The Haunting Of Bly Manor: 5 Ups & 4 Downs Review

With nine episodes of just under one hour each, The Haunting Of Bly Manor isn't exactly War And Peace - The Movie but then it isn't the zingy 100 minutes of The Innocents either; with plenty of time to effectively set up characterisation and keep the plot moving forwards at a steady pace, Flanagan meanders from one mystery box to the next, deviating entirely in one episode, in his attempt to ground Bly Manor's origin into something resembling a more traditional ghost story.

The first three instalments drive the narrative forward nicely; we are introduced to our main characters and the relevant questions are posed - what drives Dani's guilt and flight from the States? Why does Henry want nothing to do with his niece and nephew? Why does Miles behave like an adult? These are nicely interspersed with some creepy moments yet by the sixth episode, the loose strings holding the whole thing together seem to dissolve like suture.

Characters lackadaisically muse by the camp fire as if they have time to kill and motivations for lesser characters get far too much screen time. The aforementioned and wonderfully titled episode The Romance Of Certain Old Clothes pulls away from the central narrative entirely and almost deserves its own series, although an episode dedicated entirely to backstory suggests a bigger issue with Flanagan's attempts to expand the source material.

By the final episode, the series feels disjointed and somehow off course, perhaps repeat viewings would help to see the piece as a whole, yet pacing is an overall problem here.