RECAP: ‘The Other Bennet Sister’ Episodes 1-3

After decades of Pride and Prejudice adaptations, BritBox’s The Other Bennet Sister imagines a new chapter for one of literature’s most overlooked younger sisters: Mary Bennet. Based on Janice Hadlow’s novel of the same name, The Other Bennet Sister is a worthy continuation for Jane Austen fans. Its three-episode premiere promises an exciting installment in the world of Austen’s beloved characters.

Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri) is considered the least remarkable Bennet among her family and society at large. Each of her sisters has found their best qualities: Jane (Maddie Close) is beautiful, Elizabeth (Poppy Gilbert) is witty, Kitty (Molly Wright) is good-humored, and Lydia (Grace Hogg-Robinson) is spirited. Mary prefers reading and banging out sad tunes on the piano to frilly dresses or dancing.

The Other Bennet Sister Episode 1 opens the same way as Pride and Prejudice begins. Mrs. Bennet (Ruth Jones) announces that wealthy, young bachelor Mr. Bingley (Aled Owens) has moved to their town, Meryton. She hopes one of her daughters will marry Mr. Bingley, as the lack of Bennet sons means the girls can’t inherit the family home, Longbourn. Mary overhears her mother describe her as “clumsy and ungainly” and that the other four girls have better chances of landing good husbands.

The Other Bennet Sister starts in a familiar place for Pride and Prejudice fans.

Mary gets a pair of spectacles. The local optician, Mr. Sparrow (Aaron Gill), takes a shine to Mary and hopes to see her at the upcoming assembly, where the town will dance and socialize. The Bennet sisters speculate about which girl among them will dance with Mr. Bingley at the assembly. Mary thinks her sisters are ridiculous for fawning over Mr. Bingley when they still haven’t met him.

That said, the family maid, Hill (Lucy Briers, Mary Bennet in 1995’s Pride and Prejudice), catches Mary practicing how to dance. She suggests Mary leave Meryton for somewhere she could find happiness and see herself “how other people see you, outside of your family.” She picks out a new dress for Mary, a plain but lovely white gown.

At the assembly, Mr. Bingley is introduced, as is the silent Mr. Darcy (Victor Pilard) and the haughty Caroline Bingley (Tanya Reynolds), who condescendingly assesses plain Mary as being more interested in books than in her looks. Rudely put! But the insult is scathingly well-delivered by Reynolds, who previously appeared in 2020’s Emma as Mrs. Elton, another of Jane Austen’s haughty, fashionable characters. So fun to see so many Austen film and TV alumni in The Other Bennet Sister!

Mary hangs out on the sidelines until Mr. Sparrow asks her to dance. They’re so adorable together, and Mr. Sparrow genuinely takes an interest in Mary. She has the time of her life until Mrs. Bennet takes note that Mary has danced with Mr. Sparrow for so long that people might expect him to propose someday. Since he’s just an optician, he’s not wealthy enough for a Bennet sister, not even for Mary. She orders Mary to end things with Mr. Sparrow. Mary tells Mr. Sparrow that she needs to be looking for someone more financially suitable.

Mr. Sparrow is crestfallen. Mary is ashamed of having to be so cruel to a man “whose only crime was to be kind to me.” She resolves to make her intellect her best quality and be, so the title goes, The Other Bennet Sister no more. “I will think more and feel less,” she says, turning to her books. And so ends The Other Bennet Sister Episode 1!

In The Other Bennet Sister Episode 2, Mr. Bennet’s cousin, Mr. Collins (Ryan Sampson), announces he’ll visit soon. Mr. Collins will inherit the Bennets’ home and minimal fortune when Mr. Bennet dies, so Mrs. Bennet is determined that one of her girls will marry Mr. Collins to keep the home in their family. She chooses Elizabeth as Mr. Collins’ best option for a wife, since Jane is soon to be engaged to Mr. Bingley.

Mary focuses on improving her intelligence, but the pressure to make a match remains.

The Bennets’ friend Charlotte (Anna Fenton-Garvey), unmarried at 27, advises Mary to do everything she can to attract Mr. Collins. Charlotte suggests that marrying a clergyman like Mr. Collins would be a better fate for Mary than ending up an old maid. When he arrives, Mr. Collins is awkward, boring, and definitely looking for a wife. He and Mary share a love of the book Fordyce’s Sermons, which appears to be the only thing he has in common with any of the Bennet sisters.

When Mr. Collins says he appreciates a woman who can play piano and sing, Mary plots to do both at the Bingleys’ upcoming ball. She tells her mother that she wants to be considered for Mr. Collins’ wife, because she would grow to like him in time, while Elizabeth would never like him and would likely refuse a proposal.

At the ball, Mary sings badly and plays a slow, mournful tune on the piano. Everyone takes notice except for Mr. Collins. Embarrassed, Mary cries, comforted only by her aunt, Mrs. Gardiner (Indira Varma, herself the Caroline figure in Bollywood’s Bride and Prejudice).

Elizabeth refuses Mr. Collins’ proposal. Mrs. Bennet pivots, suggesting Mary prepare to receive a proposal, as Mr. Collins is so desperate to marry that he’d ask the first person who would take him. “Who else would marry him?” she says. But Mr. Collins proposes to Charlotte, who accepts immediately, because she won’t get a better offer at her age. Mary’s four sisters each marry in quick succession, too.

It is here that The Other Bennet Sister leaves Pride and Prejudice behind for a new story. The Other Bennet Sister Episode 2 closes with the sudden death of Mr. Bennet, leaving Mary and Mrs. Bennet alone at Longbourn.

Even then, Longhorn isn’t theirs for much longer. The Other Bennet Sister Episode 3 opens with the newly-married Charlotte and Mr. Collins asking them to leave, as the house now belongs to them. Mrs. Gardiner invites Mary to become her children’s governess in London. Mrs. Bennet accepts on her behalf. Hill sees Mary off, encouraging her to “not be frightened” about the big, new changes ahead.

Starting from The Other Bennet Sister Episode 3, the story takes an unfamiliar turn.

Mary hates change, but wants to make the best of her new life. In London, Mrs. Gardiner is eager to welcome Mary and introduce her children (Róisín Bhalla, Reggie Absolom, Jasmine Sharp) before settling Mary into a beautiful room at the top of the house. Bruccoleri’s acting is particularly strong in scenes with Varma; Mary being treated as a valued, loved member of the family is so new that Mary’s joy is palpable.

Mary’s first day as a governess goes poorly, with the children bored by her lectures. The children are rescued from their boredom by a visit from their family friend, good-natured barrister Tom Hayward (Young Sherlock’s Dónal Finn). Tom and Mary take a shine to each other over dinner with the Gardiners. After dinner, Tom and the Gardiners play Graces, a game where a hoop is tossed around using sticks, but Mary sits the game out, insisting her clumsiness will ruin the game. Instead, her refusal to join wrecks the mood. Mary, you’re loved and wanted here, just join the game!

Mrs. Gardiner takes Mary to town to buy fabric for a new dress, and they run into Tom. He suggests Mary choose colors that make her feel most like herself, and she chooses a bold crimson, even though Mrs. Bennet had told her to choose subtle colors her whole life. Mrs. Gardiner vaguely notes that underneath Tom’s friendliness, he’s a hard worker with the weight of the world on his shoulders. What mysterious, tragic backstory is she hinting at?

Mary practices playing Graces alone when Tom drops by the house. He plays the game with her, taking off his coat and rolling up his sleeves, which might be the hottest thing to happen to period dramas since Colin Firth swam in the lake in 1995’s Pride and Prejudice. Mary hides her attraction well, but she’s definitely falling for Tom. Who wouldn’t?

Tom has a poetry book to give to Mrs. Gardiner, and is appalled to learn that Mary dislikes poetry. Tom hopes to open her heart to the world of poems, calling poetry “his passion.” Swoon! His excitement is attractive to Mary, even if his love of poetry baffles her.

A day later, Mary attends a dinner with Mrs. Gardiner. There, Mary meets Miss Baxter (Varada Sethu), a kindred spirit who bonds with Mary over the awkwardness of dinner parties. Miss Baxter offers to take Mary around London. A new friend for Mary, yay! It’s all going well! This seems like a great place to end The Other Bennet Sister‘s charming series premiere.

By the end of Episode 3, Mary is starting to make bolder moves.

But wait, there’s more! Miss Baxter wants to introduce Mary to the man with whom she has an “understanding” and hopes to marry in a year, and said man is Tom! So much for Mary’s crush on him. Tom is happy to see Mary and compliments her new crimson dress.

Mary’s closing narration notes that, despite her disappointment that Tom isn’t single, she can choose to be grateful that she’s made new friends in London. 

BritBox’s charming drama The Other Bennet Sister has a winning lead in Ella Bruccoleri. Though the premiere barely leaves the plot of Pride and Prejudice behind, it sets up an exciting story that expands the world of an overlooked fictional character as she comes into her own as an unlikely period-drama heroine. Watch out, Elizabeth Bennet! There’s a new Bennet sister for us all to love.

The Other Bennet Sister Episodes 1-3 is now streaming on BritBox.

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