Warning! SPOILERS for The Midnight Club season 1.The Midnight Club season 1 reveals the secret history of a dangerous cult called the Paragons, noted for an ominous hourglass symbol. Inspired by Christopher Pike's 1994 novel, Mike Flanagan's The Midnight Club is set in the fictional hospice Brightcliffe Manor. The hospice caters to teenagers who have received a terminal diagnosis, but it doesn't take long for new student Ilonka to learn it has a sinister history.
Brightcliffe Manor was once home to a cult called the Paragons, who appear to have dedicated themselves to discovering how to wield power over life and death. The grounds are littered with the Paragons' mysterious hourglass symbols, and the basement has been designed for rituals in which four must sacrifice their lives to extend the life of another. Ilonka initially hopes to find other ways to extend her life, but as Mike Flanagan's The Midnight Club continues it becomes clear she isn't researching a historical cult at all. Rather, she's dealing with something that still exists in the present day - and the cliffhanger ending of The Midnight Club reveals Dr. Stanton, founder of Brightcliffe Manor, has the hourglass symbol of the Paragons tattooed to the back of her neck.
The hourglass symbol clearly lies at the heart of the Paragon cult. An hourglass is a traditional symbol of death, often found around graveyards, because the grains of sand dropping from the top to the bottom represent the speed with which every moment of life passes by. The Paragon hourglass is subtly different, however, in that the top is blacked out - meaning it represents death. This hourglass has been turned upside-down, symbolizing the Paragon desire to find a way to turn death into life.
The Hourglass Symbol Is Key To The Midnight Club
Mike Flanagan's Netflix horror shows have often made use of symbols in their storytelling, and in this case the distinctive Paragon hourglass carries particular weight. Ilonka discovers it has been carved on the barks of trees surrounding parts of the woods near Brightcliffe that the Paragons believed possessed healing power. What's even more concerning is that it lies at the center of a sacred circle in the Manor's hidden sub-basement, symbolizing that this is a place where rituals will be performed to try to conquer death. Some Paragons have tattoos, and it's likely they received them as part of a ritual.
Ilonka appears to be particularly susceptible to the magic surrounding Brightcliffe Manor, for unknown reasons. She experiences what could be called the "hourglass effect" in another way, as she receives disturbing visions of the Manor from the past - the past slipping into the present, as though the hourglass has been turned upside-down a little too often. Flanagan's The Midnight Club fulfils its promise to tell a particularly dark story, for those visions of the past often culminate in a glimpse of monstrous, demonic beings who appear to have been drawn to Brightcliffe Manor because of the Paragon's ill-advised rituals. Those should be only seen as side effects, with the Paragons themselves serving as the true villains of The Midnight Club.
The Midnight Club season 1 is streaming now on Netflix.