NBC’s Midnight, Texas ran for two seasons and 19 episodes before NBC pulled the plug on December 28, 2018. The show, created by Monica Owusu-Breen, was based on Charlaine Harris’ book series, the same author behind the True Blood novels. It landed on July 24, 2017, with a supernatural premise: a remote Texas town where vampires, witches, psychics and hit men live openly, and where being normal is the strangest thing anyone could be.
The concept is bold. The execution never quite catches up.
The Town of Midnight
Manfred Bernardo, a young psychic, flees his past and follows a ghostly message from his grandmother, who tells him to seek refuge in Midnight, Texas. He finds a community that accepts him, a place where the freaks are the family. That’s the heart of the show, and it works best when the writers let the characters breathe.
“Welcome to a place where being normal is really quite strange.”
The town faces threats from rowdy biker gangs, suspicious cops and its own dangerous pasts. The idea is that these outsiders keep pushing at the edges of a place that doesn’t want to be found. It’s a solid premise, but the show spends too much time explaining itself instead of letting the tension breathe.
The Cast
The ensemble is the show’s strength. François Arnaud plays Manfred Bernardo, the psychic newcomer. Dylan Bruce is Bobo Winthrop, a vampire. Parisa Fitz-Henley is Fiji Cavanaugh, a witch. Arielle Kebbel is Olivia Charity, a hit man. Peter Mensah is Lemuel Bridger, a fallen angel. Jason Lewis is Joe Strong, and Jaime Ray Newman joins as Patience Lucero, owners of the Crystal Desert lodge. Josh Kelly rounds out the group as Walker Chisum, a demon hunter with an intense connection to Joe.
The casting is solid. The performances are competent. None of it reaches the heights of the actors on True Blood, but the show isn’t trying to be True Blood. It’s a different beast, and it mostly holds together.
What Works
The show’s best moments come when it trusts its own premise. The town’s residents band together against outside pressure, and the show captures genuine warmth in those scenes. The writing occasionally finds a rhythm, especially when it lets the characters talk about themselves instead of explaining why they exist.
The show also gets credit for its willingness to include diverse characters across its roster. A vampire, a witch, a fallen angel, a half-demon and a werecreature all share space in the same town. That range is rare in genre television, and it’s a selling point.
What Doesn’t Work
The pacing drags. Episodes spend too much time establishing what everyone can do before they start doing it. The show introduces a threat, then explains it, then explains why it’s a threat, then finally lets the town fight back. By the time the action arrives, the momentum has died.
The show also struggles with tone. It wants to be a spooky mystery, a family drama and a supernatural thriller all at once. Those impulses fight each other, and the result is a show that never commits fully to any one mode. It’s a bit of everything, and a master of none.
The Second Season
The second season premiered October 26, 2018, after NBC renewed the show on February 14, 2018. It brought in new characters like Kai and Patience Lucero, owners of the Crystal Desert lodge, and Walker Chisum, the openly gay demon hunter. The show also confirmed that Yul Vazquez and Sarah Ramos would not return as series regulars.
The second season tried to shake things up. It didn’t quite get there. The show kept adding new threats and new faces, but the core relationship between Manfred and the town never deepened enough to justify the expansion.
The Cancelation
NBC canceled the show on December 21, 2018. Universal Television tried to shop the series to other outlets, but couldn’t find a home. The finale aired December 28, 2018.
The cancelation was abrupt, and it felt like a waste of a premise. The show had a good idea and a decent cast, but it never learned to stop talking about itself.
The Verdict
Midnight, Texas is a show that understands what it’s about but can’t quite deliver on it. The concept is strong, the cast is capable, and the heart is in the right place. But the pacing, the tone and the execution hold it back.
It’s a show worth watching once, to see what it’s trying to do. It’s not worth a second season. It’s not a failure, but it’s not a success either.
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