‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ Recap: ‘The Beast in the Jungle’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the series finale of ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’.
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For the most part, ghost stories tend to be free of social commentary and understandably so. After all, these are tales about death, and since death has a finality to it, there’s no point in diving into concepts that explore anything outside of the nature of the end or how kindness and understanding can prevent a soul from being tortured in this life, or the next. But while it seems as though this limits what the ghost story can say, it actually is quite possible for this particular genre to stand for more and offer up some powerful commentary/observations about either our modern world, or life in general, and for proof, then look no further than the series finale of The Haunting of Bly Manor. 
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Something ‘The Beast in the Jungle’ accomplished, by wasting zero in time in resolving the manor’s ancient problem with Viola in the most unique way imaginable. For when faced with the prospect of watching Flora drown and be trapped on these grounds for all time, dear Dani Clayton offered up her body to give Viola exactly what she wanted… more life. An offer that this ancient and bitter spirit was happy to accept and pulling this particular feat off, led to quite the change at old Bly. For now, the spirits trapped there were free of their eternal prison and able to transition to whatever reality awaited them next and it also freed the Wingrave family of their pain and their memories, allowing for them and everyone that spent time within Bly’s ancient walls to live a life as they saw fit for a change.

Which means that everyone moved on, including Dani and Jamie, and their budding love affair grew into one for the ages after Bly. To the point where they eventually got married. But there was just one complication in regard to their joyous love, in that… Dani knew that eventually Viola would bubble to the surface of her soul and take control, putting this couple on borrowed time. The kind that eventually drove Dani to a horrific and sorrowful fate when that dark day finally came. And while Jamie made peace with her death and moved on in life, what matters the most about this part of the story… is that this is where said commentary came into play, and what this episode had to say about life in general, and ghosts as well, made for one powerful and poignant ending. 

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Because in essence, Dani’s understanding that the end could come at any moment, served as quite the allegory for the audience. For being possessed by a spirit that will eventually take your mind and your life is no different than coming to learn that cancer is running rampant through our bodies or that some other ailment is going to rob us of the years that we expected to have. Elements that all serve to remind us, that life is short and fleeting and that we should in fact, cherish every moment that comes out way. In part because the moment will never come again, but also because… now is all we have and choosing to enjoy the present and everything it has to offer will make however much longer we have on this earth, a fulfilling and joyous experience. One that will leave us with zero regret when the time comes to bid this life farewell and that was quite the surprising message to find in a horror story, as was what this finale had to say about ghosts.
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For this particular tale made it clear that ghosts are quite real, but not necessarily in the manner that we traditionally think. No instead, this story focused upon how ghosts exist in our hearts and our memories, and how that can be a good thing. Because sometimes, closing our eyes and seeing someone that has departed from this plane can be a warming and wonderful experience. Especially when we have nothing but fond and magical moments to reflect upon in regard to them and that too relates to living it up in the present. So that when we haunt those we leave behind, they only feel that warmth and that joy and that is equally as powerful a message to inject into this story. Since it makes it clear that what we leave behind and how we are remembered are the true keys to spiritual immortality.

If anything, those particular messages and the other ones present in this series, make The Haunting of Bly Manor one of the most unique ghost stories out there. Simply because it bucked what this sub-genre of horror tends to stand for, in order to bring us a fulfilling and satisfying story about the wonder of life and how we choose which ghosts can haunt us and influence us and that’s just powerful and groundbreaking stuff for certain. Because this is a genre of jump scares and flashes of the unknown, so to enjoy a story that offers this kind of depth and maturity is downright exciting and it leaves one hopeful that Netflix is going to continue to let Mike Flanagan and his team make more of these stories. Because they really are digging into something quite special in regard to the human condition and allowing for this journey to continue, would revolutionize and reinvent how we tell ghost stories for generations to come.

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