Review: Nicholas Nickleby (2001) Episode 2

(Review of Episode 1 here.)

*takes a deep breath* Well, here we go. Ready to face the heartbreaking and heartwarming Episode 2? ...I know I'm not.

We left Nicholas and Smike as part of an acting troupe, and Kate had just been assaulted by Sir Mulberry Hawk. Episode 2 starts shortly after this.

(MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Sir Mulberry goes to Ralph, searching for information on Kate, and while he's there Mrs. Nickleby arrives. She doesn't know who he is, and is flattered that such an important man is interested in her daughter. Mrs. Nickleby is frankly an idiot. Sir Mulberry couldn't be more obviously a villain if he had a flashing neon sign over his head saying "SCUMBAG". Instead of warning him to stay away from her daughter, she accepts his friend's offer to take her and Kate to the opera.

How can you possibly trust this creep, Mrs. Nickleby?

On the subject of Sir Mulberry's friend, Lord Verisopht (Dickens had a wonderful way with names!): at first he seems as bad as Sir Mulberry, but as the series goes on we see that he's not really that bad at all. His main fault is that he's stupid and easily led, and honestly thinks Sir Mulberry has his best interests in mind. Is anyone surprised that this doesn't end well for him?

Anyway, Mrs. Nickleby insists that Kate goes to the opera with Sir Mulberry. Again he attempts to assault her, and again she narrowly escapes. Poor Kate goes to the only person she thinks could help her: her uncle Ralph.

Unfortunately, it's out of the frying pan, into the fire for poor Kate. Ralph makes her an "offer" that sounds terrifyingly like a proposal, and when she rejects him, he refuses to help her.

When Nicholas learns of what's happening, he immediately leaves the acting troupe and returns to London with Smike. He happens to overhear a conversation between Sir Mulberry and Lord Verisopht (it wouldn't be Dickens without implausible coincidences...), and when he goes to Newman Noggs he hears the full story.

This is the beginning of Ralph's troubles, and about time too. Lord Verisopht and Sir Mulberry have an argument that leads them having a duel.

A duel that's witnessed by Loki, believe it or not

Lord Verisopht is killed, and Sir Mulberry runs away. Both of them owed Ralph money, and now he has no chance of being paid.

Nicholas goes in search of a job, and finds one with the Cheeryble brothers.

Nicholas and the Cheerybles

The Cheerybles want Nicholas to pretend to be an art dealer, so they can get money to a young lady they wish to help. Madeleine Bray is a sort of early Amy Dorrit figure: she's living with her selfish, ungrateful father in a debtor's prison. Nicholas falls in love with her, but is afraid to say anything in case he angers the Cheerybles. (Nicholas is a bit of an idiot here...)

Nicholas and Madeleine

But trouble's brewing. Squeers has reappeared, and joined forces with Ralph to make life miserable for Nicholas.

The amount of evil in this picture is horrible to contemplate

Squeers kidnaps Smike, but his evil plan is foiled by the timely reappearance of two minor characters -- so minor I haven't mentioned them before. Which is a shame, because Tilda and John Browdie get to be heroes in this scene. The only thing that could have made this better would be if they left Squeers tied up in Smike's place.

The Cheerybles provide Nicholas and his family with a cottage of their own, so as soon as Smike's safe the Nicklebys move in there.

Unfortunately, Ralph is still up to no good. He's met up with another of his "friends", the repulsive Mr. Gride, and the two of them have a plan to steal Madeleine's inheritance by forcing her to marry Gride. Luckily, this plan is foiled by Nicholas and Kate, and the death of Madeleine's father. Madeleine goes to stay with the Nicklebys, and Ralph and Gride don't get her money.

Madeleine is safe, but Smike's health is deteriorating. Nicholas takes him to stay in the country, hoping he'll recover.

Nicholas and Smike visit Nicholas's childhood home

This is one of the parts I absolutely hate watching (or reading), because... he doesn't 😭

(As a side note, I'd no idea why Nicholas was carrying Smike until I realised: he can't walk. And apparently no one thought of getting a wheelchair. They had wheelchairs back then, didn't they?)

Warning: if you watch this scene, you'll need tissues. A box of tissues.

NOOOOOO 😭😭😭

After this, things are going worse and worse for Ralph. Squeers is in prison (FINALLY!), Ralph's business is ruined, and he's no hope of getting more money. That's when Nicholas arrives with the mysterious Mr. Brooker, and we learn a Very Important Secret that Mr. Brooker has been keeping. (No, this is one plot twist I'm not going to reveal. If you want to find out, you'll have to watch the series. Or read the book.)

This revelation so utterly devastates Ralph that he commits suicide. That's one death you won't need tissues for.

Immediately the story switches to Nicholas and Kate talking about Madeleine, with a suddenness that's a little jarring.

Is Nicholas standing on a box or is he really that much taller than her?

Nicholas still thinks the Cheerybles will be unhappy that he loves Madeleine. The Cheerybles themselves visit to tell him otherwise, and Nicholas proposes to Madeleine.

Aww 😍

The series finishes with a happy ending and a double wedding: Nicholas marries Madeleine, and Kate marries the Cheerybles's nephew Frank. (Wait, I haven't mentioned him before... sorry, Frank.)

But even with the weddings, there's a moment at the end that will bring the tears on again. It's about Smike, but I can't give a picture because it reveals that plot twist mentioned earlier.

If you've read this far, it should be pretty obvious what I think of it. It's a great series from beginning to end, and I thoroughly recommend it. (Just remember that there are a few scenes you might want to skip.)

There's one thing that I really wish the series had included, and that's the bit near the end of the book where Squeers gets transported and John Browdie helps the boys at Dotheboys Hall run away after they give Mrs. Squeers a literal taste of her own medicine. The series gives the impression that Mrs. Squeers is still tormenting the boys at Dotheboys Hall, which is a pretty bad oversight on the part of whoever decided to leave that out.

But other than that, this series is amazing and you should definitely watch it.

Here's the link to episode 2 on Youtube.

Rating: 8/10. There are fewer scenes to skip, and no scenes in Dotheboys Hall, but it has so many vile characters (Squeers, Gride, Sir Mulberry...) and such a tragic death scene that it's hard to watch in places. But don't worry, it has the adorable wedding scene at the end to balance out the earlier darkness!

Is Nicholas Nickleby the best Dickens adaptation? No. Is it my favourite? No, but it's in the top three. (The other two, if you're wondering, are Bleak House and Little Dorrit.) Is it a good series? Yes, absolutely. So my overall rating for the entire series is also 8/10.