[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Dickinson, Season 3, Episodes 1-3.]
There was happy news for Austin (Adrian Blake Enscoe) and Sue (Ella Hunt) as the couple welcomed a son in the opening episodes of Apple TV+‘s comedy Dickinson.
The first three installments of the show’s final chapter dropped hours early to subscribers on the evening of Thursday, November 4, rather than the previously announced November 5 premiere date. Now set against the backdrop of a raging Civil War that was just brewing up last season, the passage of time brought with it a pregnant Sue and a seriously detached Austin.
(Credit: Apple TV+)
“Austin has come to the realization that his family and society have failed him in achieving self-actualization,” Enscoe tells TV Insider. “He finds himself in a loveless marriage with all these expectations on him that he doesn’t want to deal with, and he’s expected to go off to war and fight for the Union when all he wants to do is start a family at home.”
That attitude manifests in bitter words launched at his father Edward (Toby Huss) who [Spoiler] pulls a heart attack in response. “He’s essentially fixing to just burn down the house,” Enscoe jokes, metaphorically describing his character’s behavior. “He’s essentially just taking a gallon of gasoline and a match, and he is out to wreak havoc.”
(Credit: Apple TV+)
Despite Austin’s sour mood, almost nothing could knock Sue who opens the season walking on air. “I have loved playing this final chapter of Sue. She is more mature, more loving, and messier than we have ever seen her,” Hunt gushes. “It was incredibly freeing after two seasons of playing her so emotionally repressed to watch her asking for what she wants, and being more disheveled, and looser with her outward appearance, and more accepting of how she feels inwardly.”
Once their son does arrive though, Sue begins waging her own war against the Dickinson family’s matriarch (Jane Krakowski) who has differing views on parenting approaches. In Episode 3, she begins to distance herself from Mrs. Dickinson which complicates things with Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) who is trying to keep hope alive and her family together.
“She goes through a very relatable period of postpartum,” Hunt teases, “of grappling with who she is now that she’s had a baby, and feeling erased by the people around her.” Meanwhile, Enscoe believes there could be some changes for Austin’s behavior on the horizon as well.
“I do think that his heart is in the right place and he eventually finds his way towards a better future for himself, for his family, and for his children,” Enscoe teases, “it’s just getting there is pretty chaotic.” When it comes to fatherhood, “it’s a whole journey,” the actor teases. “In Austin’s case, when his son comes into his life, he really is a train wreck,” Enscoe noted to TV Insider during a set visit earlier this year, “and having the baby gives him a new reason to get his act together.”
Don’t miss the chaos as it continues to unfold in Dickinson‘s final season on Apple TV+.
Dickinson, Season 3, New Episodes, Fridays, Apple TV+
