‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ Is 2020 Wrapped In A Series

The Haunting of Bly Manor was released by Netflix on Oct. 9. The nine episode series focuses on a young woman, Danielle Clayton, who is seeking employment. She finds a job caring for two children whose parents passed away in a tragic accident. If that particular event doesn’t give off cursed 2020 vibes, the remaining journey will.

During the second half of the series comprised of flashbacks, viewers get to witness why the house was haunted in the first place. After contracting a deadly virus, Viola Willoughby, the first person who ever lived in the house, passed away. If that isn’t bad enough, her husband and sister end up together as a couple.

Viola originally planned for her fancy clothing to be left to her daughter. Instead, Viola’s sister attempts to sell them to pay for household expenses. Of course, the sister never has the chance to sell Viola’s clothing because Viola’s ghost squeezes her neck like a blood pressure monitor and chokes her to death. Beyond the drama and misfortune, Viola’s husband and sister betrayed her, which is the real tragedy. Out of all the people in the world they couldn’t find someone else to date? Keeping romance in the family must have been the only way for them.

The woman who was hired before Danielle to care for the children, Rebecca Jessel,  experiences her own major setbacks. Rebecca and Peter Quint, the chauffeur employed by the family, were pretty much married at first sight. However, the fire quickly dwindled when Peter became jealous of Owen, the cook hired to make nutritious meals for the children. Imagine being jealous of a man who has zero interest in your girlfriend—a man who also minds his business and cooks all day. TRAGIC! 

Flash forward to present day, we see the love story of Danielle and Jamie, who is the gardener employed by the family. Unfortunately, Danielle was previously engaged to the love of her life and he was killed when a huge truck ran him over in the street in front of Danielle. Again, major 2020 toxic vibes. But at least she now had a new love story to cherish with Jamie. Danielle and Jamie bonded over the manor itself. They bonded because they had a mutual understanding of the house’s troubling nature, and questions about its history.

Ultimately, each love situation was somehow cut short because of the negative history of the house. To be more specific, Viola Willoughby’s spirit was not at peace with how her life ended. Because of this, confusion, fear and chaos disrupted the lives of anyone who stepped foot in the house. The love the characters had for each other were almost always perfect, but never enough. Almost doesn’t count. Viewers should watch The Haunting of Bly Manor if they want to see a metaphorical representation of our current reality with COVID-19. The story plot hits really close to home since the chaos of Bly Manor and the current pandemic both started with a deadly virus.