The Midnight Club: Mike Flanagan Gives Season 2 Answers

In his post, he confirms that Dr. Stanton was once Georgina Ballard a.k.a Athena a.k.a the daughter of the Paragon’s leader Aceso. It’s her old diary that both Julia (Larsen Thompson) and Ilonka (Iman Benson) find during their time at Brightcliffe. According to Flanagan, “[Dr. Stanton] 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.”

As for why she wears a wig, Flanagan said that season 2 would reveal that Dr. Stanton has been going through chemotherapy to treat cancer. Although she would eventually learn that her cancer is in remission, it would have been a very “introspective” arc for the Doctor as she continued to care for the kids of Brightcliffe.

Kevin and Ilonka Are Endgame

Kevin (Igby Rigney) and Ilonka finally share their true feelings for each other at the end of season 1 and decide to pursue a relationship together for as long as they have left. But it turns out that they are more than just two young people who get to spend the rest of their too short lives together, they are actually soulmates. According to Flanagan, Ilonka is the reincarnation of Brightcliffe’s first owner Stanley Oscar Freelan and Kevin is the reincarnation of his wife.

It turns out that the old man and woman that Ilonka and Kevin have been seeing aren’t malicious spirits, but rather manifestations of their past lives trying to seep into their current memory. Stanley built Brightcliffe hoping that the fresh seaside air would help outlive a terminal prognosis. And while Stanley was able to live a lot longer than he thought he would, his wife began to “succumb to dementia.” That’s why the secret basement of Brightcliffe has the landscape paintings, so that Stanley’s wife could still see the beauty of the world even when she refused to leave the basement.

Whenever Ilonka’s time would come at the end of the season, the shadow would help her remember this past life, offering her peace as “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 Fate of the Core Cast

While Anya’s (Ruth Codd) death was definitely one of the saddest arcs of season 1, it seems as though season 2 would have been even more emotionally devastating. Not only would Anya return, living through her friends’ stories in The Midnight Club and reminding us of how hard it is to say goodbye to those you love, but most of the core cast would also succumb to their illnesses throughout the season.