In this article, we discuss what the final shot means in The Midnight Club season 1, and so it will contain spoilers.
I wrongfully assumed that The Midnight Club was always intended to be a one-off miniseries, yet the first season ends with an ambiguous ending that will thrill and frustrate viewers in equal measure while leaving the story open for a second season. This article will be discussing the meaning behind that final shot and what the implications of this twist ending have on the overall story.
The Midnight Club – what does the final shot mean?
Let’s start by discussing what actually happened in the final shot of the season finale. Dr. Georgina Stanton locks up the hospice’s doors for the night. She sits at her dressing table and takes off her wig, revealing a completely bald head underneath. The camera then pans behind her, focusing in on an hourglass tattoo on the back of her neck. This would imply that she is or was a member of the Paragon cult, and without sounding too dramatic, this completely changes everything, throwing doubt on all her involvement and previous interactions in the entire story.
If Dr. Stanton was a cult member, then at the very least, this means that she has secrets, that she is hiding something. All we actually know about Stanton is that she founded the hospice and that she is a doctor, believing in medicine and science over the supernatural and all those unorthodox remedies. She has always presented herself as a professional who puts the patients first and tries her best to create a safe and loving environment for her guests. This cult secret really flips that entire façade and brings something much more sinister to the front of our minds.
The Paragon cult was synonymous with the hourglass symbol. It is found everywhere, from the trees to the elevator, to the basement floor. Members were tattooed with this symbol, and so the obvious conclusion is that Dr. Stanton was or still is part of that cult. My first thought was that she could be Athena, the daughter of cult leader Regina Ballard, who went by the name Aceso. Athena disagreed with Regina’s rituals and told the police of her mother’s deadly plans. The police were too late, though, and found all of the adult cult members dead in the basement, except for Athena and Aceso.
If Dr. Stanton is Athena, then she would be very much against the ritualistic side of the cult, yet may still have a strong connection with Brightcliffe. She may have acquired the building to protect it and rebuild its legacy. Yet the sinister music at the end of the series says otherwise. She clearly hates Shasta/Julia, and these two have been enemies for years. Maybe she is trying to stop Julia from returning to the building and continuing her plans for immortality. Stanton does succeed in thwarting Shasta’s plan, but the ritual badly injures three women and nearly kills Ilonka too.
It’s also interesting to point out that Stanton is bald in that final shot. Does she have her own illness that she is dealing with? Did she have cancer and chemotherapy just like Ilonka? If she is dying from an illness, then maybe she wants to use the hospice’s healing powers to lengthen her life as well. She might be experimenting with spells and rituals herself to try and become immortal without resorting to murder. The debate wages on.
Dr. Stanton informed Ilonka that she has tried to get Shasta arrested on numerous occasions for trespassing and has distrusted her for all this time. There may be more to their rivalry than just this, and subsequent seasons could explore this battle for Brightcliffe in more detail. What are your theories on that final shot? Do you think Dr. Stanton is Athena or somebody else entirely? Please leave your comments below.
Additional Reading
- Will there be season 2 of The Midnight Club?
- The Midnight Club season 1 ending explained
- The Midnight Club – the 10 Ghost stories ranked
- The Midnight club season 1 – who died?
