Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is one of the most iconic novels of all time, and the protagonist, Lizzie Bennet, is a prototype for many a romantic heroine. But Lizzie is one of five sisters, and her most forgettable middle sister, Mary, is the subject of the new BritBox series The Other Bennet Sister. Based on the novel by Janice Hadlow, the series takes a look at what life is like for Mary, the plainest sister who is often derided for her lack of beauty and marital prospects.

THE OTHER BENNET SISTER: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? 

Opening Shot: Mary Bennet (Ella Bruccoleri) takes a walk through a lush green field, fingers lingering on the petals of waist-high flora. In a voiceover, she states, “It is a sad fact of life that if a young woman is unlucky enough to come into the world without expectations, she had better do all that to ensure that she is beautiful. To be poor and handsome is misfortune enough, but to be penniless and plain is a hard fate indeed, or so my mother taught us.”

The Gist: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is the story of Lizzie Bennet, a young woman in 19th century England who has become an icon of feminism and an often-copied romantic heroine. Pride and Prejudice is Lizzie’s story, but she’s one of five sisters, and each of them is something of an archetype: Jane is the beauty, Lizzie is witty and smart, the two youngest, Kitty and Lydia, are frivolous and spirited. And Mary, the middle child, wears glasses. Enough said. When we first meet her in the novel, Mary is described as being a “lady of great reflection” who “[reads] great books and [makes] extracts.” The fact that Mary looks drab and prefers books to boys is something her mother is ashamed of and thinks that the fact of Mary’s existence could hurt her other sister’s chances at marriage.

The series shows us Mary’s point of view in settings well established in Austen’ novel: in the first episode, she attends the ball in Meryton where Lizzie (Poppy Gilbert) first meets Mr. Darcy. There, Mary meets a very snooty Caroline Bingley (Tanya Reynolds), and shares two dances with the son of her optometrist, John Sparrow (Aaron Gill). Some of the characters in the series, like the Bennets, the Bingleys and Mr. Darcy, are well established, but new characters like Sparrow, invented in Hadlow’s novel, are brought to life here to imagine Mary’s life more thoroughly. It’s at that assembly in Meryton that Mrs. Bennet warns Mary to stay away from Sparrow, on account of his average-ness. He’s far from rich, and if he and Mary pursue one another, it could hurt the other Bennet girls’ chances at loftier marriages. So, now that her only prospect is forbidden, Mary decides to make herself over, only this makeover is a reverse-Sandy-from-Grease. Rather than making herself more appealing to men and other members of society by assimilating to the styles of the day and trying to look hotter, she decides that she’s going to double down on being smart and intellectual, because screw what everyone else thinks.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Mary’s determination to live alone among her books, without a desire for a husband, is akin to Eloise declaring herself “on the shelf” in this most recent season of Bridgerton.

Our Take: Pride and Prejudice is a gift that keeps on giving – the story is so well-worn and beloved that many new interpretations feel like Easter eggs, little gems that reward fans and, in the case of this series, open new doors into the lives of lesser characters. There’s just enough familiarity here, but the show doesn’t rely solely on Mary’s perspective of situations from the original novel, this is not meant to be a Rashomon of Jane Austen, rather, it gives Mary a whole life of her own to live. You’ll feel terrible for the way her family treats her – if anything, this show is heavy-handed depicting the Bennet family’s irritation with Mary. While some of her choices are comical, Mrs. Bennet’s (Ruth Jones) constant exasperation feels abusive and toxic. Mary is not simply misunderstood or mistreated though; the fact is, she can be an annoying know-it-all, but even when she deserves the many eye-rolls her family doles out, you still can’t help but wish that she could escape them and live her best life on her terms.

Bruccoleri plays Mary as a headstrong, a little defeated while she’s at home with her family, but ultimately defiant when she’s out exploring the world. She’s the ultimate underdog, and she knows it – it’s been burned into her brain that her self-worth is ties to her looks. It’s a testament to Bruccoleri’s talent that she has turned this character whose entire persona is best described as “forgettable” into an enchanting leading lady worth caring about.

Performance Worth Watching: The only member of the Bennet family who seems to even appreciate Mary in the slightest is her father, played by Richard E. Grant. In this telling, it seems Lizzie isn’t the only daughter he favors.

Sex And Skin: The series isn’t graphic but it’s not afraid to show lovers in the throes of passion. 

Parting Shot: Defeated and heartbroken after being told to abandon her feelings for John Sparrow, Mary arrives home from the Meryton ball and she decides to reinvent herself, not to appeal to any man but to embrace her own individualism and self-reliance. “The old Mary would be no more,” she says in a voiceover. “I would transform into the intellectual one. That was how I would stand out. As the other Bennet sister.”

Sleeper Star: Tanya Reynolds, who has also appeared in Sex Education and The Decameron, is turning in a delightfully arrogant performance here as Caroline Bingley.

Most Pilot-y Line: “I think you’re very brave to be prepared to look so ugly… who is going to dance with Mary with those things on her face?” Lydia Bennet says as the family first learns that Mary has been fitted for a pair of glasses. It’s just one of the many blatant insults lobbed at Mary by her family, who rarely think to consider her feelings.

Our Call: It’s hard to improve upon something that’s already a classic, but The Other Bennet Sister isn’t trying to reinvent Austen, rather, it’s paying homage to the source material and building upon it. Mary is a modern heroine who may not be as witty as her more famous sister, but her flaws and stumbles do make her a touch more relatable and her story just as enduring. STREAM IT!

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.