Midnight Mass episode 4 recap: Lamentations

Midnight Mass Episode 4 recap: Joe has a crisis

Joe is having a crisis. He stands at the beer cooler in the general store, looking inside. The Sheriff approaches him and says, “How’s my night gonna be?” But Joe walks away without buying any beer.

Paul walks to Sarah’s house, looking wonderingly out at night and praying to himself. He goes into Mildred’s room for private communion, and she recognizes him as Pruitt. They’re happy to see one another, and they clasp hands. She says she thought it was a dream when she saw him at her bedside, looking so young. Clearly, they have a romantic past, and they smile as he offers her Communion.

Midnight Mass excels with the long talks that Erin and Riley share, and this one is the best in the entire series as we cut back to the two of them at Erin’s house.

Erin says it’s not fair, he prayed with her all day, but he doesn’t believe in it. He says he doesn’t believe, but he does understand it. “We all want to believe there’s a reason.” Erin asks him what happens when he dies.

He says his body stops functioning, his brain cells die, and he dreams bigger than he has ever dreamed. It’s “the dream to end all dreams.” Then, he says, “I stop.” There is no memory that he ever hurt someone – ever killed someone.

Now it’s Erin’s turn. She says, “Speaking for myself? No, I’m not the one that died today.” Her baby only knew dreams, and in her sleep, her spirit lifted. “God sent her here for a little nap, a quick dream – then he called her back.” When her baby finally starts to wake up, she is wrapped in a feeling of love. She is pure, she has never sinned, and she’s home.

She sees her grandparents, God kisses her forehead and says her name, and then she grows up to be her perfect age. “They tell her I will be there soon.” She is loved and not alone. “That’s what we mean when we say Heaven. That is God. That is why we endure all that we endure. I will see my father and my little girl, and she will be happy and safe.” Note: Kate Siegal delivers this entire Midnight Mass monologue so beautifully! I may have wept (again).

We are back to Father Paul in his home as he pours something red in the cruet, his stomach again rumbling. He walks out of his front door and screams into the night. He goes back inside and drinks straight from the cruet, just as Joe walks in the open door. He is startled to see Paul drinking the “wine” and uncomfortable, but he wants to talk because he’s struggling tonight. But he can see that Paul is busy, so…Paul says he’s not feeling himself today, and then Joe sees the newspaper clipping hanging on the wall.

He comments that Paul could be Pruitt’s son. There were rumors that the Monsignor wasn’t always celibate. Looking even more uncomfortable, he says he’ll see Paul tomorrow. Paul tells Joe he is proud of him and pulls him in for an embrace. He doesn’t let go. It’s getting weird. Joe tries to pull away, and as he struggles, he falls back and hits his head on an end table.

This is a traumatic injury, Joe convulses as a huge pool of blood spreads beneath his head. Paul pauses, then leans his face towards the blood and begins to drink it. No, he begins to slurp it. It’s really gross.

Back to Riley and Erin, who wakes up on top of Erin’s bed covers, fully clothed. Riley tells her he had the dream again, but Erin was in the boat with him this time. She says she never remembers her dreams. She tells Riley she is going to the mainland to get a second opinion on her miscarriage but wants him to come over again tonight.

Hassan has consented to let Ali go to St. Patrick’s, and Ali says he won’t take communion. The Sheriff says they wouldn’t let him anyway because he’s not a Christian.

Everyone is waiting for Father Paul at church, and Bev finally huffs over to his house and lets herself in the front door. There’s Joe’s dead body, with what’s left of the pool of blood, and Father Paul is sitting on the floor with a bloody face and a full belly. Any sane person would run screaming out the door, right? Not Bev. She takes a deep breath, steps over poor old Joe, and says, “OK. We’ve got to get you cleaned up and to church.” Paul holds his hand up to the sunlight so she can see it begin to burn, and again, she doesn’t miss a beat. “OK, you’re gonna stay here.”