[Editor's note: The following contains spoilers through the finale of Midnight Mass.]So, how about that boat scene in Episode 5 of Midnight Mass?
After accidentally walking in on Pruitt (Hamish Linklater) and the “angel” in the rec center, Riley (Zach Gilford) is attacked and turned. The Monsignor attempts to convince Riley that their resurrection and renewal is for the better, and that they’re doing His will. Pruitt sends Riley on his way, hopeful he’ll find courage and embrace what Pruitt believes is a gift. Instead, Riley takes Erin (Kate Siegel) out on a boat in the bay, tells her everything that happened to him and then lets the sunrise burn him alive.
It’s an extreme choice for Riley to make that might leave one wondering, why didn’t he try to stay and fight? Or, perhaps, why did Riley subject Erin to such horrors? Did he have to go that far? Gilford explained how he approached the scene and how he wrapped his mind around Riley’s choice during our interview. He began:
“Mike and I didn’t have any conversations about it. The way I come to things are, ‘It’s already on the page. This is what we’re doing.’ I’m only gonna have the conversation if it doesn’t make sense to me and it made sense to me. Given the world we’re in and given the person that Erin is and the person that Riley is, he knows, ‘Look, what am I gonna run around being a vampire for the rest of my life? No. And the only way I’m gonna be able to convince Erin is if she sees it.’ No one’s ever gonna believe this unless they see it, so it was just kind of like, ‘Look, this is gonna happen. I hate to traumatize her, but the only way she’ll ever maybe take my advice and just row to the other shore is if she sees it.’”
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Gilford further justified Riley’s decision through his recurring dream. He’s floating out in the middle of the bay just as the sun’s about to rise. The urge to get to a different shore and to start a new life is there, but he can’t. Instead, the dream always ends with the sunrise. So after all that time having that dream, what did it mean to Riley to actually be in it, but, to realize he wasn’t in that boat alone in the end? Here’s what Gilford said:
“It just kind of validated that this is the choice. He’s not someone who really would believe that people could see the future or whatever, but it just kind of validates, ‘Yeah, this is what I have to do. My subconscious has been telling me this. It’s been forecasting this.' So as someone who no longer believes in God or a higher power, whatever there is, it’s telling me this is what I have to do and it’s been hinting at it for a while.”
If you’re looking for more Midnight Mass conversations, stay tuned! We’ll have an extended Collider Ladies Night chat for you soon with Siegel which includes even more on this boat scene and also Siegel’s thoughts on what happens to Erin through the end of the series.