Midnight Mass - Book II: Psalms Quiz

Answer: Burn them

The Flynns aren't the only ones to leave their homes to check the beach. Before long, most of the town is made aware of the feral cats washed up on the shore and despite the fact that Sheriff Hassan warns Mayor Scarborough from approaching, the man does anyways, claiming it wouldn't be the first time Crockett's Island had such an odd event. Nearly two decades ago, the local starling population was killed; a short time later, a handful of dolphins washed up on shore.

It's odd though-- these feral cats were attacked by something...and there's no blood. Mayor Scarborough looks on the bright side: if there are sharks attacking then it would mean there are fish.

Sheriff Hassan decides that burning the cats is, nonetheless, the best idea in case they are diseased. Before he heads out, the mayor invites Hassan to Mass.

His appearance would be a positive in the eyes of the community.

Answer: True

After Riley volunteers to help burn the feral cats, he confides in a number of townspeople that he was out in the storm. Though he believes he saw Monsignor Pruitt outside, no one believes it. After all, the Monsignor is supposed to be on the mainland.

While Riley heads to the mainland for his AA meeting, Father Hill holds service for a small amount of townspeople including Leeza, Bev, and Annie Flynn. It's after this that Leeza, riding through town with the priest, asks where Father Hill came from. He claims it doesn't matter since, just like her, God has brought them both to Crockett's Island. On this walk, they encounter Joe, the town drunk, and it forces Leeza to take a noticeable pause. She explains to Father Hill that everything is fine, though clearly it is not.

Answer: Rat poison

At the schoolhouse, Erin cleans her classroom before finding Bev Keane rooting through the supplies closet. Though Erin only needs Windex, she finds Bev with a can of poison in her hands, something that she says was only bought to deal with the island's rat problem after the spill. Bev, not wanting to deal with whatever might have killed those cats, plans to sprinkle some around her house. She offers to do Erin's as well, but Erin politely refuses the offer.

Father Hill arrives at Dr. Sarah Gunning's house asking after her mother, Abigail, as he alleges that the Monsignor claimed she never missed daily Mass before her health declined. Dr. Gunning allows him in to introduce himself and, interestingly, her mother mistakes the new priest for the old one. Sarah leaves the room during the communion but nonetheless allows the ritual to be performed.

Answer: Ooker

Riley returns from the mainland and comes across Erin on his walk home when he passes by her house. The two share stories of their day before they part ways. Riley returns home after nightfall to find his mother sewing the banner for the island's upcoming potluck event. When he finally goes to bed he lays awake staring once more at the vision of the girl he killed in his car. This night, he dreams not only of being in a rowboat lost at sea, but chasing a man down the beach on the west bank.

Outside, something large flies through the night sky over Crockett's Island. Warren's friend, Ooker, out walking his bike, notices something go by as it swoops up and over the houses and lands in the roof of an old, condemned building.

Answer: Ash Wednesday

Crockett's Island awakens for Ash Wednesday eager to enjoy the town's potluck event and most of the citizens end up at St. Patrick's Church for Mass. Father Hill comments that it's a surprising day to see such a large crowd; the beginning of Lent must be attractive to people who seek to shed their sins and feel a sense of rebirth. God's first apostles were fishermen, he says, and Crockett's Island will find their bounty as long as they continue to come back to Mass on the regular. On this day, Riley's mother asks him to receive the blessing; he allows this one.

As the town joins in for the Crock Potluck, Dr. Gunning sits with a girlfriend who convinces her to leave Crockett's Island. She's not sure quite how, however, since she believes it would not be good for her mother in her final days. Once her mother passes, she will leave. The two watch as Father Hill stares at them from afar and Sarah notes that back when she was young, the Monsignor used to do the same sort of thing, almost as if he knew her secret.

Answer: It's poisoned

During the Crock Potluck, Father Hill takes a seat next to Riley to speak on renewal and resurrection. Riley asks about the Monsignor, claiming he saw him walking on the beach during the storm, but the pastor says that it's unlikely the Monsignor will be back on the island anytime soon in the state he's in. Talk of Riley's AA meetings comes up next, and Father Hill suggests that instead of going back to the mainland once a week, he would be happy to start an AA Chapter on the island to save him the trip. It could have a positive effect on the community. Erin is able to save Riley from the conversation, interrupting the two by complimenting Father Hill on his homily.

The festivities come to an abrupt end when Joe's dog begins vomiting blood, dying in his hands after eating something dangerous and likely poisoned.

Answer: False

The day after the Crock Potluck, Riley wakes up early to meet his father and brother before sunrise and join them out on the fishing boat. Crockett's Island resumes its normal operations going back to work and avoiding St. Patrick's Church.

Sheriff Hassan stops by the schoolhouse and speaks to Bev Keane, finding her in the supply closet. As his investigation has led him to find, Joe's dog was, in fact, poisoned. He asks her about the 1080 she used to keep rats away from her house and Bev admits she used it, almost egging him to let her know if what she did killed Joe's dog. He doesn't confirm or deny this.

Hassan visits Joe at his trailer next and explains the situation, but Joe insists it wasn't an accident. Bev killed half the island, in his opinion, when she signed the settlement. Hassan can only admit to Joe that he knows Bev is in the wrong.

Answer: Bev Keane

Riley visits the island's rec center alone to meet with Father Hill for his AA meeting and it is, initially, very awkward. Neither is altogether sure what to talk about, so Riley talks about Crockett's Island and the nefarious way it's been built up. When the island got their settlement offer from the oil company, Bev Keane was particularly problematic as she convinced the townspeople to sign for the money, but also urged them to give back to the church, so when Monsignor Pruitt fell ill, it went into her hands to spend. It's why the island has the rec center. Their chat wraps back around to church and the faith and Riley's decision not to practice. It all depends on how Riley deals with his suffering and guilt, Father Hill says-- it can be empowering.

The version that Riley is when he's drunk, however, is bad, according to Riley. He killed someone, and he needs to be blamed, he believes. And God kind of let it happen, and that's why he can't square away the faith side of it. And the awful suffering faced by the people on Crockett's Island is a problem, especially when they believe that suffering to be a gift from God.

Father Hill suggests that God doesn't negate personal accountability. He'll find the love in it, even if people have their problems.

Answer: Her late husband

Going through boxes of old belongings, Erin spends her evening looking at her mother's pictures. The sound of something moving on her roof is only a momentary distraction...until it keeps happening. Whatever's up there crosses overhead to the extent that she decides to look outside her window. She barely catches something moving in the bushes, its glowing eyes shifting as it turns.

Concerned that there might be a problem with the baby, Erin walks over to Dr. Gunning's office and has a brief late-night check-up. There's no issue, however, and she departs. Sarah begins to head to her bedroom when her mother screams for her from the window, believing that she saw her late husband's face staring inside. It couldn't be, however; he's been dead for fifteen years.

Answer: Bowl

Bowl the island's drug dealer, walking down the street late at night, passes by the condemned house on his way through town and when he does its front door opens. He moves to investigate this odd occurrence, calling inside, and when he does his own voice repeats his words back to him, though many seconds later. It's enough to allure him inside. When he crosses the threshold, whatever awaits him rises from its spot deep within and leaps upon him. No one notices as the door to the house slowly shuts behind them.

Sunday Mass comes upon Crockett's Island and St. Patrick's Church sees a modest turnout. Father Hill is particularly distracted. As he rises to provide Leeza with the Eucharist, he urges her to come and take the offering from him, rising up the stairs to the alter to bring her forth. To the shock of everyone present, she lifts herself from her seat and begins to walk.