The Other Bennet Sister, Episode 8 — Recap: Two Men, One Boat
Opens on: “I could not remember when I’d last felt so ready for change - a new beginning.”
What happened
The below summary might be viewed as spoilery
Mary is finally away from Pemberley and Mrs Bennet. The Lakes are not just a new place; they are a different idea of life.
She thinks about what the Gardiners have taught her: happiness is not just chance. It can be cultivated.
On the way, Mary runs into Ann Baxter. The good news is that Ann is happy. The complicated news is that Ann and Tom have ended their agreement, and Ann is now engaged to Mr Powell. Mary of course asks how Tom is, before asking how Ann is after the breakup.
“We were not a match,” Ann says.
Mary is kind, of course, but you can feel her mind begin to move at once. Poor Tom. Heartbroken Tom. Also suddenly available Tom.
At breakfast, Tom arrives. He gives Mary a Wordsworth guide to the Lakes, “where geography meets poetry.” Very Tom. He also asks about Pemberley, and Mary admits that her mother is very much back to her old self and more disappointed in her than ever.
Tom’s response is gentle and direct. He is sorry anyone has ever made her feel like a disappointment.
This does not help the “do not have feelings” project.
Mary, Tom and the Gardiners go fishing. Mary takes it upon herself to teach them how, because she read a book on it on the way to the Lakes. We see them plan mountain climbing, ‘catching’ some weeds, laughing. All in all balances the emotional turbulence that’s been going on in the show.
After a round of fishing, Mary and Tom sketch together. Mary declares her drawings an offence to both lake and art, which is exactly the kind of severe self-assessment one expects from Mary Bennet holding a pencil. Tom responds by showing her his own terrible drawings.
“Mr Ryder and I are not engaged… if that’s what you thought.
In fact, I’m trying to think of a different future for myself.”
Tom springs into action, quite literally. Asks Mary if she can’t imagine in herself finding a match. To which Mary declares that she has made peace with not doing so.
“Do you not think it might be worth you having one last look about… just to make sure?”
It’s so obvious that she doesn’t dare hope that Tom wants anything more with her. The Ryder disappointment and being back with Mrs Bennet seems to have made her pessimistic about love again.
Then comes the bird-calling scene, which works because it lets both of them be ridiculous without turning either of them into the joke. Mary has spent so much of her life being laughed at. Here, she gets to laugh with someone. That distinction matters.
It is silly, tender, and just embarrassing enough to feel private.
Tom arranges a row on the lake, just the two of them, and is visibly on the verge of finally saying the thing. The air changes. Mary knows it. Tom knows it. We know it. Even the water seems to be minding its manners.
He tells Mary that ending his understanding with Ann was something of a relief, that his feelings had changed, and that he hopes she might feel the same way.
“And over that time, my feelings had changed. Recently, I found that they had changed quite significantly, and I hope…
I hope that you’d feel the same way.”
Enter Ryder. “Ahoy!”
He appears on the shore, gets their attention, and then swims out to the boat.
Tom tries to haul him aboard. Ryder accidentally pulls Tom into the water instead. The oars are lost in the chaos. The episode turns its big romantic set piece into two soaked rivals pushing a boat back to shore while Mary sits in it.
Then the show adds Caroline Bingley to the Lakes, because apparently Mary cannot have one peaceful moment without someone arriving to make things uncomfortable.
We get a brilliant setup at the end over dinner. Tom and Mary have made plans to climb Scafell Pike. Once words get out, Ryder invites himself on the climb as well along with other people.
Tom asks if they can complete their talk on the boat at the top of the mountain.
William also wants to discuss things with her at the top of the mountain because “I now see a way in which it is possible for us to have all that and still conform.”
Overall, this is the funniest the triangle has been. The episode gives us longing looks and meaningful poems, yes, but also terrible timing, bad bird drawings, and the exact wrong man swimming toward you at the exact wrong moment.