Sanditon Episode 2 Review

The second episode of Sanditon sees more build-up of the various plotlines and sees a budding friendship between two of the main characters.

The introduction of Miss Georgiana Lambe (Crystal Clarke) at the ball caused quite a stir in Sanditon. Lady Denham (Anne Reid) plans to host a luncheon in Miss Lambe’s honour, much to Miss Lambe’s dismay. Lady Denham tasks her nephew Sir Edward (Jack Fox) to court the young woman so they could have access to her wealth.

Charlotte (Rose Williams) seeks to make amends with Sidney Parker (Theo James) for her faux pas at the ball, something that Sidney will not let her do. Fortunately, Charlotte finds a place in Sanditon by becoming Tom Parker’s (Kris Marshall) assistant.

The second episode spreads its net wide regarding its various plotlines and character dynamics. Besides from the storylines already mentioned there are plots involving Edward and Esther (Charlotte Spencer) who want to disgrace Clara (Lily Sacofsky) so she would be ruled out from inheriting Lady Denham’s fortune. Despite being step-siblings there was sexual tension between Edward and Esther. This adaptation clearly wants to make them like Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont, but they come more like Sebastian and Kathryn in Cruel Intentions.

Also in play in this episode is Tom’s continuing build-up of the town, ordering the most expensive materials and wanting Sidney to speed up his efforts to convince his friends to stay in the town. And Miss Lambe simply wants to escape Sanditon and go back home to Antigua

The centrepiece of this episode was the luncheon. It was an event filled with tension and acid tongues. Miss Lambe reluctantly goes to the luncheon because she knows she’s only invited for her skin colour and her money. Lady Denham tried to manipulate the situation by getting Sir Edward to sit next to Miss Lambe and steers the conversation towards marriage. Miss Lambe does give as good as she gets, stating she doesn’t want to be enslaved to a man. She finds a kindred spirit in Charlotte who also has an independent streak.

During the luncheon Arthur Parker (Turlough Convery) makes a spectacle of himself, supporting the two women. His biggest action was cutting open the pineapple and finding it was rotten to the core – an unsubtle metaphor for Sanditon itself.

Due to the episode focusing on the various plotlines Charlotte was mostly on the sidelines. She got to show off her intelligence when working for Tom. Her big moment was when she found Miss Lambe crying on a cliffside and was able to secure their friendship. They were to comfort and keep each other company after being alone in the town.

The best feature of this episode were the smaller character moments. Sidney was acting as Miss Lambe’s guardian. In his free time Sidney liked to drink and play cards with his London society buddies but when one of them said they wanted to sleep with Miss Lambe he snaps at them.  Clara (Lily Sacofsky) has been shown to be sweet, naive, and kind-hearted young woman but Edward states this was more sexually experience then she lets on. Before the luncheon starts, Clara pretty much states that she was sexually abused when she was younger.

The second episode builds on and expands from what was established in the first entry. So far it is a decent offering for fans of period dramas.