The Other Bennet Sister, Episode 6 — Recap: Pemberley Undoes Everything
Opens on: “The anxiety I felt over my mother’s sudden illness was quite overwhelming. Losing one parent had upturned my life, to lose the other was unthinkable.
Though my mother’s presence had always loomed large in my life, I could not imagine myself without her.”
What happened
The below summary might be viewed as spoilery
The show starts with Mary racing to Pemberley expecting a sickroom and possibly a farewell. What she finds is Mrs Bennet surrounded by her sisters and recovered enough to criticize.
Mrs Bennet looks perfectly alive, which is obviously a relief, and immediately comments on Mary’s complexion and hair. Mary has made a long journey in a panic and the welcome is: you look terrible.
Mary’s narration puts it plainly: she is “back where I started.”
The sisters share news and attention is quickly moved to Mary’s stay in London, if she keeps good company, and how she likes it.
Then Mrs Bennet rings her bell and Mary is immediately summoned. She has to walk the dog, bring warm water and chopped meat, find pillows, fetch cheese, choose a readable book. The dog is apparently the “only member of this family” Mrs Bennet can depend on.
Just to hammer home the point we get Mary walking the dog as it starts to rain and thunder rumbles.
Lizzy does try to connect with Mary and she admits what happened with Caroline Bingley, the bell jar and Ryder. She also admits that Ann has become a dear friend and Tom Hayward is the kindest man. Then Lizzy asks if any gentlemen have taken Mary’s eye, to which she replies: “…it’s actually entirely without any eligible men. And anyway, I believe I’m not really the marrying sort.”
“Nonsense, Mary.” We truly get a view of Lizzy that’s so different from how her sisters treated her before London.
Then Ryder appears at Pemberley. Unannounced. Wanting to see her.
Mary is mortified, of course. Her sisters are delighted, suspicious, entertained, or all three. Mrs Bennet suddenly recovers even more.
Ryder handles the family very well. He tells them he and Mary met in London and share a taste in despicable crime pamphlets. It is funny, but it also matters. He is not embarrassed by the thing Mary thinks she should hide.
On a walk, he tells Mary how good it was to meet her family. We get this fantastic moment where they speak on why he’s there. Mary thinks it is because he wants to talk about the object that broke upon her sudden disappearance from his party. He wants to talk about “…our connection.” Mary of course misses that.
He praises her lack of artifice, her insight, her interesting mind. He asks what makes her happy, and Mary answers honestly: reading, learning, teaching. He talks so positively about Mary in front of Mrs Bennet and her sisters.
“Tell me, Miss Bennet… what makes you happy?” He seems genuinely interested in her.
However, we do get a good amount of contrast in how he is and how she is. The more they interact, the clearer their differences become. But, opposites can attract, right?
On their ride Ryder tries to tell Mary how he feels in the language he thinks she will appreciate: Wordsworth.
“She dwelt among the untrodden ways. Beside the springs of Dove. A maid whom there were none to praise. And very few to love.
A violet by a mossy stone, half hidden from the eye. Fair as a star when only one is shining in the sky.”
It’s an absolutely wonderful scene. Full of romance. Full of hope that Mary has found her one. Still, there’s some doubt there. Mary just doesn’t seem willing to accept that a handsome gentleman like William Ryder could be into her.
By the end, Mrs Bennet is convinced Ryder is about to propose. Mary tries to warn her not to expect too much, but hope is already loose in the house. Ryder asks to speak to Mary in private…
“Mother had told me to prepare myself.
But nothing could prepare me for what happened next.”
What a cliffhanger! This episode was great. We are midway through the season and it appears like things might be heading Mary’s way.