In Dickinson’s 5th episode, “Sang from the Heart, Sire”, correspondence with author and abolitionist Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson (Gabriel Ebert) has brought Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld) a restored faith in the life residing at the core of her poetry. Energized and confident, Emily attempts to further mend the relationships within her family, but, alas, in any war one must pick a side eventually. Unfortunately for Emily, this isn’t the only hard truth she must confront in her closest relationships.
Wholly New | Emily leaves the Amherst Post Office with a sense of urgency. In her hand, she grasps a letter from Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson. Emily opens the letter in the street eager to consume its contents.
“Dear Miss Dickinson, your writing gives the impression of a wholly new and original poetry,” the letter reads. Emily is elated and relieved to learn that her poetry isn’t dead, but very alive!
A Vow of Silence | Emily sees Lavinia (Anna Baryshnikov) up the road and catches up to her sister. Emily begins to share her excitement over Higginson’s letter regarding her poetry but soon learns that Lavinia has taken a vow of silence in solidarity with Union soldiers. Lavinia’s latest form of solidarity is yet another measure to express her grief and support for the brave soldiers fighting the Civil War. Initially, Lavinia mourned the soldiers’ deaths because every deceased soldier meant one more potential suiter gone. Now it seems, Lavinia’s grief is sprouting from a place of empathy rather than selfish seeds.
War Sides | Emily and her sister visit the Amherst Quilting Bazaar and Sanitary Fair, a local event benefiting Union forces. Betty (Amanda Warren), Abby (Sophie Zucker), and Abiah (Allegra Heart) are all participating to support the cause by selling their own handmade quilts.
Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson have arrived at the bazaar’s auction just in time to see Mrs. Dickinson’s (Jane Krakowski) Norcross family quilt go up for bidding. A starting bid of five dollars rubs Mrs. Dickinson the wrong way given her mother’s quilt won the 1822 Monson quilting bee’s blue ribbon. Mrs. Dickinson requests to have her family heirloom back but the auctioneer rejects her ask. This leads Mr. Dickinson (Toby Huss) to place a bid of twenty dollars, earning the quilt back for his wife.
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As they attempt to leave the auction, Ithamar Conkey (Robert Picardo) approaches Mr. Dickinson. Ithamar prods Mr. Dickinson on his desire to be at the quilt bazaar after Mr. Dickinson had recently submitted a letter to the editor expressing his “praise and sympathy for the vile Confederates.” Mr. Dickinson believes people should listen to both sides of the Civil War, but many townspeople disagree. After being called out as a traitor by someone in the auction’s audience, Mr. Dickinson is told that he must choose a side: Union or Confederacy.
Birthday Blues | Today is Mr. Dickinson’s birthday and Emily, Mrs. Dickinson, and Lavinia discuss how they can turn the morning’s uncomfortable events at the quilting bazaar around so that Mr. Dickinson can enjoy his day. Emily comes up with the idea to have a classic Dickinson sing-along at home; And, to Emily’s surprise, Mrs. Dickinson invites her daughter-in-law Sue (Ella Hunt), whom she’s had a riff with over holding her baby grandson. “Family is the only thing that matters,” Mrs. Dickinson explains.
Bone Deep | Emily visits Sue to invite her and Austin (Adrian Blake Enscoe) to the Dickinson family sing-along, and she finds Sue alone in her room crying at the edge of the bed. The challenges of motherhood and caring for her infant son are taking a toll on Sue. She questions her ability to be a mom. Emily attempts to reassure her that she is taking great care of her baby. Emily then kneels to Sue’s feet to comfort her further. “Sue, listen to me. I love you. I love you more than anything or anyone on Earth…” Emily says to her in a certain voice. “You need to know that so deeply that you never doubt it.” Emily goes on to tell Sue that she can’t live, nor breath, nor write without her. The expression on Sue’s tearful face tells all. This is a moment that Sue has desperately needed with Emily and words that she has desperately needed to hear from Emily’s lips.
With that, Emily extends the invitation to that evening’s sing-along for Mr. Dickinson’s birthday which Sue gleefully accepts. Sue also promises to rally Austin to join.
Past Before Future | Henry (Chinaza Uche) begins teaching his reading and writing classes with the South Carolina Volunteers of Colonel Higginson’s regiment. Henry starts their first class with attendance and introductions to learn more about each soldier.
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When Henry presents the first lesson, the ABCs, the men inquire about getting weapons finally. Henry gives the men disappointing news that Colonel Higginson is unable to provide them with guns because they are “still a bit of an experiment [and] not an officially authorized regiment yet.” Apparently, President Lincoln must sign the Emancipation Proclamation and give General Saxton permission to allow the volunteer men to have weapons.
Henry levels with the men’s frustrations and their desire to move past this time in history by explaining the importance of understanding the past and confronting its darkness in order to “move forward into the light.” The men welcome Henry’s message and are then prepared to begin their journey towards literacy.
What Men Do | Sue and Austin meet yet another heated point of contention. First, Austin refuses to attend his father’s birthday gathering. Then Sue rejects Austin’s desire to be left at home alone with his son. Austin corners Sue near the staircase with a threatening stance. Austin’s anger frightens her. Sue lashes back with words that more or less demasculinize Austin for not enlisting to fight the Civil War and doing “what men do.”
A Dark Secret | Mr. Dickinson is delighted to come home to his family and the opportunity to share songs in celebration of his birthday. The Dickinson family enjoys belting out several songs well into the evening and dancing across the parlor floor.
Upon Emily’s request, Mr. Dickinson shares how he met Mrs. Dickinson back when he was a young man posted in Monson for the Massachusetts State Militia. Mrs. Dickinson follows his romantic story with her unfortunate memories of their wedding day and leaving her family to never see her mother again before she passed of yellow fever.
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Hearing her mother’s sorrow over the loss of her family, Emily is inspired to sing a song that expresses life’s various difficulties. Austin joins the family at the tail end of the song. He’s arrived not to celebrate his father’s birthday, however. Austin has made the visit to announce that he’s retiring from the Dickinson family law firm to pursue his own law practice. Austin also shares that he is divorcing Sue and taking full custody of their son.
Mr. Dickinson scolds Austin for his drinking and his decision to divorce Sue and leave the firm, and in retaliation, Austin reveals a dark family secret of abuse. He digs up Mr. Dickinson’s past history of hitting Emily when they were children. This secret is very clearly something that the Dickinson’s don’t speak of.
Despite the troubling past, Emily has with her father, she chooses to be on Mr. Dickinson’s side in the family dispute between Austin and him. She will not side with Austin and his self-sabotaging behavior and the pain he continues to inflict on Sue and her family.
Runaways | Emily goes upstairs to her room where Sue is sitting at her writing desk. Sue is upset, but not about Austin. She has found the letter that Emily wrote to Colonel Higginson and she is disappointed to learn that Emily had shared “Safe in their Alabaster Chambers” with him. Sue was under the impression that this poem was only hers to read. Sue also doesn’t understand the tone of Emily’s letter to the colonel. Emily writes as if she’s helpless and alone; As if Sue isn’t there by her side at all. Reading the letter to the colonel breaks Sue’s heart. Sue admits that she has felt as if she has ceased to exist in Emily’s world since having a baby with Austin.
Sue comes to the harsh realization that, like Austin, Emily’s eagerness to fight for one thing is actually a way to deflect from something else. What is Emily running away from?
Dickinson Season 3 is now streaming on Apple TV+.