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Flanagan's second Haunting series is nearby unrecognizable as a follow up to his first when it comes to jump factors and mania, and that's why it works. Whereas Hill House is firmly rooted in modern horror, Bly Manor is reaching back to its source material, a Victorian novel meant to unsettle and unshackle the mind from the mundane and logical. Here in this series, we find ourselves in a slowly dissolving time stream, developing its stories slowly so as to display the dismantling of these people's lives as they care for these children. Victorian horror is never meant to frighten, but to disturb. And Bly Manor is a truly disturbing series. We see internal conflict within characters conflicting externally with others, never anyone treading close enough in relationship to truly be honest to one another. More psychological and neurological than his first outing, Flanagan isn't about the jumps scares or the overt horror imagery, Bly is full of artistry and melancholia. What is the loss of innocence? How does one lose it? Regain it? Regain hope? Can one regain hope and wonder in their adulthood, or will they be resigned to shadows and cobwebs in the corners? Who are these characters beyond their messy decisions, and their employment surrounding these children? Are they real and realized individuals, or are they just the playthings of their time, the dolls residing in the dollhouse? Are you the sum of what your life revolves around, or are you lost and trapped in the chains of a life unlived?

Much like Clea DuVall, Alison Tollman needs to be in a lot more than she's been given. She speaks with quirk and wit, with a rapid fire delivery only Lauren Graham used to possess. She's lovely to watch, from a beauty standard and an acting one, with an expressive face that draws you in, and keeps you captive and loving it.

Emergence could have been her takeoff, and it should have been. Here Tollman is in a heroic role and playing the everywoman. Her maternal motives are clear and never wavering on any moral angle. In fact, primarily the rest of the cast are to deal with the moral implications this show raises, while Tollman is driving the boat on nerve and emotion. It's such a treat!

The series itself, as a stand-alone season, is impressive in that it takes a concept told a hundred times and finds the other hundred ways that story could be told. This one season feels so much like three, with so much plot packed in, but the viewer is never lost or questioning why Tollman is making the decisions she is. That's a testament to the writers as well. Solid dialogue in every episode, along with great editing, keeps this jam-packed show moving at a quick pace.

It might only have enough for a one-day binge, and it might leave you absolutely yearning for more, or just more of Tollman, but Emergence is American science fiction done well, and done right.

It even goes so far as fix the Haley Joel Osment quandary from AI: how far can you stretch one child actor's wonder and innocence far enough it won't totally ruin what you're watching?

The answer: Tollman, and really good writing.