‘Dickinson’ Review: Apple TV Plus’ Emily Dickinson Dramedy is Delightfully Absurd

If you’re into subtlety, Dickinson is not the show for you. Apple TV+’s new dramedy starring Hailee Steinfeld as a young Emily Dickinson attempts to put a modern-day spin on the poet’s story, and it does so at breakneck speed. While it’s easy to get lost in Dickinson‘s funhouse of bizarre plot points, dialogue, and musical cues, the show’s “Sure, why not?” attitude encourages audiences to keep watching, even at its most ridiculous moments. As it turns out, if you say yes to everything — including every thought that pops into your writers’ heads — you end up crafting a show that contains something for everyone.

Much like its protagonist, Dickinson subverts expectations at every turn. Within minutes, the show establishes Steinfeld’s Emily Dickinson as a fed-up teen (or early 20-something; it’s never quite clear) chafing against the expectations of 1850s society. “This is such bullshit,” she says, upon being reminded that her older brother can’t fetch water because “Austin is a boy.” We soon learn that household chores are only the beginning of Emily’s problems. Her mother (a bizarrely cast Jane Krakowski) is preoccupied with marrying her off; her father won’t let her publish her poetry, as women don’t/can’t/shan’t do that; and her dreams are haunted by literal visions of Death (Wiz Khalifa in a cameo that can only be described as epic).

But Emily’s biggest problem is her illicit romance with Sue Gilbert (Ella Hunt), her best friend and the aforementioned Austin’s (Adrian Blake Enscoe) fiancée. This is the largest Dickinson plot point drawn from reality: Dickinson wrote many poems about Sue, and the two traded romantic letters for much of their lives. Rather than skirt around the issue of the poet’s sexuality, Dickinson makes her queerness explicit, and thanks to Steinfeld and Hunt’s immensely strong performances, their relationship becomes the show’s heart.

Apart from depicting these familial and romantic relationships, Dickinson takes a liberal (and that’s putting it nicely) approach to Emily Dickinson’s story. The Apple TV+ series is far more concerned with representing the young poet as a rebel and would-be activist than it is with actually telling her story. Unless you’re a die-hard American poetry fan — in which case this show is NOT for you and you can definitely stop reading — you should have no problem enjoying Dickinson for what it is: a coming-of-age dramedy about a young woman attempting to forge her own path in the face of immense obstacles.

Because Dickinson uses the poet’s story as a loose jumping off point, rather than as an actual text, creator Alena Smith has the ability to approach her protagonist from a variety of different directions. Within each 30-minute episode, the series transforms from a Euphoria-style teen drama, to a family comedy, to 19th century period piece, and it’s impossible to know what’s coming next. Could it be an opium-fueled house party? A dress-up sequence set to “Boys” by Lizzo? An erotic (and uncomfortably prolonged) scene involving a model volcano? Dickinson says yes to all of this and more, elevating its tone to a level of delightful absurdity that’s often only found in sketch comedy series (looking at you, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson).

Steinfeld handles these wild tonal shifts with ease. The actress moves from comedy to drama ably, and she sparkles on-screen next to Hunt, her vulnerability slowly creeping to the surface during their more intimate scenes. Even in Dickinson‘s over-the-top moments, Steinfeld reins things in with a steely look that captures what it feels like to be a young woman fighting to get what she deserves in a world that thinks otherwise.

With Emily Dickinson’s eccentricities in mind, Dickinson refuses to let up, even for a second. It’s a non-stop ride that is unabashedly queer, extravagant, and fun, even as (or perhaps because) it continues to stray from Dickinson’s real life. Yes, Dickinson lacks the nuance of the poet’s best-known works, but it also injects life into the story of a woman profoundly misunderstood in her own time. While Apple’s new series won’t exactly help fill in those gaps, it will definitely ensure a “Wild Night” of your very own.

All 10 episodes of Dickinson will be available to stream on Apple TV+ Friday, November 1.

Where to stream Dickinson