The wait for the much-anticipated third season of creator Alena Smith’s poetic period piece, Dickinson, is almost over. This Friday, November 5, Apple TV+ is dishing up three sensational servings of Dickinson, gifting fans with the first three episodes of the final season. Grab your tissues and buckle up for a legendary premiere of the last installation of Emily Dickinson’s origin story and the poet’s untouchable contribution to American literature during her most prolific time of writing.
In true Dickinson cinematic fashion, the premiere episodes pave a foundation to take on boundaries prescribed by archaic social ideologies. The season premiere also launches a deeper exploration of themes interlaced throughout the series: death, life, love, self-discovery, and the profound impact of poetry and art — all by the way of imaginative imagery, clever comedy, and a sassy soundtrack to boot.
By the time Season 3 begins, the American Civil War has been long raging in the United States, taking a heavy toll on the Dickinson household and their hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. Young men, strangers, and friends alike, are drafted each day as thousands of men are pronounced deceased at a rate in which even Death (Wiz Khalifa) himself struggles to reap.
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Relationships are tested as war, death, and conflict strike the Dickinson family home. With tension building within the Dickinson household and the nation, a more mature and introspective Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) shifts her priorities towards mending family conflict, instilling hope in those affected by the war, and encouraging loved ones to find light in the darkness that hovers around them. Now more than ever before, Emily’s family and best friend (and lover) Sue Gilbert Dickinson (Ella Hunt) rely on Emily’s eccentric perspective of the world to push them through the darkest times they may ever see.
Within just the first three episodes, we witness parallel transformations in all of Dickinson’s main characters. The beloved characters meet face-to-face with the reality of death in addition to the mess that life inevitably throws at them; And, each character goes about navigating both realities in distinct ways, adding to their already unique character arcs.
For all of you “Emi-Sue” stans out there, Smith delivers exactly what she promised: Dickinson’s final season brings Emily’s sexuality to the forefront of the protagonist’s character arc, granting viewers a more intimate view of the struggle that Emily and Sue encounter being two women in love in a world that doesn’t recognize or accept their love for each other. Sapphic romantics are sure to be pleased by Emi-Sue’s contribution to the heart of Dickinson’s story and the palpable chemistry between Steinfeld and Hunt.
Overall, Dickinson fans are in for the wildest ride yet. Hailee Steinfeld and the rest of the cast deliver dazzling performances, owning their respective characters in a way that exudes authenticity and an unrivaled passion for the innovative storytelling of Emily Dickinson’s life. After almost a decade in the making, showrunner Alena Smith has successfully rendered a captivating reimagining of Emily that shatters the false notion that she was nothing more than a reclusive spinster who chose writing in solitude over living life.
Instead, Smith and writers’ thoughtful analysis of Emily’s almost 1,800 poems and the life lived behind the words shows us a fierce woman who provided unabashed truth to her readers related to all corners of life and war, even those untouched by the light of day. Smith’s electric depiction of Emily claims the poet’s rightful title as war poet and further solidifies Emily’s position as the greatest female poet America has ever seen.
Dickinson Season 3 premieres Friday, November 5 on Apple TV+.