The Occasional Spooking of Bly Manor

There will be a spoiler warning when I begin talking about spoilers.

You know what's funny? I really liked The Haunting Of Hill House, and yet I can't remember a thing about it. For all its hidden ghosties and ghoulies, its twists and turns and time jumps, and its spooky foreshadowing of The Red Room, I cannot remember a single thing about the plot.

Don't get me wrong, it was a good show, but that's all I remember. That it was good. Honestly though, that is a lot better than the slew of sub-par Netflix Horror 'originals' that have been vomited out by the streaming service, and all that really matters in the end anyway is that I enjoyed it. I know it was masterfully shot, had good colour grading, good acting, good everything. But maybe, it was so JUST good, that it became hard to remember anything, since nothing was particularly exceptional. Apart from that one episode that was all one, continuous shot. Unless I'm making that up in my head. I don't remember.

On the other hand, there are a lot of memorable things, for better and worse, about Bly Manor (the place and the show). For one, the aesthetic is a beautiful mix of traditional gothic horror and, in costume design, pastel 80s fashion. It immediately makes the already out of place American au pair that much more a fish out of water. The acting, for the most part (we'll get to that), is convincing and charming. The cinematography is, like its predecessor, excellent. The music is fine.

And yet, right out of the gate, I didn't like it. I had a hunch it would get better, but still. The characters seemed to be extremely one-note, the premise was unoriginal and uninteresting (yes, I know it's based on an old book, but still), it's narrated (yes that is inherently a negative to me, unless it's proven to be used particularly well), and the child actors were... Not perfectly splendid. At first.

I'm not going to lie, when the children first appeared on screen I audibly groaned. Maybe I'm just a wanker, but Flora was genuinely annoying for the first three episodes, and considering the fact that she spouted her generically cutesy catchphrase 'perfectly splendid' at least once every scene; she seemed like eventual cannon fodder for the sympathy strings. The fact that the show seemed self aware of this, with the narrator (grr) at the beginning referencing the generic role of children in Horror, and there being several cut-away gags with the 'perfectly splendid' catchphrase really didn't help, especially since they were two aspects I already disliked, simply heightened to point out how annoying it was. I know kids can be annoying in real life, but they do have more than one characteristic usually.

It got even worse when they seemed to be making Miles into a generically evil damien-esque creepazoid.

But I held true, and decided to keep watching. Thank god I did.

Eventually every character becomes more likable, and thoroughly explored, they all have interesting relationships and roles, solid character arcs, and some genuinely heartwrenching moments. I even sorta felt sorry for Peter. Sorta. Not really though. Scottish prick.

The actual haunting honestly took a backseat to the characters journeys, and I almost forgot it was a ghost story for episode three and four (hence my dubbing 'The Occasional Spooking of Bly Manor') until the Mrs. Grose episode, my favourite episode. God it hits hard.

Other than some disturbing themes, it never really reached a scary enough level for it to be considered horror for me. I would genuinely more call it a romance/drama with a horror twang. Like a cappuccino with a little bit of chocolate added in. Or dark chocolate with chilli flakes inside.

Without revealing much, it does flip the generic 'innocent girl who's murdered or corrupted oh no' and the 'ah, isn't it spooky this boy is evil? that ain't sposed to happen' tropes quite well. I particularly like Miles' storyline, and how it tastefully becomes a metaphor for how toxic masculinity is perpetuated through children's instinctual desire to look up to people.

By the end, the only big problem I had with it was pacing, especially when two episodes ended on the same cliffhanger and then the next episode interrupted it both times. That kinda thing is annoying.

But overall, it was an extremely solid, very well cinematographed (I know that doesn't sound like a word but apparently it is), passionately written, and well directed show, with a heartbreaking, if oddly paced, conclusion.

Okay spoiler talk now boyos and girlos, I would definitely recommend watching this show, so if you haven't, then it's time to check out, and check out the show. Or just keep reading if you don't care.

Speaking of the ending, the pacing of the last two episodes seriously almost ruined it. It didn't, but it could have been infinitely more poignant if it had just done it slightly different.

For one, we really didn't need a whole episode dedicated to the backstory of the ghost, especially since it wasn't the most emotionally nuanced part of the show by a long shot. From the beginning it was hard to invest myself in a wholly new story, but it really didn't help that it was hamfisted right after a massive cliffhanger, especially since only really one element of it was actually a part of the finale. We don't watch week to week anymore, I really don't understand why shows do this. It's streaming. We don't need cliffhangers to keep us invested.

Having this story interspersed throughout the show, or just being a small part of the penultimate episode, would have sufficed. Instead we get a quarter of the finale for the climax and three quarters for a now-stilted epilogue, stunting the emotional weight it could have held. I found myself checking multiple times how long was left of the episode, just because I assumed it would be a lot shorter.

Instead, and bear in mind I'm no expert, but instead they should have had the backstory as the first quarter or half of the penultimate episode, and made the climax last a little longer, as it felt very rushed. The episode can end with Dani getting possessed by the ghost with the finale being more of an epilogue. Therefore Dani's death would feel much more like an actual end and climax than a weird whimper, and the dread throughout the last episode would have felt much more convincing, natural and actually... Well... Dreadful.

Speaking of Dani, I thought Victoria Pedretti was brilliant, and the strong themes associated with hers and other characters were wonderfully portrayed, like how death isn't the only thing that can take someone away, it's also grief or guilt or dementia etc. The way Owen's mums dementia tied into Hannah Groses episode was genuinely genius. It's refreshing to see actual LGBT representation where their sexuality or gender isn't their only defining feature, but simply a part of a complex human with multiple facets.

That being said, they did shrug off some more problematic elements, such as the homophobia those two would inevitably face. Tis a tad strange that none of the residents of Bly Manor were even slightly homophobic, subconsciously or consciously, but that isn't what this show is about I suppose. Oh and it was a bit weird that they just shrugged off the effects that that whole experience would have on a kid. Just more reasons the climax should have been paced differently.

In the end though, the end was still wonderfully written, and even redeemed the narration in my eyes.

The Occasional Spooking Of Bly Manor may have been marred by a rocky start and piss-poor pacing, but had more heart than the majority of horror and a healthy dosing of brilliant cinematography and stellar acting.

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