BritBox‘s The Other Bennet Sister has done something no Jane Austen fan thought possible: we now stan Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri).
The Mary Bennet we meet in the original Pride & Prejudice is awkward, self-serious, snooty, and oblivious to how she comes across to others. The Other Bennet Sister flips the script and shows us how Mrs. Bennet’s (Ruth Jones) cruelty fostered some of these qualities in her middle child, and explores how someone as insecure as Mary can indeed blossom when given the freedom to be themselves.
As much as The Other Bennet Sister is about Mary’s journey to self-love and acceptance, it’s also been a delicious love story. Upon arriving in London, Mary finds herself torn between two suitors: the dashing, rich, and handsome William Ryder (Laurie Davidson), who initially proposes they run off to Italy to live in bohemian sin; and the sweet, hard-working, and equally quirky Tom Hayward (Dónal Finn).
Just as it seemed that Tom and Mary might finally get their happily ever after against the romantic backdrop of the Lake District, Ryder tells Tom something that pushes him away. So do Mary and Tom wind up together? Or does Mary marry the wealthy Ryder?
Here’s how The Other Bennet Sister ends…
The Other Bennet Sister Ending Explained: Does Mary Bennet Marry Tom Hayward or William Ryder?
Mary Bennet gets not one, but two marriage proposals in The Other Bennet Sister finale.
First, Mr. Ryder arrives at the Gardiners’ house in London to make an official marriage proposal. He now has been named as Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s heir and wants to give Mary the happily ever after she so richly deserves. The problem? Mary doesn’t love him. She rejects his proposal.
“I think for Ryder, he feels like he’s listened and he understands now. He’s like, ‘I have what you wanted,’ you know?” Laurie Davidson told DECIDER. “And so the brutality of when she rejects him then hits so much harder because actually he’s now got nothing else to offer. You know what I mean?”
“He’s gone, ‘Okay, I understand this is what I needed to do, and now I can offer you that.’ And when someone still goes, ‘No,’ she shuts the door. And for him as well, who’s probably never been rejected like that at all in his life, it’s such a kind of rug under the feet moment.”
Some time after this, Caroline Bingley (Tanya Reynolds) visits to thank Mary for helping her when she was hurt during the storm in the Lake District. When Miss Bingley learns that Mary has rejected Mr. Ryder, she wonders aloud what exactly Mary is looking for in a suitor. Mary confesses that her heart is set on Mr. Hayward, whom Miss Bingley thinks ought to be attainable for the last single Miss Bennet.
Mr. Hayward and Mary are soon reunited when he returns to London with renewed hope for a future with Mary, courtesy of a letter from Miss Bingley. The Other Bennet Sister star Dónal Finn described this second proposal, taking place in a public park, as being an “all or nothing moment” for his character.
“I think what’s great about the way that it’s been written by Sarah Quintrell and taken from the book from Janice is that it like hangs onto Mary’s strength,” Finn said. “Like at that time, her authority in this situation — which I know sounds probably very obvious, but I think maybe at the time was more complicated — it speaks to Mary’s sincerity and genuine-ness as a person, just with all of her interactions.”
Mary isn’t initially overjoyed to see Tom, but upset at him for keeping his distance.
“She says there were no lines,” Finn said. “There was nothing to be confused about.”
Finn also revealed that he liked that Tom is vulnerable about his own insecurities in this scene. “He doesn’t feel like he would have been a natural choice for Mary because he’s had to work for everything. Mary is surprised as a character to understand that there’s like multiple people interested in or multiple suitors, but I think Tom is very much like, ‘Why would you not think that about yourself?’”
Mary ultimately accepts Tom’s proposal because, yes, she loves him. And he loves her.
“So, yeah, I think they’re very well suited for each other, you know?” Finn said.
Mary winds up married to Tom and working as a governess and writer at the end of The Other Bennet Sister.
Will There Be a Season 2 of The Other Bennet Sister?
We don’t know! The Other Bennet Sister was originally only supposed to be a single-season, limited series adapting the events of Janice Hadlow’s best-selling novel of the same name. However, because The Other Bennet Sister has proven to be such a spectacular international hit, showrunner Sarah Quintrell and series star Ella Bruccoleri have discussed continuing Mary’s journey — but only under the right circumstances.
When DECIDER’s Hope Sloop spoke with Quintrell and Bruccoleri at last month’s ATX Festival, they didn’t say no to a potential second season.
“The book is the book,” Quintrell said. “But the way Mary has landed has made everyone think. Now there’s no way we want to do anything that compromises what we’ve created… So it’s about us really thinking.”
“About what the point is,” Bruccoleri said, nodding.
“We’ve got a clever audience and we want to keep that audience,” Quintrell continued. “There’s definitely thinking.”
There’s thinking! They are thinking about a second season! (But that doesn’t mean it will happen.)
All 10 episodes of The Other Bennet Sister are now streaming on BritBox.
