Inquiring readers: This season the writers for the adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sanditon did their best to disguise how events would unfold to keep viewers guessing. I had fun picking up the clues, whether they made sense or not.
Charlotte Heywood, Image @ PBS Masterpiece
Episode Two opens with Charlotte walking past the militia, who are making a colorful splash on the beach. Col Lennox notices her immediately, for he admires her candor and independence. They chat, and she explains she has a new governess position with a family that is expecting her. As they part, he tells her to look for an invitation to an event; she smiles and walks away carrying her strapped leather portfolio over her shoulder..
Tom and Arthur discuss poor dead Sidney and that it turned out he did not neglect Miss Lambe’s financial affairs in Antigua. They look at the future plans for Sanditon in Tom’s study. Arthur excitedly tells his brother about his idea of building a Theatre Royal as the next step. But Tom has other plans. He and Arthur walk along the promenade with Colonel Lennox. Tom, in an attempt to convince the colonel to remain in Sanditon with his militia, discusses building permanent barracks for them. Arthur remains quiet, thinking his plan is more sensible and looks disappointed.
Georgiana, ever the instigator, invites Alison to visit the militia’s camp unchaperoned to surprise the men. While Captain Carter is charmed, Captain Fraser is not. Indicating that this is no place for ladies, he escorts them away.
Charlotte arrives at Alexander Colbourne’s manse, an impressive pile of stone, and is greeted by Mrs Wheatley, the housekeeper, who, as it turns out, has waged a shilling certain that this new governess will last longer than the many previous failures. Others are betting she will not last. What trap has Char walked into? Augusta’s rude and disrespectful behavior gives us the first clue: Leonora’s preference to dress and behave like a boy is the second. However, on Char’s first day the girls are dolled up like ladies and await her in the school room. While practicing their embroidery skills, Augusta is especially cruel, but Char, who helped to oversee eleven siblings, does not rise to the bait. At lunchtime, Augusta pointedly tells Char she must eat in the kitchen. ‘Yeah!’ thinks Char, who must have been ecstatic to be free of this sour pus and have the supportive Mrs Wheatley for company.
After lunch, Char takes the children outdoors for their lesson and returns with a variety of jars filled with water and water snails. Leonora (Leo) runs into her father’s study to find a magnifying glass, interrupting him. Charlotte explains that Leo wanted to explore the creatures more closely, and the child pipes up, “We’re being malacologists!” When she leaves the room, Colbourne sternly reminds Char she’s been engaged to make young ladies out of the girls. Char points out how engaged the girl is, and turns to leave. He then says, “Planorbis carinatus, keeled ram’s horn. If you’re going to be a malacologist, you might as well use the correct terminology.”
‘What an overbearing prig,’ I thought. This man’s not intriguing enough to be a possible suitor for Char, but neither is Colonel Lennox for that matter. But what do I know? I’m still infatuated with godawfullyhandsome Sidney, who’s sadly dead.
There’s no redeeming E-d, pronounced Eh deee, Lady D’s disinherited heir, whose creepiness exudes from every pore of his skin. E-d lurks in broad daylight in a shop’s alcove along the promenade. When he sees Lady Bab, he hurries across the street, then pretends surprise to see her. “This must be fate.”
No fool she, Esther gives him the evil eye. “Fate has nothing to do with it,” she answers. “It’s a contrivance, you’re fooling no one, least of all me”
He pretends to be taken aback. “What will it take to convince you I’m truly repentant?”
The priceless Lady Bab answers, “Try drowning yourself,” before she sashays away.
Meanwhile, as Arthur Parker sleeps on the beach near the promenade, Charles Lockhart sketches him. When he awakens and sees Lockhart’s drawing, he forges a friendship with the painter, who tells Arthur he has a ‘rare masculine beauty.’ Arthur’s chest puffs up with the compliment. Lockhart then shares his desire to paint Miss Lambe, a woman he barely knows, but with whom Arthur has a trusting friendship. Having found an admirer and possible friend, Arthur is more than willing to facilitate an introduction.
Wanting to thank the townspeople for their warm welcome, the colonel and his men have arranged a dinner and ball in the resort’s assembly rooms. The table is exceptional with gleaming silverware, fine porcelain china, and glittering crystal goblets. If you recall, gentle reader, I decried the poor production values in Season 1, but this season has upped its visual awesomeness. For starters, three drummers drum in a first floor alcove as footmen wearing red regimentals carry heaps of food towards the diners. This was a spectacle indeed. One would surmise from all this sumptuousness that the colonel and his militia made whopping fortunes from the spoils of war.
Before the diners enter the room, Arthur secretly switches name cards so that Mr. Lockhart is placed next to Miss Lambe. Her ennui is evident, for she is not as enthralled by the display as the others. After Colonel Lennox toasts the King, Mr Lockhart stands to toast Napoleon’s abolishment of slaverly in 1814, thereby shocking the assembly. As many slap the table and chant ‘out, out, out,’ Lockhart’s smug smile shows he’s made an impression on Georgiana.
The guests then dance – and showcase some lovely moves. A dance in an Austen film is a must-have activity, else the time spent watching a Regency soap opera would be ill spent! Colonel Lennox escorts Char onto the floor and apologizes for her placement at the far end of the table meant for spinsters. She demurs sweetly.
Alison is as infatuated with her handsome rescuer as ever. In fact her heart is all aflutter, which I can’t understand because he looks all of 15 years of age. As they dance, a lovesick Alison stares at him starry eyed like a Regency groupy. She’s as smitten as Marianne Dashwood was with Willoughby, only Alison’s hero spent 10 calories raising her up from the beach whilst Willoughby must have expended 10,000 carrying a hefty Marianne a quarter of a mile or so to Barton Cottage.
Arthur dances with Georgiana. They are a cute platonic couple and I’m ever so hopeful that this friendship will blossom into something more romantic, but then I wanted Char to fall for Young Stringer in Season One and that never happened.
The scene switches to Miss Lambe and Mr. Lockhart on the balcony. (There’s something icky about the artist, but I can’t put my brush to it.) His talk about independence and his preference to live according to his own rules captivates her, especially when he advises her that it would take a brave lambe to wander from the flock. Mary Parker, her chaperone, observes their interaction with concern. Wise woman she.
Meanwhile, Col. Lennox ensnares Tom Parker into a game of dice. Arthur’s brain screams “No!” as he watches his brother win the bet. ‘Oh, fly-invested merde,’ he thinks. ‘This will not bode well.’
Lady D informs E-d that she’s invited Colonel Lennox for tea the following day to show off her brother’s medals. (Gentle readers, we know that Lady D only wants to learn the Colonel’s unvarnished opinion about his protege). Upon hearing this news, Lady Bab’s wooden expression is that of a patient anesthetized with enough painkillers to fell a horse. She awakens, however, when she sees an opportunity to test if E-d has truly changed his ways. Esther asks him to dance with Rev Hankins’ spinster sister, Beatrice, for she herself would rather be drawn and quartered and have her liver boiled in oil than dance with the fiend. Having no choice, he acquiesces to her request. The dance scene, with E.d’s snobbish reluctance contrasted against Beatrice’s innocent pleasure, is a delight to watch. As the cad squirms and the spinster revels in his inattention, Lady D and Lady Bab resemble two cats who have cornered a fat mouse, for they now know far he’ll lower himself to prove he’s human.
As the assembled guests leave the ball, the viewers learn many tidbits of information. Lockhart invites Arthur to his abode for a glass of port (and more information?). Georgiana collects Alison, who reluctantly leaves baby-faced Captain Carter. That unrefined young man in turn approaches Captain Fraser as a friend and fellow officer for help to impress Alison. He knows his knowledge of culture is a wasteland and he needs Fraser’s help in pretending he knows more about Cowper’s poetry than merely pronouncing the poet’s name, and to polish him with the cultural refinement he lacks. Poor Fraser. He’s developed a tendre for Alison (heaven knows why – she’s too silly-young) but feels loyalty to his comrade in arms and will honor the request.
As she says goodbye to Colonel Lennox, Char tells him that Mr Colbourne is her employer. The colonel’s resting angry face changes into an even angrier one.
In the next scene, the camera pans to a CGI view of Sanditon with the promenade and the beach in the foreground. Georgiana and Mary Parker are seen walking along a particular portion of the beach that viewers have witnessed repeatedly. The actors cannot walk far towards the camera, for if they do so, they will hit their heads on a wall. (See link to Episode One). Georgiana assures a worried Mary that her opinion of Lockhart has not changed. “He’s all conceit and affectation.” She’s also had her fill of suitors and would like Mary’s hunt for a husband to stop.
Colonel Lennox explains to Lady D that he’s askeds E-d to accompany him on his visit, for her nephew was “keen to hear about his late uncle.” Yes, Lady D remarks facetiously. “E-d has always taken a keen interest in family matters.” Lennox is not surprised, for E-d in his estimation has proved himself to be exemplary, honorable, courageous, and disciplined. Hearing this, Lady Bab nearly upchucks her lunch. When the colonel discusses E-d’s sincere desire to atone, her eyes roll up. Lady D quickly escorts the colonel to view her brother’s portrait, leaving Lady Bab and E-d alone. He once more attempts to apologize, but Esther turns away and thinks of 50 ways to kill her former lover.
We next see Char and Augusta sitting at a table, with the young girl spewing her nastiness at our heroine. Char remains kind and understanding and tries to elicit a conversation with her young charge. In the course of their conversation, Augusta convinces Char to visit a room containing a locked spinet, and entices her to unlock the instrument by giving her a key. She then asks Char to play something LOUD. On hearing the music, Colbourne angrily charges into the room demanding to know who had given Char permission to play his late wife’s instrument. Char takes full blame for her actions. At that moment, Leo, dressed as a boy, runs through the room. Colbourne chastises Char for losing control of both girls: She bravely points out his inattention and absence as a father. After her outburst, Char assumes she’s fired, but he unexpectedly tells her he’ll see her the next day. The housekeeper collects her shilling from Colbourne, and Augusta and Leo begin to soften towards Char.
On a relaxing evening, as Lady D and Lady Bab enjoy each others’ company, someone comes knocking at the door. Surprise! Clara Brereton with a belly the size of a wine barrel enters the Denham mansion. Both ladies are in genuine shock, for they thought they’d gotten rid of the minx forever. When Clara announces she’s carrying E-d’s child, we viewers rub our hands in glee. What unholy deliciousness do the writers have in store for us next?
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