As the finale of The Haunting of Hill House unravelled, every little piece fell into place neatly and the perfect puzzle was revealed. Not so much with The Haunting of Bly Manor. A few inconsistencies one can overlook but there were too many liberties taken to weave together all of the elements of the story and the end result more resembled a patchwork quilt.
1. Viola only appears at night and so do the other old souls (her sister, the plague doctor, the exorcist and the little boy) that she claimed long ago. But the new souls (Peter, Rebecca and Hannah) materialize any time of the day.
2. Viola walks the grounds and the house every few days but apparently she had no activity between 1700 and 1985, and claimed no victims during this period, including when the Wingraves were in residence. Convenient.
3. Hannah is not immaterial by virtue of being oblivious to her death. So she wanders around like the living and continues to be the dutiful housekeeper. However she does not eat because she is no longer living; yet she drinks tea and wine.
4. Hannah and Rebecca are examples that one does not need to be a victim of Viola's wrath to be bound to Bly Manor. Only death on the cursed grounds will suffice. So where are all the souls who have died at Bly Manor since Viola's walking, including the plague deaths when the manor was used for quarantine?
5. Viola's sole purpose for her ghostly existence was to reunite with her daughter. Why did she not pick Flora up all those times she ran into her? When she finally had Flora in her embrace, why would she relinquish her simply because she was invited into Danielle whom she had just tried to kill?
6. Who was Flora looking at on those occasions when she glanced over Danielle's shoulder? Rebecca? Who moved Danielle's talisman from her bed in the dollhouse? The little boy? Both were unexplained.
1. Viola only appears at night and so do the other old souls (her sister, the plague doctor, the exorcist and the little boy) that she claimed long ago. But the new souls (Peter, Rebecca and Hannah) materialize any time of the day.
2. Viola walks the grounds and the house every few days but apparently she had no activity between 1700 and 1985, and claimed no victims during this period, including when the Wingraves were in residence. Convenient.
3. Hannah is not immaterial by virtue of being oblivious to her death. So she wanders around like the living and continues to be the dutiful housekeeper. However she does not eat because she is no longer living; yet she drinks tea and wine.
4. Hannah and Rebecca are examples that one does not need to be a victim of Viola's wrath to be bound to Bly Manor. Only death on the cursed grounds will suffice. So where are all the souls who have died at Bly Manor since Viola's walking, including the plague deaths when the manor was used for quarantine?
5. Viola's sole purpose for her ghostly existence was to reunite with her daughter. Why did she not pick Flora up all those times she ran into her? When she finally had Flora in her embrace, why would she relinquish her simply because she was invited into Danielle whom she had just tried to kill?
6. Who was Flora looking at on those occasions when she glanced over Danielle's shoulder? Rebecca? Who moved Danielle's talisman from her bed in the dollhouse? The little boy? Both were unexplained.