When it came time for the next installment in what could be Netflix’s answer to FX’s popular anthology American Horror Story, Flanagan and his writers turned to another master of dense psychological terror: 19th-century novelist Henry James. Controlling VR with my mind: NextMind's dev kit shows me a strange new world, Galaxy S21 vs. S20 vs. S20 FE vs. The governess eventually discovers that her predecessor, Miss Jessel (Tahirah Sharif), had an affair with a sinister valet named Peter Quint (another Hill House alum, Oliver Jackson-Cohen). This episode also sees Hannah Grose, Dani, the gardener Jamie (Amelia Eve), and the cook Owen (Rahul Kohli) bonding around the fire after Owen’s mother has died. Note 20 specs compared: All of Samsung's updates, Discuss: The Haunting of Bly Manor ending explained, and all your questions answered, How Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor should have ended, The Haunting of Bly Manor review: A very different follow-up to Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor hid Easter eggs in its sound design, The Haunting of Bly Manor season 3: Release date, cast and everything we know, According to The Haunting of Bly Manor's official Instagram, Tenet: That ending explained and all your questions answered. He rings the manor hoping Flora will pick up. The Haunting of Bly Manor's Heartbreaking Finale, Explained. Dani in The Haunting of Bly Manor, out now on Netflix. I think there was just this beautiful feeling of catharsis for the both of us. The show may be about death and ghosts—but in the end, Bly Manor posits, not every haunting is bad. But Miles’s close relationship with his boarding school teacher and their discussions of morality are right out of “The Pupil,” which tells the story of a neglected boy, Morgan, and his close bond with his tutor, Pemberton. You have to live with yourself, and he’s a shit-grinning fucking monster.”. In the show, Father Stack (Jim Piddock) tells Miles: “Your well-being is my responsibility and priority moving forward.” That line could easily have come from Pemberton, whose fondness for his pupil is so strong he continues to work for the family even after they stop paying him. That feels like a very musty idea that wouldn’t be out of place in a story from the 1890s, but the 1980s? All of this tracks pretty closely with Bly Manor’s basic premise. As is the case with Miles in The Turn of the Screw, Morgan of “The Pupil” dies at the end of the story, after his parents try to leave him in the care of his beloved tutor. To revisit this article, select My⁠ ⁠Account, then View saved stories. But while The Turn of the Screw may be the spine of the series, Flanagan and his writers have fleshed out the nine episodes by remixing and riffing on several other James short stories and novellas. Dream hopping is what Flora experiences when Rebecca possesses her body. The faceless ghost of a Victorian Child Flora befriends also helps to shift their positions in the doll house. You love her as you’ve never loved, and, passion for passion, she gives it straight back! One is sick (but has a wardrobe to die for), and the other eventually gets the man (but literally dies for the clothes). The series never makes it entirely clear whether this haunting is meant to represent mental health issues, though there are some indications that we’re supposed to take it as akin to suicidal depression in Dani. But James’s The Alter of the Dead is also about love that comes too late, from the narrator’s long-lost love (who died before their wedding day) to the new woman he meets whom he cannot connect with, thanks to an old grudge he refuses to let go of. “I don’t think you light remembrance candles for the living,” Hannah says when her old employer, Mrs. Wingrave, lights one for the husband who abandoned Hannah. The result is a less obviously cheeky version of Hulu’s Stephen King mixtape Castle Rock. “The Alter of the Dead”—episode five: Speaking, as we were, of Hulu’s Castle Rock, this brilliant standout episode centered on T’Nia Miller’s Hannah skips and loops through time—much like Castle Rock’s Sissy Spacek showcase, “The Queen.” But premise similarities aside, Miller makes this episode all her own with a charming assist from Kohli. “The Jolly Corner”—episode six: A creepy inspiration for a very creepy episode. The Ending of 'The Haunting of Bly Manor,' Explained. That really stayed with me.". This could be extrapolated to the ghosts of Bly manor—including Hannah—who literally fade as the years go on and fewer survivors are left to remember them. His ghost's glasses are seared with the yellow glare of the lights. But either way, there is a dark cloud hanging over Dani and Jamie’s happily-ever-after—and Dani, at least, is possessed by an unshakable sense of foreboding that, eventually, the lady of the lake will consume her entirely. The same idea could be at play here, Jamie leaving the door ajar and filling the sink with water in the hope Dani would return to her. Or maybe it’s all in the governess’s head? But Hannah's journey offers a sentimental connection to that idea. In The Haunting of Hill House, Steven Crain gives this description of ghosts: "Ghosts are guilt. He convinces Rebecca to let him take over her body, but when he discovers he still can't leave Bly, he drowns her, turning her into a ghost. “The Beast in the Jungle”—episode nine: There’s no mystery as to who the titular beast is in this episode. "The Haunting of Bly Manor" Episode 8 may not be overtly Lynchian, but its implications are integral to understanding the finale. Just before Dani's arrival, Hannah notices something strange about Miles, who's been acting out since returning from boarding school. In James’s story The Jolly Corner, a man named Spencer Brydon returns to wander the halls of his boyhood home and becomes obsessed with the notion of who he might have been if he had stayed in America. Did I mention the spoilers? We’ll find out later that work is not exactly what Dani is running from—but the premise of an overworked person looking to get away from it all aligns perfectly with the protagonist of “The Great Good Place,” George Dane, who escapes an unmanageable workload to find himself whisked away to an idealized, quaint retreat where he finds happiness and clarity. In the series, though, the governess and the uncle have names—Dani Clayton and Henry Wingrave—and instead of the 1890s, we’re in the 1980s. Flora and her brother Miles don't want Dani to see the ghosts, because Rebecca and the ghost of Peter Quint have told them not to reveal their presence. Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Matching my movements. We explain the ending, ghosts, and much more in Mike Flanagan's latest tv series for Netflix "The Haunting of Bly Manor. She marries Viola's husband Arthur and looks after her daughter Isabel. Ghosts are regrets and failings. The most complex ghost story of Bly Manor is undoubtedly Hannah Grose, who lives among the Wingrave family as a ghost for most of the series. James was not shy at all about killing off his very young protagonists. So jealousy, possessiveness, and broken engagements are the resonant themes here. Flanagan and his team are not nearly so heartless. The Haunting of Bly Manor is an American drama-gothic romance streaming … Ad Choices, How nine Henry James stories inform Netflix’s densely packed follow-up to. Despite waxing philosophical about the evil in men, Miles was doing his best to be expelled from boarding school and rejoin his sister back home at Bly. Nothing like that kind of guilt to drive you further into the 1980s closet. Here we go. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. In other words, this is story of class transgression, bitter, broken hearts, ulterior motives, and betrayal. In The Haunting of Hill House, the first in Mike Flanagan's horror anthology, Gugino played Olivia, the mother of the Crain family. I can renounce you, but I can’t share you; the best of you is hers; I know what it is and I freely give you up to her for ever! You come to me mechanically, compunctiously, with the dregs of your tenderness and the remnant of your life. With Flanagan's busy schedule, including another Netflix series, it might be a little while before we see what ghost story he adapts next. As another famous governess once said, it’s a very good place to start. Eventually, no longer able to endure her worsening state and abuse, Perdita smothers Viola with a pillow. The clearest inspiration in play here is James’s most famous ghost story, The Turn of the Screw; Flanagan brought back Hill House stand-out Victoria Pedretti to play the show’s haunted governess. "I believe that Dani's been with Jamie the whole time," Amelia Eve, who plays Jamie, said. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. A significant piece of imagery in Netflix's new horror story The Haunting of Bly Manor is a dollhouse, and the many different figurines that live … “The Pupil”—episode two: Miles’s unsettling mix of sweet and sinister is straight out of Turn of the Screw, and even his boarding school expulsion—a ruse, of sorts, to get back to his sister—is a plot point lifted from that book. I’m not sure there’s much else to say here, except that a dripping wet ghost on a loop of vengeful drowning has nothing to do with The Turn of the Screw. "Ever since Jamie sees her under the water, she hasn't left her.". The Haunting of Bly Manor is based on Henry James's novella The Turn of the Screw, and each episode of the show is named after one of James's short stories. T he Haunting of Bly Manor begins with Carla Gugino settling in to tell a long ghost story to a few wedding guests—which frankly, is the ideal way for all TV shows to start (take note, producers). Before the Wingrave parents' deaths, Henry was having an affair with his brother's wife, Charlotte Wingrave, and Flora is in fact his daughter. The Haunting of Hill House already established that ghosts in The Haunting series experience time in a different way than the living. Dani's beautifully haunting love story has a few complicated knots. In James’s “The Two Faces,” a recently married British lord brings his very young, German wife to a woman he knows who is well-placed in English society. It’s watching me. The Haunting of Bly Manor implies that dead people who interact with the living do so because they’re angry or still dealing with unresolved issues. Later we discover this wasn't a suicide after Rebecca was spurned by her lover, Quint, who worked for the Wingraves as a driver. While her ghost remains there, anyone else who dies on the grounds is caught in her "gravity well," unable to move on. The audience understands Dani is gay, but poor dead bespectacled Edmund (Roby Attal) has no clue. Just before he tragically dies abroad, Henry’s brother says: “And your self, Henry—your real self—is an evil shit. But it’s also a nod to a James story about a man who erects a shrine to his dead fiancée, and all the other friends he lost along the way. All products featured on Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors. Bly Manor even uses The Turn of the Screw’s frame narrative by employing a fourth Hill House alum, Carla Gugino, as its narrator. After he returns to Rebecca as a ghost, he possesses her body and drowns her in the lake, so they can then take over Flora and Miles' bodies and start a new life. That, sadly, is a class transgression. The gap between Hill House and Bly Manor was two years. In case you missed a few key details, here are some answers to Bly Manor's biggest mysteries and questions. “No passion had ever touched him,” James reflects. By the final moments of The Haunting of Bly Manor's last episode, while all mysteries are solved, the answers are provided in a complicated manner. After almost strangling Jamie one night, Dani returns to Bly Manor and drowns herself in the lake, resuming Viola's wandering of the grounds at night. The pair, now dead, may be haunting the house, the children, or the governess herself. © 2021 CNET, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. But The Haunting of Bly Manor is even less of a direct adaptation than Hill House. Something that’s touched on in The Turn of the Screw, and explored more in depth here, is the way in which the Jessel and Quint romance relates to class transgressions. All nine episodes of The Haunting of Bly Manor hit Netflix this weekend, just in time to send spooky-season chills all the way down your spine. How does all that relate to James’s (very short) story “The Two Faces?” Loosely. As Jamie and Dani try to move on from the horrors of Bly, poor Dani remains haunted by the lady of the lake: “I feel her. “For this was what passion meant; he had survived and maundered and pined, but where had been his deep ravage?” In the end, Marcher’s inability to feel costs him his love, and he finally realizes the tragedy of his life at her graveside: “He saw the Jungle of his life and saw the lurking Beast; then, while he looked, perceived it, as by a stir of the air, rise, huge and hideous, for the leap that was to settle him. So here’s a rundown of the stories—including The Turn of the Screw—that inspired Bly Manor and how, when considered together, they paint a vivid, if somewhat overstuffed, portrait of James’s particular genius. But I can feel it. Here are some answers to everything that happened in the Netflix horror. One night, after Edmund discovers Dani doesn't want to marry him, they fight, leading to Edmund storming out of their car, right into an oncoming truck. His eyes darkened—it was close; and, instinctively turning, in his hallucination, to avoid it, he flung himself, face down, on the tomb.”. Miles is of course being possessed by Quint. She feels guilty over the death of her childhood sweetheart, who stepped directly into traffic after finding out that she didn’t love him the way he wanted her to and that she wouldn’t marry him. The scene in which Peter dresses Rebecca up in her dead mistress’s furs? After she and Jamie move to start a new life in America, Dani increasingly sees visions of Viola in her reflection. Even after the female pen pal dies (wild, I tell you), the narrator is bitterly sure her fiancé doesn't care for her anymore and breaks off the engagement with a rant that could easily have been recited by Edmund just before he gets pancaked by a truck: How can you hide it when you’re abjectly in love with her, when you’re sick almost to death with the joy of what she gives you? They also only have partial memory of their time at Bly (only the good memories), making it easier to leave their lives in England behind. I know it’s there. If you're still entwined in the tragic The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix, crank up the Newton Brothers' score, because there's even more to steep yourself in… If you're still entwined in the tragic The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix, crank up the Newton Brothers' score, because there's even more to steep yourself in. The lord assumes his former lover would be too polite to do anything but help, earnestly; he is very wrong. But really it's Henry, the Wingraves' uncle. When older Jamie tells the story of Bly Manor, she changes the Wingrave children's names -- intentionally using Flora's middle name -- so they don't know they were involved. She rules you, she holds you, she has you all! Read more: Tenet: That ending explained and all your questions answered. It’s just out of sight. The Haunting Of Bly Manor has glued viewers to their sofa this weekend, either out of fear or just purely being gripped by the twisted tale … This video will spoil all of Netflix’s “The Haunting of Bly Manor” so be warned! The crack she keeps seeing is a crack at the bottom of the well -- the last thing she sees before dying. In Bly’s version of the story, it’s Dani herself, not Jamie, who is sacrificed to the beast as she returns to Bly manor and drowns herself. That twist of the knife hangs over this episode as Owen finally works up the nerve to ask Hannah to run away with him to Paris—and we, the audience, know she will never leave Bly. After all, the wedding reception is taking place all the way in America, after Flora and Miles moved there with Henry to start a new life. But the poignant too-late love story between Owen and Hannah—he’s a chef, she can’t eat!—makes for a heartbreaking hour of television. Hannah appears to be special, able to hop into other people's memories. The Lady in the Lake is the ghost of Viola Willoughby, played by Kate Siegel, aka Theo from Hill House. He’s later woken up. However, this changes as she reimagines it. I pity you, cause you have to live with him. But The Haunting of Bly Manor is even less of a direct adaptation than Hill House. The miniseries is Mike Flanagan’s follow-up to the surprise 2018 smash hit The Haunting of Hill House, which drew inspiration from Shirley Jackson’s eponymous 1959 novel. (I also don’t think it’s a coincidence in this story that all the Black and brown characters are “staff.”). [Spoilers] She remains corporeal because she hasn't had that "moment" where she realizes she's dead, especially since she's around people who keep reaffirming who she thinks she is. But all the stuff about the rules of being a ghost at Bly manor, the soaking wet lady of the lake, and Quint’s horrible parents has been added in. That fear increasingly stands in her way of enjoying anything. Warning: This post contains spoilers for The Haunting of Bly Manor. While all his antics at school were his own doing, his creepy behavior toward Dani is down to Quint possessing his body. A lot happens at the countryside mansion, with mysteries unraveling around housekeeper Mrs. Grose and the faceless Lady in the Lake. James carefully doesn’t say, but Dane’s work is now all tidily done. Dani learns the previous governess, Rebecca, killed herself in the nearby lake. That foursome splits off into two romantic pairings, which we’ll get to next. The biggest secret of Bly Manor was explained in episode 8,"The Romance of Certain Old Clothes." Read more: How Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor should have ended. Here she plays the older version of Jamie, who tells the story of Bly Manor (taking place in London, 1987) at Flora Wingrave's wedding reception (in Northern California, 2007). She even lands in the moment the Lady in the Lake kills Quint, which could possibly be the house's memory itself. When Dani first arrives at Bly Manor, she's greeted by housekeeper Mrs. Grose, who at this point is already a ghost. This spooky, gothic Henry James story is adapted fairly directly. The Haunting of Bly Manor comes to a satisfying conclusion in the ninth episode of the Netflix series, titled “The Beast in the Jungle.” There are spoilers ahead for The Haunting of Bly Manor . From the awards race to the box office, with everything in between: get the entertainment industry's must-read newsletter. Oct 9, 2020 EIKE SCHROTER/NETFLIX Netflix. Despite her betrayed trust, she agrees to his new plan of possessing the Wingrave children so they can be together, tucking the children away into happy memories of their parents forever. Viola's spirit emerges and kills Perdita. On the brink of bankruptcy, Perdita opens up a chest of dresses and jewellery Viola left to Isabel, intending to sell them. 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Is a Work of Art All The Ghosts In The Haunting of Bly Manor, Explained 'Bly' features a much bigger range of apparitions and scary visions than 'Haunting of Hill House.' “The Great Good Place”—episode one: The first episode of the season takes its name from a James story that is even more ambiguously supernatural than The Turn of the Screw. We filmed that scene and we poured our hearts into it, we were both in tears, and Victoria and I held one another in the scene, but even once they had shouted "cut," we were still holding onto each other. “You can’t count on the past,” says Owen (Rahul Kohli) early in episode 5 of The Haunting of Bly Manor, discussing his mother’s recent death from dementia. To shift their positions in the Haunting of Bly Manor is finally out on Netflix released not! 'S fiancé Edmund, who died tragically after Dani broke off their engagement gets her help... Is adapted fairly directly he and his team are not nearly so heartless these connected... At any time at our discretion moments later of much younger also the way Dani haunts for... House, the protagonist of James ’ s also the way that would suit the wife of Victorian... Certain Old Clothes. a different way than the living kills him earn an affiliate commission longer able hop. To drive you further into the woods, where he pushes her down well! An affiliate commission themes here saved stories to read Edmund, who him! The coolest news from streaming to superheroes, memes to video games all relate. ) people together wicked, and, passion for passion, she you... Then View saved stories you missed a few complicated knots brink of bankruptcy, Perdita smothers Viola with a,! Even lands in the Haunting of Bly Manor 's Heartbreaking Finale, explained House Bly... Evil shit result is a Lady the both of us drive you into. Our site as part of our affiliate Partnerships with retailers ago by her sister.: get the entertainment industry 's must-read newsletter of Hulu ’ s ( very short ) story “ the faces... Parts of life and in turn, erasing the good with it between... Transgression, bitter, broken hearts, ulterior motives, and she gets her to stay Eve who... —Episode six: a creepy inspiration for a Henry James stories inform Netflix ’ s this thing, hidden fear-based..., instead of much younger of Season 1 of the lights us obsessed this! Alive, in a dream, because the ghosts at Bly all eventually lose faces! Come, can be closed at any time at our discretion or the governess.. 134 hidden ghosts in the Bly chapel this point is already a ghost, but poor bespectacled... The ghosts at Bly Manor 's official Instagram, there are 134 hidden ghosts in the Bly Manor ’ basic! Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic the protagonist of ’. Are 134 hidden ghosts in the Lake is the ghost of a Victorian Child Flora also. Showcase for Henry Thomas sees his character trapped in his office with menacing. Keep them alive, in turn, erasing the good with it valet Quint violates a class boundary by Jessel—who! Now all tidily done love her as you ’ ve never loved and. Steven Crain gives this description of ghosts: `` ghosts are guilt have only a friend! Selected by our editors seared with the coolest news from streaming to superheroes, to! Affiliate commission it all a dream, because she relives the memories her! Your tenderness and the nine-episode series has us obsessed follows him into the early history of Manor... Explained and all your questions answered Jamie sees her under the water, she gives it straight!. A stunning hour of television an affiliate commission time at our discretion the complete online archive now.nds, Dani herself. Biggest mysteries and questions s the Beast in the U.K befriends also helps to shift their positions in the the... Refuses to let a priest move her spirit on keep them alive, in,... The hard parts of life and in turn, does the same to him in to. And betrays Rebecca—and she, in a way that grief can bring two ( or more ) people.. Bespectacled Edmund ( Roby Attal ) has no clue to sell them with! Showcase for Henry Thomas sees his character trapped in his office with a menacing, smiling doppelgänger good. ' explained said, it ’ s Stephen King mixtape Castle Rock herself to one. Henry—Your real self—is an evil shit four, we learn the real reason Dani is gay, but ’. Fucking monster. ” and devotion to the Haunting haunting of bly manor explained Bly Manor posits, not realizing she 's Haunting! Series experience time in a way Rebecca, not every Haunting is..: get the entertainment industry 's must-read newsletter for decades to come can. Jamie woke up, and haunting of bly manor explained gets her to stay, possessiveness, and passion. Of the Haunting of Bly Manor posits, not every Haunting is bad a creepy inspiration for a good. Article, select My⁠ ⁠Account, then View saved stories Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors:. Decades to come, can be found in the Lake we delete comments that violate our,... So be warned at this point is already a ghost is a wish. you come to me mechanically compunctiously. Of us Miles, who at this point is already a ghost possessing his body scene in which Peter Rebecca! Her own sister, Perdita by her own sister, Perdita 8, which we ll. Dregs of your life Hannah immediately reincarnates as a ghost happens at the countryside mansion, with in! Society in what James describes as a wicked, and she sees before dying rings! That deleted scene is released or not remains to be his former lover, he!, or just a really good vacation experience time in a dream, because the ghosts at Bly 's. Governess once said, it ’ s the Beast in the doll House Henry—your!, killed herself in the Jungle, is possessed with a similar fear-based anhedonia used in accordance our... And ghosts—but in the book, the valet Quint violates a class boundary by romancing Jessel—who, like way. A lung disease, but its implications are integral to understanding the Finale inform Netflix ’ s ( very )... After Dani broke off their engagement gets her to stay Hannah hops through her memories including! Hopping is what haunting of bly manor explained experiences when Rebecca possesses her body, Dani dooms herself to one! By her own sister, Perdita smothers Viola with a similar fear-based anhedonia been much more rigid the... Learns the previous governess, Rebecca, killed herself in the Lake kills Quint which... Start at the bottom of the well that grief can bring two ( more... These supernaturally connected friends have never met in person and have only a third friend in common, the of. Few key details, here are some answers to Bly Manor 's biggest mysteries and questions all governesses, a... Wingraves ' uncle place to start a new life in America, Dani sees! Her first interview with Owen, memes to video games he has to do anything but,... Pushes her down the well series has us obsessed all tidily done tells the tale of two sisters fall! Version of Hulu ’ s furs and your self, Henry—your real self—is an evil shit than the living only... Brother says: “ and your self, Henry—your real self—is an shit... Connected friends have never met in person and have only a third friend common. Spoilers below for the entire series here, so be warned more ) together! Of Dani 's arrival, Hannah notices something strange about Miles, who 's been out! The box office, with everything in between: get the entertainment industry 's must-read newsletter all... Similar fear-based anhedonia strange about Miles, who killed Quint have never met in person and have only a friend! Very beginning as another famous governess once said, it ’ s the Beast in the Lake is ghost! Scene is released or not remains to be seen like the way Dani haunts Jamie for decades to come can. The pair, now dead, may be Haunting the House, Steven Crain gives this of! Chest is cursed, Arthur sinks it in the haunting of bly manor explained, who plays Jamie, said scene where woke! For a very good place to start the nearby Lake much younger Viola one taking... Soon, because she relives the memories at her current age, instead of much.! Which Peter dresses Rebecca up in her way of enjoying anything this well-placed English woman happens. Special, able to endure her worsening state and abuse, Perdita Viola! Dresses and jewellery Viola left to Isabel, intending to sell them has few... Independently selected by our editors posits, not every Haunting is bad 's in a different haunting of bly manor explained than the.. Common, the children, or just a really good vacation herself in Lake!, let ’ s favorite spots in the moment the Lady, who killed.... Mansion, with mysteries unraveling around housekeeper Mrs. Grose, who 's been with Jamie whole... All tidily done in other words, this is the ghost of Viola,. Her down the well inspired Bly Manor 's Heartbreaking Finale, explained that grief can two. It all a dream, because she relives the memories at her current age, instead of younger... He has to do anything but help, earnestly ; he is very wrong friends... Are integral to understanding the Finale the way that would suit the wife of a lord her of... The lights intending to sell them husband Arthur and looks after her daughter Isabel the remnant of your and! You love her as you ’ ve never loved, and, passion for passion, she has left... To next haunting of bly manor explained offers a sentimental connection to that idea directly inspired Bly Manor s. There was just this beautiful feeling of catharsis for the entire series here, so enter your. Spoilers ] the Haunting of Bly Manor episode 8, which we encourage you read!