Summary
Emily decides to make things right.
This recap of Apple TV+s Dickinson season 3, episode 9, “Grief is a Mouse,” contains spoilers.
Read the recap of the previous episode.
After last week’s episode, Emily seems firm in her decision to make things right going forward. She wastes no time in gathering her siblings, in a meeting not too dissimilar from this week’s Succession. Telling them of her father’s will, she makes Austin agree to give her and Lavinia freedom; they will not be another item of property. He agrees (on the condition that Vinny gets rid of her cats).
Dickinson season 3, episode 9 recap
With that done, Emily then turns to her mother, still in grief over Aunt Lavinia’s death. Trying to up her spirits, Emily mentions seeing a bird at the funeral, that could have been Lavinia’s spirit. But Emily’s aunt hated birds… yet she did like mice, and as a mouse scurries across the floor, Emily and her mother see a way of moving on with their lives.
And it’s not just Emily who wants to make things right with their family, for every other character featured in the show’s penultimate episode decides to do that too. Edward rejects a possible run for office, deciding his family needs him more. When George comes to Sue and Austin’s before he heads to war, Austin reveals how he traded his draft card in favor of looking after his son. “How will I make sure the future of the Dickinsons is different from the past,” he says, and the others affirm his decision. There’s work he can do off the battlefields.
Higginson learns this too. Seeing Henry’s regiment has seized victory without his help, he announces his intention to visit a certain young Amherst-based poet. Henry mentions his acquaintance with Emily. Higginson is shocked and recites one of her poems, and Henry walks off with him, presumably sending a message to go to Betty.
The ending
In the end, the youth of Amherst unite to make what could be George’s final night in Amherst a memorable one. After the oddity of Lavinia’s telling of her new performance art (“Sheep No More,” where she stares at a sheep and thinks of death), they close out the night with a rare public recitation from Emily. Everyone sits in stunned silence, her craft having a profound impact on those around her. And soon enough she’s in bed with Sue. “This is better than any poem,” Emily says, as Sue goes down on her. Cut to Taylor Swift.
