# Midnight Mass - anyone else watching? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** netflix\ **Created:** [September 25, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304 "2021-09-25T01:51:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/21 "2021-10-07T01:28:59Z")
I too really liked the interesting correlations between religion and vampires. The angel, for example. I am disappointed that the story didn’t continue into a larger story about conversion, and whether intentions or outcome are more important. In the end, the series settled for a B-grade destruction of the vampires. It felt like a cop out. I had high hopes given the start. For the record, I hated Bev. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/22 "2021-10-07T12:52:05Z")
Oh yes, she did an amazing job of just being the WORST. I wish Rahul Kohli had been in it more. (How would a Muslim react to/be effective against vampires? Food for GQ/GD I guess). ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/23 "2021-10-07T13:24:20Z")
I would have liked to see that too. I think that’s an interesting question. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/24 "2021-10-07T13:39:02Z")
What I’m wondering is what happens when someone from the mainland sees those fires and comes to investigate. They’ll find some corpses, all the buildings burned down and two teeangers (one of whom is disabled) with a crazy story to tell. This seemed to be set in a world where no one has heard of vampires, so it’s going to be hard to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/25 "2021-10-07T14:16:04Z")
The kids can say they ran from the fire and got into the boat, I guess. I don’t know that the fire would be enough to burn the bodies. Did the doctor’s mother die? ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/26 "2021-10-07T14:21:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > They’ll find some corpses Will they, though? If they show up in daylight, they’ll just find the remnants of a whole lot of sunlight-combusted people. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/27 "2021-10-07T14:26:55Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > Will they, though? If they show up in daylight, they’ll just find the remnants of a whole lot of sunlight-combusted people. That’s what I was thinking. Also, in answer to **Love\_Rhombus** ’s question, yes, I’m assuming she died along with everyone else. Didn’t we last see her with Father Pruitt awaiting the sunrise? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/28 "2021-10-07T14:46:22Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > They’ll find some corpses > > Will they, though? If they show up in daylight, they’ll just find the remnants of a whole lot of sunlight-combusted people. Do we still need to spoiler-box stuff two weeks after the show aired? But the sunlight-combusted were the _vampires_, but the remains of the _victims_ should still be present. The sheriff, for instance. I think they’d show signs of being attacked and drained of blood (exsanguinated I believe it’s called). ---
**Author:** ![Lavender\_Pebble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lavender_pebble/32/6290_2.png) [@Lavender\_Pebble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lavender_Pebble)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/29 "2021-10-07T15:07:13Z")
I really liked (but not loved) this whole series even though I thought it telegraphed its ending pretty early. I thought it was nicely paced and enjoyed the general atmosphere. I found the scene at the end where the sheriff and his son prayed into the sunrise particularly affecting. I do feel like there were way too many monologues, and that not all of the monologues fit with the characters that said them (Erin Greene’s in particular at the end seemed to come out of nowhere). But in general, I’m a sucker for “Religion, But It’s Weird and Bad” plots and thought it was worth a watch. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/30 "2021-10-07T15:55:52Z")
I don’t know how much blood is needed to make you ash out. The disabled girl just lost her mobility, for example. I am sad the doctor died, though, right after learning about her parents. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2021, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/31 "2021-10-09T04:50:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > What I’m wondering is what happens when someone from the mainland sees those fires and comes to investigate. They’ll find some corpses, all the buildings burned down and two teeangers (one of whom is disabled) with a crazy story to tell. This seemed to be set in a world where no one has heard of vampires, so it’s going to be hard to believe. I’m on episode 6 and when the doctor was discussing the disease EPP she said 'a lot of those myths probably came from EPP" then discusses how the symptoms of EPP match descriptions of what we consider vampires. So I get the impression that there was some mythology surrounding vampires. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/32 "2021-10-09T22:55:52Z")
Also at the end the paralyzed girl said her legs went numb when the sun came up. Does that mean the original vampire (the winged demon) died? I thought one theory on vampires was that when the head vampire died, all the vampires he created died too. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/33 "2021-10-10T00:57:50Z")
I _think_ it’s meant to be ambiguous. I suppose they also didn’t want to show her spine bursting into flame. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/34 "2021-10-10T21:50:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Also at the end the paralyzed girl said her legs went numb when the sun came up. Does that mean the original vampire (the winged demon) died? I thought one theory on vampires was that when the head vampire died, all the vampires he created died too. Actually, I hadn’t thought of this, but if the “angel” died as the sun came up, would some of the other vampires have survived too? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/35 "2021-10-12T09:08:42Z")
I thought it entertaining. You cannot tell a story about people encountering some sort of supernatural phenomenon without acknowledging King, so that is hardly a disqualifier in my book. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/36 "2021-10-14T14:35:50Z")
I just finished it and loved it. I kept wondering why the church, crosses, etc. had no effect on the vampires. I suppose each vampire story has its own vampire rules. I think Hamish Linklater (the priest) did a fantastic job. Oh, how I hated Bev. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/37 "2021-10-14T16:00:36Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I just finished it and loved it. I kept wondering why the church, crosses, etc. had no effect on the vampires. I suppose each vampire story has its own vampire rules. Given how batlike it was, I had assumed it perhaps pre-dated the Church. 🙀 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/38 "2021-10-14T16:11:19Z")
Given that the priest kept calling it an “angel” I wonder if it was the source of some of the Biblical mythology, at least in that universe. (Kind of reminds me how a certain Arthur C Clarke novel had an unusual origin story for the myths about what demons look like.) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/39 "2021-10-14T16:33:07Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Also at the end the paralyzed girl said her legs went numb when the sun came up. Does that mean the original vampire (the winged demon) died? I thought one theory on vampires was that when the head vampire died, all the vampires he created died too. In the show they described it as kind of like a virus, so the death of the original vampire would have no effect on the survival of the turned townspeople. At some point the doctor also voiced the theory that someone could theoretically be cured if the virus hadn’t yet completely taken over their body, though she did say that she was just guessing. The paralyzed girl going numb didn’t make much sense to me though. I get that it was trying to convey that it was possible for some who weren’t completely turned to heal and become normal again, but she had been taking communion more often and longer than most and should have been one of the most highly infected. Also, just because the virus rebuilt her body wouldn’t mean that her body would revert to its formerly damaged state once the virus was burned away. If you spray raid on a bunch of ants, the ants die but the ant hill that they built remains. > [@Lavender\_Pebble](#): > > I do feel like there were way too many monologues, and that not all of the monologues fit with the characters that said them I agree. Kate Siegel is a great actress and some of her monologues in earlier Flanagan works were incredible, but Flanagan overdid it in this one. Erin’s complete change in world view / philosophy at the end was very much out of character for her. I get that she was supposed to echo Flanagan’s own journey from being raised Catholic to becoming an atheist, but it didn’t make sense for her character. I feel that she should have held on to her faith until the bitter end. Riley’s transformation from a devout Catholic to an atheist made a lot of sense. Erin’s didn’t. > [@TRC4941](#): > > Oh, how I hated Bev. Me too. It takes a lot of skill to create a villain that everyone hates that much. The writers and the actress both really nailed it with her character. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2021, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304/40 "2021-10-24T17:26:45Z")
Just finished it. It was alright and pretty creepy early on. Also thought it was completely up its own ass with the 58 monologues and hour long singing scenes. The priest’s sudden repentance at the end did not ring true to me at all. Totally on board with Jonestowning the whole village and murdering the drunk, but the obvious consequences of his plan were too much? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midnight-mass-anyone-else-watching/951304.md?page=1)