The Midnight Club – Season 1 Episode 8 “Road to Nowhere” Recap & Review

Road to Nowhere

Episode 8 of The Midnight Club begins with Ilonka waking up and confronting Stanton, wanting to know who’s going home. Stanton doesn’t reveal who, but pleads with Ilonka not to say anything until they’re 100% certain. It’s also definitely not Ilonka either. Ilonka awkwardly promises not to say anything… and immediately tells Kevin in the next scene.

Ilonka is convinced the ritual was a success and decides to get some answers… from Shasta. The mysterious lady doesn’t have a lot to say, but shows her around the group and explains about the “four humours” that directly tie into the Five Sisters ritual. Interestingly, Ilonka is offered a place in their ranks. However, she’d also need to bring the Paragon Book. Don’t do it Ilonka, it’s a massive red flag! Ilonka doesn’t listen to these subliminal cries and decides to trust her and get the book.

In Ilonka’s absence, Cheri cuts Spencer’s hair before approaching Mark. He wants to go and see his parents and tells them all the things he’s not said before. Mark drives him there, where Spence opens up to his mum. He reminds her that he’s probably going to die and his good friend has recently passed away (Anya). He’s realized that when his time comes, he’ll be surrounded by people who really care about him.

He loves his mum but wants her to accept him for who he is until the end, and not be judgmental about the fact that he’s gay. After kissing her on the head, he arrives back to Brightcliffe with the others.

There, Amesh approaches Nasuki but things are tense between them, especially as the latter is still mourning Anya and not ready to process her feelings. As a result, they do their usual Midnight Club meeting… but the door is locked. Defeated, they all decide to head back to their rooms. Natsuki shows on the stairwell and decides to tell a story for just her and Amesh.

With the fire raging in their room, Natsuki tells her story, called the Road to Nowhere. This is about a girl called Teresa. She tries to bolt in the middle of the night, but she’s stopped by a couple of hitchhikers, called Freedom Jack and Poppy Corn.

On the road, it appears the trio are going round in circles. They pass the same gas station numerous times and a strange banging sound seems to show numerous things raining down from the sky. When they pass the gas station a third time, Teresa decides to search the garage, where she finds herself passed out in the car.

That smell she’s been experiencing all this time is presumably the exhaust fumes from the car. Teresa never left her garage and is trying to kill herself. Freedom Jack and Poppy Corn are apparently manifestations of herself; the devil and angel on her shoulders. Teresa is reminded that should she decide to stay then it’s going to hurt – a lot. Teresa decides to face that and stick around.

With the story done (after Natsuki brings up a slightly different ending) we cut across to Ilonka, who decides to get the lift down to the basement. Strange crying sounds fill the air as she heads into the darkness alone with her torch. There, she notices the old woman from before. When he grabs her shoulder, she spins round… and shows Kevin. “Oh no, not again.” He says.

The Episode Review

As predicted, it seems these stories that the kids have been telling are actually real, or at least parts of them are anyway. It’s a nice way of reframing what we’ve seen so far and it’s good to actually get some time with the other kids like Cheri, Natsuki and Amesh. Spencer has a nice moment here though when he confronts his mum and speaks his piece, but honestly it would have been far more effective had we seen a story from him earlier in the season to make this emotional payoff all the more poignant.

The reveal with Kevin seems to indicate that the old woman is actually him but there are holes in this theory so perhaps he’s just being possessed from time to time. His story about being controlled by the voices in his head rings through with a semblance of truth.

Still, we’ll have to wait and see what the rest of the season has in store for us but the upcoming episodes look like they could be quite the intriguing watch.