Flashback Time
With Dani’s life hanging in the balance, episode 8 of Haunting of Bly Manor keeps that cliffhanger dangling for an entire hour. Instead, we’re graced with another flashback – this time to the middle of the 17th century. Viola and Perdita mourn the loss of their Father, with Bly Manor the only thing they still keep together. Only, given the time period women need to marry and that sees both the girls split up. Viola was supposed to marry a man named Arthur but her absence saw him growing closer to Perdita. When Viola returns from her trip away though, she marries Arthur. This marriage causes her to become restless, caught in the same loop of waking, walking and sleeping. Their marriage brings the birth of their child Isabel but Viola comes down with a sickness, coughing repeatedly until blood spews from her mouth. It’s not the plague but the plague doctor urges that they keep Viola separate from the rest of the family. While Viola coughs and struggles for her life, Perdita and Arthur start dancing together while Isabel – now an older child – watches them. Viola shows her face and finds them together, much to her disdain. Perdita gets a swift slap to the face for her troubles before being forced to move Viola back into bed. Viola’s deteriorating health is only made worse by Arthur being called away for business. With Perdita stuck on her own, she takes drastic measures and kills her sister, the one word echoing in her mind, “enough.” Only, with Bly Manor we know death isn’t the end. Interestingly, Perdita and Arthur end up wed together, ominously in the same church we’ve seen Hannah frequenting. Isabel does not take well to this marriage though and it’s only made worse by Perdita’s desire to sell the expensive linens and jewels in the attic. Arthur has run their estate into the ground and their finances look bleak. Not one to listen to reason, Perdita steals the house keys and heads up to the attic, opening the chest of expensive clothes. Only, when she does Perdita is grabbed by something (presumably Viola) and choked out to death. From here we cut back – in true Bly Manor fashion – to the night of Viola’s death. This time we see things from her perspective as she awakens inside her room. Time passes, she tries on her outfits, and eventually she has her chance when the chest is opened. This chest happens to be Viola’s home – or at least the place her spirit is caught. When Arthur and Viola throw the chest in the water, she basically becomes the lady of the lake. Her cycle of waking, sleeping and walking is only made worse by the Manor being a haven for plague victims. Every victim Viola subsequently killed ends up stuck in the same purgatory she ended up in. Time causes each victim to lose their faces, which is why they are the way they are. This eventually catches us up to where we left off from before…which is where the episode ends.
The Episode Review
As a period drama piece, Bly Manor does a great job depicting the history of this estate. Unfortunately, the show is called “the haunting” and while there are hauntings here, it doesn’t live up to the horror and scares that’s synonymous with this name. The characters are in no mortal danger (not really anyway) and even the ones that are – like Dani last episode – are completely offset by the idea of explaining absolutely everything in excruciating detail. This episode – for example – spends the entirety explaining Viola’s past and diminishing the threat of this lady of the lake. Do we really need an entire hour to explain what’s happened here? Probably not. Especially not on the back of a big cliffhanger. While the story is quite interesting, the poor editing and the serious pacing issues almost make this feel boring and from a horror series that’s a very bad sign indeed.
