‘Midnight Mass’ Episode 7 Recap: Let it Burn

Lindsey
7 Min Read
Midnight Mass Still Frame
Eike Schroter/Netflix

In the seventh and final episode of Midnight Mass, “Book VII: Revelation,” the tides of change are upon Crockett Island, and it’s a bloody affair. Let’s take a look at how everything panned out.

A second chance

Mildred wakes up outside of St. Patrick’s, and the transformation has made her entirely young again. She walks inside of the church to find Father Paul. The two sit side by side, Mildred holding one of his hands, and they talk. He admits to her that the entire reason that he brought the vampire — the angel — back to the island was for her and Sarah … their daughter. He didn’t want Mildred to die, he wanted to save her.

He solemnly reflects back on how they wasted their entire lives staring at one another across the church. He was too scared to come down there and be with her, too scared to tell their daughter the truth. Father Paul tells Mildred that if she would have shown up and asked him to take the collar off, he would have gone anywhere in the world with her.

Now, they can be a family. Getting a second chance? That’s the real miracle.

Door-to-door vampires

Midnight Mass Still
Eike Schroter/Netflix

Set free to “spread the gospel” by Beverly, the newly turned vampires begin going door-to-door throughout the town, attacking those who were not at midnight mass. Sarah, Erin, Sheriff Hassan, Warren, Annie, and Leeza have hunkered down at Erin’s house, but Sturge and Beverly soon find them.

Annie goes outside to confront them so that the others can escape, and she knocks Beverly down a peg or two in the process as she tells her that God doesn’t love her any more than anyone else. When Beverly realizes that she’s stalling, Annie slits her throat to distract them further.

When Sturge asks Beverly if they should put out the fire that has begun to spread from the Molotov cocktails that they threw into Erin’s house, she says no. She believes that this is Revelation. Let it burn. And thus they go about burning down every single building on the island besides the church and the rec center.

Humanity remains

Although most of the town has turned into bloodthirsty monsters, spilling profuse amounts of blood against a fiery backdrop, not all have lost their humanity. Annie, freshly turned after her death outside of Erin’s house, finds her husband Ed. He watches as his fellow townsfolk feed on one another and tells Annie that it’s not impossible to hold back from feeding on others. He can hold back from giving in to the hunger.

Vampire sleepover

Beverly has filled the rec center with cots for those that have been chosen. When she brings Father Paul and Mildred outside to proudly show them the burning island, Father Paul tells her that they were wrong and this needs to stop. He now recognizes the error in his ways.

Undeterred from her biblical mission, Beverly dismisses him as her leader and tells him that she hopes they both enjoy the sunrise. Afterward, Sturge informs Beverly that the boats were burned (courtesy of Sarah, Erin, and Sheriff Hassan), so they have no way of leaving the island now.

Let it burn

Father Paul finds Sarah pouring gasoline inside of the church, and he says, “Good.” She’s surprised, and then he goes on to finally admit to her that he’s her father. He tells her how proud of her he is. And then Sturge shoots her.

As Mildred and Father Paul cradle their dying daughter in their arms on the floor, Father Paul attempts to feed her his blood to save her. She spits it out. They carry Sarah’s body out of St. Patrick’s and light the church on fire on their way out.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Hassan and Erin have sabotaged the rec center with gasoline as well. The ancient vampire grabs Erin and begins to feed on her while Sheriff Hassan — shot by Beverly — falls to his knees. Ali, still holding on to his humanity, steps forward to toss the lighter, setting the town’s last salvation on fire. There is nowhere left for them to hide before sunrise.

We are the cosmos dreaming of itself

As the birds on the island begin to chirp, signaling a new day, the ancient vampire feeding on Erin gets up to fly away and seek shelter. It struggles, however, because she had cut holes in its wings while it fed on her.

Erin, lying on the ground and dying, stares up at the stars above. She thinks back to her conversation with Riley, where they discussed what happens when you die. She knows the correct answer now. What follows is a beautiful, breathtaking introspection on life, death, time, dreams, and the cosmos.

And so the sun rises

Leeza and Warren watch from the rowboat as the sun rises over the burning island. The ancient vampire is attempting to head west to escape, but it can barely fly, so it won’t make it. The townsfolk gather, waiting for the sun to rise, and they begin to sing.

Beverly desperately tries to dig herself a hole in the sand to no avail. Sheriff Hassan and Ali pray together on the beach one last time. Father Paul finally removes his collar and tosses it away as he and Mildred look down at their daughter’s lifeless body. He turns to Mildred and asks him to forgive her. They kiss.

And finally, Leeza turns to Warren and tells him that she can’t feel her legs. It’s over.

Midnight Mass is now streaming on Netflix. Read our recaps for every episode here.

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By Lindsey
Lindsey joined the Nerds and Beyond team in 2018. If she's not writing or out and about with her camera, she's probably watching anime, nerding out over Star Wars, reading manga, and definitely forgetting to water her plants. And waiting for the Genshin loading screen to pop up. Contact: lindsey@nerdsandbeyond.com
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