LBD

To a nerd, LBD does not mean "Little Black Dress." It refers to "Lizzie Bennet Diaries," the 10 hour modern vlog adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice." I absolutely adore this series. All the actors are stunning, and portray their characters perfectly. If you haven't seen this series and don't want spoilers, you might not want to read this post. :) THERE WILL BE SPOILERS HERE. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.


I'll start with the good: Darcy. Darcy, Darcy, Darcy, Darcy, Darcy. I can't say it enough. I love Darcy, and Daniel Vincent Gordh is perfect. Seriously. Ahhhh. Up until episode sixty, we only see Darcy as portrayed by Lizzie, her sisters Jane and Lydia, and her best friend Charlotte, through "Costume Theater." This is Lizzie's way of telling stories. We also see her and her sisters portray Bing Lee, Caroline Lee, and occasionally each other. But when we finally meet Darcy, face-to-face, he does not disappoint. The actor managed to capture the way he'd been played in previous episodes, complete with drawing his chin in when he's nervous.

Lydia is also wonderful. She's a partier, with a definite sweet side. But her wild side wins out more often, causing friction between herself and her well-meaning older sisters. She constantly clashes with Lizzie, who disapproves of her partying and her "boyfriends." Lydia's story will break your heart, but I'll get to that later.

Jane is an absolute sweetie, and her boyfriend Bing is, too. They're the perfect match, much as they are in the book. Jane playing Darcy in Costume Theater, and fake texting when "he" saw Lizzie almost made me die laughing.

Gigi Darcy is played by the adorable Allison Paige, and she sort of represents the fans. She ships her brother with Lizzie, and does everything in her power to get the two of them together.

And now, to Lizzie. Ashley Clements is a fabulous actress, and she played Lizzie to perfection. She knew exactly what she was doing when she took this role. Lizzie is hilarious, and you will love her instantly. But she will also drive you out of your mind when she's being her usual judgy self.


And now to the bad: George Wickham. Played by the wonderfully talented Wes Aderhold (who is much nicer in real life), he is the king of all jerks. He's manipulative, and a liar. I really, really dislike him. He first took advantage of Darcy's little sister, Gigi, and then moved on to preying on Lydia.

Caroline Lee is basically just a brat, who never thinks about anyone but herself. That's all I have to say about her.


The romantic: Okay, I could go on for hours about this. I'll start off easy, with the "what was romance in the book, but isn't in the series." Mr. Collins is hilariously played by Maxwell Glick. In this version, he does not so much propose to Lizzie, as ask her to be his business partner. I mean, come on. We all know he has a girlfriend in Canada. Right? She is real, right?

Jane and Bing have a painful relationship. It starts off great, but then he suddenly moves back to LA, without so much as a goodbye. He breaks her heart, even though she made him snicker doodles. Snicker doodles! Lizzie is horrified, much as she should be. Jane spends three days in her room, has a good cry with Lizzie, and then starts to recover. She's finally moved on when Bing comes back, and, well. We all know that true love forgives.

Lizzie and Darcy are so... I don't even know. I don't have enough words for how much I love them. And I'm afraid that if I try to explain, it'll break the internet. They start off hating each other. She finds out from his friend Fitz that he broke up Jane and Bing, and she's furious. Rightly so. Lizzie calls him a heartless robot, ON HER VIDEOS. Yeah, that's a good idea. When they're arguing after he awkwardly (but so adorably) confesses his love for her, she yells that if he wanted to know how she felt about him, he should have watched her videos. Oops. A few months later, Lizzie is working on a project for grad school, and she ends up shadowing at Darcy's company Pemberley Digital. Here, he's nothing but nice to her, and he even partakes in Costume Theater with her. She meets his younger sister. she begins to fall in love with him. But then she's called home by an emergency, involving Lydia, and a certain tape that George Wickham is selling on the internet. I don't want to completely spoil what Darcy does to help, but let's just say that being a rich CEO really helps. When Lizzie finds out what he's done, she calls him, and he comes to see her, leading to lots of feels. I literally screamed when I was watching episode 98.


And now, the heartbreaking. Which, basically, is Lydia's entire story. I already said that she and Lizzie clash over Lydia's partying, but when Lizzie gives her a book called "Where Did I Park My Car?: A Party Girl's Guide to Becoming a Successful Adult," things come to a head, and Lydia snaps. She doesn't understand the Lizzie is just trying to help, and sees this as a personal attack. She storms off to Vegas for New Years, where she reconnects with George Pigface Wickham. A little ways into the series, Lydia started doing her own videos, and the last several include George. Here we watch him manipulate her into falling in love with him, and cutting off contact with her sisters, who are in LA and at Pemberley Digital. We are powerless as we watch Lydia fall deeper in love with each episode, all the while believing that he loves her, too. He tells her things like "I'm here for you, but where are your sisters?" But when the "Lydia Bennet Tape" website goes up, Lizzie comes home to confront Lydia, thinking she's in on the plan. But the second Lydia lays eyes on the site, she breaks down. She had no idea. This is about where you realize that Mary Kate Wiles (actress playing Lydia) is stealing the show. But you don't mind, because she's an insanely talented actress. I cry every time I watch episode 87. Lydia has realized that he never loved her, and she says she thinks she might be a monster. "Because if he's all bad, then what does that say about me?" She truly believes she got what was coming to her, and it breaks my heart every time. "I thought I was, for once, good enough for somebody." This is about the moment I lose it, and I start to sob, and so does she. "Why didn't he love me, Lizzie?" This video is the first time Lizzie says "I love you" to her little sister. This is when their relationship begins to heal.


So I guess my feelings about this series are still pretty strong, even though it's been almost a year since it ended. I hope you were able to understand all my ramblings. :)