Great Expectations Season 1 Episode 4 Review: “Episode Four”
Great Expectations Season 1 Episode 4, “Episode Four,” picks up the pace with an intense and artful depiction of misogyny and complex morality.
Estella takes center stage on this episode as she prepares to meet Bentley Drummle, the man Miss Havisham is forcing her to marry. Faithful to the novel, Drummle cuts an abusive, cruel, and sexist figure.
He quickly reveals that his only interest in Estella is for her to provide him with a son. Meanwhile, he makes it clear to her early on that he’s “in command.”
This is a sad but accurate depiction of what women experienced in the Victorian era. Arranged marriages weren’t prevalent, but finances and family influenced marriages the most.
Most of society held Drummle’s views that a woman’s sole purpose was to bear children. Many also believed that the husband “owned” his wife and, as Drummle mentioned, still lived by the “rule of thumb” that permitted domestic abuse in marriage.
As a result, it is tough to watch Drummle threaten Estella within minutes of meeting her, knowing that she’ll be entirely at his mercy when they marry.
In an odd turn of events, Pip ends up chaperoning Estella and Drummle’s meeting as part of his and Mr. Jaggers’ schemes.
Despite admitting his love for her and pleading with her not to marry Drummle, Estella rejects him because her mother would never allow her to marry a “blacksmith’s boy.”
Money, family, and class dictate Estella’s life, and the only way to fix the situation would be if she and Pip change the entire world and how it views women. However, she doesn’t believe that’s possible, so she accepts her situation.
She cuts a beautiful and tragic figure as she is fitted with her wedding dress, which eerily parallels Miss Havisham’s gown.
The parallels to Miss Havisham also resurface in one of the final scenes, where Estella dances with an imaginary Pip in the dim ballroom of Miss Havisham’s house.
The score is eerie and intense; the camera tilts and sways with her movements, and the figure in the mirror transforms from Estella to Havisham as Estella looks into it. It’s one of the season’s most artful and haunting scenes that captures how Estella is doomed to be like Havisham.
Estella’s life and freedom will end at the altar when she marries Drummle. This is similar to how Havisham stopped living at the altar when she was stood up. It is two vastly different situations, but neither will move forward after donning a wedding gown.
In addition to Estella’s intriguing story, Mr. Jaggers’ story arc takes an intriguing twist.
He has a plan to help Pip dispose of Drummle. He and Pip are aware that a ship Drummle is insuring will be illegally transporting enslaved people and plan to put the ship on the Royal Navy’s radar.
The captain will be hung for his actions, while Drummle will be charged with having been complicit in the trade. The plan will also result in Jaggers walking away with a profit, but Pip correctly suspects his actual motivation is freeing the enslaved people on the ship.
Though the punishment will be harsh, the two men are at fault in the illegal trade, meaning Jaggers isn’t framing them.
Hence, viewers will find themselves almost torn on the situation. It is true that Jaggers succeeded in forming this plan with many shady and corrupt business practices and will be profiting from the morbid situation.
At the same time, he’s freeing enslaved people and uncovering the deeds of two very corrupt men. One realizes that, despite his constant claims that he’s “evil,” he does have some complex and convoluted morals.
It’s an interesting development but also a concerning one. If someone with morals can perform the kind of unethical and corrupt acts that Jaggers has, how much damage can someone without morals do?
This revelation almost seems to warn viewers that Jaggers is not the overarching antagonist in the series and that some bigger evil might be coming yet.
What did you think of this episode of Great Expectations? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Critic Rating:
User Rating:
Great Expectations airs Sundays on Hulu.
Follow us on Twitter and on 
Instagram!
Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!
Rachel Ulatowski
Rachel Ulatowski is a freelance writer from Oshkosh with a penchant for TV, film, and celebrity news. Her work can also be found on Screen Rant, The Mary Sue, and Monsters and Critics. When she's not writing professionally, she enjoys blogging, running, watching film and television, and conducting research for her future novel.