[7.4/10] It’s funny, I didn’t get much of the political commentary going on in Middlemarch the novel. I could tell it was there, and could kind of get the gist of it, but it seemed so specific to that period of English history that a lot of it went over my head. If there’s one thing to be said about the mini-series adaptation, and this episode in particular, it’s that it universalizes that political commentary a bit, exposing Mr. Brooke as a vapid opportunist and hypocrite, trying to ride the wave of a “reform” and “new ideas” he doesn't really believe in as a supposed champion for people he doesn't actually care about. Were that modern day voters understood the transparent hypocrisy as well as the one in Eliot’s fictional burg.
But I also like that this one gives us a chance to see Ladislaw being good at something, not just in his rousing public speech, but in his very pragmatic way of stumping for Mr. Brooke despite recognizing the emptiness of his benefactor’s head, because he cares more about who will support the cause than who is a true believer. There’s a lesson in that as well.
I’ll admit, I’m less up on the romantic story featuring him still. His burning forbidden love routine still leaves me a bit cold, but I at least appreciate the way that Casaubon’s codicil makes things awkward and even hurtful for everyone involved. Dorothea takes a bit of a backseat in this episode, but the story takes her pain and hardship seriously, which is a good thing.
The Lydgate/Rosamund material is also better in this one. The trouble in their marriage is, frankly, the most interesting part of it, and the way Rosamund’s social climbing conflicts with Lydgate’s social lack-of-giving-a-damn pays dramatic dividends here. This adaptation plays up Lydgate as someone who’s generally right with a goal toward overall betterment for mankind but acts like a dick toward people, which makes him harder to warm to, but at least plays him up as a complicated figure. The show plays the loss of Rosamund’s pregnancy for the breaking point that it is, and while she still overacts it a bit, the development still works as something where Lydgate’s trying to be reassuring but is privately angry and devastated.
I also was surprisingly compelled by the arrival of Mr. Raffles, whom I abhorred in the novel. There’s a colorfulness to his threats and innuendos here, borne by the performance, which makes him far more interesting than the cad in the book version. Bulstrode’s squeamishness about the whole thing is a side of him we haven’t really seen, which is interesting.
Otherwise, I like the smaller tidbits here and there. Farebrother getting a paying posting via Dorothea is still a nice and encouraging touch. We check in with Fred who’s characteristically miserable about becoming a man of the cloth himself and learn (though don’t see) that Mary won’t have him because of it. And even Mrs. Cadwallader shines a bit in this one by giving some direct and frank advice to Dorothea when everyone else is deciding things for her (or Ladislaw) behind their backs.
Overall, this may be my favorite episode yet, which is odd since Dorothea’s storyline has been my favorite of the series so far, and it’s pretty minimal here. Maybe it’s just that the political message, which was always in the book, is brought front and center here, and bound up with the animating themes from the novel -- of who truly wants to do good and who’s a pretender and observer of shallow social niceties -- that help make it so memorable and resonant.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-03-30T01:14:17Z
[7.4/10] It’s funny, I didn’t get much of the political commentary going on in Middlemarch the novel. I could tell it was there, and could kind of get the gist of it, but it seemed so specific to that period of English history that a lot of it went over my head. If there’s one thing to be said about the mini-series adaptation, and this episode in particular, it’s that it universalizes that political commentary a bit, exposing Mr. Brooke as a vapid opportunist and hypocrite, trying to ride the wave of a “reform” and “new ideas” he doesn't really believe in as a supposed champion for people he doesn't actually care about. Were that modern day voters understood the transparent hypocrisy as well as the one in Eliot’s fictional burg.
But I also like that this one gives us a chance to see Ladislaw being good at something, not just in his rousing public speech, but in his very pragmatic way of stumping for Mr. Brooke despite recognizing the emptiness of his benefactor’s head, because he cares more about who will support the cause than who is a true believer. There’s a lesson in that as well.
I’ll admit, I’m less up on the romantic story featuring him still. His burning forbidden love routine still leaves me a bit cold, but I at least appreciate the way that Casaubon’s codicil makes things awkward and even hurtful for everyone involved. Dorothea takes a bit of a backseat in this episode, but the story takes her pain and hardship seriously, which is a good thing.
The Lydgate/Rosamund material is also better in this one. The trouble in their marriage is, frankly, the most interesting part of it, and the way Rosamund’s social climbing conflicts with Lydgate’s social lack-of-giving-a-damn pays dramatic dividends here. This adaptation plays up Lydgate as someone who’s generally right with a goal toward overall betterment for mankind but acts like a dick toward people, which makes him harder to warm to, but at least plays him up as a complicated figure. The show plays the loss of Rosamund’s pregnancy for the breaking point that it is, and while she still overacts it a bit, the development still works as something where Lydgate’s trying to be reassuring but is privately angry and devastated.
I also was surprisingly compelled by the arrival of Mr. Raffles, whom I abhorred in the novel. There’s a colorfulness to his threats and innuendos here, borne by the performance, which makes him far more interesting than the cad in the book version. Bulstrode’s squeamishness about the whole thing is a side of him we haven’t really seen, which is interesting.
Otherwise, I like the smaller tidbits here and there. Farebrother getting a paying posting via Dorothea is still a nice and encouraging touch. We check in with Fred who’s characteristically miserable about becoming a man of the cloth himself and learn (though don’t see) that Mary won’t have him because of it. And even Mrs. Cadwallader shines a bit in this one by giving some direct and frank advice to Dorothea when everyone else is deciding things for her (or Ladislaw) behind their backs.
Overall, this may be my favorite episode yet, which is odd since Dorothea’s storyline has been my favorite of the series so far, and it’s pretty minimal here. Maybe it’s just that the political message, which was always in the book, is brought front and center here, and bound up with the animating themes from the novel -- of who truly wants to do good and who’s a pretender and observer of shallow social niceties -- that help make it so memorable and resonant.