Dickinson Review: Song from the Heart, Sire (Season 3 Episode 5)

In hindsight, I think it will make a lot more sense that Dickinson Season 3 Episode 5, “Song from the Heart, Sire,” is the episode where a lot of shit hit the fan. We’re halfway through the final season of Dickinson without really realizing it, due partially to the fact that the premiere week was a three-episode drop.

Stylistically different from last week’s Emily-centric speakeasy outing, this episode brings us back to the tried and true formula, focusing on all of the Dickinsons equally and throwing in an appearance from the townsfolks just for fun.

It’s one of the more interesting episodes of Dickinson thus far this season, venturing towards territory that could take us down a path drastically different from what the history books tell us of Emily Dickinson’s life.

The last we saw of the Dickinsons, the family house had a case of the fleas, and Emily was entranced by Walt Whitman’s words, coming to terms with her feelings for her best friend/sister-in-law/lover, Sue. We also knew that Emily had sent a poem to Col. Higginson, but knew little else of that exchange.

By the time Dickinson Season 3 Episode 5 takes place, Col. Higginson has responded to Emily’s note. Knowing how slow mail travel would have been in the midst of the Civil War, it’s safe to assume that it’s been a while since Emily’s epiphany.

I wish we had seen more of the direct aftermath of the last episode’s events since they seemed especially significant to Emily at the moment. Instead, we skirt past Emily’s internal drama and forget about it.

Regardless, Emily has received correspondence back from Col. Higginson and is a little star-struck at the exchange. Livinia shares her excitement, though the drama queen has taken a self-induced vow of silence in solidarity with the fallen soldiers.

For someone who claims to write for Sue, and only Sue, Emily sure does seek out external validation a lot. Part of that, this season at least, likely goes back to Emily’s loss of control in her relationship with Sue, now that Sue has a baby. 

Elsewhere, we end up at a quilting bazaar, which seems like a pretty cozy affair. Was it important to the episode at all? Not really. It just serves to show Mr. Dickinson is in conflict with some of his Amherst neighbors.

I keep trying to figure out if it’s particularly relevant to the storyline that Mr. Dickinson is a slight Confederate apologist or if it’s just a plot point to continue reinforcing the line “Family is all we have.”

It’s definitely intentionally ironic though. For all the talk the Dickinsons throw around about family, their own family unit is a hot mess. More on that in a bit.

Though Henry was missing from the first trilogy Dickinson episodes, he has a very active presence in the last two. A teacher for Col. Higginson’s South Carolina regiment, Henry continues to have major “hip” teacher vibes, complete with an awkward ice breaker during this week’s “class.”

“America is a paradox.”

Henry often serves as the show’s voice of wisdom and often speaks truths that resonate both in the series’ time period and today’s. While explaining the benefit of learning the alphabet as opposed to just jumping into the war’s fighting, he reminds the regiment (and us), that “in order to get to the future, you must confront the past.”

That’s quite appropriate for a show about a historical figure, set in a time of conflict, not unlike our very own 21st century.

It’s still very unclear to me why Henry isn’t writing home to his wife and daughter, reassuring him that he is okay. In the last few episodes, we’ve seen cuts of him attempting to write while Betty is at home looking wistfully off in the distance, but no clear answer on that front.

The back half of the episode takes place almost entirely in one location, at Mr. Dickinson’s surprise birthday singalong. This seems like a weird activity, but I guess maybe it was a thing in the 1800s when you couldn’t take your dad golfing or to a baseball game for his birthday?

In the spirit of the celebration, Emily, ever the people-pleaser, decides that it’s the perfect opportunity to get Austin and Sue over to the house and set aside their issues for the greater good.

What really happens? Emily finds Sue exhausted in her bedroom and tells her that she loves her, which mind you, she hasn’t done since before the Dickinson Season 2 finale. This is the resolution I was hoping to see more of after her Walt Whitman gay bar fever dream from last week’s episode.

While it helps to cheer Sue up, it comes back to bite her in the ass at the end of this episode.

Side note: Hailee Steinfeld is incredibly charming as a lovestruck woman. With the way she was giving the other woman major heart eyes, it’s no wonder that Sue wasn’t even phased by Austin’s outburst later on.

If there’s one thing Dickinson is great at, it’s showcasing the cast’s talent. And fortunate for this show, the cast is incredibly musically talented. It’s no wonder they made Mr. Dickinson’s birthday celebration a sing-along with the likes of Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Hunt, and Jane Krakowski as the singers.

And one cannot forget Anna Baryshnikov’s lip-syncing talents! If the vow of silence bit was designed specifically for her so that she wouldn’t have to sing, the writers of this show are genius.

Even Adrian Enscoe aka Austin has a delightful voice! He graces the Dickinson house with his presence halfway through sing-along night, drunk as always, and throws Dickinson Season 3 into chaos.

Bitter at his wife and sister, especially since Sue told him he couldn’t stay alone with their baby. He crashes his father’s birthday to remind him of his anger, declares he’s starting his own law firm specializing in divorce law, and his first divorce client is going to be himself because, oh yeah, he wants to divorce Sue.

Austin also alludes to the fact that their father may have hit Emily in the past, which seems out of character for the Mr. Dickinson we’ve seen throughout all three seasons thus far. Some scholars believe that a lot of Emily’s work on grief was borne from her own trauma, likely at the hands of her father, but it seemed like an out-of-left-field accusation for the show to throw out there, at least this far in the game.

Like I said at the beginning, shit has hit the fan! That’s why I find this episode so intriguing. There’s no historical evidence that shows Austin and Sue were divorced, so I’m excited to see where they end up at the end of Dickinson‘s run.

Sue stomps off after Austin’s outburst, but when Emily goes to find her it seems she’s not upset about the scene in the sitting room. More so at the fact that Emily has been keeping secrets from her. This is going to be an interesting storyline to play out, although it’s frustrating that the pair keeps finding themselves at odds.

I mentioned earlier that Emily is kind of wishy-washy with her feelings towards Sue and the relationship between her poetry and her muse, so it’s not surprising that Sue has caught on as well. Dickinson has also been hinting towards Sue’s own intellect this season, especially in this episode when she offers notes on one of Emily’s poems.

While I’m sure it’s done so that Emily will have to confront herself and finally decide whose opinions she treasures more — the world’s or Sue’s —  I hope it also points towards the real Sue’s talent for writing. Emily wasn’t the only Dickinson with a gift for words.

Since we’re already halfway through Dickinson Season 3, and since we only get 10 episodes, it makes sense that a significant point of conflict was introduced on this episode, but I am frustrated that the progress Emily made in the last episode wasn’t able to come to fruition.

Hopefully, it just means that actual conversations will begin to take place and feelings will be given more space to exist outwardly rather than bottled up inside. 

Stray Musings From This Episode:

• Shoutout to Emily for recognizing the thespian that is Livinia Dickinson. Anna Baryshnikov continues to shine this season and I’m excited to see if Vinnie finally reaches a breaking point
• Also, shoutout to Vinnie’s dance moves in the sing-along. She’d win Lip Sync Battle for sure.
• Can we please talk about the rap song about Quilting? A+ use of music in this show.
• Mrs. Dickinson highlight of the episode: having to buy back a quilt that she donated to the auction, with a worthy mention to Vinnie’s face when Mrs. D says she got Mr. Dickinson a shoehorn for his birthday.
• Henry’s student Erasmus’s prophesizing the Emancipation Proclamation signing and Michael Jordan’s basketball career are little hidden gems each season

What did you think of this episode of Dickinson? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Dickinson Season 3 is available to stream on Apple TV+. New episodes premiere on Fridays.

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