Haunting Of Bly Manor - Netflix

Anyone check this out yet? I have seen the first 6 episodes with episode 6 being the best so far. When it finished I thought "that's it?!? what a weird way to end!". I didn't realize there were more episodes so I will start the others today.

Has some of the same cast as "Haunting Of Hill House" but is in no way related, other than they were made by the same people.

 

I saw it and wasn’t really drawn into it. I like that they made parts of it kind of trippy (though elements of that made it very repetitive as well), but thought it was overly long and could have been done in half the episodes and been more streamlined and effective.

 

I didn’t think it was nearly as effective as “...Hill House”.
Totally different origin story I know, but some of it just really dragged and the repetition was incredibly annoying.

 

I tend to agree. I still have several episodes to watch but feel they could've completed it in 6 episodes (and maybe that is why I thought I was at the end when I watched only the first 6). Currently on 7 but have it paused at the moment.

 

I'm watching this, not sure how many episodes I've seen so far. I think it's pretty good, I don't watch much of this genre so I'm enjoying seeing something a bit different (for me.)

 

Seen 4 episodes so far and liking it almost as much as Hill House.

I would like it even better if I could make out all the ghosts in the background shots.

 

I thought that was the ending you mean there are more episodes? I didn't really like the way it ended kind of thought it became a little slow I expected more.

 

I think there are 9 episodes. I having a tough time paying attention at this point because it is pretty slow but still interesting. I'll finish it up but I don't think it will be as good as Haunting Of Hill House.

 

I didn't think it was very good. I get they were going for a less full on vibe than Hill House, but like has been said they dragged it out a bit, e.g. 2 hours of confusing time hopping or whatever. Also just like Hill House and American Horror Story series 1 it became a bit of a soap opera /melodrama with the ghosts as fully formed principle characters. The ghosts are basically the same as living people, interacting way too much with no mystery. They really hammered the person not eating/drinking so much I thought there was no way they would do the obvious there... The accents were dodgy with the ET fella doing a Prince Charles impression. The policeman would not have an upper class accent either.

 

Yeah, I was a bit disappointed and struggled to finish. I was waiting for the big ending at the last 5 minutes but nothing happened.

 

SPOILERS.... I read it was supposed to be all the main characters in the framing storytelling, which was confusing as they got different actors in even though it was only supposed to be a decade or so later so could have aged them a bit with make up. I assume that was to hide the 'big reveal' who they were, but that 'twist' wasn't really worth it.
Also Flora gets told this incredibly long and specifically circumstanced story about her past life and the only connection she makes is that her middle name is Flora?!? Nothing else rings a bell??

 

I thought it was pretty decent overall. It was just a little strange that it ended on such a sad note, which contrasted with the mood of the preceding episodes.

Supposedly Flora wasn’t supposed to remember what had happened during those days.

 

Finished this up a few nights ago. Worth watching, and watching again to pick up on things you've missed. Not as engaging as Hill House.

Spoiler: Thoughts on episodes 5-9

Loved E5. Really trippy. Favorite moment was when creepy Owen turns to the camera breaking the 4th wall and yells “Miles Wingrave!” Quick cut to next scene with Miles. Owen Sharma - Technical Director.

E6 a let-down for me. Sorry Uncle Henry and alter-ego.

E7 better. Cliffhanger whetted the appetite enough for me to view next episode without the usual waiting until the next night.

E8 least favorite episode. Previous 1987 cliffhanger scene repeated twice with not one second of advancement in main 1987 story line. Not a fan. First time the show really dragged for me. Felt 1700s scenes could have been cut down 75% and then spliced into the previous couple of episodes.

E9 was OK. Agree with Flora that’s it’s more of a love story now than a ghost story. I’d prefer the latter. After watching final shot, I felt I’d missed something. Watched scene again. Still nothing. It couldn’t end this flat, could it? One more try. I see it! Gave me a lift because I was pretty pathetic in the ghost-spotting department all series long.

 

Rahul Kohli, an actor I thought had a marvellous role in ‘iZombie’, is quickly turning into my favourite character in this too.
Unimpressed with the first few episodes. Decided to stay with it once I’d seen the scene where the nanny snogs the lady gardener.
The flitting back and forth over time periods isn’t an issue. Each character’s background story stops it getting all too ‘bump-in-the-night’.
6 episodes in and I think I’ve got a handle on where it’s leading.

 

Didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Hill House, but still liked it quite a bit.

 

Just finished Bly Manor. Quite sweet at the end. More of a love story than I expected. Never a bad thing.

 

I just finished this and enjoyed it. I can understand why some people didn't like it or didn't like the change from "Hill House." However, I enjoyed the lyrical, non-linear plot, the fantastic acting and the overall plotting. From what I've read, many didn't like the penultimate episode that explained the origins of the haunting, but I found it quite entrancing.

I am not a good judge of authentic accents but I loved Henry Thomas's accent in this.

Totally agree.

 

I ended up viewing the Hauntings in reverse order - Bly Manor immediately followed something else I'd finished, and kept me interested throughout, though I agree with the posters above who said it felt padded.

Spoiler

And after all that padding, we get a long, lumbering journey through the nanny's relationship as she worries about getting, and only eventually is, possessed by the lady in the lake. I was rooting for the ghost at that point.

I highly recommend watching them in reverse order - The Haunting of Hill House, featuring many of the same actors in different roles, flows more organically and is far more satisfying.

 

I agree with the comments here, I didn’t rate Bly Manor very highly, especially when compared to Hill House.

There were way too many “really?” moments for me that stretched credulity. Okay, I realize it’s horror, and no I didn’t have the same hang ups for Hill House, but hopefully people understand what I mean.

Another big issue for me was that I found most of the characters unlikable. I didn’t really want to see them happy, or win, or survive. As someone said above, rooting for the lake ghost. With the characters of Hill House, I did feel a connection, empathy and sympathy for most of the characters. I hated the ending, but won’t get into that here.

 

What was there to hate about the Nanny or the Gardener?

 

I loved his accent. It has stuck with me a week after finishing the series how cool it was.

 

Well, for a start, I didn’t say I hated them. I can’t really say why, actually, but I didn’t really connect with the main characters with the exception of the very end with the gardener.

I hope you’re not implying my “hatred” (your word) stems from any sort of bias towards those two characters.

 

No implication at all. I was just curious what you didn’t find likeable about them as they didn’t do anything bad/evil...in fact you could say what the Nanny did was heroic.

 

Oh okay, that’s cool.

I don’t disagree with you her actions were heroic. It’s hard to describe why, I just didn’t connect with really any of them except the housekeeper and the cook.

 

Not as good as ...House, which was a bit of a curate’s egg itself. Worse than that, it was a missed opportunity to bring out some of the darker themes from The Turning of the Screw which have generally been glossed over. The other thing is the utterly tone deaf depiction if the UK in 1987. If it hadn’t been for the butternut squash, which I’m pretty sure wouldn’t have been easily found back then, it could have been set in the early 1960s. There were quite a few British actors in the series and I just wonder why none of them felt able to say anything. It’s a pity, there was a kernel of a decent programme here, ruined by a reluctance on the makers’ part to do their homework.