3 ‘Haunting of Bly Manor’ Episodes That Are Perfect From Start to Finish

After making waves with The Haunting of Hill House, director Mike Flanagan returned to Netflix in 2020 with The Haunting of Bly Manor, the second installment of what was meant to be the Haunting anthology series. Although one episode short of its predecessor’s 10-episode count, Bly Manor spun another tale of grief and trauma as it adapted Henry James’ 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw.

The series, which once again soared to the top of Netflix’s streaming lists and has remained a fan-favorite, centered around Victoria Pedretti’s Danielle “Dani” Clayton, a young American woman who is hired as an au pair for the children of the wealthy Wingrave family in England. However, after traveling to the picturesque countryside manor, it quickly becomes clear that Bly Manor isn’t as peaceful as it seems.

The series featured standout performances from Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Amelia Eve, T’Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli, Tahirah Sharif, Amelie Bea Smith, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, and Henry Thomas, and marked another solid entry into the Flanaverse. Now, nearly five years later, Bly Manor remains a beloved, albeit devastating, horror story. Keep scrolling to find out the best Bly Manor episodes.

“The Romance of Certain Old Clothes” (Episode 8)

It isn’t until the penultimate episode of the season that Bly Manor’s origins are revealed in an unsettling tale of tragedy, grief, rage, longing, and heartbreak. “The Romance of Certain Old Clothes” centers around the story of sisters Viola and Perdita Willoughby, who lived in Bly Manor centuries before the characters in the present day became trapped in its grasp. Diagnosed with a deadly disease in the 17th century, Viola’s refusal die ultimately finds her trapped in a self-created purgatory, her rage committing all those who die on the ground of Bly Manor trapped there with her, destined to slowly forget.

“The Beast In The Jungle” (Episode 9)

The ninth and final episode of the show, “The Beast In The Jungle,” serves as a powerful emotional conclusion to an already devastating tale and confirms that all along, Bly Manor has been a love story masked as a ghost story.

Featuring acts of heroism and sacrifice as the residents of Bly Manor come together to stop the Lady in the Lake, and bid a few final farewells, the episode immediately drops viewers into the climax of the season, but the bulk of the episode grapples with the events that take place afterward and the lingering trauma stemming from Bly Manor.

By the end of the episode, which finally reveals the identity of the narrator and the wedding party, viewers are left feeling that Bly Manor is more of a tragic love story than a horror series.

“The Altar Of The Dead” (Episode 5)

Similar to the Bent-Neck Lady reveal in the fifth episode of The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor Episode 5 featured a heartbreaking revelation about a fan-favorite character that left fans devastated. Featuring repetitive scenes of Hannah Grose’s memories at Bly Manor, particularly her repeated interactions with Owen, which serves as the anchor of an otherwise disorienting episode, “The Altar of the Dead” deals with Hannah’s denial and inability to confront the truth: She is dead. She has been all along.