A Little Madness Is The Thing, Women beholden to a Clownish King

Hoo boy, that episode title is a STRETCH. 

This time around, we head to a lunatic asylum with the Dickinsons and discuss Episode 6 of Season 3 of Dickinson, "A Little Madness in the Spring," written by the kick-ass Ayo Edebiri and directed by one of our favorites, Silas Howard. We discuss Victorian Era approaches to mental health care (surprisingly better than you'd think for a bit there... and then things disintegrate quickly!), arbitrary systems of control (they're EVERYWHERE), and the benevolence or self-preservation of Susan Gilbert Dickinson (is it always 'or'? is it never 'and'?). 

I don't know about you, but we're ready for winter to end so that we can indulge in a little bit of spring-based madness of our own.

A little Madness in the Spring

Is wholesome even for the King,

But God be with the Clown – 

Who ponders this tremendous scene – 

This whole Experiment of Green – 

As if it were his own!