The Haunting of Bly Manor: What happens to Ms. Jessel?
The Haunting of Bly Manor is officially out on Netflix, and if you’re down to get yourself into the Halloween spirit, I cannot recommend this show enough. The follow-up to 2018’s The Haunting of Hill House takes a less scary and more emotional approach this time around, but the complex characters and storylines still remain the same.
Bly Manor introduces us to a handful of new characters, including protagonist Dani Clayton (played by Victoria Pedretti). Dani is an American au pair who travels to England and is hired to take care of two children, Flora and Miles, after their parents had passed away. She replaces their previous nanny, Rebecca Jessel (played by Tahirah Sharif), after Rebecca committed suicide.
As we learn more about the history of Bly Manor, we learn all about Rebecca (a.k.a. Becs or Miss Jessel) and her past. We eventually discover that not all is as it seems, and some creepy supernatural activity is definitely the reason. If you’re curious as to what happens to Miss Jessel at the end of The Haunting of Bly Manor, keep reading.
Spoilers ahead!
Everyone believes Miss Jessel decided to kill herself over love, which isn’t exactly the case. As we see in flashbacks, her trouble began when she fell in love with a man named Peter (played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen) while working at Bly Manor. The two quickly hit it off after she was hired as the nanny, and though they were cute at first, things soon took a turn.
Peter was possessive, mean, and manipulative towards Rebecca, however when he suggested they run away together to America, she agreed. Everything changed in the coming hours, when Peter disappeared.
Rebecca (and the rest of the workers at the manor) were under the impression that Peter abandoned her and Bly, stealing as he left. The reality, however, is that he was actually taken by a faceless ghost who lived at the estate, and was killed by her. As a ghost, Peter was trapped at the manor, and it wasn’t until he finally confronted Rebecca that she understood what had happened.
So what were Rebecca and Peter to do? Wanting to be together, Peter came up with a plan so they could touch each other and truly live together again, telling Becs that she had to invite his spirit into her body.
Once Miss Jessel said those magic words—”it’s you, it’s me, it’s us”—Peter took over her body and she was tucked away in fond memories while he acted as her. During this time, Peter walked into the lake and committed suicide, in turn killing Rebecca’s body. To him, this was the only true way they could be together again. However, Rebecca was not told about this major part of the plan.
The show is then done with flashbacks once we find out really happened to Rebecca, and then we see Peter’s next grand plan. Becs seemingly agrees that she will take over Flora’s body and Peter will take over Miles.’ They explain to the children that this is a way for them to be reunited with their parents (since they would be tucked away into their memories).
Thankfully, Rebecca goes against Peter and she lets Flora go. Together, they save Dani who had been taken and tied up. Becs says it’s too late to save Miles, but urges Flora to leave the manor with Dani while they still can.
Peter is still in Miles’ body, and he scolds Rebecca for not going along with the plan. That’s the last we see of Peter and Miss Jessel.
So what exactly happens to the couple?
Well, Dani ends up saving the day by inviting Viola the ghost into her body, in the process breaking the spell she had cast and allowing all spirits that were trapped at Bly to be released. This means that Flora and Miles go back to being Flora and Miles, and as for Peter and Rebecca? It’s safe to assume they’re dead and gone.
Considering Dani breaks the curse stowed upon Bly and sets everything back to normal, Peter and Miss Jessel are no longer spirits present at the manor.
Clearly, Miss Jessel is completely wronged by Peter, making him arguably one of the biggest villains of the show!
If you want to see for yourself, The Haunting of Bly Manor is now available to stream on Netflix.