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.