The Essex Serpent Review: I Break Things (Season 1 Episode 5)

The Essex Serpent Season 1 Episode 5, “I Break Things,” is the penultimate episode of the series, and it certainly lives up to its name, both literally and figuratively speaking. But it may also leave you wondering whether any of these people deserve a happy ending.

Other than the fact that Naomi is still missing, not much of the action is situated in Aldwinter this week and there’s no real forward progress on the whole potential monster in the marshes situation. 

Instead, the primary action of the story has almost entirely moved to London, where Cora has fled to escape both superstitious villagers and married romantic interests, and where the whole Ransome family also finds themselves (of course!) after Stella finally comes clean about her sudden debilitating respiratory illness and they head to see Luke. (I guess it’s fine that he’s an open heart surgeon and a respiratory specialist? IDK!!) 

Cue an inevitable, awkward encounter at the Natural History Museum, where both Cora and Will have brought their kids to see the whale skeleton on display. But their run-in doesn’t exactly clear up much when it comes to where they stand, since Will essentially runs away within two minutes and they exchange less than a dozen words. 

And since Stella has gone to “rest” at a friend’s after her doctor’s visit, we don’t even get the satisfaction of Cora looking incredibly uncomfortable in her presence! 

“I Break Things” is perhaps The Essex Serpent’s most direct acknowledgment of the way everyone around her tends to idealize and romanticize Cora, and seems to have no idea who she truly is.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure Cora herself knows either, and her incredible obliviousness about so many things, from Luke’s feelings toward her to the way she treats Martha as a friend when it’s convenient and the hired help when it’s not, occasionally makes her a difficult heroine to root for.

Like, at this point, who isn’t in love with her? I guess Horrible Matthew?  I mean, it would be one thing, if it were only Will who was obsessed with Cora. But the fact that two whole other people besides him are also desperate to be with her, it sort of starts to feel like she’s a kind of idealized object, onto which various people project whatever they think or need her to be at any given moment.

Part of the problem is that The Essex Serpent seems deeply uninterested in truly exploring Cora’s inner life. We’re five episodes into this show now and I’m still not sure I can answer basic questions about her character and motivations. Martha keeps asking Cora what she wants, and she doesn’t have an answer, and I’m beginning to fear The Essex Serpent doesn’t either.

Elsewhere, I wish I felt any kind of way about the news that Stella has tuberculosis and is dying. But, The Essex Serpent has essentially been more interested in the “idea” of Stella than the actual character—the supportive spouse, the good mother, the kind neighbor, the convenient roadblock to Cora and Will’s relationship. 

It’s hard to mourn her when we know so little about her, even if she is pretty much the person paying the price for everyone else’s selfishness.

And, as crass as Luke is for bringing it up, he’s not entirely wrong. It’s easy to imagine that Cora’s thoughts might leap immediately to how Stella’s impending death would essentially free Will to be with her. Though I”m not entirely sure why she thinks Will really wants to be with her, given that he has basically ghosted her since their hook-up and runs away from her within five minutes of running into her at the Natural History Museum. 

Maybe The Essex Serpent means for us to find all of this romantic, to read Will’s behavior as a paralyzing sort of emotional longing or something like that. (There’s some evidence for this, given that the episode ends with him essentially begging God to bring Cora back to him.) But there’s simply so little about his behavior that’s in any way sympathetic. 

Honestly, isn’t it time we just all admit that Will is kind of a jerk? He’s cheated on his dying wife and is surely still committing emotional infidelity in his heart, but he’s too weak to stand up for his sidepiece when the rest of the town calls her a witch to her face?

I get that the man looks like Tom Hiddleston and that level of attractiveness likely covers up for an abundance of moral and personal shortcomings, but seems relatively incapable of definitively choosing either of the women in his life. (And maybe that’s what he wants? Maybe he wants Cora, with all her pushy loudness, so he doesn’t have to be in charge anymore?)

There’s so much going on under the surface here that The Essex Serpent seems so disinclined to explore. It’s maddening because this should all be such a rich story. He’s a vicar, for goodness sake! Does he even seem sorry for any of his actions?

Stray Thoughts and Observations

• I hate the trope where the cheating husband is motivated to confess his infidelity because the wife is ill or dying or simply because he can’t hold it all inside anymore for whatever reason, and she very selflessly hushes him without ever hearing him out or forcing him at least to apologize for what he’s done. Hold these men accountable!
• There’s something deeply cathartic about Cora’s destructive rampage at the end of the episode, since it’s likely the first time she’s ever truly acknowledged so many of the emotions she’s clearly been repressing.
• I think it would be so much more satisfying for us as viewers if this show were more direct about the fact that a lot of Cora’s behavior comes from the fact that this is the first time she’s ever been truly free—she’s rich, she can do as she likes, she answers to no one. (And thanks to all of those things she doesn’t have to spend any more time with her son than she wants to.) Maybe that’s a selfish read on her character, but it would certainly be a more interesting story.
• This episode confirms Martha’s in love with Cora, but also that maybe she doesn’t like her much? Her confession to Spencer that she’s not exactly free to push back against her boss is intriguing and something I wish the show spent more time on.

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

Critic Rating:

User Rating:

 

New episodes of The Essex Serpent stream Fridays on Apple TV+.

 Follow us on Twitter and on Instagram!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

15 Truly Unforgettable TV Weddings