i auditioned for an acting program at my school last year, and i used the monologue that Nell recited when they were all in the Red Room during episode 10 of Hill House. it's such a beautiful speech.
most of the prose is taken from the classic literature that these stories are based on. i consider them to be classic, anyways. Shirley Jackson and Henry James were excellent writers, and Flanagan showed his good taste as the showrunner for these two seasons.
The Doctor gets me in this scene. So many times in this story, we see the shape of the Plague Doctor standing in doorways and being really spooky, and we think him malevolent. But with the full context, barely any of the ghosts are antagonistic. All of the old ghosts in the show, whenever they're exposed, covered their face, out of fear of what they've become. And here, we see the Plague Doctor having been there for so long is starting to realize that he's loosing his identity, and his face is vanishing he reflects on this , and he seems almost horrified. Then he decides to put on the mask and hat with a sense of resolve, because at least it is a face/identity that he can keep. It felt like that resolve was made in fear of what was happening, and the decision was made in desperation . Not just desperation, but shame as well, because there was nothing under the mask anymore, he is just the Doctor now.
The beauty of the series is in the way they have humanized the ghost. At first you're scared by their appearance, but later it's their pain and tragedy that scares you the most.
@@anveshapandey952 Beautifully put. Both seasons have that moment when your fear turns to empathy. I remember especially liking the scene in season 1 where Steven, in the final episode, walks out of the house with all the ghosts behind him. Up until that point the house itself and all its ghosts have been the source of terror in the show, but both you and Steven aren't scared anymore. The ghosts are still unsettling, even disturbing, but also profoundly sympathetic. This depiction of ghosts is imo the best and most true depiction. Death is terrifying but also sad. It's dangerous but also peaceful. Bly's rendition of death is definitely more existentially horrifying, though.
Yeah... if I find my identity fading... my chose profession might be the last to fade... because it was a thing I consciously spent my whole live trying to be. For the Plague doctor... the clothes he wore, was symbol... a declaration I am a doctor. And that profession gives purpose when all identity are just memories and chances.
The scene where she takes the child is the most heartbreaking and most horrifying moment of the episode. I’m heartbroken for the spirit of Viola who’s still looking for her child and family after possibly centuries of forgetting her memories, But i’m also horrified for the innocent little boy who was taken to the lake.
I really feel for the Plague Doctor The guy lost everything on a whim, when he was trying to help people, all because of Viola's rage when he starts to lose his identity, he puts on the mask, as if he's accepting that even if he loses himself, he can still help people and that's exactly what he does, he spends his entire afterlife trying to warn people about the lake, watching over Flora and helping the child ghost arrange the dolls in the house we may not have known much about medicine when Plague Doctors were around, but this guy was a true Doctor notice every time we see him, he's looking out of a window - he keeps constant watch for Viola hoping to spare others the same fate he suffered, he's a hero
The thing I love about this show is that, in every story, it starts out so evil and so creepy, and by then end of each season, the creepiness and the evil is shown to be of a troubled soul of some kind who is just reaching out in a less than natural way.
This was indeed an epic part of the show. Tying this aspect of the human experience into the appearance of the ghosts was brilliant. They transition from monstrous to tragic almost instantly. Completely changed my perception.
She would sleep, forget, and forget, and forget. And with the forgetting, an ailment altogether monstrous. All things fade. All things. Flesh, stone, even stars themselves. Time. takes. all. things. It is the way of the world. The past recedes, memories fade, and so, true, does the spirit. Everything yields to time, even the soul. Wake, walk, forget even more. Her name, forgotten. Her sister's name, forgotten. As her memories left her, so, too, her face. So little did she remember... that one night, she found a child in her daughter's old bed, and could not remember who she had been hoping to see. She had only the faint notion that she'd walked this far, hoping to find a child, and here was a child. It must be the child whom she'd sought. It must. She would sleep, and she would fade, and fade, and fade. And the others, too. Those souls held in her orbit, those unfortunates trapped in the gravity well she had made of Bly Manor. They were fading as well.
The scene with the little boy broke my heart as a mom. I have a child around that age and to just see him stuck there at Bly without parents and alone was the saddest thing. Seeing Viola take him into the lake brought me to tears. Such an amazing show. Both of the Haunting shows were done so, so well. I wish they’d do one on the Hill family. That would be interesting.
@@jacobbeaver2975 I know that. I meant a more in depth story that showed the Hill family’s story more. Not the Crain family which is what Hill House focuses on.
@@TheMamaMel It would be interesting to see in-depth how the house grew in strength and affected the original family. Alas, the next two installments after _Midnight Club_ (IIRC) will be based on Poe - still a great ride, though.
Yes. I understand people were expecting more horror moments and that's probably why they overlooked everything else that the movie managed to convey so well
i always imagine if they still made the Scary Movie parody series they would do this scene with her getting up every night and taking a shit in the bathroom or something every night.
Viola must have the most tragic story in this serie tbh.. Poor woman, just wanted to be with her daughter, but her sickness forced her to leave everything behind.
I've always theorised that was we consider a ghost is some sort of shadow or footprint left upon a place in the universe at an atomic level. A particular moment or memory just trapped in specific place repeating on loop. Neither alive or dead, just an atomic shadow of what once was there, appearing every so often as a shimmer
Never have I ever kept coming back to any horror content. I loved this episode, so painful, so poetic and so sad. The ghosts were all so harmless in reality and it was all just selfishness. I could listen to the narrator forever. 💕
Viola was an educated and modern girl... She took the responsibility of Bly manor and father's business alone after her father's sad demise... She is an human and every human has their own desires and her was she wanted to live happily with her family that she wouldn't for her illness... Every person has to accept their fate I agree with it... but sometimes it made heartbreaking situation against their desires and so that happened for Viola... That heartbreak (and also betrayal) made her Stubborn and selfish...her sister is also a human being and her deeds are also understandable P.S.- Every character in the movie neither completely good nor bad They have done what is in their nature which is understandable (sorry for my grammer mistakes)
The characters were developed so fantastically that we could emphasize with each of them. They all were hit so hard not only in death but in their tragic lives too.
this show fucked me up. i’m on the floor crying about my imaginary long lasting lesbian relationship and about all my imaginary ex colleagues and friends that I considered family with whom I worked in a giant manor and who died while we collectively took care of 2 perturbated pasty english kids
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I hated Viola. She treated others as a means to an end and when she was treated the same way by others, she played the victim. Viola’s selfishness is the entire reason why Bly is cursed.
She treated others like garbage cuz they wouldn't let Viola go near or touch her daughter. And also she was happy until ofc her husband and daughter threw her under that lake and moved on. Thats why Bly is "cursed" because the people she loved turned their backs on her without them knowing that Viola was there.
Viola was an educated and modern girl... She took the responsibility of Bly manor and father's business alone after her father's sad demise... She is an human and every human has their own desires and her was she wanted to live happily with her family that she wouldn't for her illness... Every person has to accept their fate I agree with it... but sometimes it made heartbreaking situation against their desires and so that happened for Viola... That heartbreak (and also betrayal) made her Stubborn and selfish...her sister is also a human being and her deeds are also understandable P.S.- Every character in the movie neither completely good nor bad They have done what is in their nature which is understandable
I mean we know she's not a victim and even she knows that. She even gets her karma in real time: she becomes deathly ill and is separated from her daughter for the rest of her life and even afterlife. She did what she did during a time when women had no say over property and heritage so she did what she did for family's sake, not her own. And yes, sure she was a little vain. She did not however, deserve to be killed by her selfish sister and promise broken by her superstitious husband
Thank you! I watched this series in a span of two days last week and it was perfectly splendid! I didn’t want it to be over. Everyone seems to pity Viola. I couldn’t. She was nasty woman even before her sickness. She clearly saw her sister and the guy hit it off first (Perdita actually liked the man and Viola married him just for power and riches) and she comes in and causes a scene and takes him. Granted, it was his choice which daughter to choose and he couldn’t be stolen if he didn’t want to go, but I thought it was shiesty of Viola and greedy. And then to have poor Perdita stay in the home because she had no where else to go while she watched the man she loved marry her sister and start a family of their own. Then she had to take care of said family as if she was the wife when Viola fell ill. Viola was so violent with her. Flat out abusive for no reason- after Perdita gave her life to serve Viola and her family. Besides, I think it’s Viola’s fault that she got stuck in her viscous loop because she denounced God and refused to atone! She was stubborn, greedy, materialistic, and hateful and I think that’s the magic recipient for ghosts!
Her second victim, she willingly klled him. She hadn't yet lost her identity or face when she klled that doctor that told her to go away. She didn't kll because she forgot. She klld because she wanted to.
i remember this episode so well. it was 4am and it terrified me on a level that no other horror movie ever did. It was a deep, psychological fear, combined with sadness and loneliness. " days i was traumatized and moved by this. perfection !
For some reason, watching the plague doctor try to feel where his face once was, only to give up and put his mask on again, broke me. He tried to save lives and this is his reward.
It's an amazing way to convey the psychological horror of forgetting and of eternity. When only habit remains and not reason. Makes you wonder what habits Dani has made that will wear a path through Bly. Loving and letting go?
When you feel like the ghost in real life.. Watching this show made me sad and at the same time.. Like the girl said it's not a horror but a love story.. ❤
I'm really keen on wanting to know who was the narrator of these lines, a well deserved appreciation goes for their work to make this scene epic and 'perfect splendid'
This made me feel so sad. I don't know why but i could feel her pain and rage at the same time... Imagine living the same time / emotion over and over again as a spirit lost in the spirit realm until you find closure.
This whole series is about dementia. And funny thing is truthfully only people who have experienced it in their loved one can cry throughout the whole series instead of being scared. I cried so much , especially in this episode.
that's the one thing i trully fear..to dissapear into nothing without any memory at all into time and space itself...and in one corner a glimmer of hope that one day something will change..but not being aware of that hope as well.
Long before I even got to watched this series, I had dreamed of I was someone else, who jumped from a high building and unalive themself. I could feel their rage and anguish inside them and in that dream, they keep jumping again and again after a horrible fight with their lover.
You turned your back.. You turned your back on me so many times..That eventually you'd walk into the room, facing the wrong way altogether. You don't even resemble yourself any longer.
She said because of that face was not being used in a fade is not a problem viola Willoughby is the one that’s been too long she was just being sick of disease so she’s not well but because it’s is the same thing
I don't get it. She was randomly killing people left and right, still Charlotte was safe from her despite of living in viola's room, sleeping in her bed. Other than that all the summers that miles and flora spent there, how come they never happen to be in viola's way, all she wanted was children after all
