Reviews
“Midnight Mass” Episode Four Review
Things are starting to get really dark and really bloody on Crockett Island. People are starting to give in to their vices and addictions, both new and old. People of […]
Things are starting to get really dark and really bloody on Crockett Island. People are starting to give in to their vices and addictions, both new and old. People of the island are learning that habits are hard to break, whether they be just formed or cemented in stone.
We see this battle of wills vs. wants in what is the most pivotal turning point of Midnight Mass thus far. After Leeza stands up to drunk Joe Collie (Robert Longstreet), the newly minted Alcoholics Anonymous member stops by the home of Father Paul/Monsignor Pruitt (Hamish Linklater). Through a series of misfortunate events, Collie ends up bleeding out on the floor. Father Paul kneels down next to the hurt man, and in a haunting visual, the priestly man veers past this injured sheep and begins slurping the blood. Major credit to Robert Longstreet for acting through his seizure and still showing betrayal and shock in his eyes.
The next addiction we will face is that of Bev Keane (Samantha Sloyan). She is addicted to wanting to always be right, but let’s push that aside for now. Ms. Keane is accepted with God, religion and the hierarchy that comes with it. She literally walks into the house of Father Paul and sees him bloody in the corner and doesn’t bat an eye. She goes over to help him, accepts what is happening as an act of God, and then recruits others to join her cause in keeping the painstaking hidden aspects of religion in the dark to the public. Bev Keane is addicted to feeling like a part of something bigger, which fuels people with an inflated sense of purpose and righteousness. Hence, why she likes to feel like she is always right.
Alright, we take a gander at this episode and there are the addiction themes throughout. Writer and director Mike Flanagan really wanted to make it known that those who are trying to break away from their own trappings are…well fucked.
We mentioned Joe Collie and how he bit the bullet. But he was not the only one.
Riley (Zach Gilford), he is gone. Chapter four ends with the vampiric presence vaulting across the recreation center and pinning our hero down to the ground. Blood begins flowing on the ground and the frozen eyes of Riley are glazed with fear of the unknown. Is our hero going die? Is he going to be corrupted? How is he going to handle the blood hunger that will affect him?
These are all questions that will be answered and many soon I would expect because everyone I have talked to has said that episode five is simply incredible. But before we look into the future, we still need to reflect on what led us to this time.
One of the other major catastrophes of this episode is that Erin Green (Katie Siegel) has lost her child, and there is zero evidence that she was ever pregnant at all. The entire ordeal is traumatic for obvious reasons, and this “miracle” is much more sorrowful rather than joyful. Erin turns to Riley for consoling and comfort, and the pair have a heart-to-heart about what happens when they die. It is a very nice to see a logical (scientific) look at the meaning of life after death and a faith based believe go up against one another and not have either one look significantly less than the other. Erin and Riley both make good points.
At the end of Lamentations, we have an understanding that no one is safe. We also know why this show is called Midnight Mass. It would appear that nothing is going to be happening in the sunlight anytime soon.
Here are just some more thoughts I had about Episode Four:
- I was correct on my theory of a vampiric presence on the island and I was correct that the blood in the cup everyone drinks at mass is not the blood of christ. My next theory is that the blood of the fallen angel creature is making everyone younger and reversing their bodies. Erin losing her child and reverting back to what her body was before. The Flynn family getting younger and more mobile, and Mildred Gunning beginning to look younger and have her memory back.
- We have seen how Riley has battled one addiction thus far in terms of alcoholism. How will he handle this new addiction he is afflicted with?
- I really do love how Flanagan took the swing of putting the main emotional fulcrum character of the show in danger.
- Bev Keane is going to get got by drinking poisoned blood from the vampiric figure. That is my prediction.
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