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flanaganfilm · 1 year

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The Midnight Club - Season Two

I'm very disappointed that Netflix has decided not to pursue a second season of THE MIDNIGHT CLUB.

My biggest disappointment is that we left so many story threads open, holding them back for the hypothetical second season, which is always a gamble.

So I'm writing this blog as our official second season, so you can know what might have been, learn the fates of your favorite characters, and know the answers to those dangling story threads from the first season.

So for those of you who want to know what we were planning to do, here's a look at what would have been season 2!

AMESH Season 2 would open with Amesh, his glioblastoma advancing quickly. He would tell the first story of the season, but would be struggling to make it through. We'd focus on his love story with Natsuki for those first few episodes as it becomes clear that Amesh's death is imminent.

Meanwhile, Ilonka is trying to reconcile how she was fooled by Julia Jayne, all while falling further in love with Kevin, and she realizes he may be fading faster than he lets on.

Ilonka begins a serialized story in an effort to encourage him to "stay alive a little longer," like he did in season one. And the story she tells is... REMEMBER ME.

This was the thing I was most excited about for this season.

REMEMBER ME is one of my all-time favorite Pike books - it tells the story of a teenage girl who is pushed off a balcony, and awakens as a ghost. She has to navigate being a spirit while trying to solve her own murder. We would have stretched this story out over 5 episodes. We were going to use it as a vehicle for Ilonka to try to come to terms with the fact that she is going to die, and to begin to trying to wrap her head around being a ghost... but this is the coolest part... the lead character of Ilonka's story wouldn't be played by Ilonka. She'd be played by...

Anya.

Because this is how we live on, isn't it? In the minds of those we leave behind. And Ilonka would use REMEMBER ME as a way to imagine her dear friend Anya, waking up as a ghost, navigating the afterlife. And this sets up one of the best mechanisms of the show - even if a character dies, as long as they're remembered by members of the club, they live on in their stories.

As the story starts to pick up steam, though, the group will have to deal with the death of Amesh, which he greets with grace and bravery.

In his final moments, he sees someone in his room - the Janitor from the first season, as played by Robert Longstreet, who says comforting things to Amesh even though he can't respond.

In his final, final moments, the SHADOW descends upon Amesh, and he is engulfed into it, which reinforces the idea that the Shadow is DEATH...

With Amesh's death comes something that upends the entire thing: a NEW PATIENT. We didn't work out too much about who this would be, but it would be a new roommate for Ilonka. Someone taking Anya's old bed. Ilonka would find herself being initially cold to her - just as Anya was when Ilonka arrived. Even feeling like this new girl shouldn't necessarily be ushered into the Club. But of course they would develop a beautiful friendship over the course of the season. The new girl joins the club, where something else exciting is happening - Cheri is telling a story. We hadn't decided which one, but I think it might have been MONSTER.

Natsuki would be the next to die, which would be heartbreaking. And again, she would talk to the janitor just before it happened... and again, the Shadow would come in the final moments.

For Spence, though, things would take a different turn.

The advancements in HIV treatment in the late 90's would come into play, and we'd see his prognosis change. The HIV cocktail came out in Dec 1995, and we really wanted to explore that.

Spence would ride the swell of antiviral advancements, and by the end of the season, he'd no longer be classified as terminal. In the finale of season 2, Spence would leave Brightcliffe just like Sandra did in Season 1, heading off to manage his disease and live the rest of his life.

But onto the BIG MYSTERIES of the season one... here are some answers: What is up with Dr. Stanton's tattoo and bald head? Well, a few things. First, Dr. Stanton is actually the daughter of the original Paragon cult leader, Aceso. Her nickname was Athena, she wrote the Paragon journal that Ilonka found in S1. She turned on her mother and helped the kids escape, but because she was part of the cult in her teenage years, she had the tattoo.

It was her initials that Ilonka found carved into the tree in season 1 (her maiden name was Georgina Ballard, hence the G.B. that Ilonka finds carved in the tree).

She hated what her mother became, and the atrocities of the cult. She reclaimed the property after her mom was gone, and wanted to change it into a place that celebrated life. She was trying to undo her mother's legacy and leave something behind that was beautiful. She is wearing a wig at the end of S1 not because of a sinister reason, but because she is undergoing chemo. Dr. Stanton has cancer. Having helped so many people deal with disease, she now has to deal with it herself.

Her treatment would be successful, and she'd go into remission, but having to face that - while caring for the terminal kids at Brightcliffe - was going to be a very introspective arc for Stanton.

What about the Living Shadow? It's Death, right? Well... no.

At the end of the season, Kevin will die... followed shortly by Ilonka. And as she is dying, two things will happen. First, she'll find herself talking to the Janitor, played by Robert Longstreet... and she'll make a discovery.

HE is Death. And nothing to be afraid of. It turns out no one else ever saw this character. Stanton has a cleaning service, and the Nurse practitioners make up the rooms - the only people who ever saw this mysterious Janitor were the patients. He is Death, and offers them kind words before they die. Then what was the Shadow?

This is an idea we take directly from the book REMEMBER ME, and we'll see it play out in the final moments of Ilona's final tale. In Pike's book, Shari is pursued by a dark entity called The Shadow. When it finally catches her, though, it turns out it is not a bad thing at all.

The Shadow is THEMSELVES. It's the Unknown. As it engulfs someone, in the last moment of their life, it takes them through a place of understanding and catharsis, preparing them for the next step.

THIS is what happened to Anya in S1 when the Shadow finally reached her - that's why she fantasized a life beyond Brightcliffe, which ultimately let her find acceptance of her death. It looks different for everybody, depending on their mind-set - because it is simply an extension of themselves.

The Shadow is just the final catharsis, a return to our original form - it is a moment of true understanding, and once we experience it, we move on to the next place.

We see the Shadow in full effect when it finally comes for Kevin. KEVIN DIES with Ilonka at his side, and it leads to the biggest reveal of the season:

Who were the Mirror Man and the Cataract Woman?

They were Stanley Oscar Freelan and his wife, who built Brightcliffe (fun trivia, he is named after the real-life Freelan Oscar Stanley, who built my favorite hotel in America - the Stanley Hotel. The Stanley is also the inspiration for THE SHINING!).

But more than that... there's a reason that Ilonka only sees Stanley in the mirror, and sees the Cataract Woman whenever she looked at Kevin. This is something else we took from Pike's original book... these aren't ghosts, but glimpses of PAST LIVES.

Ilonka WAS Stanley Oscar Freelan, and Kevin WAS his wife. They've lived many lives this way, and are true SOUL MATES - they always find each other, and they always fall in love. In this life, they knew it would be a short one, so they agreed to find each other in the house they built. They've been "remembering" who they are, and glimpsing their former selves in reflections, and sometimes when they look at each other. This is also why Ilonka's very first words to Kevin in S1 were "Do I know you?" and why Kevin thought she was familiar as well. They are two souls who always find each other, again and again.

The story is this: Stanley was dying, and built this cliffside home hoping that the seaside air would help him. It did, and he far outlived his prognosis (this is also true of the real-life Freelan Stanley). However, his wife began to succumb to dementia.

She would wander the halls, looking for him ("Darling!") and would even forget to feed herself ("I'm starving...") and she eventually refused to leave the basement. Heartbroken for her, Stanley painted the walls to resemble the woodland view, and the ceiling to resemble the night sky, so that it would be a little more beautiful for her.

He also painted a labyrinth on the floor, which was a technique used to try to curb the effects of dementia. She'd walk the pattern of the maze and it was believed it could help her cognition. Eventually, she developed frightening cataracts, but Stanley loved her through it all.

They were soul mates.

So while they seemed scary in season 1, that was just how Ilonka and Kevin's mind were trying to remember their pasts. We even had their faces distorting in ways consistent with how memories degrade over time. When the Shadow comes for Ilonka, and gives her this understanding - this "remembering" - she realizes she has nothing to fear. She and Kevin will shed these personas and be reborn, and have the joy of finding each other another way. The Shadow comes for her, Death takes her gently, and Ilonka goes off with Kevin back into the cosmos, ready for their next incarnation. The series would end with Cheri telling this story to a whole new table of patients, including our new series leads. Most of our original cast now would exist as stories, a story told to the next "class" of storytellers at the table, all of whom we will have met by the end of the season. A story called "The Midnight Club."

Well, that's it... that was what we had in mind. It's a shame we won't get to make it, but it would be a bigger shame if you guys simply had to live with the unanswered questions and the cliffhanger ending. I loved making this show, and I am so proud of the cast and crew. Particularly our cast, who attacked this story with incredible spirit and bravery each and every day.

But for now, we'll put the fire out, and leave the library dark and quiet. To those before, and to those after. To us now, and to those beyond.

Seen or unseen, here but not here.

I'll always be grateful that I got to be part of this Club.

#the midnight club #season 2 #cancelled #netflix #what might have been #flanaverse #mike flanagan #christopher pike #intrepid pictures #remember me #unanswered questions #loose ends #heather langenkamp #farewell brightcliffe

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a-book-scarfing-goblin · 7 months

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Books I Want Adapted By Mike Flanagan

*Note: I haven’t seen all of his work and I’m more of a mystery/crime fiction reader than horror*

Something Wicked This Way Comes:

I think this is probably the most expected considering it is THE Halloween story that people suggest. It is about two friends' experiences with a dark traveling carnival that preys on people’s desires right before Halloween. Ray Bradbury has written plenty of horror short stories as well that would supplement this as Flanagan sometimes incorporates those into his adaptations.

Death of the Living Dead:

Translated from Japanese, beware the English print is very tiny. This is a story of a funeral director family living in New England in the 80s. The Barleycorns are a troubled family but what could be more troubling for funeral directors than an epidemic of the dead coming back to life? Murder, but why murder when the dead come back to life? It is a murder mystery that plays with the classical conventions of a mystery novel.

The Woman in White:

A ‘sensation novel’ written 1859. After a mysterious encounter with a woman in white Hartright, an art teacher, and his students find themselves absorbed in a tale of intrigue, suspense, crime, and more. The story is told from multiple perspectives which was inspired by how a crime is described by multiple witnesses in court. I think a lot of Collins’ novels could be adapted or they could be used for inspiration like I said with Bradbury.

Another:

Another (ha) book translated from Japanese. It has an anime and film adaptation as well but I haven’t watched either. Koichi transfers to a new middle school but after realizing everyone is on edge and ignoring a girl who looks like a doll he figures out he is in a cursed class and a chain of horrific deaths follow. He tries to get to the bottom of it all and stop the gruesome deaths. There are three novels in this series but I only have the first one, I want the other two.

Wylding Hall:

Members of an “acid-folk band” meet up at an old mansion in the country to record their music. They make their album but their lead singer goes missing in the building and is never seen again. Years later, the band reconnects with a young documentarian to tell their stories of what happened that summer.

And Then There Were None:

It doesn’t necessarily have to be And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie but any of the numerous mystery novels inspired by it. An island or secluded area where a group of people are staying with no contact to the outside ( A closed circle/community mystery ) and the people are dying off one by one as they try to figure out who the culprit is.

*I kept the descriptions short intentionally for convenience, so if you want to know more look them up, comment, or message me. I’m not going to promise to answer but I will try. If there are a lot of questions about one title I’ll probably just do a big singular review post of that title.*

#mike flanagan #intrepid pictures #the fall of the house of usher #edgar allan poe #the haunting of hill house #the haunting of bly manor #the midnight club #film adaptations #book adaptation #book recommendations #bookish #booklr #books #bookworm #books and reading #bookblr #literature #reading #bibliophile

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geekcavepodcast · 1 year

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Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy Adapting Stephen King’s “The Dark Tower” for TV

Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy’s Intrepid Pictures has acquired the rights to Stephen King’s The Dark Tower. The pair are working on adapting the book series into a TV series. In an interview with Deadline, Flanagan revealed that he as written a pilot script and season outlines.

(First Edition Cover of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger)

#dark tower #mike flanagan #trevor macy #intrepid pictures #stephen king #TGCLiz

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horrorstruckpod · 1 year

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Congrats to @flanaganfilm !!!

#mike flanagan #the dark tower #stephen king #intrepid pictures #trevor macy

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gunslingerofgermany · 11 months

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@flanaganfilm gets me into emotional stress even before I saw one bit LOL CANT FUCKING WAIT!!!

#the dark tower #mike flanagan #Intrepid Pictures #the midnight club #haunting of hill house #midnight mass #long days and pleasant nights

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darkmovies · 1 year

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#adaptation #film #If It Bleeds #Intrepid Pictures #La Vie de Chuck #Mark Hamill #Mike Flanagan #Si ça saigne #stephen king #The Life of Chuck #Tom Hiddleston #film d'horreur #news #cinéma #actualité #acteurs #filmmaking

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thebutcher-5 · 6 months

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Oculus - Il riflesso del male

Benvenuti o bentornati sul nostro blog. Nello scorso articolo abbiamo continuato a discutere di fumetti, spostandoci questa volta negli USA e prendendo in esame i comics, specialmente uno riguardante il mio supereroe preferito con Superman: Stagioni. La storia parla della crescita di Clark, da quando andava al liceo a Smallville fino a quando si è trasformato in Superman, compiendo gesti…

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thenerdsofcolor · 8 months

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Trailer for Mike Flanagan's 'The Fall of the House of Usher' Announces October Release

Trailer for Mike Flanagan's 'The Fall of the House of Usher' Announces October Release @netflix #HouseofUsher

Flanagan-Fans (Flana-fans?) Assemble! The master of horror behind The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and Doctor Sleep is back! And this time, he’s bringing us a tale of Poe (Get it? Because it sounds like “woe”…Nevermind). Flanagan’s reimagining of The Fall of the House of Usher, one of the greatest works from Edgar Allan Poe, is hitting Netflix on October 12th.…

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framerate24 · 1 year

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Mike Flanagan's Intrepid Pictures Leaves Netflix

Mike Flanagan’s Intrepid Pictures Leaves Netflix

Apparently Mike Flanagan (Oculus, Gerald’s Game, The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, etc.) is no longer working with Netflix, according to Comicbook.com, which is based on an article from The Wrap that expands upon Flanagan and producing partner Trevor Macy moving their Intrepid Pictures production shingle exclusively to Amazon Studios in a…

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#Edgal Allen Poe #Gerald&039;s Game #Intrepid Pictures #Midnight Mass #Mike Flanagan #Oculus #The Fall of the House of Usher #The Haunting Of Bly Manor #The Haunting of Hill Houae #The Midnight Club #Trevor Macy

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rooolt · 9 months

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Favorite genre of Emily Axford Instagram post is just a lovingly terrible photo of Murph

Why would she do this to him? Why would she make it the first picture? I’m obsessed.

#The rest of the pictures in this are a lot of intrepid heroes btw #If you care #naddpod #dimension 20 #axmurph

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emiko-matsui · 10 months

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[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, in order]

#asking for a friend i am NOT changing my profile picture #dimension 20 #d20 #lou wilson #zac oyama #emily axford #brian murphy #polls #fantasy high #a starstruck odyssey #neverafter #critical role #intrepid heroes

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flanaganfilm · 1 year

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In case you missed this yesterday... we cannot wait to open this new chapter with Amazon Studios. I'll keep you posted on all of the new developments!

#intrepid pictures #amazon

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compacflt · 8 months

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I know you said that you aren't the pinnacle of military knowledge that people think you are but know a damsite more than I do about the US military than I do, so I have a question. Do you have any idea how long the Darkstar project would've been going on for in canon? It can't have been a few months but I also don't know if it would be years and years? I know Mav has an award for being a test pilot that I think is dated 2007 (I may have imagined that) but that doesn't mean the Darkstar project was going on for over ten years? I think the F-18A took 8 years from testing to being approved, so it can't be far off. Just wanted your opinion. Thanks :-)

awright here’s my opinion (not an expert)

the darkstar is canonically a Lockheed Martin “skunk works” (super duper secret) surveillance and reconnaissance (SR) spyplane, as evidenced by the skunk works logo on the vertical stabilizer (left is darkstar, right is me with the SW logo on the SR-71 blackbird at the udvar-hazy museum this summer).

we can look to see how long other SW projects have taken to develop in the past. the SR-71, for instance, was first suggested as an “undetectable spyplane” idea in 1957. the lockheed A-12 oxcart, which would provide the framework for the SR-71, had its first flight in 1962, five years later. the finished SR-71 was introduced into USAF and CIA service in 1966. so a 9-year development for the fastest-ever air-breathing jet, with 4-ish of those years being flight testing (ish because the A-12 had to be heavily adapted into the SR-71 which had its first flight in 1964).

Lockheed’s been teasing its blackbird successor, the unmanned aerial vehicle the SR-72 “son of blackbird,” on its socials recently. i saw someone say: “soft-launching its new death machine like an instagram influencer with a new boyfriend”

leading many to believe this is what happened

note however that the SR-72 son of blackbird is an UNMANNED aerial vehicle (UAV) which is why in my fic I specifically said this

note also that most of aircraft development is just that—development. Flight testing (i.e. where mav would get hands-on involved) doesn’t come until very very late in the development process. For the plot of my fic’s sake I had mav go out to NAWS china lake in 2003, but in TGM during the Hard Deck scene Penny says something to the effect of “you got sent out to the desert three years ago for pissing off that other admiral” and mav goes “that was three years ago? 😀” (cute!) so that’s the longest mav could’ve canonically been involved with the darkstar project. (For my own purposes i made it like a year, for those two sections of the story to neatly flow into each other—from 2015ish to 2016. I know TGM takes place in 2020 [i know but idfc] Maybe LockMart has had this tech [probably not high hypersonic like in the movie] for that long anyway and it’s just been so heavily classified that we didn’t know about it till very recently. Definitely possible.)

#i took a picture of the A-12 oxcart at the intrepid museum in NYC but it’s not a selfie so not posting it #i saw it and i was like ‘uh you’re not supposed to just be able to see these’#they have the enterprise space shuttle too it was just fucking insane #military aviation #sr-72 #pete maverick mitchell #top gun maverick #edts notes #thank you for the ask! really not an expert but talking about planes is fun for me #the hypersonic race is very interesting… Russia famously has its hypersonic kinzhal missiles and i think CN has them too #but the U.S. has never openly done hypersonics which is why IMO it would be crazy to start off with a manned jet like in TGM #and it’s not clear how useful or effective hypersonic missiles actually are in warfare #* i think I mean specifically air breathing jet hypersonics #obviously icbms and rockets (which fly at hypersonic speeds) are different

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