The Haunting of Bly Manor: Mike Flanagan Breaks Down Episode Eight

The Haunting of Bly Manor hit Netflix this month and ended up being another great series from Mike Flanagan. The season featured one episode that took a different direction from the rest, “The Romance of Certain Old Clothes.” The black and white episode took viewers back in time and revealed why the house is filled with ghosts. It started with Viola Willoughby, who was played by The Haunting of Hill House‘s Kate Siegel. In fact, the Bly episode has been dubbed by some as “episode K8.” In a new video, Flanagan and Siegel talk about the episode, which he says “has all the answers for the whole season.” Flanagan explains, “It really was an episode to tie everything together.”

“Episode 208 was always a favorite in the writer’s room,” Flanagan says in the video. “We expected that it was going to be one of the fan favorites and one of the most interesting opportunities we had to change things up for the season.”

Executive Producer Trevor Macy chimes in to compare the episode to The Haunting of Hill House‘s “Two Storms,” explaining that “they’re different from the rest of the season.” Flanagan adds that they chose to shoot the episode in black and white “early in the process.”

“The idea was to completely pull us out of the established aesthetic,” Flanagan explains. “Every frame of it is so carefully considered to take maximum advantage of that beautiful, candlelit, Gothic, black-and-white horror aesthetic.” He added of the Lady of the Lake reveal, “We wanted to have another familiar face thrown in at the most unexpected time.”

“I cried when they told it to me, I cried when I read it, and I cried when it was done,” Siegel shared. You can watch the full video in the tweet below:

Recently, Flanagan and Macy had a chat with Entertainment Weekly and talked about the importance of Flora’s dollhouse in the series. They were also asked about a potential third season in The Haunting series, and while nothing is official, they are definitely open to creating more.

The Haunting of Bly Manor stars Victoria Pedretti, Henry Thomas, Amelie Bea Smith, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Amelia Eve, T’Nia Miler, Rahul Kohli, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel, and Tahirah Sharif. The series is executive produced by Intrepid Pictures’ Trevor Macy and Flanagan along with Amblin Television’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey.

The Haunting of Bly Manor is now available to stream on Netflix.