Summary
Sneaking around, intense romances; Episode 3 shows that this place has way too much history for its own good and the characters are embedded in it.
This recap of Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor episode 3, “The Two Faces, Part One” contains significant spoilers.
We recapped the whole series — check out the archive.
The opening
After plenty of murmurs about the previous au pair, Episode 3, “The Two Faces, Part One”, makes the story richer, introducing more characters and adding layers to the manor.
Miles wakes up and Hannah and Miles are relieved. The scene flits to “1 year ago”. The same man Miles and Dani see in the window is shown out shopping. He goes into the office and pours Henry Wingrave a whiskey who fell asleep on his desk. The man is named Peter Quint and he invites Rebecca Jessel in for her meeting with Henry Wingrave for the au pair position.
The police do a search
Rebecca is confident and they are impressed with her extensive resume — they ask why she wants the job with such skills and qualifications. Rebecca says she’s good at it. In the present day, Dani tells the police she keeps seeing a man in a photo — Peter Quint. Hannah explains that Peter Quint rinsed Wingrave’s bank account a year ago. The police officer says he cannot find anyone in the ground.
Rebecca got the job
Episode 3 flits back to a year ago; Jessel has got the job as au pair and Peter Quint drives her to the countryside. When she arrives, Flora and Miles introduce themselves. Rebecca seems content in these surroundings.
It’s uncanny how both au pairs have had similar experiences when they arrive at the manor — a sense of contentedness and the feeling that they’ve made it to a place of rest. However, this is only a veil over what’s to come.
Is Peter looking for Rebecca?
And then we go back to the present; Dani decides to do a sweep of the estate herself to see if she can find Peter Quint. She runs into Jamie in the woods and they scare each other. Owen, Jamie, and Hannah decide to stay over in case there are any more disturbances. When the children fall asleep, the adults talk about Peter Quint — Owen believes he’s looking for Rebecca.
At this point, the adults all assume Peter is alive.
What ambition do you have Rebecca?
The Haunting of Bly Manor episode 3 gives a sense of what Rebecca represented — that she was made for and had dreams. The strong similarity between both au pairs is that other characters are unsure as to why they’ve taken the position.
In the past, there’s a storm and Rebecca asks Peter to stay until the weather calms down. The pair have a cup of tea and talk. Peter questions Rebecca’s ambition again because she’s highly intelligent. He tells her she is too good for the au pair job. She tells him she wants to be a barrister. Peter notes that Henry Wingrave is linked to the industry she wants to be in — that’s why she took the job. She’s finding a way in.
The pair sit on the sofa and their conversation gets more intense. Peter looks at her and says he feels hopeful but then suddenly wants to leave as it gets tense between them.
The talk of love and possession
In the present, Jamie tells Dani that Peter f*cked Rebecca over — she didn’t survive but he ran away. Jamie talks about how sometimes it can be the wrong kind of love and she hopes Rebecca haunts Peter forever. Dani agrees with Jamie that people mix up love and possession. Dani has an epiphany about it all but Jamie seems consumed by her words — she’s listening intently, suggesting there’s a potential romance that could brew between both women. When Dani gets into bed, she sees a bloodied hand on her bed so she sleeps it off.
They couldn’t keep their hands off each other
Episode 3 shows how Rebecca and Peter were intensely bowled over by each other from the very start.
In the past, Rebecca plays cards with Flora and Miles. They get excited when Peter arrives. Miles is downbeat because Henry Wingrave hasn’t visited for a while but Peter tries cheering him up and gives him an old lighter that his father used to have. In the middle of the night, Peter and Rebecca sleep together.
Flora sees Rebecca across the lake
We’ve seen first hand how open Flora’s mind is to spirits — episode 3 shows how wide it has become.
In the present day, Dani wakes up and sees Jamie is asleep on the couch. Hannah Grose lights candles in the church and takes part in a prayer — she sees the same crack on the wall that’s in the kitchen. Dani visits Miles’ room and he suggests a picnic — he raises how Flora is not in her room.
In the past, Flora shows Rebecca her latest doll — they both agree it’s fun to have Peter here. In the present day, Flora is looking at the lake — when Dani finds her she has to pick her up. Across the lake, Rebecca is standing there. Dani orders a doctor to their house but Flora has no fever.
Peter gives Rebecca a fur coat
Episode 3 demonstrates how intense Rebecca and Peter got with each other; sneaking off and compromising Rebecca’s role in the manor.
In the past, Rebecca and Peter wake up together. Lost in the moment, Rebecca realizes that she needs to get out of bed. He insists that she comes back to bed and grabs her arm forcefully. Rebecca tells him to have patience. During the day, Peter brings Rebecca to the abandoned part of the manor. He gives her a gift — a luxurious fur jacket. She notes it belonged to the dead mother but Peter claims she never wore it. He plays the music box with the ballerina as she tries it on with no clothes on. Peter takes photos of her in her fur coat and he’s clearly in awe. Hannah catches them hooking up and tells Rebecca that the children are on the lawn.
Hannah fumes and tells Peter that if he does this again in the abandoned part of the house he will throw him into the dirty lake.
Peter shows his possessive side
All the characters apart from Rebecca appear to have a problem with Peter and this next scene demonstrates why.
In the evening, an irritated Peter says he is off back to London but tells Rebecca that she will be fine — he accuses her of flirting with Owen with no basis or substance as evidence whatsoever. He’s absolutely frustrated. Rebecca is confused and didn’t feel she flirted. Peter walks off and leaves Rebecca upset.
The ending
In the present day, the phone rings and Dani answers it — the person on the other end puts it down. Afterward, the children do storytime for the adults — it’s a performance from both Flora and Miles. They take it very seriously — Miles goes into a very dark monologue.
The phone rings again and Jamie explains to Owen that it is the neighbor Mr. McQueeny and then she tells him that she is sorry and looks at him intently as she repeats her apologies — there’s clearly been a tragedy in Owen’s family. Owen leaves early — Hannah whispers in his ear as he leaves. Hannah then goes to light a candle at the church, leaving Dani and Jamie walking outside.
Dani tells Jamie she’s glad she stayed and they look at each other — Dani holds her hand and as Jamie gets in her car to leave she says “Who the hell knew?”. Jamie drives off and when Dani turns around, the male figure she sees in the mirror is standing right there with large lit-up eyes. Dani sobs and then quickly enters the house and she screams.
Sneaking around, intense romances; The Haunting of Bly Manor episode 3 shows that this place has way too much history for its own good and the characters are embedded in it.
The Bly Manor Diary
- Rebecca used the phrase “Perfectly splendid” which would explain why Flora keeps using that phrase.
- Peter brought in roses for Flora and asks them to share them with Jessel. Miles asks him if Peter ripped them from the garden — that’s why he got flowers for Dani.
- Peter whistles “O Willow Waly” in the kitchen.
