Midnight Mass

This is one of my friend’s favorite shows so I decided to give it a nice rewatch for Halloween time. I haven’t seen it since my obsession with vampires started. Holy shit did I fucking love this. The show is basically about how religion makes people much easier to manipulate. The theological discussions that take place through Mike Flanagan’s now iconic monologue style are right up my alley. Religion does have some very useful things to offer people and society, as much as I hate to admit it. The problem arises when, like they say in the show, people put the self first. People like the incredibly evil Beverly Keane will always use religion to make themselves better than who they deem to be “the other”. It sounds good on the surface, with no real research to corroborate any facts. Anyways enough of my rant against Christianity. Mike Flanagan perfectly crafted this series. He takes A LOT from Salem’s Lot, but luckily for him there has never been an adaptation of Salem’s Lot that does it justice. Watched on its own you don’t really notice the Flanagan “acting troop”. He uses a lot of the same actors in his stuff but practically everyone does an incredible job here and really brings their characters to life. Unfortunately I don’t love Zach Gilford. He feels like the 3rd choice for the roll. Would’ve love someone a bit more dynamic in the role. Luckily for Gilford the material Flanagan gives him is so strong it’s near impossible for him to mess it up. Hamish Linklater and Samantha Sloyan are the clear standouts as Monsignor Pruitt Beverly Keane. They play such rich dynamic characters. Pruitt is this puzzle box that you open up and really get to the core of by the end of the series. Linklater is just electric in every scene here. I don’t think I could say enough amazing things about this series. Truly one of the best things Netflix has given the world.