There's lots of foreshadowing in Midnight Mass, but the set up for the Sarah reveal may be the most genius moment of them all. Sure, the mystery surrounding the doctor's paternity isn't as flashy as the whole vampire situation. However, it is the key to the show's larger message about life and death, and the importance of not upsetting the natural order of the world.
At the heart of Midnight Mass is the question of what truly drives Father Paul, a.k.a. Monsignor John Pruitt, to bring what is clearly a monster back to his home town. Sure, being de-aged does seem miraculous, but to any sane person, it's pretty clear that the blood-sucking creature with leathery wings the priest finds in a cave in Damascus is no angel. And yet, Father Paul needs to believe it is, and the reason why leads back to Sarah, Crockett Island's doctor and one of the few residents who doesn't sit in a church pew every Sunday.
Early on, the show parcels out a couple of details about Sarah: she's a lesbian who doesn't relish living in such an ultra-religious and isolated community, but she's there for her mother, who has dementia. Like Riley, Erin, and Sheriff Hassan, she doesn't really fit in on Crockett, but the community needs her. Plus, it's her childhood home, and roots can be a powerful things.
Which brings me to the Crock Pot Luck, when Sarah's girlfriend notices that Father Paul is staring at them.
Midnight Mass Serves Up A Major Clue About Father Paul's Connection To Sarah In The Second Episode
When Sarah and her girlfriend observe Father Paul staring at them, they assume he's judging them because they're gay. Since this is a town where Bev is a pillar of the community, it's a pretty safe assumption to make, but in this case, it's totally off base.
If you look closely at his face, the priest is clearly looking at Sarah with adoration. He's not judging her, he's smiling at her. For her part, Sarah notes that Monsignor Pruitt used to look at her the exact same way every Sunday. At this stage, there's no way the doctor could suspect that John and Paul are one in the same, but in retrospect, it's a huge tipoff that the missing Monsignor is standing right in front of everyone.
And it's also a major clue that his connection to Sarah is a personal one, even though she's not ready to see it.
A Desire For A Second Chance Is What Drives Father Paul To Bring A Monster To Crockett
In addition to the moment at the Crock Pot Luck, Midnight Mass hints that Sarah is Father Paul's daughter once more when Joe observes that there was a rumor that the Monsignor "wasn't exactly celibate." But it's not until the final episode that the priest finally confesses his sin — he didn't bring the "angel" to Crockett in hopes of saving the world, he brought it because he didn't want Millie, Sarah's mother, to die.
More than anything, he wanted a second chance to be a father to Sarah and a partner to Millie after decades of living with the secret that he had a child who barely knew he existed. In the end, Father Paul's motivations were selfish, but also deeply human. He just wanted a do-over. When he finally tells Sarah that he's her dad and he's proud of her, it's a small moment, but it means everything in the grand scheme of things.
It's a reminder of what's really at the heart of Midnight Mass: family, faith, and love. But what's most impressive is just how well the show foreshadowed Sarah's paternity secret and how it was the real driving force behind Father Paul's motives all along.
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Images: Eike Schroter/Netflix; Netflix