Characters / Emma Approved

The cast of Bernie Su and Hank Green's second Austen-adapted web series, Emma Approved.

Emma Approved

Emma Woodhouse (Joanna Sotomura)

"You don't have to call me a genius...but you can if you want to."

Debuts in: Episode 1

The cheery, charming, somewhat flighty head of a professional matchmaking company, Emma is a young woman spiritedly determined to "make it bigger and better than Oprah" - one client at a time.

• Age Lift: Almost 21 at the start of the book. Here, she is in her mid-twenties according to Bernie Su.
• Beneath the Mask: Emma's lack of durable and deep-seated self-confidence (and not the superficial, unstable vanity she shows constantly) is foreshadowed since episode 3 at least.
  Harriet: How do I fake [self-confidence]?
  Emma: It starts with shoes.

• Character Blog: Runs one, with a Tumblr version, where she posts about life coaching and fashion. She also tweets at @emmaapproved.
• Childhood Friends: She has been friends with Alex since ever; she tells Harriet in Episode 26 that their families go way back.
• Character Development: She learns to consider other people's feelings over her own wishes and desires over the course of the series.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: On a very shallow but very genuine level. She does really want to make your life better and will take you under her wing if she deems it fit, the ways she goes about it just aren't very...reasonable.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Lizzie. While Lizzie is the middle child, cynical, sarcastic, and a middle-class student, Emma is the younger daughter, blindingly optimistic, silver-tongued, and a wealthy businesswoman.
• Cool Big Sis: The dynamic isn't a straight fit, but her relationship with Harriet has some shades of this, as she's much more assertive and worldly determined to help Harriet better herself.
• Cry into Chest: She cries on Alex's shoulder in Episode 24, after her realization that she was wrong about Elton having feelings for Harriet brings her to tears.

• The Face: Silver-tongued, sophisticated, and very much The Fashionista, she's this for her own company.
• The Fashionista: Emma wears a new outfit every episode, in contrast to Alex. She takes note of this and ruins some of his clothes in an effort to improve his fashion sense. Her blog even contains links to all the outfits she wears in-series.

• Easily Forgiven: Annie forgives her instantly for sending in a wedding present in lieu of Frank to ensure Annie wouldn't call off the wedding.
• Genki Girl: Very cheerful and energetic, especially when it comes to getting people together. Subverted, too — she's a Stepford Smiler.
• Greeneyed Epiphany: She realizes her own affections for Alex while rationalizing that he and Harriet can't be together.

• Heartbreak and Ice Cream: She takes Alex's and Jane's departures very badly — just hanging out in her office wearing a sweatshirt and her hair in a messy bun, eating ice cream — a stark contrast to her other poised, professional appearances.
  Harriet: Wallowing in ice cream and regret is not and never will be Emma Approved.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • The failure of Elton/Harriet sends her into a two-month-long Freak Out. As we see in Episode 26, it takes a long time for her to get over it.
  • She gets another one after both Alex and Jane quit after the Boxx opening, which is so bad that she tells Harriet that she wants to close up shop.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Says this near-verbatim regarding sending Annie a gift and telling her it was from Frank to stop her cold feet, and getting Harriet to reject Martin.
• Informed Ability: If her irrational actions regarding Match #21 are any indication, one would have to wonder how she managed to successfully get twenty couples together.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Says in Episode 70 that her priority is Alex's happiness, even if it means having to see him happy with Harriet instead of her.
• It's All About Me: Her Establishing Character Moment is of her reading a description about how awesome she is. She consistently upholds that her word is law.
• Manic Pixie Dream Girl: At least outwardly: she's beautiful, energetic, cheerful, and devoted to making your life better.
• Manipulative Bitch: She often comes off as very insensitive (even if she doesn't mean it), a trait carried over from the book, but hugely exaggerated. She shamelessly moves people around the romance board like chess pieces in order to create perfect endgame couples. As Match #21 proves, this doesn't always work. Subverted in that she's Spoiled Sweet who means well and wants everyone to be happy, but her actions often come across as bitchy.
• The Matchmaker: Its her goal in life to see people happily coupled. Unlike her book counterpart, she's noted to be rather good at it — At the start of the series, she's working on Match 20.
• Matchmaker Failure: Setting up Harriet with Elton goes horribly wrong.

• Never a Self-Made Woman: She founded her company on her wealthy father's money.
• "Not So Different" Remark: As Alex points out, she's very similar to Caroline. She isn't too happy to hear that.
• Oblivious to Love:
  • She doesn't see that Elton's flirtations are clearly directed at her, believing him to be in love with Harriet.
  • Similar to the original novel, this extends to her own affection for Alex, and she is clearly shocked during her Love Epiphany. Alex's love for her for quite some time goes over her head as well.
• Odd Friendship: Wealthy, world-wise, and charming Emma with Naïve Everygirl Harriet, as in the original.

• The Perfectionist: Great at organizing things to the most minute detail, and prides herself on this. It makes her a stellar wedding planner, but it also means she's terrible at handling failure. The failure of Harriet/Elton drives her to tears in Episode 24.
  Emma: I make your life better, and I never fail.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: She pleads this of Harriet at the end of episode 64, after both Jane and Alex walk out on her.
• Race Lift: A Caucasian young woman in the book, Emma is played by an (admittedly white-passing) actress of Japanese and German descent in this adaptation.
• Relationship Sabotage: Manipulates Harriet into rejecting Martin because she believed Harriet was too good for him.
• Rich Bitch: She is interested in fashion and loves her expensive outfits, which she sometimes uses as bribes to Screw the Rules, I Have Money! effect. Subverted because she's a nice woman. She started her company with her father's money and uses it to take control of other people's life, because she feels superior and thinks they don't know what they want. She's also extremely driven and hard-working to the point she gained her own client base after her father's initial input, genuinely wants to help others. It doesn't hurt that she's mostly right and works as a Blithe Spirit Chaotic Good Wonka Archetype.
• Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: As the series goes on it's shown that she has very poor business sense: she's immature and volatile when it comes to taking clients, has very Skewed Priorities, crams major events, and puts her reputation above her clients' happiness. It's implied this comes from her spoiled upbringing.

• Shipper on Deck: She hopes that Annie and Ryan will get married, and presumably she ships everybody she has ever match-made. She does genuinely care about them, as shown when she correctly deduced the source of Annie's cold feet about marrying Ryan and took measures to prevent it. Her reasoning is that she could tell Annie really loved him. Her near-fanatic shipping-on-deck combined with her blinding outward self-confidence gives her tunnel vision regarding her clients' relationships and the inability to interpret romantic gestures as anything but something towards that. By the end, she wants Harriet and Robert to be together too, and is elated when they go out.

• Shipping Torpedo: She takes measures to ensure Robert/Harriet won't happen due to believing that Harriet is too good for him. She's also clearly affronted when Annie suggests that Alex and Jane might be interested in each other romantically, claiming that they would never work.
• The Social Expert: What she believes herself to be, and she would have to have some great skill with it to successfully matchmake twenty couples. As her attempts at setting up Elton and Harriet show, however, she's not so consistent with it.
• Spoiled Sweet: Obviously grew up very privileged, her friends and family adore her and she is very charming, mostly friendly, and genuinely wants to help people. However, her attitude often gets the better of her and she thinks she knows better what is best for everyone.
• Stepford Smiler: No matter how much Annie's cold feet displeases her and endangers her plans, she pretends to be unaffected and to leave her space. Annie isn't fooled.
  Emma:...You might think you hear panic in my voice, but that's just confidence!
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Emma loves visualizing romantic scenes for her clients.
• Too Clever by Half: She's smart and good at what she does, but is also capable of massively misinterpreting people, leading to spectacular failures.
• Wink "Ding!": Her trademark gesture, which she isn't amused when other people try to copy.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Alex. She might snark at his uptight attitude and boring fashion sense and he might snark about, well, everything she does, but it's clear they value each other very much.
• Your Makeup Is Running: Her mascara runs in Episode 55 and 56 to highlight her desperation and sadness after Alex and Jane leave.

Alex Knightley (Brent Bailey)

Debuts in: Episode 1

Emma's straight-laced, sensible business partner, charged with all the "boring stuff" - and, it seems, keeping Emma in check.

• Adaptation Name Change: Mr. Knightley's first name was George in the book; this was changed in Emma Approved to avoid confusion with George Wickham and Georgiana Darcy.
• Age Lift: 37 years old at the beginning of the book, he has been de-aged to around the same age as Emma (mid-twenties).
• Beware of the Nice Ones
  "I will support you 99% of the time, but you've just hit that 1%!"
• Character Blog: Sometimes writes on Emma's blog. He also tweets at @AlexKnightleyEA.
• Childhood Friends: With Emma; he says on a blog post that they've known each other forever, which contributes a lot to their team dynamic.
• The Confidant:
  • For Emma, so far he's the only character she's admitted her insecurities to. Twitter also makes its clear he's this for Robert concerning Harriet.
  • In Episode 46, he acts as a confidant to Harriet, listening to her concerns.
• The Conscience: To Emma, whose wrongs he's constantly trying to set straight.
• Deadpan Snarker
  Emma: Let me tell you the good news first.
  Alex:...How bad is it?
• Nature Lover: He proclaims that he likes the outdoors in one of the Q&A videos. In his spare time he goes rock climbing in Joshua Tree.
• Nice Guy: Despite his snarking he's constantly supportive of Emma, and his quiet encouragement of Harriet cements this status.
  Alex: "Hey, by the way, I wanted to let you know - I like the hair." ^note  These were the new bangs Emma had deemed a 'cry for help'.
• Not Listening to Me, Are You?: Frequently to Emma, who would rather do other things than listen to him talk about finances.
• Only Sane Man: Alex sees himself as the one who needs to correct Emma and the show doesn't really prove him wrong.
• Precision F-Strike: He says Emma's defense of her rudeness to Maddy at the Boxx party is "bullshit," quite shocking given the lack of profanity in the series otherwise.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The dry, snarky blue to Emma's Manic Pixie Dream Girl red.
• The Reliable One: Charged with all the "boring stuff."
• Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl: With Emma. He spends most episodes snarking about her new Zany Scheme.
• Ship Tease: Drifting into this with Emma, as the episodes continue.
• The Smart Guy: When it comes to finer details on company handling, he's your guy: he excels at business administration and statistics.
• Talker and Doer: The "Doer" to Emma's "Talker." She handles all the clients, he handles all the technical stuff.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Emma. She might snark at his uptight attitude and boring fashion sense and he might snark about, well, everything she does, but it's clear they value each other very much. As he says so himself, he doesn't like it when they genuinely fight.
• Voice of Reason: Not that Emma listens to him very much.
  Emma: You are the very definition of a party pooper, and this time, I am not going to listen to you!
  Alex:...Do you ever?
  Emma: No!

Harriet Smith (Dayeanne Hutton)

Debuts in: Episode 3

Emma's sweet, klutzy assistant. She also happens to view Emma as the best thing since sliced bread, much to her misfortune.

• Age Lift: A minor one. Twenty-three in Emma Approved, a teenager in the book.
• Cant Hold Their Liquor: She seems slightly better at it than Martin, but she gets visibly drunk when wine-tasting.
• The Cutie: Adorable, wide-eyed, and pushed around.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Begins to wear her hair in bangs as part of her "revamping" her image after Elton drops Emma (and, by extension, her) like a hot potato.
• Granola Girl: As she says herself, "doing good for other people is my life philosophy!"
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde, and the most naive and good-hearted of the cast.
• Hero-Worshipper: To Emma. She applies for Emma's assistant because of this.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Idolizing Emma, at least. While Emma is a good person who does genuinely have Harriet's best interests at heart, the way she goes about them doesn't allow Harriet to make her own decisions. Harriet doesn't pick up on this, though.
• Hopeless with Tech: The second type. She knows how to work her way around a computer, just don't expect her to be able to help much if things get complicated. Lucky for her, Robert's pretty good with them.
• Loving a Shadow: Her affection for James Elton, as she acknowledges in Episode 42.
  Harriet: I think I was more in love with the idea of him...I didn't really know him.
• Moe: In-universe, Alex and Emma both acknowledge how adorable she is and how they want the best for her. Which gets even bigger after she finds Elton isn't interested and puts her hair in bangs.
• Naïve Everygirl: Starts out as a naive young woman, especially compared to Emma's and Elton's wealth and sophistication.
• Nice Girl: Absolutely. Harriet is gracious, caring, and genuinely believes the best in people.
• Pygmalion Plot: Emma attempts this on her. It doesn't help that she is genuinely gullible and easily manipulated.
  Emma: Harriet doesn't need to figure things out! She has me!
• Undying Loyalty: Harriet looks up to Emma, and her Nice Girl nature means she'll never abandon her. This is apparent in Episode 56, where she's the only one to stick by Emma after the Boxx fallout.
• What Would X Do?: Asks herself "What would Alex do?" in Episode 56.
• Yes-Man: To Emma, whom she idolizes; she's constantly nodding to what her boss says.

Robert Martin (James Brent Isaacs)

Emma's company's IT guy, who may or may not have a thing for Harriet.

• Cant Hold Their Liquor: If the "Pairings" episode of the revival is anything to go by, he's even worse than Harriet. We only see him drinking one glass of wine, and he acts even drunker than she does.
• In-Universe Nickname: Known as BMart among his friends.
• Nice Guy: Very kind and sweet to Harriet.
• Odd Friendship: Surprisingly, with Mr Collins. Despite being very different people, they find a lot of common ground and get along extremely well.
• Office Romance: Subverted. He asks his co-worker Harriet out with a video and as the two actually hit it off, it looks like love is in the air, but Emma quickly manipulates Harriet into rejecting him.
• The Smart Guy: Tech support for Emma's company.

Jane Fairfax (Tyra Colar)

Debuts in: Episode 49

Maddy Bates' niece and Emma's former schoolmate, who later becomes an employee of Emma Approved.

• Always Someone Better: Emma seems to have this opinion of her but her pride causes her to have difficulty admitting it.
  Alex: (on why Emma is hostile towards her) Because she does the things you only talk about doing?
• Birds of a Feather: She gets along well with Alex because they're both work-oriented, business-inclined people. As in the novel, there are assumptions there might be romance for them on the horizon.
• Only Sane Man: The only person to point out how ridiculous Emma's self-documentation can get, while everyone else seemingly goes with the flow.
• Race Lift: Jane Fairfax in the novel is a white English woman. In this adaptation, Jane is black.
• Secret Relationship: True to the source material, with Frank. Unlike the source material, they end up breaking up (though Episode 71 heavily implies that Frank is working on winning her back).
• Soapbox Sadie: Jane is very concerned about social issues and works to support causes she deems worthy.
  Emma: She is a regular social justice advocate. In fact, if she were any more involved, I’d have to cut her a cape and sew her a mask.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Jane is a very introverted, reserved, and serious person, and most of her on-screen time dealing with Emma (who is much more extroverted bordering on nosy), she's rather uncomfortable and distant. However, her one-on-one moments with Frank show that, when she's comfortable, Jane can be much more sweet, and even playful and flirtatious.
• The Un-Hug: She and Emma share an incredibly awkward hug at the end of Episode 49.
• Unwanted Assistance: In-universe, her interactions with Caroline on Twitter◊. Caroline "refuses to see a girl as talented as [Jane] slaving away for some grubby nonprofit" and attempts to get her hired by her brother Bing's company, even if Jane repeatedly assures Caroline she's fine where she is.

Clients

Annie Taylor (Alexis Boozer)

Debuts in: Episode 1 (photo), Episode 2

One of Emma's closest friends, a pastry chef and "power homemaker" who marries Ryan Weston at the beginning of the series.

• Age Lift: Emma's friend, presumably around the same age as her, here rather than the Parental Substitute of the book.
• Drop-In Character: As one of Emma's clients and a good friend, she occasionally pops in while Emma's vlogging.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: She's quite feminine (she wears dresses and make-up), and a very good baker.
• Happily Married: Her appearance with Ryan at the holiday party suggests this.
• Nice Girl: One would have to be to put up with Emma! Once she figures out Emma's duplicity regarding Frank's wedding present, she forgives her because Emma's intentions were good.
• Shipper on Deck: She ships Alex/Jane, and also insinuates her approval of Frank/Emma.
• Sweet Baker: She is a pastry chef and "power homemaker". She's a very nice and friendly young woman.
• Uptown Guy: Annie's marrying into — and fear of disapproval from — the Westons, an influential family of old money, gives her cold feet and nearly causes her to call off the wedding had it not been for Emma intervening.

Ryan Weston (Gabriel Voss)

Debuts in: Episode 1 (photo), Episode 23

CEO of a cupcake company, whom Emma sets up with Annie at the beginning of the series. The two of them are successful match #20.

• Age Lift: He was Frank's father in the book, but stepbrother here. Fittingly, he's much younger.
• Happily Married: His appearance with Annie at the holiday party suggests there marriage is a very happy one and that they are going strong.
• Named by the Adaptation: Mr. Weston didn't have a first name in the book, but he is named Ryan here.
• Nice Guy: Cheerful, easygoing, and very friendly, a trait carried over from the book.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Seemingly with James.
  Ryan: You're looking good...for a politician.
  James: You too. Glad to see those cupcakes didn't go straight to your waist.

James Elton (Paul Stuart)

Debuts in: Episode 15

California's youngest state senator ever and currently its most eligible bachelor after his campaign manager left him for his opponent. Emma lands him as a client and aims to set him up with Harriet.

• Adaptation Name Change: Rev. Philip Elton in the novel, Senator James Elton here.
• The Charmer: Emma and Harriet are easily won over by him.
  James: I'm in politics! I'm professionally nice to people!
• Drop-In Character: As one of Emma's clients, he drops in while she's blogging.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: Apparently got engaged to Caroline within three months. Lampshaded by Emma.
• Hopeless Suitor: To Emma, who has no interest him beyond his being a client.
• Jerkass: Justified because he's hurt as he believed Emma was interested in him, but the way he laid out his feelings on the whole situation was unnecessarily mean-spirited. In a later episode, he ends up being purposely cruel to Harriet (probably to hurt Emma) by making excuses as to why she cannot attend his engagement party, despite the fact that Harriet was particularly involved in planning it.
  James: (on romancing Harriet): Maybe if I was running for Student Council President!
• Love Confession: He confesses his love to Emma in Episode 24. She's having none of it.
• Matchmaker Crush: He realizes Emma tries to fix him with Harriet but he also thinks that Emma herself falls for him. He is quite wrong.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Never seen out of a suit. He's a politician, and so he's required to dress snappy at all times.
• Social Climber: Wants in Emma's pants because she's beautiful, wealthy, charming, and comes from a well-connected family — all traits that would help him rise up in his social circles and exactly the sort of things he thinks a good politician's wife is. Never mind that Emma isn't even the least bit interested in politics. And since The Lizzie Bennet Diaries clearly shows the Lees are loaded, it's implied his interest in Caroline is primarily based on the same sentiments.

Isabella "Izzy" Knightley (Mapuana Makia)

Debuts in: Episode 26

Emma's older sister, who's married to Alex's brother John.

• Back to School: Her resolution and her way of finding herself again after realizing that she's not quite happy in her marriage.
• Cool Big Sis: She and her younger sister Emma have a loving relationship, which is very sweet for adult women. Emma really looks up to Izzy.
• Drop-In Character: As one of Emma's clients, she frequently interrupts Emma's vlogging.
• Extreme Doormat: She has a very hard time saying "no" to her husband, an interesting piece of the Setting Update as it's the same as in the book, but being in the present day makes it a much bigger deal.
• Happy Marriage Charade: Izzy likes to pretend that she and John have a picture-perfect marriage, but Emma rightly suspects that that isn't the case.
• Housewife: As in the original. This Isabella dropped out of college to care for her children; this is now her present occupation. In Episode 31 she admits she's bored of it and decides to go back to school to complete her architecture degree and qualify as an architect.
• In-Universe Nickname: Alex and Emma call her "Izzy."
• Race Lift: White English woman in the book, Asian-American in the web video series.
• Stepford Smiler: Emma suspects so. She's not so far off the bat; Izzy comes to admit that her marriage isn't perfect and she's completely bored with her life. She resolves this by going Back to School.

Maddy Bates (Nikea Gamby-Turner)

Debuts in: Episode 34

CEO of Bates Financial Services and long-time friend of the Woodhouse family.

• Adaptation Name Change: Ms. Bates was named Hetty in the original novel, but renamed Maddy here.
• The Caretaker: To her deaf mother, Mrs. Bates.
• Cordon Bleugh Chef: Makes jams with...interesting flavor combinations.
• Doting Parent: Doting aunt, at least, to Jane; she's as quick to sing her niece's praises as she is in the book.
• Drop-In Character: Since she's supposed to be giving financial consultation to Emma, she often appears as Emma is vlogging. She's also an old family friend, so she's more familiar with Emma than the show's other examples.
• Race Lift: She's white in the novel. In this series, she's African-American.
• Sassy Black Woman: And with a mother going deaf, giving her an excuse to be even louder.

Caroline Lee (Jessica Jade Andres)

Debuts in: Episode 41

Elton's new fiancee. It's safe to say nobody saw it coming.

For tropes relating to her from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, see her entry here.

• Canon Welding: Her appearance and status as a Composite Character join Emma Approved and The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.
• Character Exaggeration: In order to make Caroline fit the crass, rude Social Climber Augusta Elton, Caroline's pretentiousness and jerkassery are exaggerated here — while Lizzie 's Caroline was a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Emma's Caroline is a straight-up bitch. It's believable, though, because the TLBD Caroline had to retort to manipulate her environment trying to get a man, while here we have the Caroline who holds the power and is free to express her worst.
• Composite Character: Already a composite of several characters from Pride and Prejudice (for more elaboration, see her entry on that character sheet), she also takes the place of Emma's Augusta Elton nee Hawkins.
• Evil Counterpart: More like Jerkass Counterpart, but she resembles Emma in several ways: she's an upper-class Asian-American woman who is The Fashionista, is very particular about what she likes, and likes to meddle in other people's affairs, but while Emma is Spoiled Sweet, Caroline is an Alpha Bitch. When Alex lampshades this, Emma doesn't take it well.
• Fourth-Date Marriage: Apparently got engaged to James in the three months after Emma rejects him, although it's unknown how long they had known each other prior to that. Lampshaded by Emma.
• Jerkass: Putting aside what people might know about her from The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, her barely looking at Harriet and responding to Harriet's suggestions by talking directly to Emma does not bode well.
• Must Have Caffeine: She orders a very specific (right down to temperature) coffee and wants it as soon as possible.
• Race Lift: The characters she's based on are white women in the novel (both Caroline Bingley and Augusta Elton). She's Asian-American in the series.
• Rich Bitch: As in the original, she's spoiled and wealthy and uses that to her advantage.
• Shout-Out: Episode 43 has her delivering a few to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, including Caroline mentioning that she thought she could plan the wedding on her own due to planning her brother's birthday party, which she refers to as "very memorable."
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: She and James kiss, visibly grossing Emma out.
• Sitcom Archnemesis: For Emma, which is unfortunate because she's her client. Emma dislikes her for her rudeness to Harriet, constant pretension and condescension, and referring to Alex as "Al".

Others

Mr. Woodhouse (N/A)

Debuts in: N/A

Emma and Izzy's father.

• Demoted to Extra: Has a much smaller role than in the book (where he essentially serves as Emma's Morality Chain early on, and eventually causes a complication to Emma and Knightley getting together as she can't bear to leave him alone in the house).
• Doting Parent: It's implied he doted excessively on his daughters, leading to both of them being pampered and spoiled. But they turned out well and are Spoiled Sweet.
• The Ghost: Never shown onscreen.
• Unnamed Parent: His first name is not mentioned in the webseries.

John Knightley (N/A)

Debuts in: N/A

Alex's brother and Emma's brother-in-law through his marriage to Isabella.

• Adaptational Villainy: His novel counterpart is a decent guy who occasionally sneers at his less intelligent wife. Here, however, he's straight-up emotionally abusive to his wife.
• The Ghost: We don't get to meet him to hear his side of the story.
• Happy Marriage Charade: His and Izzy's marriage isn't terrible, but it isn't as picture-perfect as Izzy pretends it is.

Frank Churchill (Stephan Chang)

"Always do the unexpected. Keeps things interesting."

Debuts in: Episode 38

Ryan's stepbrother, a wealthy, well-connected young man with plenty of companies. He is mentioned early in the series as the reason for Annie's nervousness, and shows up in person later on.

• The Charmer: One can practically see him worming his way into Emma's good graces in his first appearance.
  Frank: You can tell a lot about a person by the coffee they drink.
  Emma: And?
  Frank: Bold, strong, confident.
  Emma: Are you talking about me or about you?
  Frank: Yes.
• Drop-In Character: Conveniently drops in as Emma vlogs. This is done more egregiously than other examples, as he's not a client of Emma's.
• I Kiss Your Hand: He kisses Emma's hand in Episode 56. Combined with the other things he did in that episode, it freaked her out and made her question if she liked him.
• Jerkass: Once Jane Fairfax arrives, he doesn't waste much time trash-talking her behind her back with Emma.
• Large Ham: His joie de vivre is apparent in every scene he's in. Episode 56 is notable for his lack of it.
• Non-Idle Rich: The Westons are old money, but it's clear Frank has done well financially despite this. Besides that, he's also interested in, among other things, renewable energy.
• Race Lift: White English guy in the novel is re-imagined as Asian-American.
• Romantic False Lead: True to form, he and Emma get on like a house on fire when they first meet. Alex evidently thinks Emma's into him.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: His first appearance has him in a nice suit, immediately establishing him as a man of class and opulence.