Netflix's "Midnight Mass" - Spoiler Thread

[Terabith]

Spoiler warning

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Highlight to read:  

Spoiler

Okay, question 1) Why did the Angel/ vampire leave the Holy Land, where there is a wealth of itinerant people to feed on, and go to Crockett Island?  

2) Is the Angel actually a (fallen) angel?  I find myself wondering a lot about motivations in this series....both Father Pruitt's motivations, and the Angel's.  Father Pruitt strikes me as a good man who seems to wander steadily down the path of wrong based on Bev's twisting of Scripture and theology.  Why did the Angel initially heal Father Pruitt and not turn him?  

3) What was up with the whole subplot with Bev and the poison?  Was it simply foreshadowing?  Was it just showing that she was a bad person?  It seems to dwell on this more than I would expect.

4) What led to Father Pruitt's death?  Was it overdosing on the Angel's blood?  Why did he get sick every time he performed a miracle?

5) Who on earth thought it was a good idea to burn all the buildings?  Did nobody think to go hide in the below decks of any of the boats?  I mean, stylistically, the ending was gorgeous, and I loved how the theme of redemption and repentance (from everyone but Bev) ran through it, but logically, the whole thing annoyed me.

 

End spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by Terabith

[KSera]

I don’t know anything about the show, but just to warn you that your spoiler warning doesn’t seem to be working. On mobile, I still see the first couple sentences of your post, which look like they are likely the spoilers. Maybe you need to put dots on each line between your spoiler alert and the text?

[Terabith]

3 minutes ago, KSera said:

I don’t know anything about the show, but just to warn you that your spoiler warning doesn’t seem to be working. On mobile, I still see the first couple sentences of your post, which look like they are likely the spoilers. Maybe you need to put dots on each line between your spoiler alert and the text?

Is it better now?

[KSera]

3 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Is it better now?

Darn. I can’t tell because apparently it only shows the first lines when in the “new content” view, and since I saw it already, it doesn’t show me the thread anymore 🤪.

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, KSera said:

Darn. I can’t tell because apparently it only shows the first lines when in the “new content” view, and since I saw it already, it doesn’t show me the thread anymore 🤪.

ARG

[Terabith]

Okay, try now!

[KSera]

Looks good on my end! 👍

[JustEm]

Hoping I am doing the spoiler function correctly.  This is all my interpretation of things

Spoiler

1. The vampire leaves the Holy Land because of the place Father Pruitt tells him about, an isolated island in which there are enough people to live off of but not enough people to call attention to him. Of course that is not Father Pruitt's intentions but the vampire doesn't care about that, he just wants to feed.  I think the Holy Land is too crowded for the vampire to safely feed the amount that it wants too not just the amount it needs too.  

2. No, the angel is not a fallen angel, at least I do not believe so.  The director was actually raised as a devout catholic, he is now fallen from the Church, but it is clear from the way he portrayed the Mass that he has a strong understanding of the Mass and the importance of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church. The Church's devotion to the Eucharist is a great setting for a vampire story.  Father Pruitt is a good man and he truly does believe that the vampire is an angel sent from God to heal the people.  I'd have to rewatch it but I believe his biggest motivation was healing the woman he loved. So, while he is a good man his motivations stem from selfishness and that selfishness makes it easy for Bev's devotion to her interpretation of the Bible to seem right and that is how he strays.  Also, he has the hunger and has to battle with that.  Which is shown in the scene where he kills the drunk accidentally.  He did not intend to kill him but once he seriously injured him accidentally the urge for blood overtook him.

Father Pruitt was turned when the vampire fed him his blood initially, that is why he could not go in sunlight. The blood was what healed him.  The first time he died was in that cave.

3. I have to think about this more... will try to get back to it

4. That death in the rectory was because he wasn't eating.  He had killed all of the cats and had nothing else to feed on. If I am remembering when he died in the timeline correctly.  But at that point he was already a vampire and that is why he came back.  He never performed a miracle.  He simply was feeding the parish the vampire blood and that is what was healing people.  He was sick because he was not feeding.  We know that it was the lack of blood causing the pain from the married couple who refused to feed because that wasn't who they were.

 

5.  It was Bev's decision to burn everything down and that is because she truly believed everything they were doing was ordained by God so it couldn't fail.  Her intention was to burn everyone out of their homes so they could turn them or kill the ungodly.  Then they would all seek refuge in the rec room that wouldn't burn down. And the next evening they would all leave the island to spread the word.  Since her actions were what God wanted she didn't think anything would happen to the rec room.  The main female character, dr, and sheriff set all of the boats on fire as well, so there was no where to hide

 

[JustEm]

Spoiler

I take my comment back about Pruitt's death. I was remembering thing incorrectly.  He does die in the rectory for the first time.  The angel doesn't need to turn him because he already has enough of his blood in him so when he dies he becomes a full vampire.  I believe he was poisoned by BEv and that is how he dies

Just remembering things as I talk to dh about it and changing my answer to some things.  This is why I will be rewatching it at some point

Edited October 24, 2021 by hjffkj

[Terabith]

I am pretty sure it was the Angel killing the cats, not Father Pruitt, because the kids kept talking about the wings, and the drunk guy kept talking about the giant albatross.  Although if it was Pruitt, that would explain Riley seeing him?  

I don't think Pruitt died in the Holy Land, because he was going out in the sunlight just fine until the thing in the rectory with the blood from his eyes.  

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, Terabith said:

I am pretty sure it was the Angel killing the cats, not Father Pruitt, because the kids kept talking about the wings, and the drunk guy kept talking about the giant albatross.  Although if it was Pruitt, that would explain Riley seeing him?  

I don't think Pruitt died in the Holy Land, because he was going out in the sunlight just fine until the thing in the rectory with the blood from his eyes.  

I think it was both Pruitt and the vampire killing the cats. 

You are correct about Pruitt not dying in the Holy Land.  I was having a hard time remembering that scene earlier, especially in the light that it was a vampire show since that hadn't been revealed entirely yet. He does die in the rectory but is turned at his death because he has already consumed enough of the vampire blood.  Since it is in him when he dies that is the moment he turns.  Hence why the two teens are the only ones who live.  Not only do they get off the burning island but they also don't die with the blood in their system.  We know that the blood is actually out of their system by the morning because the girl can no longer feel her legs. 

I think Bev poisons Pruitt.  But like I said, I really need to rewatch the series to see the scene with the new knowledge of what type of monster show it is.

[Terabith]

So, why does the sheriff's son turn?  He was Muslim.  He had never had Communion.  

[JustEm]

2 hours ago, Terabith said:

So, why does the sheriff's son turn?  He was Muslim.  He had never had Communion.  

Well we were never shown that he received Communion that is true.  But he was certainly no longer practicing his religion with his father. Ali was desperate to fit in so it isn't unheard of that he was lying to his dad about receiving communion.  So from his end, it is easy to assume he did.  But then you have the issue of he was not Catholic so they would not have allowed him to receive.

But Father Pruitt says it himself to the congregation as the poison is being handed out, "The miracle is already in you. The blood of the angel is already in your veins, but it is incomplete. The final transformation will not be yours unless you let your earthly body die,  so that your divine body can awaken." Father Pruitt likely just allowed Ali to receive communion because he wanted him to join in the miracle.  This isn't too much of a stretch because of all the other things Father Pruitt allowed.  He was already lying to the congregation and had accidentally killed the drunk and hid it.  He surely was more interested in following God's path for the community over Catholic Tradition at that point.  Bev is the only one in the congregation who would object but I can completely see how Ali rejecting his religion and his father was enough for her to accept that he was part of God's plan and just allowed it.  

I think they didn't show Ali receiving communion to add to the tension of the moment he drank the poison because we the viewers would assume he would stay dead.  It lead to better viewing.  I think where they fell short is that they didn't hint at it at all after the fact because now viewers think it is a plot hole issue.  But so much of this show was thought out I have a hard time believing they'd mess up on such a pivotal plot point. 

 

[Terabith]

I just find it hard to believe that even Father Pruitt would allow a kid who had attended mass a grand total of twice to commune.  We know when he went the first time.  I mean, I would have believed a subplot that showed they allowed a super quick conversion in the context of Father Pruitt's other sins.  But there was no evidence of that in the show.  Like, Riley was only turned because Father Pruitt, not the Angel, fed him directly, because Riley had not been communing.  The sheriff didn't turn; he died of the gunshot.  Sarah had not been communing, and she also just died from being shot.  But Ali....there was no hint where that came from.  

[JustEm]

1 hour ago, Terabith said:

I just find it hard to believe that even Father Pruitt would allow a kid who had attended mass a grand total of twice to commune.  We know when he went the first time.  I mean, I would have believed a subplot that showed they allowed a super quick conversion in the context of Father Pruitt's other sins.  But there was no evidence of that in the show.  Like, Riley was only turned because Father Pruitt, not the Angel, fed him directly, because Riley had not been communing.  The sheriff didn't turn; he died of the gunshot.  Sarah had not been communing, and she also just died from being shot.  But Ali....there was no hint where that came from.  

That is my point that they purposely didn't show Ali receiving to make it more tense for the viewers.  But once he comes back a vampire it is apparent that he had to have consumed the blood.  And with Pruitt's words about the blood being in them and allowing Ali to drink the poison Pruitt had to have known.  He wouldn't have allowed him to die like that.  His daughters death at the end and Pruitt trying to give her his blood is further prove that he knew in order to come back they had to have had the blood. So, Pruitt knew the Ali had already received it.

[happi duck]

I thought it was really interesting!  Here's my random thoughts:

Obvious old age makeup is always too much of a giveaway.

I was really hoping it was mothman.

Bev (?) was an especially scary villain because she seized the opportunity to twist scripture to make herself elevated.  The priest seemed more genuinely convinced he was bringing a miracle to his flock.

The scene with Riley and Erin (?) on the boat was really well done.