S02.E03: The Two Faces Part 1

[TexasGal]

Quote

Dani and Miles get an uncanny glimpse of the past. Peter Quint, Rebecca Jessel and their twisted history cast a long shadow.

Airdate 10.09.20

[krankydoodle]

This show isn't really working for me so far, but Oliver Jackson-Cohen's handsomeness is making up for a lot.

[406girl]

Who is the actor who is playing the groom?  It’s driving me nuts and I can’t find it online. 

[Blue Plastic]

This was a boring episode IMO.  Way, way too much Peter Quint and Miss Jessel.  Their story is not interesting to me  - bad boy manipulates smart but gullible young woman and tragedy ensues.  It's unpleasant and not particularly original.  Surely the writers could have come up with something a little more imaginative.  It was difficult to get through this one and I was really only half watching because it was boring.  I might have missed something.

[Cementhead]

I'm out.  Huge disappointment for me.  The first season was one of most interesting, imaginative and best produced series I had ever seen.  I knew it was going to be impossible to top but I made it to this episode last night and turned it off.  I don't care about any of the characters and therefore don't care how it ends.  Which is a huge contrast to the first season when I connected to each and every character's story and savored every minute I watched.

[CrazyDog]

I guess I'll have the unpopular opinion and say I'm still enjoying it. Quint was even more of an asshole than I had guessed given his evil presence lurking around, but that was such a 180. The actors had some serious chemistry that was fun to watch up to the point of him becoming a controlling abusive creep.

Poor Owen. His mom passes on the night when he isn't there. I like him and Hannah. And apparently Dani and Jamie.

That figure at the end, out of the mirrors is creepy and intriguing. I am curious what trauma Dani is hiding.

Edited October 11, 2020 by CrazyDog

[CailynA]

10 hours ago, CrazyDog said:

I guess I'll have the unpopular opinion and say I'm still enjoying it. Quint was even more of an asshole than I had guessed given his evil presence lurking around, but that was such a 180. The actors had some serious chemistry that was fun to watch up to the point of him becoming a controlling abusive creep.

Poor Owen. His mom passes on the night when he isn't there. I like him and Hannah. And apparently Dani and Jamie.

That figure at the end, out of the mirrors is creepy and intriguing. I am curious what trauma Dani is hiding.

I'm with you. I enjoyed Hill House but I'm actually enjoying Bly more.

[tennisgurl]

I am guessing that Dani is hiding some kind of trauma involving this guy with glasses, maybe a dead husband or boyfriend? Victoria Pedretti really just has no luck with dating in this universe. 

I spent a lot of this episode wanting to know more about what was going on in the present storyline, but I feel like there is still more to the story with the original au pair and Peter Quint. I think that he probably never managed to run off with the money, he died and now his ghost is still haunting the manor. The "guess who is already" game continues! 

Poor Owen, he sticks around for one night and thats the night she dies, thats going to be really rough. Also, Dani and Jamie huh?  

[lightninggirl]

On 10/11/2020 at 2:15 AM, Blue Plastic said:

This was a boring episode IMO.  Way, way too much Peter Quint and Miss Jessel.  Their story is not interesting to me  - bad boy manipulates smart but gullible young woman and tragedy ensues.  It's unpleasant and not particularly original.  Surely the writers could have come up with something a little more imaginative. 

This is based upon Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw," and you have to understand the Jessel/Quint storyline and dynamic in order to understand the children. It may not be interesting and seem tired to you, but it was written in 1898 and has been adapted multiple times.

[CailynA]

6 hours ago, lightninggirl said:

This is based upon Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw," and you have to understand the Jessel/Quint storyline and dynamic in order to understand the children. It may not be interesting and seem tired to you, but it was written in 1898 and has been adapted multiple times.

I just pulled it off my classroom bookshelf today so I can read it.

[lightninggirl]

4 hours ago, CailynA said:

I just pulled it off my classroom bookshelf today so I can read it.

Awesome - I hope you enjoy it!! It's so creepy and a great little story. 💜❤️

[CailynA]

13 hours ago, lightninggirl said:

Awesome - I hope you enjoy it!! It's so creepy and a great little story. 💜❤️

So far so good, I read about 3 pages last night before bed. 

[methodwriter85]

On 10/11/2020 at 11:50 AM, CrazyDog said:

I guess I'll have the unpopular opinion and say I'm still enjoying it. Quint was even more of an asshole than I had guessed given his evil presence lurking around, but that was such a 180. The actors had some serious chemistry that was fun to watch up to the point of him becoming a controlling abusive creep.

I liked how well Peter represented the greed and ambitious social climbing of the 1980's. The fur coat scene was A1 in driving that home- he worships money and status and thinks he found a kindred spirit. He and Rebecca did have really good chemistry. 

[Cheezwiz]

On 10/9/2020 at 3:49 PM, krankydoodle said:

This show isn't really working for me so far, but Oliver Jackson-Cohen's handsomeness is making up for a lot.

I'm actually enjoying it - it doesn't have the grab-you-by-the throat feel or emotional pull of Hill House, but I'm entertained enough to keep going. This episode was very slow moving, but GOOD LORD, Oliver Jackson-Cohen is one handsome fellow. I also have a terrible weakness for Scottish accents - even phoney put on ones. Cue my Homer Simpson drool. 

I felt so bad for Owen - he's one of my favourites on the show so far.

I still don't believe Mrs. Grose is a ghost, even though she never eats or drinks anything.

I was getting distinct sapphic vibes between Dani & Gardener Lady earlier in the episode, so I wasn't surprised at the episode's conclusion. Still want to know who the glowing eyes dude haunting Dani is. Right now my guess is that she killed someone or did something that resulted in an accidental death of someone she cared about.

On 10/12/2020 at 2:19 PM, CailynA said:

I just pulled it off my classroom bookshelf today so I can read it.

Enjoy! It's creepy and very unsettling in ways that don't necessarily involve the supernatural. I also highly recommend "The Innocents" which is the 1961 film adaptation. Totally masterful and frightening for an old b&w movie. But finish this series first, or you may spoilerize yourself.

Edited October 15, 2020 by Cheezwiz

[Mabinogia]

15 hours ago, Cheezwiz said:

I also highly recommend "The Innocents" which is the 1961 film adaptation. Totally masterful and frightening for an old b&w movie. But finish this series first, or you may spoilerize yourself.

I second the "the Innocents" recommendation. It's my favorite adaptation of the story and was beautifully done. 

[CailynA]

Ok I finished the short story and... bleh I was not impressed. I'm not sure what I was expecting and the actual last page was ok but a lot of the  lead up was just meh and what was interesting to me is I've read older books that were easier to read. I think Henry James writing style is not for me.

[TexasGal]

Hey Manorites - I just created a topic to discuss the original story and other adaptations.  Don’t want to derail the episode threads.  Please take that over there.  Thanks!

[Aliferously]

It's intriguing enough to keep going I guess.

Not the same jump scare that Hill House was, especially if you imagine that a lot of it is borne from trauma and loss.

Jamie and Dani are friendship goals.

All I could think when Jamie answered that final phone call was that the neighbour wasn't actually named Peter as well. Because I'm mature like that.

[Ilovepie]

I am glad this episode reveals why Flora is always saying “perfectly splendid”. I was thinking it was a little too twee for a kid being raised in the 1980’s, even if she is British. Now it makes sense.....

[xander874]

I’m not disliking this. I like Owen and Hannah a lot. I think the issue is that it feels like I’ve seen this story before. Hill House was an old story too but they did new things with it. So far, Bly seems pretty same old same old. 
 

Ghost watch alert. Saw someone in a military uniform in the kitchen during the Peter/Rebecca scene. 

Edited October 20, 2020 by xander874

[Corgi-ears]

On 10/20/2020 at 7:59 AM, xander874 said:

Ghost watch alert. Saw someone in a military uniform in the kitchen during the Peter/Rebecca scene. 

Yes, when the lightning briefly illuminated the scene we could see the solider, which was perplexing to me. No one is saying they have to be faithful to Henry James' story, but in it

Spoiler

we could never be sure that the governess was not imagining everything. To now have ghosts appear during a timeline when Dani is not even present changes that.