#this is not a critique of mike

[gayofthefae]

Max signed her letter to Billy "love". Brenner told El he loved her. What does that say about Mike. What are they trying to say for how easy it SHOULD be.

They are employing everything they have to say "this isn't about El, there has to be something big holding him back". Big and unique. Not your classic slapped together fear of vulnerability plot line.

[ki11tr4p]

Like c’mon what were they expecting?

[stalactites]

i've never hated a writer/director like i hate mike flanagan. i think about his work for two seconds and i feel such rage the only alleviation is walking into the sea forever and ever.

[sinclairstarz]

for the cinephile byler truthers. i made the party’s modern au letterboxd accounts

in my head mike wheeler is the film bro cinephile of the party. hes a big brad pitt fan and fincher is his favorite director if you even care.. dirty dancing would be in his top 4 if he was honest. he went to see dune cause hes a scifi nerd, ended up hating it so much and complained about it to will but still gave it 2 stars cause it was pretty. did leave a very mean review. very critical rater but mostly leaves high ratings because he just doesn’t watch things he doesnt wanna see.

alternative movies i considered putting: pulp fiction (5 stars), the killer (1 star), se7en (5 stars), across the spiderverse (5 stars), nope (5 stars) , the batman 2022 (4 stars), once upon a time in hollywood (5 stars), inglorious basterds (5 stars), the matrix (half a star)

the thing is so good and he has a poster of it on his wall in canon so it felt right. it just feels wrong not to do ghostbusters (plus its one of my favorite movies…) and yall need to hear me out on brokeback 😭😭😭 ur telling me he wouldnt bawl his eyes out??? ur wrong. will byers is a jake gyllenhaal lover. he watches dirty dancing a lot for mike, and loves ghibli movies a lot. he cried during rain man. honest rater but doesnt take it too seriously, mostly 4/5 star ratings

alternatives: saltburn (half a star), asteroid city (5 stars), blackkklansman (5 stars), the force awakens (3.5 stars), the perks of being a wallflower (4.5 stars), back to the future (5 stars)

rogue one because lucas has taste. its the best star wars movie, if u care. he would love how fun and goofy ghostbusters 2 is. in my head Wes Anderson is like the party’s claimed director and they all watch his movies together and do marathons because the weirdness, comedy, and emotional commentary is a perfect mix for them. so. bottle rocket. lucas’ favorite wes anderson is the grand budapest hotel if u wanted to know. he rates things pretty highly and isn’t super critical.

alternatives: dodgeball (5 stars), scream 5 (4 stars), the matrix (3 stars), good will hunting (5 stars), jurassic park (5 stars), die hard (5 stars),

likes making lucas watch gone girl on valentines day and telling him shes gonna do that to him next time he annoys her. v for vendetta is her favorite romance movie and shes a big marvel fan (in a cool way. kind of .) but thor ragnarok is probably one of her fav marvels, along with spiderman far from home and iron man. i just know she watches Casino Royale and decided she hated James Bond and then ended up watching all the Daniel Craig Bonds with Mike and loved Skyfall so much. the song is on her playlist and she did cry after No Time To Die.

Alternatives: Superbad (5 stars), baby driver (5 stars), bottoms (5 stars), 10 things i hate about you (3.5 stars), scream (5 stars), kill bill (5 stars), lord of the rings: the return of the king (1.5 stars)

also a bit of a film nerd. i considered giving him a star wars and i know in my heart he’d probably have empire somewhere in his top 4. but star wars is lame and i wanted to give him se7en so he fucking gets se7en. he knows john wick is objectively dumb but he doesnt care hes just here for a good time. the party probably watched saltburn together and all fucking hated it. I just know hes a kurosawa nerd and always goes when the local theatres do very rare special showings of his movies.

alternatives: baby driver (4 stars), the ewok adventure (5 stars) hot fuzz (5 stars) harry potter and the sorcerers stone (4 stars) legally blonde (5 stars) spirited away (5 stars) dazed and confused (5 stars)

she likes movies that make her feel all warm and fuzzy and hopeful. i wanted to give her breakfast club, but i think she’d honestly like sixteen candles more (even though breakfast club’s better). she cried at almost every movie in her top 4 and makes max rewatch juno with her like once a month. she gives most movies 5 stars unless she really hates them, and loves any movie thats fun to watch, even if its bad. she likes movies with pretty girls and fun colors.

alternatives: barbie (5 stars), legally blonde (5 stars), inception (2 stars), heathers (5 stars) pretty in pink (4.5 stars (she was mad andi didn’t end up with ducky)) my neighbor totoro (5 stars)

in conclusion if you haven’t seen They Cloned Tyron (2023) go watch it it deserved the oscar

[the-far-bright-center]

"The film’s deeply visual emphasis also plays out in linear and direct relation to the previous prequels: The Phantom Menace is characterized mostly by the warm tones of Tatooine and Naboo, with the majority of scenes occurring in bright sunlight; Attack of the Clones balances evening and late daytime scenes, its palette dominated by the steely grays and blues of Coruscant and Kamino to underline the moral relativity of its central character; finally, Revenge of the Sith plays out predominantly at dusk and at nighttime, frequently situating its characters in political chambers designed according to the film’s “evil” tones of black and red. So too does the style of composition and movement bolster the film’s tonality: even in the midst of their narrative complexities, Menace and Clones are punctuated frequently with rousing set pieces, lending the films an exciting forward momentum. Contrarily, Revenge of the Sith submerges itself in the discomforting particulars of faltering political systems and fatal misunderstandings. The aforementioned opening provides the film’s only sequence of pure “escape,” and even that sequence takes a moment to fester in Anakin’s decaying sense of morality. Much of the film devotes itself to conversations with impossibly high stakes, dialogue delivered in a kind of blunt efficiency that recalls silent cinema; the words are functional, serving only to supplant the audiovisual power on display. When characters speak, they speak broadly and dramatically, leaving no room for confusion: “You’re breaking my heart”; “from my point of view, the Jedi are evil.” The performances also frequently hearken back to older styles: when Palpatine transforms into the treacherous Emperor we remember from Jedi, actor Ian McDiarmid exudes the expressive excess of kabuki theatre, a style lent famous cinematic context by Akira Kurosawa in Throne of Blood (1958) and Ran (1985).

Given the newly expansive potential afforded by digital technology, Lucas is no longer limited to simple filmic references. In Revenge of the Sith, he boldly visualizes his interests in classical mythology and literature; to be sure, the prequels recall the tragedies of Shakespeare, perhaps most evidently in Palpatine’s similarities to Othello’s Iago. However, Lucas digs deeper and further into the past when he depicts Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi duelling across the volcanic vistas of Mustafar. When discussing this scene, it is crucial to acknowledge Camille Paglia’s wonderful and laudatory piece in Glittering Images. Indeed, it is in this scene that the film’s awe-striking and unprecedented anachronism totally takes over: painting his images digitally, Lucas taps into our knowledge of Dante, of the legend of Faust, the Christian Hell and the Greek Hades, of the metaphoric burning of Icarus’s wings in the form of Anakin’s smoldering body. Appropriately, John Williams’s score moves further from Korngold-echoing whimsy with each successive prequel, and in Sith it acquires operatic overtones. Never one to divide “high” art from “low,” Lucas draws from every available well of visual representation to craft this uniquely digital genre entertainment, a film that is broadly drawn in its emotional strokes but rigorous in its cinematic grammar. The starkly outlined divisions established by the five preceding films break down in the Mustafar sequence, emphasized by the combatants’ matching lightsabers. It is almost as if we are watching the mythic Star Wars world burning down, an epic downfall of elemental gestures. We can no longer perceive this man, Anakin Skywalker, as an enigmatic monster in a robotic suit; not now that we have seen him weeping with rage at the network of choices and obstacles that led him to hell. If only every myth were graced with such far-ranging moral gradients; Anakin chooses evil, because it seems to him like the only right choice at the time. Now that is tragedy."

[krogans-give-the-best-cuddles]

Tbh I get why they're not having more prev games options factor in (the crunch and remaking this game like 5 times) and I think the argument of focusing on making this game reactive inside of itself instead of to past events is fair and valid even.

I do however have to raise my eyebrow at the "we prioritized the choices that could be the most interesting" when what they had was 1. Who you romanced as inquisitor (which?? Was labeled friendship/romance in the screenshot I saw?? Even tho it didn't let you choose who your friends were???) 2. Whether the inquisition was disbanded 3. Something about Solas or whatever

But NOTHING about the well of sorrows?? But both the inquisitor and Morrigan are gonna be in the game?? My first question is: why did you not think who got the well of Sorrows would be interesting? My second question is: what is the goddamn point of having the inquisitor or Morrigan come back if the most ominous/interesting potential consequence for them is not going to be relevant at all?

They also said that they would be keeping it vague what was going on on all other decisions so that it felt like "your dragon age" still exists- but it would be impossible to be vague about Morrigan/Inquisitor and the well of Sorrows, GIVEN who has the power over it in this game. So the available options are 1. They are lying and they do make a Canon decision we cannot control 2. They forgot about the well entirely 3. Inquisitor and Morrigan die in a fire explosion two seconds after seeing them and conveniently completely cut off from the power the well has over them so we don't have to think about this at all

None of these are satisfying options. I am not against kind of "clean slating" this game for real. I think it is set in locations where that could be *stretched* to be feasible, and I think that if they had EAs guns to their heads the entire time making it, it IS the most artistically sound decision to prioritize making the game stand on its own over having it be a serious of fanservice moments. But why the fuck do we need to have Morri show up then? Put her away. Put the inquisitor away even. The fact that they have brought Morrigan back AND made this choice makes me question the story direction heavily- bc it seems like 1. Not everybody present even knew what the dominoes the previous game was setting up were and/or 2. They ARE still trying for fanservice anyway, which is stupid bc this whole venture was to prioritize new storytelling

[willbyersabyss]

the day people understand that parallels are not always comparing things to say they are exactly the same, but often used as a way to highlight how contrasting the situations are, is the day I know peace

[reel-fear]

MIKE BLOCKED ME ON TWITTER FOR ROASTING HIS DUMBASS RESPONSE TO THE GRAPHIC NOVEL STUFF!!

grown ass man scared of the 19-year-old queer being mean to him over his public meltdown more at 8.

[laugtherhyena]

GUESS WHO FINALLY WATCHED THE FNAF MOVIE‼️‼️‼️

[redlettermediathings]

Mike and Jay are modern day circus clowns. Just uglier and stupider. They are here for you today to talk about movies no one will remember in two months. This is the second half of the top ten horror movies seen by Mike and Jay in the first part of the second half of the year. If you understood that give yourself a pat on the back because I didn't. Point is: Here's a bunch of recently released films that these two old clown-farts will yammer on about giving you their ill-gotten and half-wit opinions on. Mike seems to be the dumber of the two. What kind of man watches the AfrAId movie? What kind of man watches Blumhouse trash when he can be doing things like going to the gym to lose an excess 90 pounds? Wait till he finds out Speak No Evil was distributed by Blumhouse! He'll feel so stupid then! Why no one call it Dumbhouse yet? NO ONE THINKS ODF THAT? Jay likes the Substance because of course he does. Mike likes Oddity because he's easily amused and spooked by creep sauce visuals and boring ass movies. I watched that movie and I was so bored I had to doom scroll on TikTok to keep my self from passing out from boredom. Jay likes to see people suffer and for weird things to come out of their bodies and boobies. Jay also can appreciate a soft-touch art house film (fart house film) that taps into the heart of what it is to be human in this crazy crazy world. Sometimes we need a break from smashing and killing and cutting and violence and have a nice film like I Saw the Substance Glow. But the most disagreeable thing in this video is Jay's love for Trap. Mike also loves Trap, but Mike loves the style of music. Mike is correct on this cringe fest. What a Shamshow. Mike is also right on his other picks and Jay is wrong. So check out these flims everyone. They are pretty good!

[daincrediblegg]

I really can't believe Mike did it to me again. I can't. God damnit. The first watch of Usher is good but the second? OH HOLY COW. And I didn't even feel like I was missing so much the first time. I did a decent job GUESSING some of the plot points long before they occurred. But now it's all like?? OH. OH THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THIS STILL!!! this was connected to that. It all makes sense. Things that I didn't even realize didn't make sense to me the first time. Seriously. Flanagan Shows. The gift that keeps on giving.

[cto10121]

Anti fans: If Edward could read Bella’s horny thoughts about him, he would write her off as a whore!!1!1

Canon Edward: How strange, Bella’s heartbeat always accelerates whenever I smile. That’s something Jessica Stanley and Mrs. Cope do when they have their offensive fantasies about me. Could it be that Bella feels the same? Do I…✨dazzle✨ Bella? 🥹 Do I affect her…as a man? 🥹 Big if true…but I mustn’t get my hopes up 😔 She could be anxious or frightened…it is too much to hope for, that my monstrosity could ever be attractive to her 🥺

[eggelette]

The Midnight Club

So I finished the Midnight Club and I have to admit, out of all Mike Flanagan's work, its the weakest. However the runt of a pack of wolves is still a wolf, Spoilers ahead.

I think this weakness is unfortunately because we've gotten used to the strength and maturity of his previous shows. The explorations of deep, haunting love and the ramifications of the way we choose to show that love and although the Midnight club had glimpses of this, it wasn't as much depth.

I think two things influence this overall critique. The first is that the stories within the story doesn't always hit the beats of the overall central story, which for season 1 was at least portrayed as Julia Jayne being Shasta. None of the other members of the hospice were involved in the overarching story, except for the ritual for Anya but that's it. They never met Shasta and thought she was weird. We didn't even see the other kids' reactions to Ilonka''s involvement to the ritual. Instead the stories were like vignettes of the characters which I really liked (except Kevin's because it didn't really tell us anything about the character except he likes to be alone, which is fine but inequitable compared to other characters) but I feel like the two weren't cohesive. The last episode was more dedicated to resolving each of the character's which felt rushed and disjointed, and was ultimately also a disservice to Julia Jayne's story and ramifications of being prepared to kill Ilonka, a child she had been slowly manipulating, for her own health. Health is not wealth at the exploitation of others and that whole narrative thread was dropped because it had no room to breathe.

The second is the fact that Ilonka is the biggest Mary Sue of all times. I mean I understand her being a vulnerable desperate teen who is deadset on her notions of healing herself and her own percieved intelligence is in theory, compelling. I just don't think it came across in practise, because never in the narrative is she challenged or questioned for her actions, plans or words. She's always justified and treated as right by her peers- hell, even in the final scene with Kevin he says she's right when she simply isn't. You could read this as two desperate teens consoling each other, but she was wrong both in the way she treated Kevin's ex-girlfriend, and in the ritual for Anya! It would have taken the life of the others if it worked! When Sandra fucked up with Spence she spent an episode actually reflecting and told a story for her redemption (which still hilariously included Angels) while Ilonka dosn't have to earn her redemption, she just walks in while the camera pans on her and boom forgiven. Also a nitpick of mine, is that she has blind faith in Shasta for the ritual, but her concern and doubt rises when she isn't in the centre of the circle? It's not intelligence, but sheer selfishness that raises red flags, and it's fine to have a selfish character but treat them that way.

The closest that came to any kind of obstacle for Ilonka, was when she asked Dr. Stanton if she could keep her whole "i was almost complicit in a murder sacrifice oopsie" a secret to the rest of the hospice and Dr.Stanton was straight up like "I thought you would have wanted to know something like that? :)". I cackled. But no, no narrative consequences. I think my biggest grip with Ilonka is that she was the protagonist when all of the supporting characters were much more interesting. Anya's story, both the one she told and in the episode of "Anya" were highlights, along with Amesh and Natsuki's stories and respective meanings. I loved Sandra, Spence and Cheri. I adored Mark and the Janitor (Flanagan's season 2 post confirmed my suspicions about the latter).

Speaking of season 2, I took a gander at the posts and I don't really think the ideas would have addressed the critique I'm levelling. The janitor as death I absolutely love, along with Spence getting AIDS treatment (and then going off to live with Sandra in a condo as per my headcanon). Even the elderly ghost couple as soulmates, reincarnated in Kevin and Ilonka is super sweet in theory, but Ilonka's Mary Jane status who can do no wrong has soured it. Also season 2 seems it doesn't have much to do with Julia Jayne, which questions why we are spending so much time in season 1 with the rituals and the lore, and the hourglass, and then not even delving deeper into how the most vulnerable people are scammed and exploited seems like a waste. Time that could have gone to the characters.

Surprisingly, I really liked the ending of the Midnight Club, I love how there were touches of collaborative storytelling earlier (with the club describing Anya and Rhett's future together in the Anya episode) and how it culminated in them finishing Imani's story. I thought Amesh adding him and Natsuki to the story (well their OC's) along with Sandra's film noir OC was incredibly endearing. That, along with the appearance of Angel Porn and all the jumpscares really sold me for the teenaged antics of the group, and the whole nature of the found family.

[honkhonkrichard]

What happens to el in s4e2 in the rinkomania is obviously foul and awful and hurts to watch of course but also it is easily the most coordinated act of bullying ive ever seen before in my life. angela and co got like thirty people in on it. They got the Dj in on it. We’re shown there were adults at the rink and they chose to do nothing. Everyone things its fucking hilarious. the people running the stupid rink didn’t bother to stop it

[esonetwork]

The Diary of River Song Series 8 Review | Earth Station Who

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/the-diary-of-river-song-series-8-review-earth-station-who/

The Diary of River Song Series 8 Review | Earth Station Who

Delve into the captivating world of Doctor Who with the Earth Station Who Podcast’s review of the Big Finish Audio’s, “The Diary of River Song” series 8! Join us as we journey alongside the enigmatic River Song through time and space in this thrilling audio adventure. Joined this week by Podcaster Julie Filipek, we explore each riveting chapter of River’s escapades along with Rachel and K9, unraveling the mysteries of her captivating character through Time and Space. Whether you’re a devoted Whovian or a casual listener, our review promises to immerse you in the rich storytelling of Professor River Song and the ever-expanding universe of Doctor Who. Tune in now for an unforgettable journey with the Doctor’s most intriguing companion!

We want to hear from you! Please write to us at feedback@earthstationwho.com. Also, please subscribe and rate the show on iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, or wherever fine podcasts are found. Feedback is always welcome and much appreciated.

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Promotion Tales From Hollywoodland

If you would like to leave feedback or comment feel free to email us at feedback@earthstationwho.com

[strangesmallbard]

What do you mean by "bad adaptation?" I would say that haunting of hill house is maybe an inaccurate? adaptation, or like maybe subversive adaptation is better, but it's still a good adaptation. Ig I'm curious if by bad adaptation you mean it doesn't match the source material in terms of story or in terms of narrative meaning or both?

while i enjoy flanagan's hill house and think it carries enough of the core themes to have a passing connection with the source material, i ultimately believe it works much better as an original story rather than as an adaptation. "bad adaptation" is definitely an oversimplification for the sake of a meme lmao - unsuccessful is a little closer to what i mean, which i'll explain in more detail below.

first, i want to clarify that analysis of book-to-screen adaptation that only considers 1:1 story accuracy (called "fidelity" by adaptation theorists) when judging the final product's merit is often super myopic. many adapters seek to faithfully recreate the story in a new medium using their own artistic skills, but other adapters like our boy mike flanagan employ more artistic freedom.

to adapt hill house, he changed the basic plot/character elements and explored the nuclear family in more definitive terms than the novel. he also set the story in contemporary times, allowing him to modernize the story. this form of adaptation is totally legitimate and can work amazingly, but i believe it requires a certain recognizability to be truly successful.

here is where i believe flanagan went a few steps too far. his hill house is a good story, but it's a fundamentally different story from jackson's hill house. (this is a whole book ahead, i'm so sorry.)

the characters

again, it's completely okay for adaptations to change up the characters + their dynamics. some works combine characters or remove them altogether if they feel their presence isn't necessary for the version of the story they're trying to tell. but the hill houses have an almost entirely different set of characters, with entirely different dynamics.

in the books, a scientist interested in paranormal phenomena contacts individuals with recorded experiences to explore hill house alongside him and the owner's son, luke sanderson. these individuals are eleanor "nell" vance and theodora, who doesn't have a last name. other characters include the caretaker, mrs. dudley, mrs. montague—the scientist's ouiji board-obsessed wife—and arthur, who works for mrs. montague. the characters bond as they discuss the house's history, their own backgrounds, and the origins of supernatural phenomena. meanwhile, hill house slowly ingratiates itself in nell, who's mourning the loss of her mother.

meanwhile, the tv show centers around the crane family, who move into hill house to renovate and eventually flip the property. the show chronicles their tragic interactions with the house—which resulted in the death of olivia crain, the family's matriarch—alongside the house's robust, terrible history. it also chronicles the crain family in current day after the youngest sibling, nell vance nee' crain completes suicide in the house. throughout the season, we see the crain family learn to deal with their tragic past, their ghosts, and the stories they tell each other to cope.

the tv show's story works really well for its medium, but it's a different story. while some core themes stay the same, they're approached from very different angles.

the house

until the very last episode, i would have argued that the house is the most successful aspect of flanagan's adaptation. it's big, scary, and wrong-looking. you don't want to walk into this house. the angles are quite literally wrong. the addition of actual apparitions complement book!hill house's tendency to entrap its victims and haunt them until they eventually join its history.

olivia crain assumes the role of book!nell in the flashbacks; the idea of a proper home/family drives their internal arcs in both books, with some key differences. nell receives the letter from dr. montague about hill house after losing her mother, whom she took care of her entire adult life. nell and her mother eventually resented each other, and this resulted in mach 10 complicated grief for nell, who suddenly has no place and no one to call her own, to call home. she arrives at hill house ostensibly to search for this place and her fears of eternal loneliness drive her spiral.

in flanagan's hill house, olivia crain's fears over her children drives her spiral. the house ostensibly sends her a premonition of nell's death, leading her to believe the house (and the world outside) will kill her children. in desperation, she tries to kill nell and luke. while these internal arcs are demonstrably different, there is also a through line that allows book readers to recognize olivia as the "nell" figure. this was quite good and fun, aside from my issues with olivia crain's character and how flanagan uses the theme of motherhood. that's for another essay.

HOWEVERRR the last episode happened. the crain kids reunite with their sister, leave their dad in the house, and even see the dudleys reunited with their murdered daughter. afterward, the crain kids live happily. flanagan gave hill house a redemption arc, dismantling the fear from the previous episodes in one ten minute montage. at the end of the book, nell dies and the book ends by repeating the opening line. hill house has stood for a hundred years, and will stand for a hundred more.

a thousand essays could be written on this line alone. does this refer to the perceived permanence of the nuclear family? will humans always destroy themselves if they can't confront the immovable haunted house in their own lives? and so on. you can't unhaunt hill house without writing a fundamentally different haunted house.

theo and nell

in jackson's hill house, the relationship between theo and nell are arguably the heart of the story. the majority of nell's interactions are with theo, including the main "haunting" of the book - when the ghost rattles the walls and door of nell's room. we watch nell become equal parts entranced with theo and resentful of her perceived freedom. she's drawn to theo's vivaciousness and regrets that she's so meek in comparison. she later dreams of living with theo, who gently shuts her down, sending nell further into the spiral that eventually leads to her death. theo is also the last person nell touches when she tries to leave hill house. while i read their interactions as super mega gay, there are many alternative readings. either way, nell and theo are inextricably linked in the book.

in flanagan's hill house, theo and nell are siblings. this automatically changes the relationship and, obviously, removes any possibility of romantic feelings. the most salient parallel is how nell tries to reach out to theo for help; her rejection pushes nell further towards her deadly return to hill house. (not that it was actually her fault, but theo felt like it was her fault.) otherwise, flanagan nell's greatest connection is to her twin brother and her mother, olivia crain. the latter is ostensibly the most like book!theo, but show!nell has very few memories of her mother, and what she does remember, she cherishes rather than interrogates.

theo continued

theo herself is a very, very different character. she's closed off emotionally and her sarcasm is biting, rather than charming, like jackon's theo. book!theo also has a roommate heavily implied to be her girlfriend, which has been the subject of many literary journal articles over the years. while i think it's genuinely great that flanagan's theo is openly gay, she's just. an entirely different lady. this choice is ostensibly subversive, but i think her overall lack of connection to the original character diminishes this quality. (in a more faithful adaptation, i'd love to see a depiction of theo's internal life; it could be a realy interesting juxtaposition to nell's pov, which dominates the original book's narrative.)

nell continued

we are veering a little bit into My Personal Reading of the Text, but i think it holds some merit for this conversation. in jackson's hill house, nell reads as gay and closeted. she feels fundamentally displaced in then-modern society. she's in her thirties and unmarried, and she also isn't a working professional. her sister tolerates her, but nell perceives herself as an unwanted presence. i believe she's partly attracted to theo because she wants aspects of her life - the little house theo describes, her confidence. when book!luke (who's very much not her twin brother) flirts with nell, she recognizes how much she hates the interaction. she doesn't want to flirt with men. this realization makes her a little giddy. the tragedy in hill house is that nell reached out a hand for help, for home, and only the house answered. everyone else lets her drive away.

making nell unequivocally straight in the tv show just. eschews this entire aspect of the book for me. show!nell has a husband and a loving family. she definitely has ptsd from her experiences at hill house (and the vision of her own corpse looming over her head) and grieves her mother, but those societal factors are gone. i can't entirely claim this is an adaptational failure, but it's definitely the biggest missed opportunity of the show.

tl;dr

both jackson's and flanagan's hill houses did what they set out to do. those things are just irreconcilably different. i enjoyed the show and its versions of the characters have stayed with me. but it's not a "successful" adaptation of the book's story, themes, and narrative as i understand them.