The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan’s follow-up to the unexpected hit The Haunting of Hill House, is a different beast than its predecessor. While the first series focused on grief, The Haunting of Bly Manor weaves its tale around themes of guilt and love. It’s not as scary as the first series, but it doesn’t have to be. It focuses mostly on characters and their inner lives, and how their dilemmas have manifested in the form of the supernatural.
Dani Clayton (Victoria Pedretti) arrives at the expansive and picturesque Bly Manor, charged by Henry Wingrave (Henry Thomas) to take care of his nephew and niece Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) and Flora (Amelie Bea Smith). She gets introduced to the staff: the cook, Owen (Rahul Kohli) who’s always ready with a pun; the housekeeper, Hannah Grose (T’Nia Miller) who is kind and devoted to her work; and the gardener, Jamie (Amelia Eve), who’s sarcastic charm belies her empathy and warmth. Soon, however, Dani realizes there is something very, very wrong with Bly Manor, starting with Peter Quint (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who keeps on appearing through manor with a dangerous smile etched on his handsome features.
What’s great about The Haunting of Bly Manor is that it makes you care about its characters by immersing you in their tragedy and lingering trauma.
These are, at their core, very human tragedies, involving jealousy, childhood abuse, guilt and denial, to name a few. The show uses each episode as a jumping off point to explore one character at a time. It turns out that not all of the ghosts are literal: some of them are manifestations of the characters’ guilt, which go away after the characters resolve to move on from the past. Perhaps the most satisfying character study is that of Hannah Grose, who seems to be trapped in time, rifling through memories out of order. The penultimate episode, which focuses on the story of the first ghost in the manor, is also emotionally affecting.
The acting is solid throughout, with Victoria Pedretti standing out with her portrayal of the scared au pair who is also running from her own demons. She has a cheery disposition, but is shifty, suspicious and perennially afraid of mirrors. Rahul Kohli is funny and charming, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen turns in an unenviable turn as the complicated Peter Quint, showing both his devious side as well as his tortured soul, which is so broken that he makes a shocking decision in order to ensure the love of his life would be with him for eternity.
The inner lore of the show is well-crafted, giving a tragic spin on why so many ghosts inside the manor are faceless.
The final episode gives a brief respite for the cast that stretches into years, but eventually fate catches up to Dani and she ends up paying a steep price.
As engaging as the story can be, however, its constant detours may come off as tiring to some viewers. The show takes some time to get going, and the last detour with the Lady of the Lake drags down the pacing of the climax. The resolution to Dani’s story is impactful, but it happens off-screen. One can’t help but think how more effective the scene could have been if it dealt with the development directly.
Still, The Haunting of Bly Manor accomplishes most of its ambitions. It is likely to stay with you for a while after it’s ended. The haunting score will keep you binging even through the show’s slowest moments. This isn’t as compelling a story as the Crains’ collective grief in the first show, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s still an engaging narrative on its own.