What I’m Watching: Dickinson (Season Premiere)

Dickinson: Season 3, Episode 1 ““Hope” is the thing with feathers” (B+)

I’m very happy to have this show back, even if it’s for a final season, which is a shame given how I would have been glad to watch it for many years. Having spoken to three of the cast members – Hailee Steinfeld, Anna Baryshnikov, and Ella Hunt – has enhanced my enjoyment of it, and at the time that we talked, they previewed a season three that was going to be all about the Civil War. Opening with Emily on the battlefield was an intriguing image, and she seems to have gained a new perspective that isn’t necessarily in line with how the rest of the world – and her family – sees her. Conkey proposing in the wake of Aunt Lavinia’s death felt like it came from out of nowhere, but he’s not the only one who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with Emily. After she delivered a surprisingly poignant and mostly well-received speech at dinner, Austin lashed out and didn’t even care that his father was lying close to death on the ground. His attitude has taken an incredibly negative turn, and even Jane isn’t all for his behavior even if they know all about their affair. I like that Emily found Sue more attractive when she was pregnant, but that’s definitely a complicating factor. The priest not wanting to take time to officiate a funeral for an older woman when young soldiers were dying was harsh, and the fact that even Death was depressed because everyone was dying the same way shows how much times have truly changed.