Uh oh, do you know something I don't?

Muy said:

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Uh oh, do you know something I don't?

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I don't think so, and fwiw I haven't seen episode 10 yet, but to me it still doesn't seem like that's clear. Seems open to interpretation

Just finished. Fantastic show. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread, otherwise I wouldn't have watched it.

One question I just thought of though...

Why was the guy with the cane and bowler hat following Luke around? What was the significance there? Was it because he was given the hat as a kid and somehow got that ghosts attention?

I would assume that correct

Question

Why do some of the ghosts play more prominent roles? The crazy flapper girl in particular. She and the mom seemed to run the show. How much did the House influence them? Notice that in the end, Nell isn't part of the house's evil scheme, even though she's a ghost. She tells Luke to get away, to not die in the red room.

WoMD said:

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One question I just thought of though...

Why was the guy with the cane and bowler hat following Luke around? What was the significance there? Was it because he was given the hat as a kid and somehow got that ghosts attention?

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While I haven't seen beyond Ep 5, seemed like it wanted the hat back and decided to haunt Luke because he stole it.

Maybe the entire show is written by a shut-in who figured out that even though life is hard and scary, secluding yourself away from society devours you in another way.

I've got three episodes to go. I started this show thinking it was just some generic half-baked creepy Haloween series Netflix churred out for content's sake. Man was I wrong. This show is legitimately a really good, well-done show. The editing and seamless way it cuts between timelines is incredible. It uses tons for classic horror tropes and techniques that have been done before but pulls them for without being cheezy or unoriginal. Could not have been more surprised by the quality.

I think that sums it up perfectly. We've seen all of this before, but it was all done in a very competent way. I must have muttered "this is really well done" 3 or 4 times because like you I wasn't expecting much.

free_mhayden said:

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We've seen all of this before.

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What I think I haven't seen before is the level of which the story drives show while still being a horror. Most horror's the horror is the driving force. Strip all the haunted/ghost elements out and make it just a family drama reeling from a mothers sucide and it's still really compelling.

That's pretty much The Shining novel (which this show draws from quite a bit the movie and book). Sure there are scary elements, but at it's core it's about a family trying to put itself back together.

TexjbA&M said:

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free_mhayden said:

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We've seen all of this before.

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What I think I haven't seen before is the level of which the story drives show while still being a horror. Most horror's the horror is the driving force. Strip all the haunted/ghost elements out and make it just a family drama reeling from a mothers sucide and it's still really compelling.

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That's called "This is Us" and it is complete garbage.

I'm obsessed with this show

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That's called "This is Us" and it is complete garbage.

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Have not been dragged into starting that one yet.

I liked the way the individual stories crossed paths with each other, so you would see the same scene from a different perspective. Like when Luke told Steven "It's not what you think" when he looted his apartment for things to sell. The first time, you think he's lying and he's going to buy drugs. The second time, you find out he only wants money for a hotel. But then again, why didn't he just ask Steven for a place to stay?

My guess is he's probably told Steven every story in the world for money, including "I just need it for this and that" and knew he wouldn't believe him.

Luke's story was the most gut wrenching for me. He was a truly a good person inside and the house destroyed what was truly a sweet boy that loved his family above all else. I'm not sure the others, save for maybe Nell, were.

Because pretty much everyone in the family is an ******* to both Luke and Nell. They think Nell is crazy and Luke is a no good junkie that is unredeemable. This family really and truly is broken and they suck towards each other. The only good people in it are Nell, the dad and the Mom. They all die. No way Steven believes him or helps him.

Steven thinks he's smarter and wiser than his siblings, and values money over everything. (Pride, Greed)
Shirley is angry and controlling. (Pride, Wrath)
Luke is in fact a junkie that steals from his family. (Sloth, Gluttony)
Theo uses her sister and hides behind it as help for her. She also uses people for sex and disregards their emotions for her own satisfaction. (Lust)

Pretty much cover all the seven deadly sins with those four. I'm sympathetic to Luke, because he was truly traumatized by the house at a young age, but he still makes his own choices.

You really think the mom is good? She murders a kid with rat poison. She murders her own daughter, Nell. Later, Nell tells Luke, "Go!" Don't stay here and die for mom.

Hill House hungers for souls, but it's almost like a Venus Fly Trap. It just needs the food. Liv (the mom), on the other hand, she's arguably selfish or just crazy. She wants her kids trapped in the Venus Fly Trap with her for eternity.

And consider how Theo described her feelings from touching Nell, nothingness. Nothingness, forever. Eternity in Hill House isn't some blessed familial bliss. It's an eternity of nothing. And that's what mom was trying to drag her kids to.

I'm more talking about the mom at the beginning of the story before she's completely taken in and corrupted by the house. The mom in present day is an extension of the house, she is no longer herself from my perspective. The kids haven't been fully corrupted and still maintain some semblance of choice in their actions. Nell is an example, she was haunted by the house, but still maintained care for each and every member of the family. The others were hardened or selfish.

P.S. The colon and the italics in your post are what is making the spoiler tags not work.

Just finished. Phenomenal show.

Questions:

how did the dad die at the end? Yeah Steve sees his body sitting there but how? Did he OD on his "heart medication?" Thought that was strange and also how we don't see how the family reacts.

So are we to believe there are both good and bad parts of the house? Or is the mom, Nellie, and Hugh also now living in a hell of sorts for eternity?

Also Muy said it's "confirmed" nellies husband really had an anuyerism. How's that confirmed?

What could we possibly see in a season two? I hope it isn't stupid

And a fun tidbit I read online:

apparently in every episode there are anyway from 10-15 "hidden ghosts" in otherwise benign scenes. Obscured in some way, hiding behind something. Saw a link online that shows them all. And also in the episode two storms, furniture moves places in the background as the scenes turn, random doors that weee open are now shut and Vice versa

Really just loved this show so much.

One last thing, I called the alternate timelines/time trafel stuff on page 1 after episodes 5/6. Although it didn't culminate into being a major, explained plot point, Nellie at the end was basically implying there are countless timelines and she's seen them all, like when she tells Sheryl "you did answer the phone, countless times"

Also there's tons of Internet tough guys in here. This show was pretty scary a lot of the time and I'm a huge horror fan who doesn't creep out easily

Uhhh, yeah, there were not multiple timelines. This is not a time travel movie. When Nelly said "you did answer the phone, countless times", what she meant was that her sister might have not answered the phone that one time, however over the course of a lifetime the sister did answer the phone and help Nelly out countless times. In other words, she was telling the sister not to regret answering that phone that one time because she had been a good sister and answered the phone and helped out Nelly plenty of times in the past.

FL_Ag1998 said:

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Uhhh, yeah, there were not multiple timelines. This is not a travel movie. When Nelly said "you did answer the phone, countless times", what she meant was that her sister might have not answered the phone that one time, however over the course of a lifetime the sister did answer the phone and help Nelly out countless times. In other words, she was telling the sister not to regret answering that phone that one time because she had been a good sister and answered the phone and helped out Nelly plenty of times in the past.

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then maybe I completely misinterpreted her whole explanation about how time isn't like a row of dominoes falling into each other, but instead is like raindrops falling down all around yourself

Not to mention, Nell being visited by herself "the bent neck lady" her entire life which ultimately ended up being a premonition of what was to come. Or maybe a warning. Olivia seeing older Nell and older Luke both as adults, and both dead.

Finished it last night and holy s*** was this an amazing show.
Outside of the first half of the last episode the pacing and editing of the series was flawless.

BenFiasco14 said:

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Also there's tons of Internet tough guys in here. This show was pretty scary a lot of the time and I'm a huge horror fan who doesn't creep out easily

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Agreed, there was plenty creepy as s*** moments.

I actually found Luke to not be selfish at all. He's made to appear that way from the perspective of his other siblings. However, during his episode we see that Luke only uses to make the visions of the tall man stop. We found that unlike the other characters Luke finds his true refuge and strength in his family and he yearns to one day please them. I found him truly broken by the loss of his mother and the continued torment and the only thing he found safety in, his family, gone. Even with Joey, he just wanted to save her to the detriment of his own well being.

As an aside, why did the family go to live with the aunt? Seems like having their dad around might have helped with the loss of their mother. They basically lost both parents, not just one.

I believe they went to live with the aunt because Hugh was a suspect in the death of the mom. They didnt fully explain it but that was my way of filling in the gaps.

And I figured that but it was implied he was exonerated fairly early by the Dudley's. And then the father moves across the country to LA? I just don't see how a father that claimed to love his kids that much wouldn't fight tooth and nail to be with them. That was a huge gap in the story for me.

While this wasn't a time travel show, there was absolutely elements of it.

Bent-neck-lady visiting Nell multiple times.

"Welcome home Nell" on the walls.

Etc...

Wife and I absolutely loved the show. So well done and great use of horror tropes. We were disappointed with episode 10 though. It felt like the series was building to this very climactic ending of the family entering the house again, but the pacing of the final episode was completely off. The final episode did not offer much horror/suspense at all and just seemed to try poorly to explain everything.

I didn't interpret it to be "time travel" concept but more of a time is a flat circle concept. I guess it's kinda splitting hairs.

Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey as The Doctor would say (and what I believe the writing on the wall was an homage to).

I think he's worthy of some sympathy, but he's also not a good person in his current form. He lied and stole from his family and broke their trust. That's a pretty bad move.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but was surprised to learn that young Hugh was Elliott in E.T.

hph6203 said:

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Not sure if it's been mentioned, but was surprised to learn that young Hugh was Elliott in E.T.

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WHAT?! No Blankin way!