Jane Austen Month: Review of Emma Approved: Revival (2018)
Confession time: I actually wrote my review for Emma Approved some months ago in preparation for Jane Austen Month, as I knew I would be bombarded with uni deadlines in December (and behold, I was). What I couldn't predict, however, was that Emma Approved would have a brief revival consisting of eight official episodes (there are some fan service and filler videos in-between too). So today I bring you my review of Emma Approved: Revival.
This mini web-series brings us back to Emma Woodhouse's world five years after the previous series. Alex and Emma are still happily together, but that seems to be the only good news. Emma is depressed after losing an important client who cancelled her wedding, which Emma was helping to organise. Emma Approved, Emma's company, has also had to downsize due to financial reasons. Additionally, B-Mart and Harriet have now broken up, and struggle as they continue trying to work alongside each other at Emma Approved.
As I watched this series, I enjoyed it. I eagerly awaited each new episode, was happy to see these characters again (still played true to form by their original actors, most notably Joanna Sotomura stays in top form as Emma) and was pleased with the new filming style. The end of the original series had Emma revealing to Alex (and the audience) that the series had been submitted to a documentary making team. Emma Approved Revival is now a sequel mockumentary series, with cameramen following these characters in this new environment and frequently getting a reaction out of them that proves to amuse. They also have a room for the characters to sit down and talk to the camera, which keeps a part of the style of the original series. It looks good.
Yet looking back, I am not happy with this mini web-series. I think it was made with the intention to be a full revival with more episodes and new characters introduced (there is an episode with Alex alone called "Choose Emma Approved's Next Client - Anne Elliot, Tom Parker, John Knightley", in which Brent Bailey's Alex asks the audience to join their Patreon to choose out of these three potential characters to be Emma's new client, which highly implies my theory is correct). I'm guessing they didn't get the funding needed to continue with the series which is a definite shame, yet it makes me wonder why they felt confident enough to make this revival to begin with. I found this tweet from Brent Bailey confirming that the webseries is over:
The main plot of these eight episodes revolves around Emma rebuilding her business as she takes on Mr Collins from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries as her client. It's nice to see this character again and Maxwell Glick plays him with pitch-perfect naivety of those around him. The dynamic between Collins and B-Mart is also a fun addition as they form a bromance. If this had been delivered to us as a story about Emma working with Mr Collins, that might have been funny and charming for the fanbase to have just at that. However, some actions were made that backfire and it doesn't sit well with me that this could be the last time we see this world as it is, as too much has been set up to happen that is either unexplained or seemingly forgotten by the shows creators.
Breaking up Harriet (Dayeanne Hutton) and B-Mart (James Brent Issacs) was a big mistake, probably the worst part of this revival. Emma Approved ended with the pair getting together in episode seventy-two, (the final episode in the series) after people had been hoping for them to get together since episode twelve. Now in the first episode of Emma Approved: Revival, we find out that things didn't work out between them?
The excuse for them breaking up is a bit unclear too. B-Mart wanted to get married, but Harriet didn't. I don't know, if you've been with someone for five years, I feel like that's something you would have already talked about and worked out. It feels rushed and lazy, with the resolution to this story being an unsatisfying ending for the pair and for the fans who had been so happy when they got together, who never got to see them as a real couple. I can only assume that it was planned for them to get back together at some point, but that still feels like lazy writing (or at least a lack of development) to me.
Additionally, while I like the new set and location, the characters have apparently relocated there because the business isn't doing well. It is a shame to hear that Emma, who we care for and who we know to be so passionate about her work, is failing. It's a sad note to leave her on.
The real pity here seems to be that Pemberley Digital (the company that produces Emma Approved) didn't seem to promote their Patreon and how they needed donations to keep creating content, otherwise I think more people would have donated. I'll admit it probably wouldn't have been enough to keep the series going, but at least fans would have known that the option was there and understood why it failed when it did. There wasn't even a goodbye video or message in the final episode that suggested the series was over, though it had a sense of an ending to it. I had to go searching through Twitter for Bailey's confirmation that Emma Approved: Revival was over. At the time of writing this, there are still people in the YouTube comments of the final episode confused as to whether or not it really has ended.
While I'm happy we got to see Alex and Emma together again (still as strong as ever, though we don't see them together that much), in the end, there doesn't seem to be much to be left happy with about this series, but I enjoyed the episodes as they were happening. I hope Bernie Su (who directed, co-produced and co-wrote this series, as well as the previous one) and the team at the Pemberley Digital YouTube Channel can take this experience and learn from here that while a revival is what the fans want, making one doesn't necessarily strengthen the original series. Emma Approved still stands well and I will revisit it sometimes, but Emma Approved: Revival will probably not be included in those viewings.
