In episode 2:
The magistrate continues and concludes his investigation of the woods so he can accrue more evidence to snow Wickham for Denny's murder (this is strictly my own interpretation, okay? I really don't like the magistrate). The inquest for the murder of Captain Denny which will determine if George Wickham will stand trial for these charges begins and concludes with an unfavorable outcome for the scoundrel Wickham, whose extracurricular activities are also revealed at the conclusion of the episode.
The love triangle is also seemingly resolved and not in a favorable way for Alveston and Georgiana. And I don't like it. I can't help but think this particular love story is meant to parallel Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy's from Pride and Prejudice. And I still hold out hope for a reunion between Georgiana and Alveston once Darcy realizes what a good man Alveston is and that perhaps his own cousin the colonel isn't as good a man as people think he is.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth befriends a local girl, Louisa Bidwell, who has gotten herself into trouble that Elizabeth resolves to help her out of. It's a secret that the girl's mother is privy to, but the girl's father, who works in the Pemberley manor, doesn't know about it. Also the girl's brother has some kind of illness that leaves him bedridden, and there's something sketchy going on there too. I can't help but wonder if perhaps this part of the story isn't also connected to the murder somehow.
My thoughts on the episode:
George Wickham is a pompous, arrogant, entitled twit even in jail. Hardcastle's look upon conclusion of his interview with Lydia in which she puts forth her own inane motive (based on nothing but fiction) for why her husband was quarreling with his friend prior to that friend's murder says. It. All. The look on his face is priceless.
As if things can't get anymore complicated or messy or dramatic, a bombshell drops regarding paternity of Louisa Bidwell's illegitimate baby AND the inquest verdict is read, both at the conclusion of the episode.
Throughout the episode, it's made clear that these events are placing considerable strain on the Darcy marriage resulting in tension and distance between the spouses.
Some questions I have because the magistrate won't ask them:
How is Colonel Fitzwilliam mixed up with George Wickham's schemes and why? I am now severely disappointed in the colonel for allowing himself to be pulled down by Wickham. Because you know that anything Wickham has on a person he will use to force that person to do his bidding. Also it is revealed that the colonel is mixed up with the madwoman, who may not be so mad? HOW? And WHY?
And who is the madwoman? How is she connected to the story? Why doesn't anybody care that there is madwoman roaming the woods menacing the local populace?
Can the Darcy marriage survive intact? The answer is that IT BETTER SURVIVE. Or there will be a riot in Fredericksburg tonight.
Why didn't the Bidwell mother allow Elizabeth to see the bedridden son when the latter visited with her sister Jane? The mother's excuse was that the son was "sleeping." But dude wasn't sleeping. What is going on?
All these questions I have better be answered in the third and final episode or ya'll will be getting an eyeful in the third part of this series.
--Reviewed by Ms. Angie
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