‘The Midnight Club’ Ending Explained: What Does [Spoiler] Involvement in the Paragon Cult Imply?
The creepy new Netflix series The Midnight Club premiered on Netflix on Oct. 7, and it’s based on Christopher Pike’s book of the same name. Showrunner Mike Flanagan, known for other popular shows like The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, added his own flavor to the story, including the addition of a cult known as the Paragon. So, what does The Midnight Club ending really mean? Was Dr. Stanton the villain all along? Let’s take a look.
[WARNING: This article contains detailed spoilers regarding the ending of The Midnight Club.]
Ilonka came to Brightcliffe because of Julia Jayne
Soon after Ilonka’s (Iman Benson) doctors diagnosed her with terminal thyroid cancer, she began researching more about the disease. She learned about a woman named Julia Jayne who stayed at Brightcliffe Hospice but walked away cured. In the ’60s, doctors also diagnosed Julia Jayne with the same type of cancer as Ilonka. After staying at Brightcliffe for a bit, she disappeared. No one knew where she went, and most people believed she had died. However, she eventually returned to Brightcliffe wearing the same nightgown she went missing in and covered in dirt and mud. After she returned, her tumors began to shrink, and eventually, her cancer went into remission.
When Ilonka first joins The Midnight Club, she tells Julia Jayne’s story to the other members. Most of them write it off as a fluke, but Kevin (Igby Rigney) begins to help Ilonka on her search to discover Julia Jayne’s secret. Using clues given to her by Shasta (Samantha Sloyan), a mysterious woman Ilonka meets in the woods near Brightcliffe, Ilonka discovers a book with a symbol of an hourglass. She realizes it’s the book that belonged to a cult that once practiced in the basement of Brightcliffe.
We learn that Shasta is actually Julia Jayne in ‘The Midnight Club’ ending
Throughout The Midnight Club, Ilonka meets with Shasta in the woods several times. Shasta now runs a company that sells holistic medicine made from the vegetation and water on the land next to Brightcliffe. She makes several remarks about how Dr. Stanton (Heather Langenkamp) won’t allow her on the property, but she never elaborates. Shasta begins to give Ilonka hope for curing her cancer, and one night she runs away to Shasta’s property. The woman gives Ilonka food and water, and then tells her about a ritual that will cure her cancer. Ilonka agrees to sneak Shasta into Brightcliffe after Dr. Stanton goes to bed.
Once there, Shasta brings other women in with her that are supposed to represent the five goddesses needed to cure Ilonka. Shasta then gives everyone, including Ilonka, a cup of tea and encourages them to drink. Ilonka hesitates, and before she puts the cup to her lips, Dr. Stanton rushes into the room to stop her. The other girls fall to the ground in pain and begin to vomit, while Shasta escapes. Ilonka dials 911, and the medics manage to save them.
In The Midnight Club ending, Dr. Stanton explains that Shasta once went by the name Julia Jayne, and in a flashback, we learn what really happened while Julia Jayne was missing. Julia Jayne ran away from Brightliffe in search of the woman who started the cult known as the Paragon. When she found her, the woman told Julia Jayne she would teach her the ways of the cult and cure her, but only on one condition. Julia Jayne could never reveal she spent her time with the woman. Instead, the two formed a plan to make it seem like Julia had simply vanished from Brightcliffe and returned with no memory of her time away. Over the years, Julia Jayne continued to sneak into Brightcliffe in an attempt to get rid of her cancer when the tumors would return.
The plot twist in ‘The Midnight Club’ ending
Throughout all 10 episodes of The Midnight Club, Dr. Stanton remains curiously tight-lipped regarding what she knows about the Paragon. She evades Ilonka’s questions and gets angry with her for finding the book in the first place. In the very last few seconds of The Midnight Club ending, we watch Dr. Stanton shut off the lights in Brightcliffe for the night before retreating to her bedroom. There we watch as she removes her wig, and the camera pans behind her neck to show the symbol used by the Paragon tattooed on the back of her neck. The credits roll immediately after we see the tattoo leaving everyone wondering, “What just happened?”
It appears as though Dr. Stanton isn’t as innocent as she seems. While she scoffed at Shasta’s belief in the magic of the Paragon, it seems she believes more than she lets on. In fact, it implies that she might be guilty of performing the ritual herself over the years. It’s possible that’s why she’s lived as long as she has. That only leads us to more questions, but mainly, we need to know if she’s been using terminally ill kids as sacrifices in her rituals.
While no one’s mentioned a sophomore season for The Midnight Club, the ending leaves us with far too many questions to feel satisfied. Keep your fingers crossed that Flanagan has more plans for the people at Brightcliffe.
Stream all episodes of The Midnight Club exclusively on Netflix.
