Deron Generally
Deron GenerallyThe Haunting of Hill House
Netflix
Season 1 Episode 2
Open Casket
The second episode of the series is all about dealing with life and death. The main focus of the episode is the oldest daughter Shirley. In the past, Shirley discovers a box of kittens hidden in a tool shed on the property and she brings them into the house. What happens to her and them over the course of their time in the house is what drives Shirley to her ultimate calling as a mortician.
In the present, Shirley decides to deal with the death of Nelly by diving into work, specifically preparing her own sister for her funeral. Through flashbacks, we learn more about the events in the house from Shirley’s perspective and even though there isn’t much of the supernatural in her recollections, death is a driving theme of her story. The only real paranormal moment in the episode comes when she completes “fixing” her sister and has a visit from a ghost from the past.
This second episode is really interesting. It does a great job of moving the story forward and adding additional layers to the relationships between the children as adults. You learn and see more about Nelly from the perspective of her older sister and Shirley’s desire to protect her family. There are some really good scares in the episode, but this feels more like a psychological thriller than the horror of the first episode.
The Haunting of Hill House S01XE02
