The Jolly Corner
Episode 6 of Haunting Of Bly Manor begins with Henry Wingrave sitting in his office all alone. As the familiar narration cuts in, we learn he’s consumed by work and has no time for anything else. Like the children and his own wellbeing for example. Despite calls from the house to schedule a meeting, Henry’s having none of it and waves away these concerns. On his own, he walks through his office with a bottle of alcohol in hand, determined to drink himself into a drunken stupor. Only, something stirs in the shadows. That something happens to be his alter ego who grins maniacally while sat in the chair opposite him. As we jump back in time, we see Henry talking to his brother Dominic as he races up to check on Charlotte and watch her give birth. As he leaves Dominic in there, Henry shuts the door behind him. Back in the present, Dani arrives at the greenhouse with a cup of coffee for Jamie. Only, it’s less than ideal and she unceremoniously spits it back into the cup. Dani apologises for the incident at the bonfire and wants to make amends. First port of call is the pub where she suggests they go off and get a drink while Hannah watches the kids. While they talk though, Dani sees Flora out wandering around the grounds. Over Dani’s shoulder happens to be Rebecca – not Edmund – and she reaches forward and taps her on the forehead. When Flora wakes up, we’re back in the past with a strange boy watching her with sporting a doll’s face. She rushes up to see Charlotte in her room where “Uncle Henry” happens to be. Flora is convinced to give this young boy a story and a history, as Henry mentions going through much the same thing when he was younger. It turns out Flora – much like Hannah – is jumping back through various memories. Charlotte and Henry are both self-aware of this too but as Flora awakens from this memory, she’s back in the present. Henry speaks openly to his alter ego about Bly Manor. It turns out Henry’s the one who’s been calling the house but his alter ego appears to be manipulating him. He implores Henry to put in a notice of death to avoid Dominic’s mail from being sent to him. Instead, Henry closes the letter in the drawer and listens as his alter ego chuckles to himself. At Bly Manor, Hannah returns and Dani speaks to the woman about her mysterious absence that afternoon. She doesn’t seem to know where she’s been (a side effect from the memory hopping presumably) but Dani doesn’t press her on it. Instead, HannH does spill details about a trip in the past between Dom and Charlotte. That evening, Jamie takes Dani outside and shows her special moonflowers that have a pretty rare life cycle. This happens to be a metaphor and as Jamie says herself – it’s a lots of effort with very little to show for it. That’s her attitude toward people. She knows that Dani is struggling and eventually the pair start kissing. Back in the past, Henry brings over a large doll house for Flora. As he reaches out and touches Charlotte’s hand, Dominic happens to be watching and it’s clear that tensions are high between the two brothers. This is only made worse by the fact that Flora was “early” in the birthing cycle compared to when she was actually due. It’s taken Dom 6 years to realize that Flora isn’t actually Dom’s child, it’s Henry’s. Dom eventually confronts his brother and defiantly tell him that he’s the real father regardless of what he’s done. Dom banishes his little brother and tells him to stay away, defiantly declaring that he has no family but himself. He even goes on to tell Henry that he’s a “piteous, grinning, grotesque monster.” Given how this has manifested early on in the episode to his alter ego, that much is certainly true. Henry continues to be haunted by his memories, with Charlotte admitting that she’s going away with Dominic in a bid to try and fix her marriage. Only, this trip happens to be her last as Henry receives a dreaded call from India confirming that Dom and Charlotte are dead. He doesn’t want to hear it though but this moment is when his alter ego – the maniacally grinning demon – presents itself to him. The worst of it though happens to be a phone call to Flora. She’s the one Henry spoke to when phoning Bly Manor to explain what happened to her parents. This explains his fascination with phoning to hear Flora say “Flora Residence.” Back in the present, Henry makes his decision and decides to head up to Bly Manor and see the kids. Flora is too busy jumping through memories, including one involving the doll-faced child again. She gives him a new mask before becoming self-aware that she’s reliving this memory again. When she wakes up, she demands Rebecca show herself. Eventually she does and Flora asks the woman outright what’s going on and why she’s losing her memories. Rebecca is silent, for the most part; a ghostly shimmer of what she once was. As she listens to Flora plead with her to tell the truth, Dani bursts in and sees the scene unfold. Out in the hallway the façade is finally broken and Dani finds herself face to face with Peter. “Well, this is awkward,” He remarks as Dani is knocked out from behind.
The Episode Review
The time jump stuff with Hannah spills over to Flora this episode and also Henry now too. As we soon see, almost everyone here is being possessed by ghosts or has some sort of haunting behind them. It’s an intriguing concept but also one that feels like a one-trick pony repeatedly doing the same tricks again and again. While last episode was easily the highlight of this series, this one is a worthy enough follow-up but reinforces that this series has a distinct lack of scares or horror.
