The Midnight Club ending explained: Who is Dr Georgina Stanton?

Mike Flanagan's The Midnight Club seemed like it was coming to an end in the season finale. But, a last-minute twist brought it back to its horror genre roots.

This final scene is not only a bombshell, but it raises questions about the potential of season 2. It could also leave some fans wondering about the identity Brightcliffe hospice founder Dr Georgina Ston (Heather Langenkamp).

This article will give you a complete breakdown of The Midnight Club's real events, including Dr Stanton’s connection to The Paragon, a nightmarish death cult.

Read on for details, but beware – full spoilers follow from this point.

The Midnight Club season 1 ended with a shocking cliffhanger. It was revealed that Dr Georgia Stanton may not be the philanthropic person she had been portraying throughout the series. In the final scene, we see her in her private quarters, where she rips off her hair – secretly a wig all along – to reveal that she has an hourglass tattoo on the back of her neck; an unmistakable symbol of historic death cult, The Paragon.

It takes some sleuthing to realize that Dr Georgina Stanton is actually Regina Ballard's daughter. In 1940, Paragon founder Regina Ballard staged a ritual that claimed the lives of 12 members. The sacrificial ceremony was meant to prolong her life. However, in the finale flashback, it is revealed that this did not work.

Regina laments Julia Jayne, a terminally ill little girl, that she was "so near" and "undone by her own flesh, blood, and blood. She refers to her daughter, known only as Athena, who called police on the Paragon and helped the youngest members escape on night of her mother’s sickening sermon.

Nobody knew what became of Athena after that night as her real name was not on public record, but she left a diary behind that was taken to heart by Julia in the '60s and Ilonka in the '90s – both of whom are terminally ill young women desperate to make a recovery and finding hope in the extreme beliefs that The Paragon held.

The cult's tragic end took place in the year 1940, as shown on newspaper clippings about the incident, which suggests that perhaps the ritual did work – just not in the way Regina had intended. It is possible that Regina's long-lived dream of a happy life passed to her daughter as a reward for her selfless acts on the night of ritual.

This would explain why Dr Stanton, aka Athena, who we learn in flashback was conceived in 1924, is in the mid-50s when she meets us in The Midnight Club. She should be in her 70s.

Further evidence is provided that The Paragon's rituals work, though in unexpected ways. In the season finale, the mysterious fixation of the ballerina statue, once owned by Ruth Codd, is yet another example.

One leg had broken off the figure years ago when she hurled the weapon at Rhett, her estranged friend, during a fiery argument. Ironically, this was the same leg Anya would lose after receiving a gunshot wound shortly afterwards.

When Rhett comes to collect Anya's belongings after stumbling on her obituary, he is shocked to find that not only is the statue repaired, but that it looks almost brand new – going so far as to assume it's an identical replacement.

This scene suggests that Ilonka, a Paragon-inspired ritual Ilonka performed to save Anya's health but did not restore her rapidly declining health.

In the final scene, it's also suggested that the ghoulish characters walking through Brightcliffe hospice's corridors are the original owners of the property: Stanley Oscar Freelan and Vera, industrialists.

It's not clear why Ilonka or Kevin are so focused on them, while the Midnight Club members had no unpleasant encounters with their restless spirits.

Is there a mystery that will be solved in the second season? Fingers crossed!

The Midnight Club will be available on Netflix starting Friday, October 7, 2022. Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. You can also access Netflix via Sky Glass or Virgin Media Stream.

View more Fantasy coverage. Or visit our TV Guide to check out what's on tonight.

The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now – subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only £1. Listen to Jane Garvey's Radio Times podcast for more information about the biggest TV stars.