User Reviews

Been hooked since the first episode. Is it accurate? No.

It brings with it a sense of empathy for Emily. Hailee brings a charm to her character. Its a surprisingly pleasant approach to the dark writings of her.

Episode 8 made me understand her more and to immerse myself in the poetry of Dickinson and the writings of Emerson. This episode had a balance of humour, of sadness and of love in all its forms.

Many will berate this series but the point of it is to celebrate the writer and disperse the concept of loneliness.

Overall a balanced show with periodic costume and settings laced with modern style and delivery

I am a huge fan of Louisa May Alcott and have put countless hours into research of her life, and going into this episode I honestly didn't have high expectations. The casting of Alcott alone was an insult. Upon watching I found many things wrong with it so I am going to share them here. At the beginning of the episode Louisa comes in with a family named the Humphreys, they say Louisa lives in Concord, they began to talk about how Alcott is now a published author, referring to her book Flower Fables; which was published in 1854. Now, Alcott did not move to the state of Massachusetts until 1858, which makes this scene not make any sense. The next scene we see Louisa is talking about how her family is "broke", when at this time in her life they still were very rich, not losing their fortune until the civil war broke out. Another thing I noticed about her character is they made her very self-absorbed and in your face, which is not what like Louisa was like at all. It was also unlike Louisa to talk bad about Nathaniel Hawthorne, since they were so close in real life. While Louisa and Emily are on their run, Louisa mentions that women should not get married because men just expect you to stay in the kitchen and have children, now while Louisa never married, that was not her thinking on the subject. Alcott never married because she loved her independence and freedom too much and wanted to make a living on her own,she enjoyed struggling in life;however Louisa spent much time dating men. When they are all sitting around the dinner table, Louisa goes on to say she has an idea for a novel about 4 sisters who do not have a dad, it begins on Christmas and she adds, "What if one of the sisters dies?" I thought this was really disrespectful to Louisa and her sister Elizabeth, as well as everyone else close to Elizabeth. The other problem being the March sisters did have a Father, but he was away at war and comes back when the war is over. Louisa did not come up with the idea on her own to write Little Women, she was asked by her publisher Thomas Niles to write a "book for girls." I am overall very disappointed that they chose to degrade such a strong woman and heroine. It honestly hurts that this episode exists.

Austin - Really glad that you were born!! Really cool

After winning the election, Mr. Dickinson is called away to Washington, D. C. However, Emily is still upset after the incident from the previous episode and is cold to him as he leaves. Emily, though, is quickly brought out of her spell as Ben agrees to celebrate Christmas with them. Finding herself smitten with Ben, Emily agrees to make Christmas dinner to prove that she is wife material. Honestly, this is probably Dickinson's weakest episode. Emily trying to play the part of a good housewife is awkward and feels forced. Also, it really seems out of character how in love she is with Ben. This could partially be due to the fact that Ben was miscast. He didn't have the chemistry he should have with Emily. Also, the entire show is about how Emily is an independent person, so having this person for whom she is willing to give that up is a hard watch. Ben isn't the only issue with this episode. For instance, Mrs. Dickinson's storyline is just too over the top. Louisa May Alcott was annoying as a character, and her performance was kind of disrespectful of the real person as she was nothing like that in real life. Also, the scene with Lavinia at Christmas dinner was just awkward, and there was no way that everyone else there wouldn't know what was going on. There are a few nice moments. Seeing Sue jealous of Ben was cute. Mr. Dickson's attempt to reconnect with Emily was nice. Also, the end of the episode had some nice foreshadowing, even if it was a little obvious. In the end, Emily seems to get back on track, and Hailee is great at what she is given to work with. Overall, it is an okay episode, but not as good as the rest of the show.

3 out of 5 stars.

Decent episode. Its christmas time. Emily wants to impress a guy. Sue has a secret she wants to share with Austin. It is lacking the fun energy. And the humor is okay.