S01.E04: Episode 4

[Snazzy Daisy]

Quote

Mr Dundas and his wife prepare to move into the Kintbury vicarage, and the urgent question of Isabella’s future continues to occupy Cassandra as she learns the truth about Isabella and Lidderdale’s past. Dinah makes a reckless decision. The letters reveal her sister’s struggle to keep writing, as the family’s fortunes – and Jane’s mental and physical health – went into an alarming decline. Amid these very private recollections, young Cassandra’s own letters tell a heartbreaking story of just how much she sacrificed to support her sister.

Air Date: Feb 02, 2025 (BBC iPlayer)

 

[Kirsty]

Looks like this hasn't aired in the States yet.

I liked it but didn't love it. I thought the actressses in the older timeline, playing young Jane and young Cassandra, were fantastic. The woman playing young Jane Austen, especially, was so good I forgot it was a performance. And I really appreciated that they didn't cast a bombshell as Jane, but someone who looks normal. She looks like someone I went to school with.

But, for the first time, I didn't think Keeley Hawes was great. Her performance struck me as overdone. I could see her putting it on.

And then I sometimes felt the story was a little silly too.

But I liked many things about it as well. It illustrated the limits of a lady's world back then very clearly, when men owned everything, you could just be turfed out of your home by a male relative, and when marriage was both your only escape route and your only means of getting money. In addition, I enjoyed the bond between the sisters.

I thought Cassie was a complete fool for refusing Mr Hobday once, in favour of a promise to a dead man. But she was young, romantic, and still grieving, so it was forgivable. To knock him back a second time because she needed to look after her perfectly healthy sister was criminally stupid, and I could only assume she was a terrible martyr. But I realise that in real life Cassandra Austen never married after her fiancé died. So the writer, Gill Hornby, was stuck with that.

And then, for most of the show, Isabella seemed to be pigheadedly going against her own interests too. So I felt I was watching Woman Makes Bad Decision For Reasons in two costumey timelines. With each character forcing a smile and insisting it's for the best. Like who *wouldn't* have been happy house-sharing with that gruff sister and her souvenirs from India?

Aren't Cassie's two suitors cousins in real life?! I think both Max Irons and Calam Lynch belong to the Cusack acting dynasty.

[chitowngirl]

3 hours ago, Kirsty said:

Looks like this hasn't aired in the States yet.

It airs in the States in May…I can’t wait!