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Season 3 Wrap Up of The Haunting of Bly Manor!
20 Plays1 day ago
We've finally made it to the end of our review of The Haunting of Bly Manor! Join Noah and Laura as we talk about our favorite moments and characters. We also compare the show to the source work: the classic writings of Henry James- or do we? We were supposed to, at least...
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Transcript
Is the story haunting or just scary?
00:00:02
Speaker
I have a story for you. Is it scary? It's haunting. Like a haunted house?
Welcome Back: Fans of Flanagan Podcast
00:00:24
Speaker
everybody. Welcome back. This is Fans of Flanagan. i am Laura. And I'm Noah. Yes, you are. And we have had a nice spring hiatus. um May or may not have ignored our own homework that we gave o ourselves.
00:00:41
Speaker
In the hopes that we would actually do what we said we were going to do and read all the books that The Haunting of Bly Manor was based on the work of Henry James. And I don't know how far into the into the one book you got, but I didn't get very far.
Homework Struggles: Reading Henry James
00:00:59
Speaker
ah Me neither. I tried listening to it on Hoopla. And maybe... an hour and a half to essay it really didn't get very far you know what chapter you ended up in let me see what it says here i mean the book the audiobook version is like five hours long so maybe i was like a quarter of the way through let me see if it'll tell me chapter two i made it to chapter two chapter two
00:01:33
Speaker
Chapter two, that's all that's all I made it to. i thought I thought mine was bad. I think I made it to chapter six. But I have a theory on why we just struggled so much.
00:01:49
Speaker
I don't know about you, but I couldn't... I had to pay attention while I was reading. Because I'm reading it on like an e-book. Like a digital. um And you're listening to it.
00:02:00
Speaker
And you can't... you can't do it passively. Does that make sense? Like usually when I read, I can get engrossed in the story. This I had like, I'm going to make myself. It's like a textbook. Uneducated. It's like a textbook. You have to pay attention to retain what they're saying. And I, every time I had like a minute to be able to do that, it, it, it, something else would come up with that. I had to pay attention to whether it was kids, family chores, sleep, um,
00:02:32
Speaker
So we, in that regard, we failed ourselves. Yes. um But I do want to finish at least the turn of the script. I want to, you know what, I kind of want to read all of the little, the shorter ones too, eventually, just for my own um knowledge and see how it, see how it really ties into the, to Bly Manor.
00:03:02
Speaker
I'm just disappointed in myself. really You made it farther and than I did. i was real bad with this.
00:03:12
Speaker
I tried like right after the last episode that we had
Apple TV and Dark Matter: Themes of Regret
00:03:18
Speaker
recorded. then it was just radio silence between the two of us for weeks. And then you text and say, hey, we should probably get this done. And you're like, and like yeah, we probably should.
00:03:30
Speaker
Let's try to read them. by next friday and i was like yeah i will definitely try i did not try what i said was let's see how far we can get because i knew i wasn't gonna yeah finish anything but i downloaded his complete works on an ebook it was like 199 and it's 13 000 pages so and it's thirteen thousand pages Wow.
00:03:58
Speaker
So just longer than a Stormlight book? but Just a little.
00:04:07
Speaker
Just a little. The language is beautiful. The the verbiage is
00:04:17
Speaker
is beautiful. And I hope I can finish it and see why the turn of the screw really kind of lasts the test, goes through the test of time. um
00:04:31
Speaker
But i don't I don't know when I'm going to have the mental fortitude to be able to read it and understand it. You know? Yeah. Yeah, because you it' like him it's like, you know, it's literature. It's in English where you have to really, like, take it piece by piece and break down what is he saying each of these paragraphs and prose. And it's beautifully written. It's just, you know, even... um
00:05:03
Speaker
The other book, what what did we do? The Haunting of Hill House. Even that one, even though it was written in a different time and so the language is different, I could still get into the story. I really could not passively read, but you know I didn't have to use as much mental strength to get through it. But Henry James has a different way of writing that I'm like, oh man, I don't feel very smart right now.
00:05:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:33
Speaker
Yeah. it's <unk> It's definitely an interesting way where they're able to use literary devices to make sentences just go on forever and you're just like waiting for the end or the period. Like, when's it coming?
00:05:50
Speaker
Right. And you're kind of anticipating what is the point of the sentence, if that makes sense. Like, what is, yeah so like, what am I concluding from this, this sentence? Yeah.
00:06:03
Speaker
It, It's like reading scriptures, like like family scripture night when I was growing up. but We would all go around and read a different verse.
00:06:14
Speaker
And then my dad's like, so what does that mean? And I'm like, I don't know. It's worded weirdly. I don't have any specific examples to use.
00:06:27
Speaker
Well, I remember, you know, in my literature classes and in college and and even in high school, we would take a passage. And I think we did, of course, Beowulf and and other things. And you literally take down each sentence and each paragraph and you break down every single meaning.
00:06:43
Speaker
And I loved it. Yeah.
00:06:47
Speaker
But I also, you know, didn't have a whole family in house to run plus a job and everything else that hangs over your head. And, you know, I wasn't as tired when I was 17 as I am now. So.
00:07:00
Speaker
and We thought we were tired back then, right? Oh my gosh. So I know I can do it. I just don't when I, I just don't know when I'm going to have the capability of doing it. promise I am smart.
00:07:17
Speaker
But for those interested in knowing like where all the works that um Mike Flanagan pulled. um from Henry James's works to make, to twist these tales together and to create this beautiful story of the haunting of Bly Manor.
00:07:36
Speaker
um It's mainly burst out butt base excuse me based on the turn of the screw. And then some of the episode names um are the the book names. And so there's the Great Good Place, the Pupil, the Jolly Corner,
00:07:49
Speaker
um the way it came, the altar of the dead, the romance of certain old clothes, and the beast in the jungle. And I think where I got tripped up is I really wanted to for sure read The Turn of the Screw. And then we so kind of decided to split up between the two of us, the other works to read and to compare.
00:08:06
Speaker
But because I couldn't get through The Turn of the Screw, I didn't read the 20 to 40 pages of The Great Good Place.
00:08:15
Speaker
You know, or the 60 to 100 pages of of Beast in the Jungle. Because depending on the format of the book, depends on, you know, how many pages it is or whatever. But in the altar of the dead is like no more than like 80 pages.
00:08:26
Speaker
The way it came is 50. I could done 50 pages, but I got stuck. got stuck. The turn of the screw. And it's going to haunt me.
00:08:39
Speaker
But I think we'll just have to come back to it if we ever actually get through them. So before we get into favorite moments, what we think the show means, et cetera, do you want to talk about anything that you've been watching?
00:08:53
Speaker
Do
Netflix's Arcane: A Visual Delight
00:08:54
Speaker
I? um
00:08:57
Speaker
I don't know if I had said last time. that I had gotten a free month trial long for Apple TV. I think maybe that was just something I told you a text. It was, right. But for everybody, I wasn't able to get that. And so the first thing I do is I text you and like, hey, what should I watch? I only have a month. ah month And you sent me some suggestions. And I only watched Dark Matter and nothing else because I'd been like the first six episodes and then I had stopped for a while for,
00:09:32
Speaker
what I don't know what reason and then it was like oh yeah i should probably finish that and then the trial ended the next day or something ah but it was really good and
00:09:47
Speaker
wow i just i could talk for hours about it there's it means a lot to me now and i think it's going to be a series that i revisit again and again because that the whole premise is uh regret and i just yeah it is you're right
00:10:10
Speaker
It's so fascinating to think about thematically. Obviously, the sci-fi is is pretty cool, but like the themes of the show and how they talk about it really, really is what made the show, to me,
00:10:31
Speaker
it's very good. It's very good. Go watch it if you have it. I agree.
Wheel of Time: Book vs. Show
00:10:36
Speaker
it's It's one to watch. And the whole premise of what if, and then going through dimensions and stealing somebody else's life because of a choice that you made. So there's one, you know, of the main guy, i can't remember what the character's name is.
00:10:53
Speaker
um you texted it to me because you were like all of the it's kind of a spoiler i don't know if his name was like danny you were like all of the dannys but um there's one that went the professional route and became very successful professionally but he let the wife go like the the the one that got away, she got away.
00:11:17
Speaker
Right. And so the reality that we start with in the show is, is he has the family, he has the kid, he has the wife, he has like that part, but he himself was wondering what if I had pursued this idea that I had professionally.
00:11:34
Speaker
And so they essentially like swap places and he's like, no, no, no. My family is more important. So he spends the whole time trying to, you know, using the, there's a box and interdimensional travel and,
00:11:47
Speaker
So that whole thing, you're right. It's about regret. And it's also about like at the end of your life, or even when you're approaching, you know, you're the last three quarters of your life, what are you going to look back on and wish you had done?
00:12:02
Speaker
And i think the answer was resoundingly like family. Mm-hmm. so that's what That's why I liked it. Because if it was all about like, I regret not, and like the whole thing was pursuing my the career I never did, I would have been mad. but Right.
00:12:19
Speaker
right The usurper was trying to take the family, and the original, the OG guy, was trying to get back to his family, essentially. yeah
00:12:28
Speaker
I just love the show because it's it's like... It's taking the idea that we've all had of, oh, I wonder what would have happened if I made this choice instead, or if I did this differently.
00:12:42
Speaker
ah the The show literally gives it to you. And I just, it's it's just so well done. I'm not a very good talker and I can't really explain why I like it so much, but it's worth it. Please go watch it.
00:12:57
Speaker
Nice. I agree. So I hope you get a subscription so that you can then watch Severance and Silo at least. And there's, there's others that, but that are worth watching for sure.
00:13:12
Speaker
Um, what else?
00:13:16
Speaker
I'll save the one we're probably going to talk about for a while, um, for the last, but, um, It's been out for a while and people talked about it a lot when it first came out, but it's Arcane on Netflix.
00:13:31
Speaker
It's based off of video game called League Legends. And um the game is notorious for being extremely toxic. And like the the fandom and the people who play it can be really toxic.
00:13:47
Speaker
um But the show itself is really good. And I haven't finished it yet. I've only, um, I may be halfway through the first season because I had gotten interrupted with the Apple TV trial. I was like, I'll put that on hold while watch everything I can on Apple TV and then I'll come back to it.
00:14:07
Speaker
Um, I just haven't gotten back to it yet, but it's, it's extremely good. It's got magic mixed with technology. It's a really cool world and the characters are really interesting and it's a it's a very interesting story. It's engaging.
00:14:26
Speaker
It's got really, really, really cool art style to it, the way it's animated and um some of the artistic choices they make for some of the fight scenes is really, really good.
00:14:41
Speaker
so i I recommend that as well.
00:14:45
Speaker
Nice. And then the last one is Wheel of Time. I watched the third season. I've only um watched one episode so far. Only one? So be gentle.
00:15:01
Speaker
Because of what happened in the first episode, it made me so mad. But I have heard good things about other episodes that like, um I'll get to it. What happened in the first episode?
00:15:13
Speaker
ah Avienda and Elaine.
00:15:18
Speaker
Oh, yeah. That threw me off too. what was the What was the reason? I don't want to shout. My husband is asleep. What was the reason? What was the reason?
00:15:31
Speaker
What was the reason? Don't come at me. But honestly, for the storyline, deviating that much off of the original plot in the books, what was the reason?
00:15:46
Speaker
I'm so angry. Not specifically because of the type of relationship, but because it's so different from the storyline that's integral to the entire plot.
00:16:00
Speaker
All of the books. His relationship with three women is integral through the whole books. And then they just change it. They just change it. Change it.
00:16:12
Speaker
For what? To include it? That's insulting. don't
00:16:20
Speaker
yeah so one of one of the ways of trying to think about this show especially after season two is okay maybe this this show is just another retelling ah it's another turn of the wheel i don't care it's another turn the wheel so like things will be different but based off of the the story we know from the books how are these changes going to affect everything going forward and is it is it going to be a big deal because there's there's something that happens later in the season and it made me really mad but then ah the more i thought about it i was like well it honestly makes sense because
00:17:08
Speaker
it doesn't really have much impact for the rest of the series. I understand something like this and see in episode one does because it's like, wait a minute.
00:17:19
Speaker
It's not supposed to be like that, but
00:17:24
Speaker
aren't they supposed to be like, like first sisters or something or like, and to I can't remember what it's Elaine and off the end ah Because I can't remember because they have it's I can't remember who becomes friends with who first whether it's with ah with um ah guine because an a then Abian is like oh you're like really close with a Gwaine so I want to be close with you too.
00:17:48
Speaker
I can't remember what they like adopt each other into like as sisters they're like you are now considered like as if I would consider a blood sister I think if I'm remembering right.
00:17:59
Speaker
Is that between ah guine sorry um Elaine and Avienda? think so. Okay.
00:18:09
Speaker
It's been so long since I've yeah read those first few books. I mean, I've read the whole series more than once, but you know time goes by Yeah.
00:18:19
Speaker
Okay. And the wheel, wheel turn in ages coming and come and go.
00:18:25
Speaker
Um, so I maybe and in this scenario, maybe they're just changing it. So the whole ran thing later on feels better. I don't know.
00:18:37
Speaker
I don't know, but it definitely threw him out. I'm like, wait a minute. That doesn't happen. Maybe it was some sort of Robert Jordan subtext because, you know, they have ah pillow friends in the White Tower all the time. is that sort of some subtext that I missed?
00:18:54
Speaker
Probably not.
00:18:57
Speaker
i don't I don't look for those kind of things, so I don't know if that was... I'd have to read it again with a different filter.
00:19:08
Speaker
I don't think so. It came out of nowhere. I don't think so. but You can have a bond with a friend that is deep and completely platonic. It doesn't have to have undercurrents of anything like that. um My rant is done.
00:19:24
Speaker
Okay. I need to move on. um But I think this is the best season Wheel Time ever or so far. Okay. And I know that's a very low bar to have.
00:19:37
Speaker
No, it's okay. Because there were some episodes in season two where I was like, wow, this is fantastic. Like the visuals and the performances are fantastic. So I'm just kind of, when I get back to it, I'll look for those things. I'll look for the good.
00:19:52
Speaker
it this This season has a lot of good and for a while i was like, oh, this episode is better than the last. Oh, this one's better than the last. Oh, it just keeps getting better. This is awesome. I get to see all these things. yeah So there are going to be changes. There's going to be differences. There's going to stuff they don't elaborate on as much as they do in the books.
00:20:12
Speaker
Which, that is fair. I give them that. yeah The other things that didn't have to change. Yeah. I would love to see. ah yeah I would love to know your reactions after you finish watching this.
00:20:27
Speaker
Well, here's, season here's my, here's my struggle. ah My husband and I are watching the second season of silo. I think we have one episode left. And I, one random, one day we just randomly watched that first episode of season three of the wheel of time. So now I don't know the etiquette. Like, do I have to wait for him to watch the next one?
00:20:49
Speaker
I feel like ask him, do you care if I watch this on my own or not? Yeah. And then there's other reasons why I haven't watched it on my own, which I'll tell you in a minute, but anything else?
00:21:07
Speaker
Nope.
Apple TV Content Review
00:21:08
Speaker
Well, I'll think of note.
00:21:13
Speaker
I had seen the gorge on Apple TV. That was the only movie that I had seen on Apple TV. Did you like it? I haven't watched it. Was it good? It was fun. fun Nothing crazy. Cool.
00:21:24
Speaker
It was fun. Yeah. yeah so That was about it. Nice.
00:21:32
Speaker
Only because we've talked about this on the show before.
The Menu: A Cathartic Experience
00:21:35
Speaker
i did watch The Menu and I texted you after I watched that.
00:21:40
Speaker
and And then because of the having worked, I've never worked in a restaurant, but I've done a lot of customer service jobs.
00:21:52
Speaker
um I did one job where it was specifically customer service. Someone comes in with a problem, they go to you. And that was that was my job.
00:22:02
Speaker
So I related to the rage in that movie. And if you haven't seen it and you want to see it, you can skip.
00:22:14
Speaker
um
00:22:17
Speaker
But there's this, you know, the fancy restaurant that you have to take a boat to on this island. And so you're secluded and every night has a theme. And so the exposition is done through the patrons kind of talking about the chef and the staff. And and it's like a whole performance and they don't ever do the same menu twice.
00:22:33
Speaker
And so this particular menu, the whole staff is going to commit suicide and kill all the patrons with it. So that's the big, you know, thing at the end, which I think I kind of knew just from picking up on clips.
00:22:45
Speaker
on social media, but it was still a fun watch. So my brother, my older brother did a lot of of serving jobs, a lot. Like that's kind of how he got himself through school.
00:23:00
Speaker
And so i i sent and I sent you a screenshot of this text exchange with him. Just to sum up, I said ah to my brother, I'm curious to know what you think of the movie The Menu. If you haven't seen it already, it's on Netflix.
00:23:16
Speaker
And he said, I've seen it and don't remember it sucking. And so then he says some other things. um And I said, since you worked in the service industry for as long as you did, was it a little bit or a lot cathartic?
00:23:33
Speaker
And then he said, not really. The movie's interesting. I won't spoil it. And I said, I already watched it. And he goes, oh, yeah, it was totally cathartic. but Yeah.
00:23:46
Speaker
It's like I knew it.
00:23:51
Speaker
I love what they did with Oh, what's that actor's name? I'm going to look it up because it's going to kill me.
00:24:01
Speaker
Was it the the one that brought What's Her Face instead of the original date? Yeah, Nicholas Holt. Yeah. Yeah, Nicholas Holt. I like him. I love sort of what his character was meant for oh and why his character was written and and what ended up happening with him um but i i just remember watching the movie for the first time not really knowing anything about it and that first ah event oh yeah really shocked me and i was like
00:24:36
Speaker
You didn't see it coming? No, because I didn't know anything about the movie. I was like, what's happening? right Why are we here? what's Is this going to be, like you said, is this going to be cannibalism?
00:24:47
Speaker
I didn't What's going happen? I didn't know that the staff were going to to off themselves. I didn't know that they were going to be part of it. I thought it was just like the the patrons. um Some sort of like revenge against the patrons is what I thought it was going to be.
00:25:00
Speaker
um But when they like started rolling out the plastic behind him and he was like... making this that whatever was it was like an apology like a big purge he was like purging something you know i don't apologizing so whatever it was i was like oh he's gonna shoot himself well you are smarter than i am so even if it's like 30 seconds before it happens i i don't know you didn't see it but that's okay you catch think you catch a lot of things that i miss so i think it's pretty even
00:25:32
Speaker
But um i Nicholas Holt, just as an aside, I i like him. i don't know if you've seen About a Boy with Hugh Grant. No. Please watch it.
00:25:43
Speaker
Please. Okay. With all of my heart.
00:25:48
Speaker
Please watch that movie. Like sometimes I'm like, it's I get a craving. so I get like a, it's time to watch About a Boy. then it makes me happy. And then I'm good for another year or two. And then I have to go watch it again.
00:26:02
Speaker
And I'm getting to the point where I'm like, I got to watch it again. Rachel Weisz is in it. So now I definitely have to watch it. Yep. Absolutely. It is so funny.
00:26:15
Speaker
It's got all the emotions in it, but um it's heavy at parts. Okay. And funny at the same time. It's like one of those where you're like, I shouldn't be laughing at this, but I kind of am.
00:26:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah.
Attack on Titan: Secrets Revealed
00:26:31
Speaker
because So um my son has been making me watch Attack on Titan. Interesting.
00:26:43
Speaker
Which if you're not familiar, it's a very anime anime. Right. I'm surprised I got you do that.
00:26:54
Speaker
You know, he started watching. He asked if he could watch it. i did a little bit of research because I'm pretty strict with content that my children put into their brains. And he's 16. So I'm like revise, not revising, but you know, like revisiting. Okay, like what's age appropriate?
00:27:11
Speaker
Is he mature enough, etc. And so I looked up all of the things on IMDB. And I was like, you know, Go ahead. Go ahead. It's fine. And he was obsessed.
00:27:24
Speaker
And then he finished the whole thing. And then he was like, you have to watch it. was like, eh. Eh. I'm good. Because i i'm I'm not an anime person. I'm not a fan of anime. I'm still not.
00:27:38
Speaker
Not saying it's a bad show or that the story is bad. The show is intriguing. I still don't like anime. Mm-hmm. um So we've been watching that.
00:27:48
Speaker
And I wouldn't call it the, I wouldn't call him plot twists, but they are reveals. So it's a lot of like, nobody in the show in the beginning knows what's happening.
00:28:01
Speaker
And so you don't know what's happening. And then as it goes on, and the story expands, you get more and more revealed. So the reveals are good. And it was, but and I'm not going to spend too much time on it, but my son was like, what do you think is going on? And I said, well, based on, and ah you know, if you don't know the show for you guys out there, just look up the synopsis and you'll catch on.
00:28:29
Speaker
But um he said, what do you think is going on? Where are the Titans coming from? and I said, well, I have this theory, this theory, this theory, and this theory, and why aren't the military doing A, B, C, D, and E? And he was like,
00:28:43
Speaker
how how how do you know? Like you're so on track with a lot of this. You don't even know. I'm like, I don't know if it's just because I watch too many things and like things have a pattern and or if it's just like a logical conclusion. Like if I were in that universe, I feel like this would happen and that would happen. i saw I'm sorry I'm being so ambiguous with it, but like,
00:29:04
Speaker
you know, not to spoil it for anybody who wants to watch it. Yeah, with the series, there's a lot that happens about like reveals and all that kind of stuff. So right now we're in the we're watching the ah the final season.
00:29:18
Speaker
So there's a lot of exposition, a lot of reveals that are coming out. And I'm like, yeah, not surprised by a lot of these. There are some shocking moments and there are some really cool moments where I'm like, good, I'm glad you did that.
00:29:31
Speaker
Like maybe somebody gets killed and I'm like, good for you. they
00:29:38
Speaker
Maybe a ah podcast idea we could have is is finding movies for Laura to be surprised about. yeah maybe. if you I love not guessing the twist. I love that.
00:29:50
Speaker
Yeah. That's my favorite.
00:29:54
Speaker
Have you seen Shutter Island? Did you guess that one? Of course. Yeah. Did I guess that one?
00:30:01
Speaker
I read the book first. And i don't I don't remember if the book was that I read was an adaptation from the movie or if I read the original book that the movie was based on.
00:30:13
Speaker
But that one was a cool twist. I liked that one. Okay. Yeah. And I liked how they revealed it. It was kind of confusing. And then once you realize like what's going on, it's like, oh, nice. But nobody had told me there was going to be a twist. So I didn't know what to expect. If you tell me there's going to be a twist.
00:30:29
Speaker
You kind of look for it. Not that I'm going to do it on purpose, but like you just kind of pick up on things and then you piece it together. And then it's like, yeah, good. Though Brandon Sanderson is the best at doing the, all the clues are right there.
00:30:44
Speaker
And he feels so stupid for not figuring it out before. and then his twist happens and you're like dang it nice i can't believe i didn't see it especially like elantris like all of the clues were there mistborn all of the clues are right that he literally tells you this and this and that should have figured it out but i'm a dummy yeah i think mistborn has a lot of good ones yeah a lot of good ones it did yeah yeah
00:31:14
Speaker
Yeah, I really liked Elantris. I know it's not like his favorite. ah Well, I really struggled. that It was one of the more earlier ones I read. I think I read Mistborn first and then I read Elantris.
00:31:29
Speaker
yeah um So because my son is making me watch Attack on Titan, I am having him watch Lost.
Lost Series: The Addictive Saga
00:31:36
Speaker
okay nice he's obsessed he's obsessed i think it was like halfway through the first season i was like are you getting the itch he's like what are you talking about i'm like you want to watch the next one and the next he's like yeah because that one has like twists every episode there's like something new that happens and you're like what is going on
00:32:01
Speaker
Okay, I promise you, because you've been on my butt about it too. I just know you're going to enjoy it. Yeah, yeah. I'm doing this for you. know.
00:32:12
Speaker
I promise that after I finish Arcane, I will go and watch Lost. Because I don't think I have any other TV shows that have been like, hey, I need to watch that.
00:32:25
Speaker
I'm excited for you. I wish I could watch it again for the first time. And I still have not forgotten the homework that you gave me so long ago about watching The Ring.
00:32:37
Speaker
haven't forgotten about it. Do it. I put it on my but Safari on one of the pages so I wouldn't forget to watch it. just to Just to remind you and clarify, it's not because it's like the best movie ever.
00:32:52
Speaker
Yeah. It's just, i was like shocked that you hadn't seen such a iconic staple of a horror movie. Yeah. It's good for what it is.
00:33:05
Speaker
And it's really good compared to a lot of the stuff that gets put out nowadays. Yeah. Yeah.
00:33:15
Speaker
i I've been really bad media wise. hadn't really and used to watch a lot and i just don't anymore. No, I don't think that's a bad thing. um For just one minute, I want to talk about Black Mirror because I've watched three episodes of the new season.
Black Mirror: Back to its Roots
00:33:33
Speaker
And they are so good. I've heard, yeah. I am so happy with this season so far. there was I don't remember if it was the last season or the one before, but they just got real preachy and it was really annoying.
00:33:48
Speaker
And so was pretty frustrated. But this season, I'm like, yes, this is the this is the OG vibes of Black Mirror. And I'm so happy. I love it. That's good.
00:33:59
Speaker
Yeah. I remember watching a couple years ago. the ones that I remember are the Jessica. no the Bryce Dallas Howard one. um the The pig one.
00:34:14
Speaker
Oh, nope. Don't watch that. the memory contacts that shows that was cool yeah and then the the one that's stuck in my mind a lot is the daniel kaluuya kalu i don't know how to say his name the guy from get out um the one where you ride bikes and then like save up some sort of currency to get on a yeah yeah yeah yeah like a talent show panel or whatever
00:34:46
Speaker
right that one sticks in my mind a lot i think about that episode a lot i do think about that one too yeah yeah um other anthology type shows that are really good uh tales from the loop okay that one we really like that one my husband liked it i really liked it if you haven't watched the og uh twilight zone some of those
00:35:13
Speaker
some of those are legit scary. Like if I watch one a little too late at night, if I'm home alone, they get creeped out. They're that good. Like some of them, it's like, okay I don't know.
00:35:24
Speaker
But if you just kind of go through and watch them one at a time, they're fantastic. They're so well done. Just a really good look into the human experience and a lot of them and behavior and there's There's one where there's a neighborhood and there's like something, i don't know if it's like a noise or, oh, everybody's lights go off within a certain block radius except for one house.
00:35:52
Speaker
And I think something else weird happened. And then everybody is like pointing their finger at that one house. Like, why didn't cheer lights go off? And they basically were like accusing them of being like monsters or aliens or something.
00:36:05
Speaker
And... The reveal at the end was there were aliens who were like doing experiments on humans and they're like, huh, this was interesting how they behaved. And the house that had the lights on were completely innocent, you know, but it was that easy to turn people against each other.
00:36:22
Speaker
So.
00:36:26
Speaker
Interesting. Yeah. I definitely will have to go back.
00:36:32
Speaker
And we'll not go back because I haven't seen them to begin with, but I will have to go and watch that eventually at some point. Just culturally, you know. Oh, for sure. Yeah.
00:36:44
Speaker
Oh, I'm kind of excited that you haven't ever seen any of them because I want to hear your reaction. That's going to be fun. Yeah. Anyway.
00:36:56
Speaker
Anyway. Anything else you've been watching? ah You know, um not anything that's come into mind. So
00:37:07
Speaker
I'm going to do a quick scroll and see if there's anything that I wanted to... Bring up. um I tried starting The Residence. It's good, but I'm not always in the mood for that. It's too much like um Knives Out.
00:37:24
Speaker
But I'm like, oh, it's not really unique. So far, I'm only like in episode two. i kind of stopped and then I didn't get back to it. um Good to know. I tried Squid Games. I got to episode six and I haven't really felt like I want to go back.
00:37:39
Speaker
And...
00:37:42
Speaker
Like it is what it is. Like after, I don't know. I'm sure it's good, but um
00:37:50
Speaker
it's pretty violent too. So I don't know.
00:37:55
Speaker
Oh, I started watching paradise. Cause you said you liked that one. I got to episode six. and I'm going to pick that one up again.
00:38:04
Speaker
i haven't finished that one. I think we're at the same spot. Honestly. for that one Yeah. But that one was that that's an interesting premise. There's a lot of promise with that, I think.
00:38:17
Speaker
um The Happy Face on Paramount.
Happy Face Podcast: Dramatizing Crime
00:38:22
Speaker
I would just listened to the podcast ah excuse me the podcast, Happy Face. And if you're not familiar, there's a serial killer that got nicknamed the Happy Face Killer, just a horrific, scary person. And the podcast is documentary style of his daughter talking about her growing up with her father.
00:38:42
Speaker
And she found out when she was 15 what he had been doing for years. Just horrific, terrible, terrible things. And now there's like a dramatization episode, episodic show on Paramount+.
00:38:57
Speaker
hello
00:38:59
Speaker
So that's fascinating. If you like true crime, that was an interesting listen, the podcast, happy face and subsequent show. Yeah.
Turning the Screw: Book vs. Movie
00:39:10
Speaker
I think that's about it. We'll leave it there as far as what we've been up to.
00:39:15
Speaker
um So a Haunting of Bly Manor, believe you watched the same movie I did. So we cheated and watched the movie of Turning the Screw instead of finishing the books like Responsible Adults.
00:39:34
Speaker
So i probably made a mistake on that. ah Yeah, sorry I picked one and I made you watch it. I apologize.
00:39:46
Speaker
It's got the woman from um
00:39:50
Speaker
that one show that everybody's obsessed with or was 10 years ago. um oh my gosh, what is wrong with me today?
00:40:04
Speaker
The actress it it is Michelle Dockery, Michelle Dockery, and she was in Downton Abbey. So I'm like, cool. yeah This one should be good.
00:40:17
Speaker
She is good. And it was unexpectedly not good. But I think it did do. It was grody.
00:40:31
Speaker
Sorry, go ahead. You're right. I was shocked. um that what I think I know exactly what scene. sir
00:40:42
Speaker
But I think it did a good job as far as like giving us the overview of the book.
00:40:50
Speaker
Yeah, maybe. It hit all the elements of the book. Because I did do a chat GPT plea to please give me the CliffsNotes version of the book.
00:41:02
Speaker
And it matched up pretty good with the movie. Okay. i thought the movie was boring.
00:41:14
Speaker
Yeah. Very boring. Yeah. Nothing intriguing about it. I mean, maybe it's because I knew what was going on because of the show.
00:41:27
Speaker
yeah Maybe because I didn't have that mystery to keep me
00:41:33
Speaker
intrigued. um
00:41:38
Speaker
It's gross. It's so gross. It makes me feel disgusting. What were these people thinking about having some of this stuff in it? Yeah, I don't even know if I want to talk about it.
00:41:52
Speaker
true But basically what the what was pulled from the turn of the screw and introduced into Bly Manor was that there's Bly Manor and there's a disinterested uncle who's got the charge of his niece and nephew whose parents died.
00:42:11
Speaker
um And this woman is hired as the governess and she has a little crush on Mr. Uncle.
00:42:20
Speaker
and she's like if i do a good job he will come home and i'm like oh which that doesn't that relationship didn't make sense at all to me because that scene in the beginning was very weird and creepy about like oh i get to pick the woman that i want and him like brushing up against her leg and it's like she's giving you no signs at all right now that she wants this and she's into it And she was totally like, yes. Yeah.
00:42:45
Speaker
I'm like, what is going on? more of a More of a playboy philanderer than the TV, than the Fly Manor version.
00:42:56
Speaker
Yeah. In the show. So, ah but basically she's like, if I do a good job with the children, the master will come home. I'm ew. Honestly, live your own life. Don't do something for a man.
00:43:19
Speaker
But as she's there, there's just weird instances ah where she sees the evil Peter Quint in the window or hears his voice.
00:43:30
Speaker
And then Miss Jessel, the former governess who died in the lake, she sees apparitions of her. And so it's really, as far as just the story, not really how the movie portrays it, how it's very ambiguous whether it's real And the children are being haunted and had been morally corrupt by them and their behaviors, which we shall not talk about because that's just too much.
00:44:02
Speaker
It was was not needed. But ah anyway, um or is it all in her head? Like, are their children really being haunted or is it all in her head?
00:44:15
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And at the end, and i had to like look it up like did that really happen at the end of the book because what the heck. At the end, she sends everybody away.
00:44:27
Speaker
She sends Flora, the staff, everybody has to go away so she can exercise Peter Quint's ghost away from Miles. smiled And as a result, Miles is dead and gone.
00:44:41
Speaker
We don't know how. And apparently in the book, you don't know how either. That ending is kind of left up to your own interpretation. So you get to decide for yourselves whether they were being haunted, whether she's mad, whether she killed him, or whether it was like he died from terror or whatever.
00:44:55
Speaker
So that was kind of like one of the points of the book. And so that's where I think the movie did an accurate job in portraying that. Like, is she, isn't she crazy? Mm-hmm.
00:45:06
Speaker
It was an interesting take how they had her in the psych ward. Um, I really wish they had like done the hanging right outside the psych ward. That would have been a cool ending to the movie.
00:45:18
Speaker
Having her death sent. Cause I'm assuming that's what they were doing. Like she was being sentenced to death. I can't remember if they said it, but there was a chaplain there and he was like giving her her last rights as she's being led away into like the back of a, uh, a cab of a, uh, not a car, but like a horse drawn, whatever.
00:45:37
Speaker
I think it would have been a cooler ending to have them like do her hanging right there outside of the hospital. I don't know if you agree.
00:45:48
Speaker
Just like the drop at the end of the movie would have been an interesting end. Am I weird for that?
00:45:57
Speaker
I don't think so. I mean, I was, I honestly really don't have but um any opinions about the end because i was just checked out at the point. So you may have, but it was, an interesting take to have her being interviewed by a psychologist in a psych ward after all of the events at Bly.
00:46:14
Speaker
And so we're watching the events as she's telling the therapist or whoever he was supposed to be.
00:46:24
Speaker
But you're right. Having already known like what's going on because of how it plays out in the haunting of Bly Manor.
00:46:34
Speaker
Kind of took away any curiosity for the movie. Yeah. And no disrespect to the children who played Miles and Flora. But that was odd, too.
00:46:47
Speaker
the
00:46:50
Speaker
I don't know. Like, the whole picnic thing? Really? Oh, gross. That was gross. Really? And then, like... Like, why would her mind go to that?
00:47:00
Speaker
That says more about her then
00:47:06
Speaker
anything yeah like and then i like miles kissing her ah at the end i hated that hey i don't care away so i don't think the actor really did it or whatever uh no that's gross that was gross i did not like that
00:47:26
Speaker
One of the the points that I was going to make about the show is that it's not scary. um It's got horror elements to it, but like, I don't know, compared to Hill house, it's not scary.
00:47:42
Speaker
Like I was having a hard time trying to find a moment for like, what was the scariest moment? And like one of the questions that you had asked. Yeah. And so the, the show
00:47:56
Speaker
compensates for that for it not being scary because a lot of the audience from hill house is going to be coming over for this expecting like a horror show for it being a gothic love story And again, I'll talk about Bly Manor later, the ah show, where this didn't have any of that.
00:48:18
Speaker
It was just, hey, this is gross and this is awful. And this person's crazy now because of it. And it it just did not have any redeeming qualities for me. It wasn't scary.
00:48:29
Speaker
Yeah. Like, i there was no horror element to
The Haunting of Bly Manor: A Successful Adaptation
00:48:33
Speaker
it, to me. They tried. They tried real hard to make it seem scary, but it wasn't. it was not it it just didn't have anything good for me like maybe the actress but there wasn't anything crazy that she was doing in my opinion um yeah just yeah uh you know if i was assigned this book in school would i be able to write a report on it based on the movie yeah
00:49:04
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. But, you know, as far as that, I'm not going to recommend it to anybody to watch it being like, oh, you have to watch this movie. It's it's not anything like that.
00:49:19
Speaker
this being the only sort of media I have based off of the original book, I think Bly Manor did a good job of adapting it into its main story because it's the turn of the Like we've said multiple times is like the overarching story.
00:49:38
Speaker
story that the blind matter is telling it's it's the beginning to the end story right yeah with all the elements from the other short stories mixed in which was brilliant it needed it me it needed to make turn of the screw a good story yeah i feel like people will disagree if you're a fan of the book and i'm sorry
00:50:00
Speaker
what all five fans of the book i don't see anyone talking about, well I'm not in any literature circles, so maybe I'm just dumb. It gets, it was that actually just referenced in one of the episodes of lost that I watched.
00:50:17
Speaker
So I'm watching it with my son and one of the characters says they're looking for a thing. And he's like, it's behind the copy of the turn of the screw. And I was like, Hey, I'm reading that book. And my son's like, why? And I'm like, hard to explain. Yeah.
00:50:35
Speaker
So, yeah. I'm glad that the story was told in the show how it was.
00:50:45
Speaker
So the pieces, like the the the story that they pulled together was good. I'm glad there was no romantic thing between Danny and the uncle.
00:50:56
Speaker
Was his name Owen? No, the Owen was the cook. Henry. and for the Henry. Yeah, they had like that moment in the in the bar, but it was completely like whatever.
00:51:09
Speaker
So I'm glad they didn't go that route. I think how they did tell these stories was brilliant.
00:51:18
Speaker
wove them all together. i wish I could, you know, we could have a sit down with Mike Flanagan himself and just pick his brain on like why he picks the works that he does and how he's weaving these stories all together.
00:51:34
Speaker
um and it's such the the series, Haunting of Bly Manor is so underrated. you know like having to deep dive of every single episode and like and everything and i really regret not having read the short stories but but it's okay um but putting them all together into one cohesive story like that is so cool it really is and i i don't know how he did it because they're they're all different i know they have like the this sort of
00:52:10
Speaker
thriller-esque
00:52:14
Speaker
sort of feel to them but they're all different stories so being able to write all of them in as one without it feeling jarring or um like a completely different show is is just yeah out of place is just wild to me The change is made to the story of Turn of the Screw where he makes the uncle, the character from the Jolly Corner, right?
00:52:41
Speaker
Or the man with two faces. um Like changing him that much to make... That story makes sense as it gets entwined into Bly Manor.
00:52:52
Speaker
And Viola's character in The Romance of Old Clothes, making her the OG ghost and the terror the one that's terrorizing the house. And then giving expectation giving the explanation for
00:53:06
Speaker
And so it gives us the freedom to believe there are ghosts. Like I'm completely convinced that the whole thing with the ghosts and everything they went through was real within that, within that world.
00:53:18
Speaker
As you know, the the children grow up. I'm glad they didn't kill off miles. That would have ticked me off. I was mad at the end of the movie yesterday when he died. I'm like, no, he's not dead. why are you crying? He's fine. Yeah.
00:53:31
Speaker
but you know they grow up and they're like we don't remember any of that so that kind of gives you as an an audience member to say it wasn't real it was just a manifestation of the themes but for me i choose that it was real yeah
00:53:52
Speaker
i didn't really have much to say about more about the about the movie um Yeah, we're we we can finish up with that. We're we're good. um So I did send you like, i just thought up some questions that we could kind of chit chat about. If you thought of any, throw them at me. i don't know if you want to take turns or if we just go through the homework I gave you.
00:54:15
Speaker
i say we take turns. Cool. Yeah. um I'll start. So the overall theme,
00:54:24
Speaker
ah guilt and grief. Mm-hmm. And the best example, i said, what's the best example of that? And I said, Danny's guilt and her grief over her fiance.
00:54:36
Speaker
It's like, I think the, one of the biggest examples. Yeah. I know there were others.
00:54:46
Speaker
Yeah. And again, how he's able to mix every single different story and create like write the characters in a way where it all relates to guilt and grief and love and loss is really,
00:54:59
Speaker
crazy how you do it you absolute madman sorry
00:55:08
Speaker
do you have anything else to say about that before take the the the the regret there's also a lot of regret like with the relationship between hannah and owen she just regrets not having you know, leaned into their relationship more. And by the time she sees it, she's already gone. And so there's grief and guilt there. I don't know if guilt is the right word for them, but the uncle's guilt that he feels for staying away, the grief over the parents dying. It's kind of yeah trickled throughout every single character.
00:55:54
Speaker
yeah I poured every single brain cell and past like AP lit sort of literary analysis class into trying to come up with a good theme and like examples and proof for it.
00:56:13
Speaker
This is what I have written down. The general theme is love and loss. And each episode sort of dives into a difference, like different specific aspects. theme like sub themes of love and loss um and what they mean together but overall the show focuses on how love can endure beyond death but denial of reality can lead to grief guilt and or obsession the best example of this is danny and jamie's love as they don't allow trauma and the knowledge that their relationship will end to spoil love like um danny's past trauma of
00:56:49
Speaker
guilt of killing her fiance or having changed how that could have happened and then of of course we have it the last episode where she takes in the lady of the lake and um like they both know hey this is not going to be forever this is going end at some point and they don't care but that's foil like their foil being the relationship between Rebecca and Peter is chef's kiss spectacular.
00:57:21
Speaker
about how love can be twisted into something like, um, like lust or, obsession and just being unable to let that go and um, how that, how that hurts people.
00:57:39
Speaker
And the specific quote that i have to kind of support this, I think It was Owen who had said it early in the season. I honestly don't know who this quote came from, but it's, I think you set the bar just as high as it can go to truly love. Another person is to accept that the worth of the work of loving them is worth the pain of losing them.
00:58:02
Speaker
So I thought that encapsulated it perfectly. That's a great quote. I forgot about that. I love that so much. Yeah. Cause really, if you look at love, like a verb,
00:58:15
Speaker
That's what it is. It's work.
00:58:19
Speaker
It's a lot of work. It is.
00:58:25
Speaker
but That's what I had for the theme. No, that's great. I was like, I'm just sitting back enjoying. i'm like, yeah, I like it. Do you have a question or?
00:58:37
Speaker
No. okay i just not I'm not creative when it comes to thinking questions to ask. That's okay. I just waited until I was like super tired and I was like, all right, let's go. don't know when that's why i don't know why that's when my brain like unlocks.
00:58:54
Speaker
um i I asked, with which character do you identify the most?
Reflections on Regret and Personal Growth
00:59:04
Speaker
I think the safest answer would be like, Oh, and cause he's a good guy. he He's got puns. Um, but if I'm being honest with myself and everybody, I maybe Henry, honestly, with, um, just having this guilt over actions and we've seen him throughout the entire season, just not confronting that guilt and pushing it away and pushing it away.
00:59:27
Speaker
Um, until of course he finally does. And I, so but like I feel that like I haven't killed anybody like cheated on my spouse or or anything like that thing wild but like you everyone's gonna have regrets in life and guilt over stuff they've done in the past and
00:59:48
Speaker
I just find myself because I struggle sleep a lot and just find myself thinking about that things that could have changed like there's a there was a teacher in high school. This is way off tracks.
01:00:03
Speaker
oh There was a teacher in high school who had gotten pulled at the last minute to teach AP physics and miss Nichols. If you're listening to this, just wait.
01:00:18
Speaker
um And,
01:00:23
Speaker
not a lot of people passed that class. Well, the AP exam anyway. And
01:00:32
Speaker
us being horrible teenagers, horrible high school students. um I say us, I was, I was horrible to her um at the end because I had written
01:00:47
Speaker
Maybe i sure shouldn't say this. Maybe he just cut up this whole part out when started talking. don't want to say oh You don't have to say what it was, but you can talk about your feelings about it.
01:00:59
Speaker
i I was not the nicest. And I think about that a lot. And...
01:01:10
Speaker
me being the person that I am now and knowing what I know now, how I wish I could go back and change that. And, um, that's just like one of the many examples why I relate to Henry of just having that guilt over past decisions.
01:01:25
Speaker
Um, Yeah. I think we all go through. No, it's good. It's a good answer. I think we all go through a stage where we just, at different parts of our life, this happens psychologically where we hit different ages and milestones and we reflect and regret.
01:01:44
Speaker
And then what do you do with that? Yeah. Right. Like it's unlikely that you're going to be able to apologize to her personally as much as I wish I could.
01:01:58
Speaker
you can a poll it You can purge it by maybe writing and a ah letter to her, whether you send it or not, or whatever, an email, just getting it out of yourself.
01:02:09
Speaker
And then you take the lesson you learned from it and you make sure that it turns into something good. And that's kind of how you process through those those feelings of regret because we all do you crappy things as teenagers and in our early 20s like we're still learning we're still figuring out how to be here how to interact with people like what are the limits what is acceptable behavior Why did I do that? Was I attention seeking? Was I looking for approval from my peers?
01:02:37
Speaker
Was I seeing what I can get away with? You know, we're kind of testing things, seeing how they feel. And then, you know, we adjust and move on. And when you're a good person and you feel that regret and sorrow and you adjust to that and you make sure that you don't do it again because you know how bad it is, right?
01:02:57
Speaker
Any of the things that we do that are wrong. um the point of it is to learn and adjust and move on. Yeah. Because I went through that that phase, that stage too of like, oh my gosh, I am terrible. I'm an awful person.
01:03:14
Speaker
Can't believe I behaved that way. I can't believe I said that. I can't believe I did this. We all have that. Yeah. Every single one of us. Yeah. And
01:03:28
Speaker
For some reason, when when I, like this is going to turn into a therapy session. For some reason, when when my brain gets into that spot. gets into that spot
01:03:48
Speaker
It gets in that spot of just thinking about everything I've done. It's not, my brain doesn't straight go to, hey you're a horrible person.
01:04:00
Speaker
it it just goes to, Hey, you cause this person pain probably. And you don't know how much you hurt them or, or anything. And that's what gets me is right you cause pain.
01:04:12
Speaker
Right. The fact that you feel bad about it is more of a testament to you being a good person. stop saying that that person no you're not i don't know i just i know we're all human um yeah i don't know where i was going you know okay this is totally like it's our show so we do what we want yeah it's our show there is no spoon there's no rules okay we do it
01:04:47
Speaker
There is a theme in an episode of Lost we were watching last night. I'm watching with my my oldest son. And it was a lot of guilt and regret was coming down on this one character hard.
01:04:58
Speaker
Like everything was just, everything that she had done was just piling on top of her. And she was just hating herself that she doesn't deserve anything good. um Oh man, I'm losing my train.
01:05:11
Speaker
Get back. Back on the tracks. um And I said to my son, Okay, this is my point. What I said to my son was, we're all going to do bad things.
01:05:26
Speaker
The difference between a good person and a bad person is, what do you do with that? I'm trying to remember what exactly I said to him. I said, people who feel sorrow and atone and apologize.
01:05:38
Speaker
for the bad things that they have done are going to be able to move past those things and the guilt can be lifted, right? The people who hide it, who, uh, lean in either lean into it or just try to like deny that it was there.
01:05:57
Speaker
That's going to turn you into a bad person. That makes sense. Like the people who, who, who, who don't,
01:06:08
Speaker
externalize it and let it go, apologize and move on and process that and learn and change. If you don't do that, it's going to stay with you and turn you into a different person, right?
01:06:19
Speaker
Because it can go one of two ways, you know, you can own your mistakes, apologize, essentially repent, move on, or you hold on to it and you are essentially by default leaning into it.
01:06:34
Speaker
And that kind of changes you fundamentally about who who you are going to end up becoming. Right? Good example of that is in The Scarlet Letter. I don't know if you read that in your AP Lit.
01:06:48
Speaker
Supposed to, but I didn't. So the the main character, she's accused of adultery because she has a child with somebody while her husband's away.
01:07:00
Speaker
And so she's shamed with an A for adultery on her um the outside. So everybody knows what she did. And she's like, I did it. I'm sorry. But she's out. like She's processing it through all everybody else's reactions.
01:07:13
Speaker
Now, the person she had the affair with turns out to be the pastor, whoever the religious figure was in their community. He felt so bad about it, but he wasn't admitting to it. And he ended up carving an A into his own chest because he couldn't take the guilt and it just basically like ate him alive. And so there's this dramatic scene at the end where he like reveals the big scar of the A that he had been carving into his chest. And so I was writing...
01:07:39
Speaker
um my paper on it. And I was like, basically, you got to let stuff out. You got to, you know, appropriately, I'm not saying, you know, shout your sins to the world, but appropriately, you have to own, accept you've done something.
01:07:53
Speaker
Like I think Henry and the show did, he was like, I'm sorry. And he apologized and he made good for it. So that's just kind of this human nature that we have to do. to not reverse it but change it into something good right now people are going to read into what i'm saying and be like well you can't because of this and then are you saying that bad people are this are you excusing this behavior i'm not don't read into what i'm saying it's just a general human nature thing but i think we should move on ah yeah that was
01:08:31
Speaker
I was just going to let it go because there are like some moments where you being like being on a podcast or really just talking with someone where you get on a really good tangent and it doesn't matter what you were actually talking about because you're not you're not having a great conversation.
01:08:45
Speaker
so I was like, I don't care that we're supposed to be talking about the show in general. We're having a discussion about guilt, which ah relates to the show. Yeah, it does.
01:08:56
Speaker
Yeah. I just get to a point where I'm like, okay, am I still on my original topic or am I just talking now? Because I don't know how to conclude this.
01:09:06
Speaker
No, you were still on. Okay, good. and we we I think everything we we were saying relates back to, ah you know,
01:09:16
Speaker
how the show connects with us. My ADHD be ADHD sometimes. So I apologize if I'm not being concise. um So I, for my, myself, I don't really know that I identified with really any character, but I do you understand Danny, um especially towards the later episodes where like everything she's going through,
01:09:41
Speaker
in the beast in the jungle episode and where it just kind of relates to like depression and that kind of heaviness.
Viola's Rage and Parenthood in Bly Manor
01:09:49
Speaker
um I know it wasn't like depression, but you know what I mean?
01:09:55
Speaker
And then also i completely understand the rage that Viola had over the loss of her daughter. hmm. Like if that happened to me, i can't guarantee I won't turn into a ah murderous apparition.
01:10:10
Speaker
I'll remember to stay out your way.
01:10:16
Speaker
won't come out at night.
01:10:21
Speaker
i just, ah parenthood, it comes with, it comes with.
01:10:28
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I understand. That's why I understand the rage of losing that that a disconnection from her daughter because she was unfairly.
01:10:39
Speaker
I mean, she was dying anyway, but like everything that happened after she died with her sister taking over and then they, you know, leave the house. um That grief and rage is pretty accurate.
01:10:53
Speaker
So, okay. Okay.
01:10:58
Speaker
Which scene or episode will stay with you the most?
01:11:03
Speaker
ah That ending scene gets me every single time. And even before we did this rewatch, I would occasionally think about that scene because it where...
01:11:15
Speaker
They're at the wedding. It's just switching between the past versions that that Jamie's seeing and then the present versions. And then her going up to her room and just leaving the door open and falling asleep. You can see every single time Yeah. yeah um And it's just, it's beautiful.
01:11:39
Speaker
And that's, I think, what I remember from the show. Yeah. whatever Whenever I think about it, that's what I remember. So the episodes that I think about a lot are, I think will stick with me, are the altar of the dead, just because that episode was just so brilliantly strung together.
01:11:59
Speaker
And all the slow reveals and even the quick ones, like going through Hannah's point of view for what happened to her.
01:12:09
Speaker
It's just brilliantly done and like so deep. And then the romance of certain old clothes. That one will stick with me.
01:12:19
Speaker
Yep. And all the jump, all the ghost jump scare scenes.
01:12:32
Speaker
Okay. What was the the scariest moment for you? like I said earlier, that it was hard for me to pick because there honestly wasn't a lot for me in the show.
01:12:43
Speaker
Um, maybe I could have forgotten a couple, but that tells you right then and there, how scary the show was, which it wasn't meant to be. It's more suspense and mystery and it's a romance, um, show as well.
01:12:59
Speaker
But when Viola grabs Danny, when, uh, i think were they out in the, in the field at that point or like in the the gravel driveway?
01:13:10
Speaker
They were in the, she was just outside the house. Yeah. Yeah. And she's trying to talk to Flora and then she turns around and boom, that got me.
01:13:21
Speaker
Yeah. So I'll say that moment. I, mine was pretty similar, but it's when Viola has Flora and is walking into the water.
01:13:32
Speaker
that was suspenseful and pretty scary but startling the moment you brought up where just where danny gets grabbed by the throat that was definitely startling yeah did you have a least favorite character
01:13:49
Speaker
ah obviously peter oh yeah because he's a terrible person um yeah miles i've trying to give him a little bit of forgiveness because he was possessed by, by Peter. But just miles is just threw me off the entire show.
01:14:09
Speaker
and I know he was, he left the school to go be with his sister or, or what, but I, I, I didn't like him this rewatch either.
01:14:22
Speaker
And I'm not able to come up with examples. Why, for some reason right now, but he just rubbed me the wrong way. Um, yeah and Viola because her choice and her anger and honestly, selfishness is what,
01:14:42
Speaker
messed it up for everybody so thanks Viola they yeah I'm gonna take the other side and I don't like Perdita Viola's sister she sucked
01:14:57
Speaker
yeah she wasn't the best no and then the uncle was pretty mad at the uncle for being so like disinterested and aloof and staying away yeah yeah I don't know what the point in the book was of him not wanting anything to do with the children just because he was like a jerk.
01:15:19
Speaker
Probably. i didn't. yeah like I know he didn't read it. I know he didn't read it. I didn't either.
01:15:32
Speaker
But they didn't didn't have a reason in the movie. He was just a a playboy. was just a playboy. Yeah.
01:15:39
Speaker
ah For you, what was the best reveal or plot twist? Oh, I skipped one. Okay. But let's do that one first. The best reveal or plot twist? The narrator is Jamie. i Like the first watched that.
01:15:53
Speaker
Yeah, the first time i watched that, was like, no way. i didn't even think about that because i like it like we've said multiple times, I think um this season, the show does a great job of like setting it up at the beginning. It's like, oh, okay, this is a story that's being told, but you're going through and watching the show and you're like, you're so engrossed with it. Even when the narration happens, it doesn't pull you out.
01:16:19
Speaker
And so you're like, oh, were this is present time that we're looking at. And then at the end when it's like, remember this is all a story being told right now and boom the narrator is part of it it's just it was really cool to me yeah that revealed that it was flora's wedding was cool too yeah yeah yeah that one was good i liked the part where we find out that rebecca didn't possess flora ah after all in the attic yeah that was cool was so relieved okay
01:16:54
Speaker
Which actor that had the best performance? i like Victoria Pedretti would be a great choice. But i I think I have to go... Sorry if I butcher the name, but Tania Miller as Hannah.
01:17:14
Speaker
That's my pick too. Yay! I did. I did. I think she did a great job. yeah Especially with her episode. ah but yeah. series as ah As a general, you can see how she plays the, like she's trying, she's handling all the, the sort of time jumps.
01:17:36
Speaker
Great. And I'm like, Oh, she's confused, but she's like not acknowledging it yeah um and the sternness that she has when it comes to um peter and rebecca and their scenes to just being uh i don't know i i had a perfectly good example to use that i completely forgot everything i was gonna say why i chose her so maybe you can shed some more light No, I just thought she did such a good job um with Hannah.
01:18:11
Speaker
Like the connection that we realized she has with Owen and their chemistry was so good. you can, it's just all the emotions that she goes through the whole show. you can, you see it all of like micro expressions and like emotion. You can just,
01:18:33
Speaker
it's just so good and it's not overdone and it's authentic and she just she just does a great job with every single phase because her character goes through phases where she's like in this marriage and then her husband runs away and then she's dealing with that grief and she still has to and now she you know she gets to live in the house and so she's protective over the children she's protective over the house And she really takes her duty as the housekeeper, like, like, seriously, um to the point to where even after she dies, she just keeps moving on and stays like she just keeps on with her duties like it doesn't like even dying doesn't stop her from that and.
01:19:17
Speaker
um and And the scenes at the end, towards the end of the series with her and Owen again and again, where she is realizing, oh, I kind of missed out.
01:19:30
Speaker
But I still love him. You know, it's just that like lost love. And so the way she the way she has but the how she what she did with that character. I I love it so much.
01:19:47
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. What about your top three favorite characters?
01:19:59
Speaker
Oh.
01:20:07
Speaker
This is what I wrote. I can't pick just three. It was a silly question. I'm sorry. yeah
01:20:19
Speaker
I forgot I wrote that.
01:20:24
Speaker
That's funny. Yeah, I can't ah can't pick just three. Okay, um let me think. like Okay, let me switch it to like minor characters because I did have some favorites because like all the main characters are great um for their roles.
01:20:42
Speaker
like Peter Quint sucks right as like yeah who his character is supposed to be, but what he does for the story, good job. awesome so I can't like hate him and even the uncle as despicable as as he was with the affair and then his avoidance and then just everything like for what his character does to the story great um but my favorite like side characters the ah the the the priest at the school
01:21:15
Speaker
Even though yeah know he's just in that one episode. Listen, he's just in that one episode, but like he was really impactful. like His performance was really good and the character was great.
01:21:26
Speaker
And his relationship with Miles room was memorable. Okay. Right? I don't remember him, so not to me at least. He's the one that had the bird and Miles killed his bird.
01:21:40
Speaker
Yeah. like I remember what happened. Yeah. okay yeah Well, it wasn't memorable for you. um
01:21:50
Speaker
But just for being like a character, just that one episode i thought was good. That was great. i I liked Rebecca. Yeah. She wasn't like a side character. She was one of the main people, but like Miss Jessel, I really enjoyed um her character. She wasn't perfect. She made mistakes and she was flawed.
01:22:11
Speaker
She didn't deserve what happened to her at all, but she was definitely one of my favorites aside from the main, main, main, main people. So did you have a top three?
01:22:23
Speaker
I did. Awesome. In no specific order. um i just, I put Flora, Owen and Jamie. Yeah. I like Owen. Yeah. Owen's great.
01:22:35
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. He and just as fun. I mean, he's, he was just a nice guy. There wasn't a whole lot going on with him. Um, but that's okay.
01:22:49
Speaker
But then there didn't really need to be a whole lot. Yeah.
01:22:56
Speaker
Okay. Whose relationship was your favorite?
01:23:05
Speaker
I've got to say Jamie and Danny. I have to say them.
01:23:14
Speaker
You don't have to. Yeah, yeah. I have to.
01:23:18
Speaker
It's just like everything we've talked about with them. I'm not going to repeat it. um ah just, it means so much and it's the crux of the ah show. Yeah. I picked Hannah and Owen just because it wasn't apparent in the beginning and it was like that slow, not a slow burn, but like that slow development of their relationship. I really liked that.
01:23:42
Speaker
And then just the tragedy that she's, dead and gone and they don't get to be together. I'm a sucker for that. I don't know why. Okay.
01:23:55
Speaker
This is a question that I added after i sent you the others. Ooh, okay. Top three most toxic relationships ranked and I have number three, number two, and then number one.
Top Toxic Relationships in Bly Manor
01:24:09
Speaker
So who do you think? In the show? Yeah. Okay. Okay. Any
01:24:18
Speaker
talk top three toxic relationships?
01:24:24
Speaker
Third? What did I pick for number three? but Oh, you want me to guess yours? Well, just what do you think? just And we'll see if they match up. We'll see if they match. Okay. um Between Henry and his brother's wife. I don't know what her name was.
01:24:41
Speaker
I mom and uncle, mom and uncle. Yeah. Obviously we didn't see too much, but Hey, just the fact that you're cheating on your husband with his brother is pretty messed up. it's pretty definite That's definitely toxic. Yep.
01:24:54
Speaker
Number two. Um,
01:25:00
Speaker
Viola and her kid, if that counts, or if that doesn't, then her husband, because I think he had more relationship with her daughter because that's what causes all the problems in Bly.
01:25:13
Speaker
Oh, The toxic relationship of not being able to let go. she wasn't able to let go of that relationship and so she's stealing other people's ability to have a relationship with their daughter because she's drowned oh ah he i don't know how many kids she's drowned but
01:25:35
Speaker
we shouldn't be laughing about drowning kids uh uh no i agree And wouldn't their remains be in the lake kind of collected with her?
01:25:50
Speaker
Maybe they didn't want to show kid bones. i don't know. Good call. No kid bones. ah For number two, I put Dani and her fiancé.
01:26:03
Speaker
oh I didn't even think about that. That's a good one. Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of that relationship of expectations. You've been together so long. We expect you to be together. And she was like, it's not right for me. And he was like, of course it is. It's what we're supposed to do. And she's like, don't care. Yeah.
01:26:22
Speaker
Yeah. yeah Yeah. Okay. Number one. I'm pretty sure it's the same. It's um Peter and Rebecca. Peter and Rebecca. Yeah. Yeah. Awful relationship. Come on, girl. What are you doing?
01:26:35
Speaker
What are you doing? Terrible. He's a terrible man. bad.
01:26:42
Speaker
I do like how he kind of he he had his redemption at the very last minute. No, he didn't. Yes, he did. He apologized to Miles.
01:26:54
Speaker
He killed somebody. i don't think that's a redemption. He killed multiple people. I'm glad he apologized then. I'll rephrase it.
01:27:06
Speaker
I'm glad he felt some sorrow for everything he had done.
01:27:11
Speaker
at the end but that didn't stop him he knew what he was doing until then he wasn't sorry he was he was greedy that was wrong he's a bad guy i'm not saying he's not a bad guy he's a bad guy no you're right you're morally right he's worthy of the goodness
01:27:41
Speaker
Just like Rebecca redeemed herself, you know, when she decided not to possess Flora. Yeah. That was her moment. That's true. Yeah.
01:27:54
Speaker
She finally grew a little bit of a backbone there.
01:27:59
Speaker
Yeah. Cool. I think that's, that's all I've got. Anything else? do you have any questions you want to throw at me? Did you think of anything?
01:28:12
Speaker
No, I'm not creative on the spot like that. That's okay. But we did it. We made it all the way through. We did it. And now we get to move on.
01:28:26
Speaker
We get to move on. I'm so excited. To the show that we've been talking about since the very beginning. Yes.
01:28:35
Speaker
did this oh Did this watch through change anything for you in how you you remember the show or what you thought of it? Better or worse?
01:28:48
Speaker
I like that I had forgotten so much because it was like watching it over again for the first time. um So I definitely like it more now that I've watched it again.
01:29:00
Speaker
um but also like having ranked like my immediate reactions to whether Hill House is better than Bly. My first reaction was Bly was better.
01:29:13
Speaker
But watching it again, i think Hill House is better as far as like an overall, like which show do you like more?
01:29:24
Speaker
They're pretty even, so it's not that much of a disparity, but I i think Hill House... We had more to talk about. There was more depth to our discussions when we talked about Hill House, while Bly is pretty straightforward.
Hill House vs. Bly Manor: A Preference Shift
01:29:40
Speaker
I mean, there's like underlying themes and things we can talk about, but as far as like meaningful, impactful, um what we're passionate about, feelings about it, we had more when we were talking about Hill House versus this time when we've been talking about Bly. Yeah.
01:30:01
Speaker
yeah interesting wow we got you to switch really yeah yeah and i said i might change my mind
01:30:12
Speaker
And I kind of, I'm still like a little, not salty, but still kind of like, why'd they make, you know, that change at the very end of Hill House. But it really just kind of adds dimensions because people are multidimensional in who we are. And so the house being a character and and of itself, I guess, could be multidimensional too. So, but I do really like the,
01:30:38
Speaker
great conclusion of Bly Manor where the bad guy
Future Plans for the Podcast
01:30:41
Speaker
is the bad guy and there they defeat the bad guy and everybody does get to live for the most part happily ever after even though there's loss
01:30:55
Speaker
yeah interesting interesting well that's all I had for the haunting of Bly Manor Yay!
01:31:08
Speaker
We did Thank you everyone has stayed with us this entire time Yes. Thank you so much.
01:31:20
Speaker
ah We'll be back probably with a breakdown of a movie. We haven't decided which one. And we should be having a special guest for that. I need to reach out to him and see when he's available and which movie he wants to do. I think we could kind of leave it up to him to pick between two or three that we're willing to watch because I think there's some that we've agreed.
01:31:40
Speaker
Like, I don't know if I want to watch that. Just because they can be a little intense. um
01:31:49
Speaker
And I'm going to stick by that. So watch out for that episode coming soon. If life doesn't get too crazy, hopefully sooner rather than later. And then please stick with us as we go through and break down Midnight Mass.
01:32:07
Speaker
If you haven't watched it um i think you're in for a treat if you have watched it i hope you enjoy going through it with us again and i hope you're watching along with us and you can contribute to our conversations on instagram find us at fans of flanagan pod um and uh that's that's about it i'm we are we are good to go We are. We are. Thank you, everybody. We'll see you next time. Thank you
01:32:39
Speaker
Okay. Bye. Bye.