A History Lesson
We begin episode 3 of Haunting Of Bly Manor 1 year ago as we catch a glimpse of who our ghostly apparition is. Peter Quint is his name and he heads into Henry’s office ahead of Rebecca’s appointment at the Manor. The agency have already filled her in on what’s happened with the kids but Peter remains suspicious around her motives. She’s certainly inquisitive and confident enough to see this through and it eventually sees Henry hire her. Peter drives her to the property and she meets the kids for the first time. Tellingly, Rebecca calls this gig “perfectly splendid.” This seems to be where Flora has picked this up from. Flora leads Rebecca to the statue garden and she immediately starts settling in. She and Flora start playing with dolls later on too until Peter shows up and gets her some flowers. It turns out he picked these from Jamie’s garden. As he sits and talks to Miles, Peter discusses that each person has a specific lock and all you have to do is find the key to unlock different people. He’s clearly trying to grow closer to Rebecca while using Flora. Now it seems likely that Miles may well have been possessed by Peter. Anyway, for now it’s onto the history between Peter and Rebecca who both take it in turns to discuss why they’ve taken this job at Bly Manor. Peter doesn’t know why but as he holds Rebecca’s hand he’s hopeful for the future. The next day Peter arrives and informs them all he’s staying for a few days thanks to their Uncle giving him errands to do. Peter speaks to Miles about his deceased father. The only remnant Peter has of him is a zippo lighter which he carries with him everywhere. As it turns out, the black-haired doll we’ve seen from before appears to be Rebecca. While she and Peter continue to grow closer together, muddy footprints all over the floor appear to hint at a very ancient spirit there. Ignoring this for now, Peter leads Rebecca into the abandoned Wing where he reveals a fur coat. It used to belong to Charlotte and Peter convinces Rebecca to get undressed in order to feel the fur against her bare skin. One thing leads to another and the duo start getting intimate with one another. Only, Hannah notices them and immediately breaks up what they’re doing. Peter flies off the handle later in the day though when he notices Owen and Rebecca talking. When she opens her mouth and tastes Owen’s batter mix, he gets angry and leaves. This brings us back to the present, as Hannah and Dani speak to a police detective about what Dani saw. She’s convinced that Peter was the one appearing at the doors that night. The detective is surprised though, especially given the last they heard from Peter involved him stealing jewelry and taking off into the sunset. Dani heads out on her own to the statue garden, doing a sweep of the property where she runs into Jamie. Together, they conduct their search which sees them head into the church where Hannah has left her candles burning. Finding nothing, the duo head back to the house where the staff decide to stay up all night and have a sleepover. Flora is incredibly happy and excitable but ends up crashing out on the floor with Miles not long after. The adults take the kids up to bed but Miles can’t help shaking his bad dream about hurting Hannah. In the morning, Hannah heads back to the church and lights her candles. As she glances up, she notices a crack in the wall just as before but it fades quickly before she can ponder it too much. Meanwhile, Flora heads down to the lake where she sees the ghostly apparition of Rebecca. She screams “no” repeatedly and holds the doll in her hand. As we’re soon told by Miles, Flora lies and she’s definitely hiding something. Later that day, the kids bounce back and decide to do story time. This sees them both take it in turns to rehearse their lines. Flora’s story about cats is innocent enough but Miles has an ominous undertone of tension. He discusses puppets but his venomous words seem to hold more meaning. They’re saved by the phone though which leads Owen away from the complex and racing off. As he does, Jamie and Dani seem to grow closer together and it’s hinted that there’s romance in the air between them. As Dani turns back to the house, that strange figure from before with glowing orange eyes stands before her. Suddenly, it departs back to the house as Dani screams.
The Episode Review
It seems apparent now that Bly Manor has forgotten that it’s listed as a horror. It’s taken nearly 3 hours before we’ve even got a good scare but none of it works as well as Hill House did. Whereas that series was all about loss, this one leans into its romance but in doing so, explains everything in meticulous detail. The entire episode splits between the past and present, practically spelling out that Peter is the one possessing Miles and responsible for the flower cutting. Compared to Hill House though, this is a shadow of the show it was last year. It’s a good enough drama but not good enough to be listed as a horror. Hopefully this can improve as time goes on.
