8.5/10. I liked this chapter of the story much better than the previous one. It leans into a couple of areas that work well for the series. The first and most obvious is the friendship between Emma and Knightley. Again, getting the chemistry between your two leads just right is an important element to almost any story, and the way the two of them resolved their quarrels without relinquishing it exactly felt like a perfect moment in the development of their relationship.
The second was the resolution of the story involving the perpetually hnng-ing Mr. Elton. There was great comedy wrung from Elton's obvious affections and Emma's semi-annoyed obliviousness to it, but eventually great pathos as well. In her more playful moments, Emma in this adaptation is kind of an unexpected cross between Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica and Queenie in Blackadder. But the episode takes some real time to show how Emma is devastated by her misassessment of the situation with Elton, and how she feels particularly guilty for what she's inflicted on Harriet. It's an important development for the character, one that isn't especially subtle, but that the actress sells particularly well.
The second half of the episode is spent introducing Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill and their various predicaments and mystery. The adaptation does well in casting a Jane who is every bit as reserved as her literary counterparts, and a Churchill who is charming but has a certain slippery quality to him that makes sense for the character. The way the episode feints toward a connection between Emma and Frank, as well as Mr. Knightley and Jane, is well done, but there are enough hints and meaningful looks to make it all feel earned rather than cheesy.
What I particularly liked about this episode is the way it captured the enjoyable character dynamics from the novel, where it be Jane's reaction to the chatterboxy Miss Bates, or Mr. Woodhouse's worries about Isabella's arrival, or John Knightley's general grumpiness. There's a, dare I say, Simpsons-esque quality to the various side characters in the novel that makes the whole enterprise enjoyable even apart from the main story, and this adaptation does a good job vindicating that part of its source material.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-02-12T18:32:42Z
8.5/10. I liked this chapter of the story much better than the previous one. It leans into a couple of areas that work well for the series. The first and most obvious is the friendship between Emma and Knightley. Again, getting the chemistry between your two leads just right is an important element to almost any story, and the way the two of them resolved their quarrels without relinquishing it exactly felt like a perfect moment in the development of their relationship.
The second was the resolution of the story involving the perpetually hnng-ing Mr. Elton. There was great comedy wrung from Elton's obvious affections and Emma's semi-annoyed obliviousness to it, but eventually great pathos as well. In her more playful moments, Emma in this adaptation is kind of an unexpected cross between Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica and Queenie in Blackadder. But the episode takes some real time to show how Emma is devastated by her misassessment of the situation with Elton, and how she feels particularly guilty for what she's inflicted on Harriet. It's an important development for the character, one that isn't especially subtle, but that the actress sells particularly well.
The second half of the episode is spent introducing Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill and their various predicaments and mystery. The adaptation does well in casting a Jane who is every bit as reserved as her literary counterparts, and a Churchill who is charming but has a certain slippery quality to him that makes sense for the character. The way the episode feints toward a connection between Emma and Frank, as well as Mr. Knightley and Jane, is well done, but there are enough hints and meaningful looks to make it all feel earned rather than cheesy.
What I particularly liked about this episode is the way it captured the enjoyable character dynamics from the novel, where it be Jane's reaction to the chatterboxy Miss Bates, or Mr. Woodhouse's worries about Isabella's arrival, or John Knightley's general grumpiness. There's a, dare I say, Simpsons-esque quality to the various side characters in the novel that makes the whole enterprise enjoyable even apart from the main story, and this adaptation does a good job vindicating that part of its source material.