The Haunting of Bly Manor, but let's rework the script!

I just finished "The Haunting of Bly Manor" And... I have thoughts.

First I have to say:

The Haunting of Bly Manor is good. Very good.

A delightful cast of fleshed out characters, great dialogue, good effects. Spooky layers. Well done horror/thriller style show about spooky things that almost got a nearly perfect rating from me. However, the ending was out of place and jarring. Especially when the rest of the show was a creepy thriller. *thumbs down* On the last two episodes. Especially the last like 10 minutes of the last episode. Like a happy ending doesn't have to go to the Hallmark channel.




And I have quite the many thoughts, therefore:

Spoilers!!!! for anyone who's listening

So, the rest of the show is great until last 2 episodes. 8 tells the story of why this rage ghost is a faceless woman in the river. And 9 explores this interesting dynamic of a memoryless rage ghost stuck to Dani after she saved Flora's life. And Dani slowly looses herself. But Dani lives with her gf for years before loosing herself slowly to the rage ghost, and then goes back to the Manor to harmlessly exist as a calming force against the rage ghost who she fused with and quelled by being an awesome compassionate loving woman. Of course this is told to the family and friends who experienced it years later as if this was some happy friendly Christmas story. When the show is originally framed as a thriller.

This feels like such a first draft ending, and I want to workshop it.

So, cut episode 8 about Viola and Perdita, because its an info dump of an episode that would be so much more suited to be the entire background content for SEASON TWO

Episode 9 comes after 7 with the cliffhanger where Dani gets caught by the rage ghost, but instead of Hannah the housekeeper (who is a ghost) being powerless to stop the rage ghost, Hannah actually saves Dani. And while she does so, she (and maybe Dani too) sees the deep seeds of rage within the rage ghost, who has forgotten who she is and why she is even so full of rage. And Hannah goes "What could have ever caused such Rage?"

Scene: Dani is lying in Hannah's arms crying, and they both go "did we both just feel that?" And it's a big bonding moment between the two. Now these two realize that this rage ghost is the reason the ghosts here are stuck, and Hannah reveals she is dead too. Dani goes 'oh no' and then realizes little boy Miles is also possessed and therefor she can't just leave because there is too many souls on the line. Flora is there too, and Flora goes "she's so angry, but why is she angry. Why does she keep waking up. and walking, and sleeping?" Setting up a new goal for the whole crew to investigate this rage ghost and understand why she is in the lake and why is she so angry from clues on the property.

Therefore ALL OF SEASON TWO IS THE SOLID CAST OF CHARACTERS INVESTIGATING EVERYTHING THAT WAS INFO DUMPED IN EPISODE 8 so they can DEFEAT THIS RAGE GHOST.

First they need to discover if and how to make these faceless ghosts restore their memories.

Second, they need to investigate who some of the other faceless ghosts are and what they may know of the cursed rage ghost in the lake.

Then lastly, discovering who the rage ghost is.

And it can have a lot of drama. Including Hannah having to hide that she's a ghost from her love interest the cook. Other characters could get 'tucked away' in memories of other ghosts on the property. The punny cook could be used to investigate the plague doctor for instance. Also since Miles is being possessed by abusive scottish dude, maybe he interferes and gets Miles in big danger. Like maybe Viola remembers who she is and just doesn't care that it's been hundreds of years she wants Flora because she thinks Flora is her daughter. The scene where Dani fuses with the rage ghost could even be kept in!

ANOTHER THING there are now both living and dead main characters. WHICH MEANS some clues can be found only by a living person, or a dead person. And it takes both working together to solve the puzzle of who Viola is and how to stope her rage ghost madness. Also maybe doing so helps Perdita remember who she is and then she becomes another vicious rage ghost enemy that the crew has to defeat. Or she could become an ally, or another clue. So much room to work.

Actually this wouldn't have even needed a season 2, maybe even just one or two more episodes and half the setup was already filmed in episode 8. And many parts of episode 9 could be reused too.

Most importantly, the gay couple could have a happy ending too. Fuck you show for making this "well we were able to live together for awhile and it was alright while it lasted." Like Dani's rage ghost possession was cancer and not a rage ghost. EXCORCISE THE RAGE GHOST. GET VIOLA'S MEMORIES BACK SO SHE STOPS BEING A RAGE GHOST ATTACHED TO A PERFECTLY FINE GAY WOMAN.

"Romantic Movies"

Minor spoilers for the 50 shades series and major spoilers for 365 days but honestly you shouldn't read or watch them because they are bad. Pro tip: go watch sex positive people on the YouTube roast them both. There are so many better love stories out there, even kinky and erotic ones.

Remember when the whole progressive side of the internet was up in arms about how bad 50 shades of grey is? How it was using BDSM as a flashy showcase and not representing the morals of the community, and that so much of how it was written was creepy and abusive?

365 days is worse. Like 50 shades is about an unhealthy relationship between a young woman who doesn't know how to advocate for herself being manipulated by a emotionally blocked off guy.

365 days is that except the woman is framed as a bad boss who has agency until this mob boss falls in love with her face and kidnaps her. And its romanticized that she looses that autonomy to him. Flat out, the whole movie is from her perspective being manipulated by a kidnapper. And it's framed as romantic and hot. I hate that the lack of consent has to be explained. There can be no aspects of consent in that relationship because from the start she has no free will. Kidnapping isn't romantic. Why is it framed as such???

Also the 365 days kidnapper is framed as sympathetic and that what he's doing is okay because it's *true love*

From my perspective, both movies would have been actually worth my time if they were reframed to be thrillers and not love stories. 50 shades would have been better if it explored Mr. Dommy Christian Grey as a villain instead of a love interest. He could have been this weirdly sympathetic villain tho, like a man trapped in his own masculine façade that he can't form relationships and uses women. It would have at least been poignant. And I wish 365 days was about how psychologically terrible it would be to be kidnapped by a guy and 'forced' to fall in love with him. She lashes out against her abuser several times in the movie and it doesn't lead up to anything like it should. There's a bunch of setup that didn't do anything and didn't go anywhere and it was a bunch of missed opportunities. Maybe the movie could have explored Stockholm syndrome and the cycle of abuse, like that would have been *problematic* but at least it would have been substance. It's sickening that they are love stories because no healthy love is present in either. Only manipulation.

Someone tell the media that the masculine 'Mr in charge' guy, and the 'always gets his way' guy can still practice consent and be sexy. You don't have to make him a kidnapper or a control freak to make him sexy so please don't.

Also, if I wrote 365 days I would have had a plot twist. Keep the guy a manipulative high and mighty hypocrite (by the way the guy from 365 days is anti human trafficking but he kidnaps a woman because he fell in love with her -in a vision-) and the woman will still get kidnapped by him, she will act out the whole time but still be steadily wooed by him. But I would change up the framing so instead of the side story about him being a mob boss being just like, his background, I would make it a plot element. I would make the woman he kidnaps a secret assassin from a rival mob, who planted the idea of her in his mind because the rival mobster is just mad he's a hypocrite or for a personal bloodfued or something. Anyway, she only pretends to be mad she's kidnapped and is acting like she doesn't want it at first to sell the illusion, and acts like she's falling in love with him to gain his trust and make him think he's in control. Maybe i'd make her toy with him the way he toyed with some rival mobsters son or something, add a lil backstory, but make it vague and not tie her to it until the end. Like just one scene about him toying with people in an abandoned house or something and boom the setup is all there. Also I would make the moment that she is revealed to never have been in love with him, and that she was just planted in his head by some hypnosis bs, the same moment she kills him. Boom. Better more compelling ending, more intriguing plot, playing with expectations. Movie would immediately go from a 0/10 to like a 6/10.




Just a thought.