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Is Peter Quint a ghost in The Haunting of Bly Manor? His backstory explained
9 October 2020, 14:40
Behind the scenes of The Haunting of Bly Manor
Here's what happened to Peter Quint (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) in The Haunting of Bly Manor.
The Haunting of Bly Manor features multiple mysterious characters but none of them are more mysterious than Peter Quint.
Based on Henry James' novel The Turn of the Screw, The Haunting of Bly Manor is about Dani (Victoria Pedretti) and her time working as a governess for two children, Miles and Flora, at Bly Manor. While Dani is there, she appears to see Peter (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) on the property and we soon learn about his history and how his life became intertwined with Bly Manor.
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With that in mind, we've put together an explanation as to who Peter is and whether he's dead, a ghost or simply a stalker.
MAJOR THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR SPOILERS BELOW
The answer is all of the above. Peter is dead, a ghost AND he is also lowkey a stalker. When Dani sees him on the Bly Manor grounds, she is really seeing Peter's ghost. In episode 3, we learn that Peter was an associate of Henry Wingrave, Miles and Flora's uncle. He helped Henry hire Rebecca and the two of them immediately hit it off, first flirting, then sleeping together.
However, despite Peter's good looks and charm, it soon becomes apparent that he is not who he seems. He is possessive, controlling and manipulative. He physically grabs Rebecca at times, thinks that she is seeing Owen behind his back when she isn't, and he even persuades her to use forbidden parts of the Manor for their not-so-secret relationship.
Why do the residents of Bly Manor think Peter is alive?
We later learn that he stole money from Henry and disappeared without a trace but it turns out that he never left the Manor. He wanted to run away to America with Rebecca but, before he could, the ghost of the Lady in the Lake strangled him to death and dragged his body to the bottom of the lake with only Miles and Flora as witnesses.
Miles and Flora never told Hannah, Owen, Jamie or Henry what happened so they assumed that Henry simply ran away.
Did Peter kill Rebecca in The Haunting of Bly Manor?
Peter then as a ghost possessed Rebecca and forced her to drown herself in the lake so that they could spend the rest of eternity together trapped in Bly Manor as ghosts. However, as ghosts, they slip in and out of reality and memories, so he plans for him and Rebecca to possess Miles and Flora and take full control of their bodies to live in Bly forever.
Throughout the series, whenever Miles seems off or weird that's Peter possessing him. Peter even murders Hannah. He pushes her down a well, when he's possessing Miles, so that she can't disrupt his plans. Peter later tries to kill Dani because she's seen so much but Rebecca stops him.
What's Peter's backstory?
In flashbacks, we learn that Peter came from an abusive background. His dad abused both him and his mother. We also find out that his mother was in and out of rehab. She even tries to blackmail him into stealing money from Henry by threatening to make Henry aware of Peter's juvenile records.
While none of this excuses Peter's actions, it does explain, to a certain extent, why he is the way he is.
