would. My least favorite Flannigan. If they wanted it to be set in the 90's they should not have the kids saying "that's on brand" and "what the actual fuck" given those sayings were not around in the 90's. As a 90's teen, I know. He could have watched "My So-Called Life" to see how most 90's teens talked if he doesn't remember. Unfortunately, the one shoulder overalls are correct except that was a couple years earlier not in 1994.
Not surprised you had to lean on the book so much for explanations, because this show doesn't stand on its own. I have really enjoyed all of the other Flanagan Netflix shows, but this one was not it. The main character is a bit of a mary sue with no development whatsoever. The "plot" is loose at best and left open ended to invite further seasons. Honestly not great, even with the big reveal at the end, I will be hard pressed to watch season 2. The only redeeming quality of the show was the decent development and side stories of some of the side characters like Spence and Anya.
I loved the style of this show just like all of Flanagan's creations. but it just feels like it's lacking substance. too drawn out for my liking
I’m disappointed we never got the compulsive liar girl’s story.
After finding out that is was not greenlit for season 2, I was disappointed. Luckily, Flanagan released what was supposed to happen in Season 2 and tied up loose ends.
I definitely kept thinking of the Midnight Society too. I grew up with Are You Afraid of the Dark, I love that show.
It's so nice that it's back too, even if the revival series is more "American Horror Stories" with season-long arcs.
in the 90s we all knew the dewey decimal system tho. thats how we found the books to do all our research papers. the internet was really not all that useful back then. library used to be a class in grade school, you learned dewey decimal and how to use the card catalog, had to do actual exercises where you find or reshelve books. then we could check out what we needed or wanted to read at the end of library class. it was like once a week or something
I LOVE Mike Flanagan but I found this series so boring. I watched 6 episodes and had to tap out!
Ilanka started to annoy me towards the end. I also didn't care for the cult plotline. I loved the stories they shared during the club and I love the relationships they all formed. But once the cult stuff popped up on screen I would tap out
The hourglass icon is cool cause it looks like it's drawn so that all of the sand is in the bottom of the hourglass, invoking the idea of being out of time, like for example being terminally ill in hospice
I don't know with ya'll but I felt REALLY bad for Katherine. I mean it sucks that her bf is dying, and it also sucks that she's not aware of how difficult and painful it is for her bf to try to be "normal". Still, she didn't deserve what Ilonka said to her.
Exactly!
So I finished this show in like 2 days, right after it came out. I JUST realized why Sandra didn't tell a story on screen...that wrinkled my brain.
Ugh I loved this show.
Pls do tell why she never told a story because my attention span is that of a goldfish. I might need to watch it again to get it.
Yeah and Sandra was treated so badly among the show
Wait but she did? She told the black and white story.
Every time Amanda says "Cult Stuff", all I can hear is Shane from Buzzfeed Unsolved saying "We're here for the Cult Stuff!"
Ilonka started as a smart girl but ended up so selfish, stew-peed, and so whiny by the end. Didnt like her character arc
Great show, though it seems they left a few plot lines unfinished
I was hoping you’d cover this! I’ve got some mixed feelings so I’m hoping you’ll be able to put it into better words than I could haha
Update: I didn’t know that this was meant to have more than one season, so that definitely contributed to me not liking it as much. You’re right though, Hill House/Bly Manor are miles better.
I liked the show, it's theme and the stories that were told seemed to be a nice balance between emotional, happy, and sad. As with the Nike's, there were a few times I was taken out of the atmosphere due to these current societal phrasings. I was in highschool the same time as the stories are taking place and I can assure you almost no one knew about email or the internet and we definitely didn't say "on brand" for anything. Great video, good insight and I always love your enthusiasm.
I love how Mike Flannagan wants to tackle young audience by doing the most emptional, depressing and mature story... Please don't let him do anything for children 😂
But jokes aside... I think I never cried this much on a Mike Flannagan show
good old mikey once again making sure we sob just as much as we scream. god this man is a master of his genre
The show bored me to death. I couldn’t believe I made it to the end. Hopefully whatever he has ready for us next Halloween will be better than The Midnight Club.
I honestly found the Midnight Club to be very boring and the characters flat- aside from the Jesus Girl, she's my favourite and Cheri (why didn't she get to have a story?!). I also didn't like Anya, even though her story was compelling, I thought that she was too much of a bitch to properly like.
I felt like this show was a horror version of those CBS shows like Riverdale, Teen Wolf and Vampire Dairies, where they have spooky premises but the show mainly focuses on the Teen Drama. On top of that, I felt like somethings weren't explained or explored properly, like the ghosts or the cult. Or how about the fact that none of the kids who died ever made a ghost apperceive or something.
Which is a shame, because I felt like the M.C had an interesting premise but was just poorly executed.
Brutal in what sense? It was pretty boring, did not expect it from Mike
Of all the videos, THIS is the one with an age restriction?
I can't stomach most unnerving things but I love the concept of horror, so I'm happy I found this channel and get to enjoy this genre!
Im much in the same boat love the stories cant do the movies.
I know this is a no no but I cant recommend Decker Shado enough. Does reviews of Horror Movies similar to Amanda, has a solid back catalogue.
Also does the occasional break way to other types of movies. A particular favorite was the "Summer of Steven Seagal."
Does have the occasional co host which is either love hate but its not that many.
@@donjean6590 thank you! I shall!
I struggle with jumpscares (especially living alone) but love the psychological and thematic side of horror, and I consume most of my horror content through the Dead Meat channel!
The Kill Count for getting to enjoy the film while having quips and nice music over it (much less stressful) and the podcast for more in-depth thematic discussions and reviews
@@aim-to-misbehave5674 I love Kill Count! Its definitely a good thing to binge watch
I honestly don’t understand so much of the story..who’s the creepy old lady/guy that keeps appearing, why dont they explain julia’s stuff after she gets caught trying to poison the girl, ect..
I've loved Pike since I was about 11 so seeing this show was almost magical. I honestly loved the additions to the story. It worked really well for this format
Same. I was obsessed with his books.
@@ceilinh6004 I'm really hoping they all get put bachk in print.
In 1994, every American teenager would have known the Dewey Decimal System, because as 80s kids we all learned it -- it was the standard way to locate anything before there was any kind of computer system to keep track of things.
Yeah, I didn't like this one as much either. It was cool, and the stories are super interesting, but I just couldn't get behind IIonka as a character. We keep being told she's so smart and such a bright girl (and admittedly some of that is Julia Jayne trying to manipulate her) but she completely misses all the very obvious red flags everywhere. Maybe it's because she's in denial and hype-rfocused on trying to find a miracle, but it just didn't seem super believable to me. She doesn't seem like a very nice person or good friend to be honest. Also this particular show fell back on more of the cliche jump scares and sound effects and that was disappointing.
(currently at 16:20) if the cult people did their research on the greek gods, they'd realize that human sacrifice is a HUGE no-no lmao (alikali has a really good vid on this if you want to learn more)
I lost my sister to cancer so it doesn't help every time I unknowingly watch something involving terminal illness, not that I didn't appreciate the positive emotional moments with this.
That aside, it was nice seeing Bev not being Bev for a minute and I hope season 2 doesn't have 'Nancy'-I mean, Stanton-going someplace dark.
Edit: I just reread the description and my brain completely missed the "mysterious hospice" part. 🥴
I'm sorry to say, but what I think really made me not to like this series as much as I expected to was how annoying I found the main character. At the beginning I really did feel sorry and empathize with her, but as the episodes went through I found her more and more self-centered, even toxic sometimes. I can understand the desperation and the hope to live, but as I watched it didn't seemed to me those were the main reasons to behave like she did. Even when Julia talks to her, yes, hope may be one reason for her to believe what she tells her, but I think all the flattery (all the "you're so smart, 'bright girl'" stuff) played even a bigger part. I've read someone mentioning "saviour complex" and I see the point, but even that worked in the worst way possible, because in fact in the end she wanted to be the one who got healed (and therefore the rest to die), even getting pissed when that doesn't happen (which I could understand). So it was not that she wanted to save the others (even only in her mind), but that she wanted to _think herself_ as the saviour instead. So at the time she tells her story about failing to save everyone until she self-sacrifices, I found it frustratingly and annoyingly delussional, even with the given circumstances.
Before I say anything I’m going to say I definitely understand where you are coming from. I also loved hill house.
I felt very similarly with Steven in Hill House. It pissed me off how stubborn he was about everything. Even if you don’t believe in ghosts you shouldn’t be belittling your siblings and disregarding what they are saying. If you think it’s just mental illness in your family then you should listen to the stories of what you siblings saw. Even if they were delusional it will have some sort of meaning.
When faced with the fact that ghost were real (when his father first told him about the clock repairman and the tree house) he disregarded it adamantly.
I see Ilonka (I’m pretty sure I spelled her name wrong.) very similar to Steven. She wouldn’t believe she was sick. When faced with signs that she was sick she just disregarded it. Where Steve turned the supernatural into a false illness; Ilonka took a real illness and turned it supernatural.
I don't usually comment until a video is over, but I already don't trust Shasta because she looks too much like Rose the Hat, who is...*checks notes* A CHARACTER FROM DR. SLEEP WHICH WAS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY MIKE FLANAGAN. We need to keep our eyes on Flanagan. He puts out damn good shows, but he's up to something. Edit: In the immortal words of Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, "God I'm tired of being right!"
The fact that you s/o the golden OG Canadian legend Are you Afraid of the Dark makes my heart soar further than it's ever been. You forever make my day Amanda. Love you and your content so much dude!
that Anya episode broke me so much that I just cried from your retelling of it
Buying all of Pike's work from Thiftbooks was one of my better life choices. They are the same generation of copies I read as a 90's teen. Really too bad that so many are out of print. Also, everyone knew the dewey decimal system in the 90s. It was like knowing about wikipedia now.
I'm glad you said Mike's name at the beginning! I've been skipping past this one for a couple weeks now not realizing who's behind it. I'm stopping your video to go binge it first!
(ETA)
Wow, that took 9 hours and my face hurts from crying! Gotta love that catharsis!
34:14 i thought this was the weakest of the Flanaganverse stories. i was a little frustrated when I would figure out one of the clues way before the characters but the show spent a couple of episodes lingering on the mystery and thus making me wait until then for the story to progress. examples of this was the hour glass symbol on the elevator, which as you mention we linger on in earlier scenes, and the library numbers (why make a big deal about the library if not to hide something away....also the dewey decimal thing wouldn't necessarily be common knowledge but even then the library connection was obvious) which was most frustrating because two episodes went by before Ilonka was GIVEN the information by Shasta to figure this out. i never experienced this in Bly House, Hill house, or Midnight Mass so this was a bit frustrating in this show. I still liked the season but I want the second season to set these mysteries up more elegantly.
Fantastic video! Your theory of reincarnation must probably be true but I guess we'll never know thanks to Netflix cancelling this promising young show
So happy to see you reacting to this one! It’s a fantastic show and I am praying for a second season. Absolutely amazing.
I HAVE BEEN WAITING 4 THIS VIDEO. Literally binge watched the show just so I am ready when ur video goes up. I havent watched the video yet, but im just. Telling my toughts. This is probably my least favorite of Flanagan shows but i still had a good time. Was it kinda cheesy/on the nose sometimes? Yes. But I felt like that was on purpose. But idk. First twoish episodes didnt hook me and i found many characters annoying but then i just. Started having fun with it. And yes it did made me cry. Road to nowhere hit hard ngl
I think it's on similar footing with Midnight Mass for me? I think they both do things exceedingly well then have other elements I don't feel work as well.
@@AmandaTheJedi thats valid. I guess i just vibed with midnight mass more.
I think my list goes
1. Hillhouse and bly manor (they are so different i dont want to chose. Right now i like hillhouse more but i think Bly's characters are more charming)
2. Midnight mass
3. Midnight club
this show didn’t get as much flowers as it should’ve. the characters, the plot, everything was so well put together. i was so emotionally invested i spent 3 hrs crying after finishing it💀😭
Here goes Mike Flanagan, crushing my soul again 😭. Fr though. I adore this man’s work. I love the vibe and the deep theme’s he works with. Hill House it still my favorite, but this was another great addition to his body of work. Side note: I kept accidentally calling it the Midnight Society
I hate when I'm trying to switch between youtube and discord and click the dislike button by accident on my laptop!! The video's very good and I hit like instantly after my mistake
I grew up reading Pike books and I've loved Flanagans other series so I was pretty excited for this series and it really didn't dissapoint. I think I cried through a large portion of it tbh especially natsukis story and anyas ritual / passing. I think the series was a really beautiful and haunting look into mortality and all the feelings that surround that, I really enjoyed it.
TBF if I knew I was dying and only had weeks or months left I'd probably do desperate things as well - what would I have to lose?
This show is one hell of a ride, as it has a shit load of jumpscares in several scenes
This show was very difficult to watch to me, I cried a lot. I've lost my father in March (sepsis), then my mom was diagnosed in June with cancer. She's under treatment and her blood results look good, but still, very scary times. Loved the show, especially Anya's character
Still bummed this was canceled
Having read all of Pike's books, I did wonder if Shasta is Aceso in Julia's body, and if the ritual, when done in full and correctly, not only heals, but swaps bodies (to the youngest). If you're trying to turn over the hour glass, it's not enough to heal an illness, you need a younger body to truly live longer. At the same time, if Aceso was after Ilonka's body, that body was very clearly about to drink poison, so maybe I'm off. But, there's a decent amount of body swapping for various reasons in many of Pike's books.
Fun fact: Midnight Club started filming almost immediately after Midnight Mass so it's mostly the same crew. Although the production halted for 3 weeks due to recasting after their first week of shooting.
Show's cancelled...misery.
I actually stopped this video and went to watch the show. Finished it in a day & then finished your review. 10/10 would recommend on both :) now to read the book!!
Not sure if this has been mentioned yet, but the builder of Brightcliff is named Oscar Stanley Frelan, which is a pretty blatant reference to Freelan Oscar Stanley, of Stanley Hotel fame. There’s even a moment when ‘Shasta’ tells Ilonka she’s “so full of light, just… shining”. Stanley’s wife Flora even developed cataracts later in life, similar to Vera’s ‘milky’ eyes in the show.
There’s also a lot of significance to the name Shasta, and they make a point of mentioning Mount Shasta and the springs. There’s a few legends about the area, and it drew attention from several new age groups/cults. Guy Ballard and the I Am movement, and it’s branches, is especially worth looking into.
That rose at the center of the labyrinth in the basement is a reference to a prayer labyrinth (like in Chartres) and possibly Crowley’s Thelema.
Just a few examples of how detailed and layered Flanagan’s work is. Seriously one of the best creators around right now.
sadly we didn't get a season 2 :(
Ur so funny I just listen to the videos while I’m working thanks lol
Recently got my thyroid removed due to cancer and couldn’t make it past first episode after her diagnoses 😔 thanks for the video just because I wanted to see if it was even worth it but I think it might be to soon for me
Netflix is so stupid why do they cancel everything good?
This show was quite good, I thought the relationships between the characters were quite cute and wholesome.
Also I didn't realise it was set in the 90s until like half way through so the Julia thing didn't add up to me immediately.