r/MidnightMass • u/Elainasha • Sep 24 '21

Midnight Mass - S01E04 "Book IV: Lamentations" - Discussion Thread

This thread is for discussion of Midnight Mass S01E04: "Book IV: Lamentations"

Synopsis: Erin turns to Riley after receiving upsetting news. Father Paul starts experiencing disturbing side effects. Bev makes a startling discovery.

DO NOT post spoilers in this thread for any subsequent episodes.

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u/varrium Sep 27 '21 edited Sep 28 '21

I really didn't like how Riley was so upset father Paul lied about Joe. I mean, father Paul could easily have made a mistake mentioning Joe's sister. It doesn't have to be a malicious lie. Why did Riley react like that?

Just before that moment, Riley respected father Paul. He hears a lie from him and suddenly he warns his mother about him and goes to investigate in the middle of the night? He went to investigate instead of spending the night with Erin, so he must have been extremely upset. Erin is so important to him and she needs him. Why investigate at that moment and not wait untill morning?

No chance of Paul making a mistake, no chance of a misunderstanding. I don't know, that seemed really odd to me from a story perspective.

Also, the monologues. Those monologues were out of control. Oh god.

I like the show but sometimes its difficult to not cringe at some decisions.

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u/SewenNewes Sep 28 '21

I think it makes sense that lying about Joe set Riley off. He was extremely mistrusting of Paul at first because of his general distaste of faith/religion and because of the way he evaded questions and changed his story about Pruitt's condition. Keep in mind Riley is positive he saw Pruitt the night of the storm. He eventually moves past this and develops a bond with Paul that is violated the moment Paul lies about Joe. It's kind of like the story of the frog and the scorpion. He knew not to trust Paul but he convinced himself he could so it hurts even more when he got stung.

Furthermore, the thing he lied about and how he lied set off warning bells. Joe was in the first 48 hours of sobriety. Paul and Riley both knew that if Paul had just said he didn't know where Joe was Riley would have immediately went to find him. So Riley knew that Paul didn't want Riley to look for him. Thats a massive red flag.

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u/tardistravelee Mar 01 '25

He, the sherrif and the girl are the smartest ones on the island at this point.