We may be used to TV shows being canceled before they should be, but Netflix’s decision to end The Midnight Club is still upsetting. The horror series from creative and talented Mike Flanagan had 10 beautifully crafted episodes and an incredible cast, including Zach Gilford and Samantha Sloyan, who also appeared in his previous series Midnight Mass.

In the best-case scenario, a show is canceled with enough notice that the creator and writers can finish the story they hoped to share with the world. Unfortunately, Netflix decided that The Midnight Club wouldn’t get a second season, and that meant several storylines weren’t tied up.

Whether rewatching or visiting the scary and moving show for the first time, it’s tough not to be impressed and wish that Flanagan had gotten to end the show as he wanted to.

Netflix’s Cancellation Of The Midnight Club Is Still Massively Disappointing

The Midnight Club didn’t deserve its cancellation as, like Mike Flanagan’s other horror shows on Netflix, it’s as sweet and emotional as it is unsettling. But, in contrast to those other shows, it wasn’t a miniseries.

The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass work well as 10-episode, one-season shows. In particular, Midnight Mass and Hill House tell complete stories. They have smart pilots that draw you in, fascinating middle episodes, and stunning, sad, and memorable finales.

When you reach the end of The Midnight Club, it’s hard to feel satisfied because it doesn’t feel like time to let go of these characters. There are definitely big questions about their fates. While the entire premise hinges on the fact that they’re each dying, there are still queries about how much time they each have left.

The season 1 finale also ends on a cliffhanger and a big major character reveal, which also makes the show’s cancellation sting. Season 2 would likely have shared more about their background. Flanagan doesn’t resort to cheap jump scares or twists that should be shocking but are actually just silly, so there’s no doubt this was done on purpose.

The show’s smart structure also lends itself to two seasons (or more). Adapted from the young adult book series by Christopher Pike, which was published in the 1990s, each episode sees one character telling a horrifying tale. The best one is about a VCR that shares news about events that haven’t happened yet, which is hauntingly creepy.

It’s also hard not to want to spend more time in The Midnight Club world thanks to its nostalgic ’90s setting and the eerie Brightcliffe hospice. There’s also an argument that this show could be scarier than Hill House, Bly Manor, and Midnight Mass. The scenes of the characters wandering around at night and seeing spirits are incredibly effective.

Why Netflix Canceled Mike Flanagan’s Midnight Club After One Season

Sadly, Netflix canceled The Midnight Club after one season. Many felt this was because Mike Flanagan and his partner Trevor Macy’s deal with the streaming service was coming to an end, and they were going to start making shows for Amazon Prime Video.

In 2022, Flanagan told Deadline that he wasn’t “surprised” that Netflix wouldn’t make season 2 because of “changes.” Flanagan said The Midnight Club “was innovative and harder to classify“ and explained it “requires some pretty robust promotion to get off the ground properly, and Netflix’s strategy for promoting new shows has changed quite a bit.“

Based on his comments, it sounds like Flanagan felt Netflix didn’t market the series enough, which is interesting to consider. While there was a lot of love for his other shows like Hill House, there’s no doubt that this one was talked about much less and can be considered his most underrated project.

Mike Flanagan’s The Midnight Club Season 2 Plans Could Have Worked

Most of the time, you don’t get the answers you’re seeking when a TV show is canceled prematurely. Thankfully, Mike Flanagan shared his ideas for The Midnight Club season 2. They’re fascinating and moving, and it would have been fantastic to see them on the small screen.

Flanagan explained his plans in a post on Tumblr and said the second season would have been adapted from Christopher Pike’s novel Remember Me. He said Dr. Stanton (Heather Langenkamp) is on her own journey as she was diagnosed with cancer, which was part of the Midnight Club finale twist because she removed the wig she was wearing.

That’s a particularly exciting storyline since it means Stanton truly understands the inner lives of the teenagers who live at the hospice she runs, even if they aren’t sure about her. Another thrilling reveal? The spirits of Brightcliffe founder Stanley Oscar Freelan and Stanley’s wife visited Ilonka and Kevin, and Ilonka and Kevin were this couple in their “past lives.“

The filmmaker shared that when the characters saw “The Shadow,” this was “The Unknown,” aka their thoughts and worries about dying. He shared that Kevin (Igby Rigney) would pass away before Ilonka (Iman Benson), who would learn that Robert Longstreet’s janitor character is “Death” itself, which would lessen her anxieties about the next phase.

Flanagan added that Ilonka would tell the ghost story of Remember Me, which would last for five episodes instead of only one, and that would allow her 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.“

If every episode is devastating, Flanagan’s season 2 plans might be even more so. The second season would have built upon the first’s excellent foundation and continued to freak viewers out while telling a significant story about grief and the universal reality that everyone dies. This message would have been illustrated the most by Ilonka’s tale.

The show works because it taps into how afraid most people are of leaving this world, as The Midnight Club teens face their own mortality and mourn the loss of their good friend Anya (Ruth Codd). Season 2 would have wrapped up the story by focusing on part two of Kevin and Ilonka’s gripping love story: saying goodbye to each other.

Without this closure, the horror series is still an effective story about a harsh reality no one wants to think about. But it would have been fantastic to see these ideas come to life in The Midnight Club season 2. The ending would have been a tearjerker, but it sounds like it would have been beautiful.