The Midnight Club – Season 1 Episode 3 “The Wicked Heart” Recap & Review

The Wicked Heart

Episode 3 of The Midnight Club starts with Ilonka in the hallway with Kevin. She’s still shocked by what she’s experienced. Kevin decides that it’s the meds they’re on, and that she’s not the only one that’s seen things. This final point is brushed over by Ilonka, who decides to head back into her room, this time with the file in hand.

Interestingly, there are sketches in there with the familiar hourglass symbols. There are also a number of dates too, with 292-13 holding significance for Ilonka.

These symbols look like they could be in reference to the cult that used to operate within these walls. After a scary dream, Ilonka bursts upright and asks Anya about the symbol. She’s convinced that she’s seen it inside the house somewhere but isn’t sure where.

Anya is bitchy as always (honestly, I love this character) but she’s pricklier than usual on visiting days. She has no one who’s coming to meet her but Ilonka suggests she come and meet Tim, admitting she’s told her father that Anya is the toughest person she’s ever met.

We see a good snapshot of all the different kids, including their interesting and somewhat fractured family life. Kevin’s mum is determined to push his brother, Morgan, to step into Kevin’s legacy. Meanwhile, Anya actually does a great job reassuring Tim that everything is okay inside Brightcliffe and that they all look out for one another.

Family day comes and goes, with Natsuki heading down to see Tristan. Unfortunately, she’s passed away. All the kids show up to silently pay their respects as Dr Stanton heads down to the basement with Tris’ body. Out of all the kids, it hits Natsuki the hardest, especially as she’s always been there for her to read to Tris.

Back in her room, Ilonka and Kevin reconvene and go over Julia’s sketches. She’s determined to find the meaning of the numbers and the hourglass, believing them to be important.

That night, the Midnight Club returns again for another story. This time it’s Kevin’s turn to tell a story. He starts telling a story about Dusty Shane, the perfect high school senior who’s also perfectly average. He flies under the radar for the most part. He overhears one of the students, Nancy, talk about how her parents are out that weekend.

Dusty lives alone with his mother but her mind went a while ago and she sits in silence, always listening. Dusty drives across town to visit Nancy, knowing that she’s alone. He sneaks in the back, wearing gloves of course, and steps up to her at the bed.

With whispers in his ears driving him forward, Dusty hits her repeatedly in the head with a hammer and kills her. He disposes the body and leaves the smiley face card on the counter… until the others call him out for repeating a trope in a previous story.

Kevin backtracks slightly and changes the story, replacing the smiley face with an hourglass instead. Ilonka fruitlessly tries to object but stops, as Kevin continues his story. He wraps up Nancy’s body and takes her out to a cave, disposing of the body. This wasn’t his first rodeo though and he heads back to his mother, pleading with her to leave him alone. And by them, that refers to the numerous women he’s killed over the years. He sees them every night and the news one cry and scream a lot.

Dusty meets the new girl Sheila, with every intention of following up on his usual shtick of killing and disposing of the body. However, Sheila stops by her friend’s place…which happens to be Nancy. Sheila decides to phone the police, who show up and immediately notice the hourglass symbol. The detective thinks this could be a crime scene, and a lot of that comes from the card. The police have a lead, which is linked to online chatrooms; Dusty’s hunting ground.

Sheila shows up at Dusty’s place and believes that this is a murder case, not a missing person case. Dusty is uncomfortable, and as the camera swings back and forth between the two characters… Dusty concludes his story with a big “to be continued.”

Ilonka stays behind after the tale and asks Kevin about the symbol. After listening to him talk about Hell and the descent, she remembers where she’s seen the symbol. Inside the elevator.

Ilonka believes that the symbol isn’t useless. Closing the doors, Ilonka tries to press the symbol but it doesn’t work. Instead, she presses the basement symbol… and then the hourglass. And it works! They go a deeper level, into the darkness.

The lights don’t work, of course, prompting Ilonka to light matches instead. Unfortunately, the elevator heads back upstairs again, plunging her in darkness. Turning around though, that old lady from before happens to be standing right there.

The Episode Review

The Midnight Club is about to get tasty! The mystery involving the hourglass symbol is a nice touch and it certainly helps to add an extra dimension to this series – and break up the episodic feel of these different tales.

While that does help to understand each of the different kids, there’s a part of me that thinks this could actually be their genuine history, albeit with a couple of embellished details changed here and there.

Some of the characters like Natsuki and Anesh have had little to work with, which is a shame. I’m sure the upcoming episodes will remedy that though.