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FoCC Review: Midnight, Texas Season 2 – Patience is a Virtue

By Miclpea
***SPOILER ALERT*** Do not read if you have not seen Episode 208 of Midnight, Texas
Directed by Barbara Brown, Written for Television by Alfredo Septién and Turi Meyer

There is a saying attributed to Thomas Fuller, “It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth.” This episode proves this saying a lie, as it is darkest at midnight in Midnight. Here is a brief recap of what transpired in the episode and how the Midnighters arrived at the nadir of their existence.

  • Patience realizes that Manfred knows who and what she truly is.
  • The Midnighters plan an offensive to stop the resurrection of Theophilus.
  • Manfred is transported into the painting, where he finds Delilah (Jaime Murray), the original good witch, and lover of Theophilus (Nick Lee).
  • Delilah reveals in a flashback that the three of them were the best of friends but Patience grew jealous of the love between Delilah and Theophilus.
  • Patience loved Theophilus (think Game of Thrones) and the unholy love between Patience and Theophilus birthed dark magic.
  • The Midnighters, with the help of Addie (Jasmine Cephas Jones), a good witch, recover Fiji’s butterfly but Fiji captures and destroys the butterfly.
  • Fiji resurrects Chuy to capture Joe, thereby eliminating the greatest threat to the dark witches.
  • Manfred goes to witch Hell to trade places with Everard (Sterling Jones), the son of Patience and Theophilus so that Kai can steal his supernatural essence.
  • In the final scenes, after Patience and Fiji have captured all of the Midnighters, she chops off the head of Manfred, which will be discarded and his body used as a vessel for Theophilus!
MIDNIGHT, TEXAS — “Patience is a Virtue” Episode 208 — Pictured: (l-r) Jaime Murray as Delilah, Nick Lee as Theophilus — (Photo by: Lewis Jacobs/NBC)

This episode steps up the stakes and energy level from the previous episode. There are moments of loss, comedy, horror, and revelation. The greatest revelation comes for Manfred and Kai.

Poor Kai and Manfred finally realize that Patience has fooled both of them. She has played the long con with Manfred to use his body as a vehicle for the return of her beloved brother. She used Kai to secure the supernatural essences that she needed to break Delilah’s curse. Manfred shares substantial blame for allowing himself to be seduced by Patience, who, after all, is a married woman. Kai shares less blame, as he is a good person who assumes the best in others and had no reason to believe that Patience was being duplicitous. However, let’s not forget that Patience is an immortal and one of the greatest dark witches of all time. Realistically, both Manfred and Kai did not stand a chance against Patience, who is a master manipulator.

MIDNIGHT, TEXAS — “Patience is a Virtue” Episode 208 — Pictured: (l-r) Nick Lee as Theophilus, Jaime Ray Newman as Patience — (Photo by: Lewis Jacobs/NBC)

Patience’s backstory during the episode is related both by Patience and Delilah. It is truly fascinating to witness Patience’s spin on her history. She openly admits that she was jealous of Delilah and seduced her brother disguised as Delilah. But, somehow, even with her duplicity, she sees herself as the wronged party. From a modern sensibility, her lust for her brother is wrong, however, from a historical, royal perspective their relationship was acceptable.

Meanwhile, the Midnighters try to design a plan to defeat the dark witches. They have the help of a good witch, Addie. Addie, who constantly uses her inhaler as she gets more stressed, provides the comedic moments in this episode. She actually faints when she realizes that the curse on Theophilus might be broken.

Later, Addie, Olivia, and Bobo find and release Fiji’s butterfly from the body of Bobo, where it has gone to hide. But Fiji anticipated their move and destroys her butterfly after it is released from Bobo. This is a devastating moment as there appears to be no hope to save Fiji from the dark side. This sets the stage for the final scene of the episode, as it seems that the dark witches have prevailed.

MIDNIGHT, TEXAS — “Patience is a Virtue” Episode 208 — Pictured: Parisa Fitz Henley as Fiji — (Photo by: Karen Kuehn/NBC)

All of the events in the previous episodes have led to the final scene of this episode. In this scene, there is a procession of dark witches praising Patience while they drag Lem, Bobo, and Olivia through the street in chains. Joe is a pathetic figure as he is forced to drag a cross to the church. The imagery here is powerful as Joe is a Christ figure that Patience plans to sacrifice in this pagan drama!

Patience wears a crown that denotes her status a queen of the dark witches, as Fiji uses her power to mark the church doors with dark magic before she forces them open. All appears lost until Manfred arrives, empowered by the supernatural force that was taken from Everard. Unfortunately, Fiji defeats him and Patience, in a very dramatic moment, cuts off his head. The Midnighters are devastated. Manfred is dead and his body is ready to accept the spirit of Theophilus.

MIDNIGHT, TEXAS — “Patience is a Virtue” Episode 208 — Pictured: (l-r) Dylan Bruce as Bobo, Arielle Kebbel as Olivia, Peter Mensah as Lemuel — (Photo by: Karen Kuehn/NBC)

Episode 208 is an extraordinary episode. Viewers again feel Joe’s loss as Fiji resurrects Chuy to trick and defeat Joe. Bobo’s loss is just as tragic as he sees Fiji crush her butterfly, and therefore her soul, which means that Fiji is lost to him. And Kai, who is a good man, realizes that he has helped a dark witch bring back chaos and darkness to the world. Finally, Manfred is killed and his body will house the spirit of the first dark witch. Carmelo and Snyder have delivered on their promise to up the ante on the series. How will the season end? There has been so much death and loss for the Midnighters. How can they possibly recover? Viewers will have to tune in next week for the finale for answers. Remember, I did warn you to keep a couple of tissues handy.

Miclpea

I love going to conventions around the US and Canada. I'm an ardent fan of all things science fiction and especially The Expanse. I'm a senior writer for Friends of CC and I have co-written a science-fiction script called Punctuated Equilibrium.