Hannah Belsan

This was a pretty disappointing adaptation. The cinematography and music were good, but the acting felt pretty stilted and contrived, not to mention the script. The brother-sister-cousin? love triangle was ridiculous and unnecessarily vulgar. The Sidney-Charolette dynamic was like a generic attempt of Darcy-Elizabeth, but super unbelievable and poorly crafted. I was rooting for Esther in the end and cheered when simple Charolette left empty handed. Clara’s storyline’s was vague and pointless. She eludes to her past several times but there’s no follow-up which makes it feel like a waste of screen-time. The whole story felt like it was trying too hard to push/force the envelope of race, feminism and sexual liberation. I appreciate equality for all races and genders, but this story was pretty preposterous. Miss Lamb and Young Stringer were the only redeeming characters of this story. For having eight episodes, two more than the Ehle/Firth P&P, the story was shoddily thrown together and unresolved. I get that they maybe did that in hopes of filming another season, but come on! I love a good Austen adaptation. If that’s what you’re looking for, then I would suggest skipping this one.