Does Ilonka Die in ‘The Midnight Club?’
Mike Flanagan’s new Netflix series, The Midnight Club, is based on the novel of the same name written by Christopher Pike. The show centers around a group of terminally ill teens living at Brightcliffe Hospice as they come to grips with their mortality. Flanagan made a few changes to Pike’s original story, including who survives and who dies. So, does Ilonka die in The Midnight Club?
[WARNING: This article contains detailed spoilers regarding both the book version and the Netflix version of The Midnight Club.]
What happened at the end of ‘The Midnight Club?’
For those not familiar with Pike’s original novel, don’t sweat it. Flanagan’s version includes several winks to fans of the author, but even if you’ve never heard of his work, The Midnight Club still makes for a perfect spooky watch this Halloween season.
In the television version, Flanagan added the aspects of a creepy cult, several new characters, and a twist at the end no one saw coming. By the time we finish the finale, we know that Dr. Stanton (Heather Langenkamp) has a connection to the Paragon cult she kept hidden from Ilonka and the rest of the kids.
Ilonka (Iman Benson,) determined to discover a way to beat her cancer, sought out the help of Shasta (Samantha Sloyan). Shasta, who eventually revealed herself as Julia Jayne, promised to help Ilonka with a ritual that would heal her. However, when the other women Shasta brought along began to collapse after drinking her “special tea,” Ilonka hesitated to take a sip. Thankfully, Dr. Stanton arrived in time to stop Ilonka, but Shasta escaped. Dr. Stanton explained to Ilonka that Shasta tried to perform that same ritual over the years to keep herself well, but it always harmed others.
While it seems as though Dr. Stanton has good intentions, the tattoo revealed on her neck at the end of The Midnight Club implies her involvement with the Paragon cult. With the tattoo coupled with her completely bald head, the audience doesn’t know whether to trust Dr. Stanton or not.
Who survives in ‘The Midnight Club?’
Whether or not Ilonka dies in The Midnight Club depends on which version you read or watch. In Pike’s version, Kevin, Spencer, Anya, and Ilonka die at the end. Their stories are also much different from those they tell in Flanagan’s version. In Flanagan’s version, Ilonka doesn’t die at the end.
Anya, played by Ruth Codd, was the only one out of the teens to die in the first season. However, the Midnight Club lost another member when Dr. Stanton revealed Sandra’s doctors misdiagnosed her. She left Brightcliffe to live with her family. Plus, the finale ends with so many unanswered questions; we desperately need at least one more season to wrap things up with the kids at Brightcliffe, the Paragon cult, and everything else.
Is ‘The Midnight Club’ coming back?
Netflix hasn’t revealed whether or not The Midnight Club will return for another season. However, we caught up with the cast of the series and Flanagan himself at New York Comic Con earlier this month, which seems to be the general hope for everyone involved.
When we asked Flanagan how he decided on which of Pike’s stories to use for the teens in The Midnight Club, he replied, “There was a lot of kind of back and forth about what each of these stories wanted to be and then how we could kind of make it work with one of the characters. You know, we tried a few things on and moved things around over the course of it, but we’ve still got a pretty good plan for season 2, if there is one.”
Let’s hope everything goes according to plan and we get back up with the kids at Brightcliffe soon. All episodes of The Midnight Club are currently streaming on Netflix.
