Netflix: The Haunting of Hill House episode 8 (Witness Marks) recap

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— Courtesy of Netflix

When last we saw Hugh, he was running into the mysterious red room, the perpetually locked door open for the first time. Episode 8 doesn’t pick up at that moment, but plenty happened anyway. Let’s take a peek.

Steve and Leigh are visiting a fertility doctor, who is asking the usual embarrassing questions. “When was your last period? When did you last ejaculate?” When Steve responds “a week ago”, Leigh looks surprised. During the conversation, Steve sees Olivia standing on the other side of a window, and tells Leigh they have to talk. Uh-oh.

Shirley tells Steve and Hugh that Luke hasn’t used the credit card, both she and Steve thinks he is buying drugs. Theo expresses concern, and says suicides can cluster in families, especially among twins. Neither Hugh nor Theo say anything about seeing Olivia in the office.

Young Hugh is using chemicals in the basement to clear the mold, and Steve wants to help. Hugh tells him that Olivia is going to visit Aunt Janet, and Steve can help with the kids while she is gone. Steve walks through the house, where a lot of men are working, passing a man working on the grandfather clock.

The Haunting of Hill House – Netflix

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Steve walks into the twins’ room, and sees Olivia standing there, talking. “What do you need, sweetheart? You’re safe with me.” There is no one else in the room, who is she talking to?

Hugh and Steve are driving around, looking for Luke. Hugh asks about Leigh, says he could tell things were tense, and Steve tells him he is out of line. Hugh says he and Olivia were married for 15 years, even though they were very different. She used to say she was the kite and Hugh was the line.

Hugh says that he and Olivia separated briefly, but after they got back together, things were different. They still fought, but they fought with love. “Whatever you need to fix with Leigh, I hope you do.”

At Shirley’s house, Kevin is taking the kids trick or treating, and asks if he and Shirl can talk when he gets back. In true Shirley fashion, she says, “How? You’ll be back at the hotel.” He tells her he loves her.

Shirley sits on the floor in her office, and sees mold on the broken pieces of her forever house. The door bell rings, over and over, even though she turned out the porch light to discourage trick or treaters. When she finally gets up to open the door, there is no one there.

The Haunting of Hill House – Netflix

We are back to Hugh and Steve in the car, Hugh saying Luke is a good man, and Steve responding that he’s a junkie. He tells Hugh that he didn’t have to come with him, and Hugh says, “when you have children, you’ll understand. Steve responds that he will never have children.

Steve accuses Hugh of allowing Aunt Janet to raise his children, and he is mad now, because Hugh never told him what happened that night. He saw the police report, Olivia’s skull was cracked, there was blood, she had bruises on her arms, her ankle was twisted, and Hugh just left her there, alone and confused. She threw herself down the stairs. Hugh says it was the house, and Steve says, “It wasn’t the house!” He says he misses his mom.

Young Steve is showing Mrs. Dudley a vanity he found in the game room, and she asks, “the what room?” He asks her to help him fix it, and she finds a framed photo of a woman in the drawer. She says the vanity was Poppy’s, she was William Hill’s wife, and she was insane. Really insane; she and William met in a mental institution. She says she knew her later on, and she was just as crazy, only older. We then see Steve painting the vanity in his game room.

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