A "Perfectly Splendid" Haunting: Bly Manor Review

The Haunting of Hill House was probably my favorite show of 2018. Always being my favorite genre since childhood, horror had never been translated quite successfully on television. What I mean by that is up to this point, I had not come across a show that actually utilized a strong foundation of old school, basic horror techniques: building tension and subtle creepiness/fear, really hitting on those primal fears. What I did come across was a lot of this modern take on horror, humanizing the evil, the horrors of reality/society, and stories that were meant to be horrific, make you tense even, but not feel scary. I remember years ago when American Horror Story (AHS) was a new show coming to FX and the promise I thought the show would have. The show is fine in its own right and I have watched every season, but it is a show of oddities, not horror.

Then along came The Haunting of Hill House with its creepy ghosts, brooding atmosphere, its tension-building haunting sequences, and an intricate story. It should be no surprise, then, that the second season of this anthology series was high upon my anticipated releases, and thus far, I'm enjoying it. I've enjoyed it so much, that as I paused the end of the 3rd episode to write my thoughts on the show, I found out I had actually finished the 4th episode. Following in the footsteps of AHS, this anthology series brings a new story this season with some actors returning to play new roles. Bly Manor follows a similar storytelling device as Hill House, interchanging between the past and present to flesh out character storylines and fill in the gaps for connections that we do not yet understand. While I typically give every show the 3-episode treatment (1. World, 2. Story, 3. Characters), this will be a 4-episode review to see if the show is worth a finish.

Thus far, the season is being told as a story by the returning Carla Gugino, who serves as the narrator at a party 20 years after the events we are witnessing. We are introduced to a young American, Dani Clayton (played by the returning Victoria Pedretti), who is currently in London and is seeking employment as an au pair.

(Au Pair: a young foreign person, typically a woman, who helps with housework or child care in exchange for room and board)

It is clear that Dani is running from something in her past, which manifests as a specter of sorts with glowing round glasses haunting her. She accepts the position knowing that the brother and sister she will care for have been struck by a number of tragedies in the last year: both parents died in an accident and their former au pair died by suicide. Arriving at the Bly estate, Dani is taken aback by the size and beauty of the surrounding areas of the estate, which is when she meets the first of the Wingrave children, Flora.

Flora is presented as a very adorable, polite, and strong-willed child, who describes everything as "perfectly splendid". This phrase ends up said frequently, hinting at something being off with Flora or, perhaps, some unfortunate history with the phrase (Spoiler: you find out more in Episode 3). Then we meet Miles, Flora's brother, who was recently sent home from boarding school, and seems just as charming as Flora. Though, the cracks in Miles temperament are quickly revealed, as he behaves in ways questionable of his innocent presentation. Even with the cute demeanors, you can tell something is off with the children, especially in the way Flora appears to look over your shoulder when she speaks to Dani. To me, there's also something off with the way they speak and some of the phrases they use, but that could be a cultural thing. The story also includes the housekeeper, the cook, and the gardener who are also regular characters.

Of course, every good ghost story has something that symbolizes or serves as the ghostly connection, and in this case its my favorite of them all...creepy dolls. Not porcelain dolls or Raggedy Anns, but handmade, faceless dolls seemingly made by straw/cloth/sticks/etc. Most exist in a large doll house that appears to resemble Bly Manor...also, some of the dolls appear to resemble characters in the story... By the end of 4 episodes, you learn a bit of what happened to the previous au pair and how the children were prior to her death and appear to get what is the full backstory for Dani, including what's haunting her. We also get introduced to the "Lady in the Lake", though only by name, so I look forward to seeing if this upticks the creep factor. While Flora has not been fleshed out, which I assume will be a large part of the narrative considering her connection to the dolls, we see Miles' time at boarding school and learn that he really is a bit of a shit.

So far, Bly Manor's story feels pretty strong, with a lot of intrigue and more than enough unanswered questions to make that "Next Episode" button extremely tempting. Outside of the gardener, which I'm sure will change at some point, every character has their quirks and has some strange aspect about themselves and their tentative backstories seem promising enough. It doesn't have to rely on them, but the show really shines when focusing on the Wingrave siblings, and I could take half a season just exploring them. I'm hoping there is more to Dani's story because while the specter wasn't a particularly strong aspect of the haunting, the reveals of her past felt somewhat short. While the story is strong, Bly Manor has, thus far, lost the creep and tension level that helped Hill House shine and standout in the genre. There's more than half a season to amp it up, but there's too much "in your face" haunting and the characters don't appear freaked at all, which doesn't share the same impact as the "lurking in the shadows" "what was that?" strategies that leaves us with the tension of whether the characters will see what we see.

Ultimately, the first few episodes could've been complete trash and I still would've seen it through to the end. But it hasn't been, and while I don't feel as strongly for this current season, it is still appears to be a strong watch, especially during Halloween season.

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RATING: 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃