What I’m Watching: Dickinson

Dickinson: Season 3, Episode 5 “Sang from the Heart, Sire” (B+)

The idea of everyone gathering together for a family sing-along to distract from the problems of the world and of the moment is a very familiar and relatable concept that has persisted throughout history, and the specific circumstances of this event are merely what make it applicable to this situation. After Mrs. Dickinson was horrified that the quilt she donated was having its value determined by bidders, she and Edward noticed how much they were being shunned in public, which turned out to be thanks to Edward’s letter expressing a degree of sympathy for the Confederacy. Having a sing-along was a great idea since it rallied not only Edward’s spirit but also Sue’s after she was completely exhausted and not remotely in the mood to even respond to Austin’s repeated attempts to spend time with the baby. Things went well for a while but then quickly devolved, and Austin’s vow to leave his father’s firm to become a divorce attorney, beginning with his own divorce from Sue, was harsh but didn’t bother her since she figured that he would forget he had even said it by the time he was sober again. Sue giving Emily notes on her poem didn’t sit well, but her discovering that Emily had been sending the very personal poems to Colonel Higginson was the most painful moment, one in which Sue likened Emily to Austin, which is the cruelest comment she could have made. Lavinia’s vow of silence was rather typical, a supposed gesture of support that was more about her introspection, and Henry’s time spent with the unrecognized regiment is a better serious, if still peculiar and distinctively stylized, focus on the actual war that’s going on in this show’s universe.