The Haunting of Bly Manor episode 6 recap – life and death are organic

By Daniel Hart - October 9, 2020 (Last updated: February 17, 2024)
The Haunting of Bly Manor Recap
The Haunting of Bly Manor Promotional Image Courtesy of Netflix
By Daniel Hart - October 9, 2020 (Last updated: February 17, 2024)
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Summary

Episode 6 presents a turning point — it gives context to how the children have reached this point of their lives and offers a moment that will change the course of the story.

This recap of Netflix’s The Haunting of Bly Manor episode 6, “The Jolly Corner” contains significant spoilers.

We recapped the whole series — check out the archive.


The opening

Episode 6 opens with Henry Wingrave in his office. The narrator explains how Henry preferred the comfort of his office more than his apartment. He doesn’t seem to want an update on the children. Henry then reads a letter and a male figure is in the room with him as Henry decides to pour himself a drink. He keeps looking at a letter. It turns out the male figure is his alter ego that haunts him.

Henry has been a bit of an outside character since the start of the series but “The Jolly Corner” gives the audience some background to the Wingrave family.

Let’s have a date

The Haunting of Bly Manor episode 6 gives some hope to a blossoming relationship that viewers will enjoy, mostly because of the on-screen chemistry that is marvellously performed.

The next scene is a flashback; Dominic storms through the manor and Charlotte is ready to give birth. Henry reassures him that everything is okay. Back to the present day and Dani visits Jamie in the greenhouse and brings her coffee. Dani talks how Hannah is sometimes not around and she’s just “Gone”. Jamie questions why she has visited her at 6 am in the morning and calls this “flirting” — Dani explains how she didn’t like how they left it and wanted to start with coffee — she asks her if she’d like to get a drink away from the manor. Jamie lives above the pub that Dani suggests.

The faceless boy

From finalising a date to being creeped out by Flora in the space of a few moments is the kind of pace The Haunting of Bly Manor enjoys.

Suddenly, both women see Flora walking across the ground — she says she just woke up. When a hand touches Flora’s head, she wakes back up and checks under bed. She then sees a faceless boy and screams for her mother. Her mother believes Miles is pranking her. Flora then notices Uncle Henry getting changed in Charlotte’s room and asks why he is there. Henry and Charlotte check out the room to help Flora explain what happened with the faceless boy. Charlotte and Henry tell her that this is all a memory. Flora wakes up and Dani is worried about her — she tells her that she fainted.

The previous scenes also confirm that Charlotte was having an affair with Henry.

Henry checks up on Flora

And with an affair, Henry’s behaviour suddenly makes sense — we now understand that since the children’s parents have died, why he does not want to visit the manor.

Episode 5 goes back to Henry — he’s told that Flora is sleepwalking but he’s acting like he isn’t interested. Henry rings Flora and asks if she’s okay — she mentions her father and Dominic takes over the phone call. Dominic asks why he was calling and Henry was making out like he was trying to find him.

Suddenly, it’s night and he’s talking to his alter ego. They talk about posting the notice of death for Dominic and Henry is being mocked by himself.

Jamie spills out her life

Episode 6 finally sees Dani and Jamie have some quality time together — The Haunting of Bly Manor has had a fine balance between a romantic subplot and the madness that occurs in the main arc. Jamie gets very deep in this scene and you get this inkling that she’s already falling for Dani.

At the manor, Dani asks Hannah why Henry doesn’t make an effort anymore and that it’s upsetting as it’s the only family they have left. When she heads downstairs, Hannah and Owen are in the kitchen. Jamie turns up and she didn’t want to go home. Hannah and Owen tell them both to have fun as they have things handled.

Dani and Jamie head into the woods together. The gardener shows Dani the moonflower and how it will be dead soon and she’ll need to plant another one — she describes the flower as a rare thing. Jamie says she wants to skip to the end — she talks about her parents; her father was a coal miner and her mother was acting like a child. She talks about how her father always had soot and death on his face from the coal mine and then when he came back up, everyone laughed at him because they all knew that his son (Jamie’s brother) wasn’t his. The town called her mother and Jamie a whore.

And Jamie continues; one day, her mother flees and leaves her baby brother behind — Jamie explains how she had to look after her brother like a mother. One day, social services show up and split up the family. Jamie carries on spilling over about her life and she says that sometimes, like a moonflower, someone might be worth the effort — she is clearly talking about Dani. Jamie then says that life and death are organic — Dani stands up and kisses her.

Do you love him?

In a flashback, Henry brings over a large dollhouse for Charlotte’s party. Dominic heads down and Henry apologizes as he won’t be able to make it to the party. Later, in the kitchen, Dominic confronts Charlotte about the maths surrounding the conception of Flora — he says it took him 6 years to work out the maths — he knows the daughter isn’t his. Dominic says she must have been lonely and asks Charlotte if she loves him — they both sob.

This is a sad moment and it was directed and acted well — you can feel the weight of the world on both characters as they come to terms that their marriage is at a significant crossroads.

Flora is outside again

Back to Dani and Jamie who wake up together in bed — Dani hasn’t slept this well in a while; Dani notices the scars on Jamie’s back and then gets out of bed. She looks outside and sees Flora standing there. She rushes outside and Flora doesn’t know where she is. Flora wonders why this keeps happening and then makes out like she was just on a walk.

Dominic lays down the law

Marriages need work but for Dominic and Charlotte, more work is needed, especially as Dominic’s brother has slept with his wife.

The receptionist tries to update Henry on the children again but he says he’s unavailable unless someone is hurt. As he opens his office door, Dominic is there — he tells him that Flora is his daughter regardless. The penny drops for Henry that Flora is his daughter. Dominic then banishes Henry from his house and family — “You don’t have a brother anymore”.

Ouch.

Going to India

Flora asks Charlotte if she can go to India with them. In the present, Flora is angry that everyone is eating without her. Dani is reassuring her, stating that she ate in her room. Suddenly, the phone rings and it’s Henry but he doesn’t speak. His alter ego continues mocking him. He opens his office door and Charlotte is there. They say they love each other but Charlotte explains there’s a lot more to it than love and kisses him. The alter ego then tells Henry that he wants to jump to his favorite part. The phone starts ringing and his alter ego tells Henry to answer it.

The dreaded phone call

One element of The Haunting of Bly Manor is that it’s not necessarily a paranormal experience that haunts the characters. In the case of Henry, it’s his past and present that attack his mind and make him feel haunted. Much like Dani’s experience with Edmund (though we could argue she is been followed by a spirit). The next scene is cruel for Henry — his alter ego is trying to make him feel mental pain.

Henry answers the phone and its terrible news — he’s told about an accident and that Dominic and Charlotte are dead; he tells the person on the phone that they are mistaken. His alter ego then smiles at him wickedly. Henry then remembers calling Flora and letting her know.

Returning to Bly

Dani tells Jamie that she’s going to take Flora to a doctor. Jamie says she needs a psychologist. There’s still a romance brewing here and Jamie promises to have more nights and kisses Dani. Episode 6 then moves back to Henry who keeps trying to make a phone call but it’s disconnected. He then tells his alter ego that he’s off back to Bly Manor. His alter ego insists that it’s a bad idea.

The ending

Flora sees a faceless boy and wakes up; she chases after him and tells him not to be scared. She then gives him a mask so he has a face — Flora then realizes that she is “tucked away” again in a memory and this is from when she was 5 years old. Flora then wakes up and shouts that she doesn’t like this game. Rebecca Jessel then sits on her bed and Flora says she is tired of being “tucked away”. She then says Miles is acting strange and isn’t being himself.

Dani walks into Flora’s bedroom and she is shaking and in shock as she sees Rebecca. And then she sees Peter. Rebecca and Peter disappear and Flora runs off. Dani chases her in the abandoned part of the house. Flora says she is sorry and Miles sneaks up behind Dani and hits her with an object. That was a dramatic ending!

The Haunting of Bly Manor episode 6 presents a turning point — it gives context to how the children have reached this point of their lives and offers a moment that will change the course of the story.

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