The final episode begins with Mr. Bennet and Lizzy privately discussing the severity of the situation with Lydia and Mr. Wickham, while in the background, Mrs. Bennet rejoices over her youngest daughter's marriage. Meanwhile, the wedding proceeds with only Mr. Darcy and Lydia's aunt and uncle present as guests. Lydia wonders out loud, "Where is everyone?"
Back at the Longbourn House, Mr. Bennet proclaims that Lydia and her new groom will never be welcome there. Well, apparently, Mr. Bennet couldn't bear to not see his youngest daughter because in the very next scene, the newly married couple arrives at the house. Lydia is blissfully happy in an annoying sort of way.
While at the house on a walk with her sisters, Lydia announces that Mr. Darcy was at the wedding, much to Lizzy's surprise. Ooops! Irresponsible Lydia was not supposed to let that secret out! Later, Lizzy sends a letter to her aunt asking if Mr. Darcy really was there. Her aunt is surprised that she was unaware of his attendance. She confirms that Mr. Darcy was there and tells Lizzy everything in a letter back to her. He was the one who put forth the money so Lydia and Mr. Wickham could marry and the Bennet's family reputation would not be ruined.
Not long after this, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy both arrive at the Longbourn House. Everyone is overjoyed at Mr. Bingley's arrival, but Mrs. Bennet is not happy about Mr. Darcy's visit. She accepts him into the house anyway, since he is a friend of Mr. Bingley's. Mr. Bingley says that he hopes to be in town for at least a few weeks, as his eyes happily meet with Jane's.
As Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy leave, Mr. Darcy explains to Mr. Bingley that he concealed the fact that Jane visited London. Mr. Darcy owns up to his mistake and says he was wrong to hide her visit. Mr. Bingley has forgiven Mr. Darcy before one can even begin to say the word "forgiven". He asks Mr. Darcy if he then has his blessing and when asked if he really needs his blessing, Mr. Bingley says no, but it would still be good to have. Mr. Darcy offers his blessing in a way that only Mr. Darcy can.
After Mr. Darcy leaves, Mr. Bingley returns to Longbourn, much to everyone's delight. After an awkward and mostly speechless meeting with the sisters and Mrs. Bennet, all the ladies, except Jane, leave the room so that Mr. Bingley and Jane would be alone. A few minutes later, Lizzy returns to check on Jane and finds out that all is well between Mr. Bingley and her. Mr. Bingley and Jane became engaged and everyone in the Bennet family is happy for them. Jane says she is not only happy for herself, but also for her family. This says a lot about her unselfishness and maturity.
After some time has passed, Lady Catherine de Bourgh arrives at Longbourn to have words with Lizzy. Lady Catherine heard that Mr. Darcy plans to marry Lizzy, much to Lizzy's surprise. Lizzy confirms that they are not engaged, but refuses to promise never to become engaged to him. Lady Catherine is angered by this because she does not feel Lizzy is worthy him. She had planned on her own daughter marrying Mr. Darcy, since her daughter's infancy. Lady Catherine leaves, but not on good terms.
Later, Lizzy and Mr. Darcy take a walk together and have a heartfelt conversation. I felt like this is where they finally came to a full understanding of each other. Mr. Darcy asks Lizzy how she feels about him and she says it's the complete opposite of how she used to feel. Happiness for the two of them is clearly on the horizon.
Lizzy has a talk with her father, who already gave his blessing to Mr. Darcy. However, Mr. Bennet is confused about Lizzy's feelings. She explains that she was wrong about Mr. Darcy and that she loves him. That was the only reservation Mr. Bennet had about them. Once he finds out that Lizzy really does love Mr. Darcy, she is given her father's blessing to marry.
The final scene is the wedding, which was not at all shown in the 2005 movie version. The place is packed with everyone, except Lydia, Mr. Wickham, Lady Catherine, and her daughter. It turns out to be a double wedding with Jane marrying Mr. Bingley and Lizzy marrying Mr. Darcy. This was the perfect way to wrap up the series. It further solidifies the close relationship Lizzy and Jane have had all along. I knew that, in the end, we would see Mr. Darcy marrying Lizzy, but I did not expect to see the double wedding. The married couples then ride off in separate horse drawn carriages.
Overall, I prefer the mini series version of Pride and Prejudice. In the beginning, I thought Mr. Bingley having two sisters in the mini series would somehow affect how affect the plot, but I didn't notice a difference. There are several scenes in the mini series that I really enjoyed watching, but are not at all in the movie. And there were others that were done differently and were more pleasing to me in the mini series. After watching the mini series, I re-watched the 2005 movie version and I felt like a lot was missing. I can see why audiences generally prefer the mini series over the 2005 movie.
Either way, I can see myself watching one or the other over and over and over again anytime I need comfort food for the soul. I don't know if I've ever been able to say that about any other movie before.
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