So, What Did We Think
about the new Emma that was on Masterpiece for the last several weeks?

Well, it has been awhile since I read Emma so I’m not going on the novel so much as previous movies and my own sense of the book rather than its particulars.

I really liked the series.

I liked how the interpretation of Emma’s character possessed the youthfulness that it needed while leaving off the snarky-ness that some other adapations have had. I loved the Mr. Knightly character. I thought that it was just wonderful and exactly right. (The actor who played Knightly is Johnny Lee Miller, an actor who I’ve enjoyed in every role I’ve seen him in thus far.) Additionally, the screenwriter for this adaptation of Emma is Sandy Welch who has done a couple of excellent adaptations that I have LOVED, including Jane Eyre and North and South. I frankly can’t wait to see what she’ll do next. Finally, they got some excellent supporting actors, Michael Gambon, to name just one. I just really, really enjoyed it — except, of course, the picnic scene where Emma insults Miss Bates. That will make me cringe from here to eternity. I suppose that only means that they did the scene really well to make it so cringe-worthy.

So that’s my take. What’s yours?