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Je n'aime pas dans les vieux films américains quand les conducteurs ne regardent pas la route. Et de ratage en ratage, on s'habitue à ne jamais dépasser le stade du brouillon. La vie n'est que l'interminable répétition d'une représentation qui n'aura jamais lieu.

Rebecca: Episode 1.2 (1979)

The second episode of this show covers territory more well-known and it ends up being the weakest episode of the show.  It’s important that the second Mrs. De Winter be seen as out of her element and awkward; Joan Fontaine does a great job in the Hitchcock film.  But Joanna David here is essentially just child-like in a way that’s more irritating than anything else.  She’s forever chewing her nails or dashing off after the dog and wearing coats about three sizes too big.  I mean, it’s a take on the character; they’re doing it on purpose, but it just didn’t work for me.  Jeremy Brett really is a treasure; a far better Max than Olivier in every way.  The episode has one great scene when the second Mrs. De Winter explores Rebecca’s old bedroom and Mrs. Danvers enters and delivers a fantastic monologue about Rebecca.  Other than that one scene, this episode is bland and, occasionally, annoying.  2 stars.

tl;dr – an annoying take on the lead character really starts to grate when the show isn’t doing anything interesting; this episode is a perfect example of that.  2 stars.

Rebecca Review!