Sanditon – Season 2 Episode 4 Review

The tensions for the affections of the Heywood sisters increase as the second season of Sanditon reaches its second half.

It’s time for Lady Denham’s annual garden party. Colbourne finally ends his seclusion by going to the party and introducing his niece to society. However, he faces off against his old rival at the party. Captain Carter plans to propose to Alison, yet Captain Fraser clashes with his fellow officer about his plans. Within the Denham household Clara has given birth to a boy and struggles with motherhood, leaving Esther to take care of the child.

This episode was one where most of the characters were converging towards the same point: the garden party. Events at the garden party had a lot of drama. The most obvious was between Colbourne and Lennox. It was the first time they had seen each other for years and the tension between the pair hadn’t let up. Colbourne looked like he wanted to punch Lennox when he saw the army officer. Their conflict was heightened when Augusta fainted and Colbourne forced Lennox away from her when the Colonel was trying to help her.

In the previous episode Lennox revealed to Charlotte that he and Colbourne loved the same woman but Colbourne stole her away. However, Lennox interactions with Colbourne suggest a different version of events. Lennox was clearly painting Colbourne as a villain to Charlotte and taunting Colbourne about their past.

The history between Colbourne and Lennox seems to be repeating itself. Both men were competing for Charlotte’s heart. They literally do it during an archery competition and they get Charlotte to shoot their final shots. Lennox was using dirty tricks to manipulate Charlotte and Colbourne drives a wedge between them. This will probably lead to Colbourne being forced to tell his side of the story regarding his marriage.

Lennox was also showing his darker side through his interactions with Tom. The army had been racking up debts around town and the shop owners weren’t pleased. When Tom tried to raise the issue with Lennox, he told the businessman it was ungentlemanly to talk about such matters.

Alison was like Anna from the first Frozen film. They were lovestruck fools who believed in the romantic idea. Both characters lived sheltered lives so were incredibly naïve. Alison felt for Carter because he was a handsome war hero, but she didn’t know anything about him. Alison was so blinded by her infatuation that she ignored warnings from her friends and sister.

The other drama at the garden party involved Georgiana and Lady Denham. Lady Denham made a passive-aggressive move by commissioning a cake for the plantation owner. This was a call back to the first episode of the season. Georgiana was leading a sugar boycott against slavery and Lady Denham saw it all as poppycock. Whilst Lady Denham made a bitchy move, she inadvertently sparked the relationship between Georgiana and Charles. Georgiana did make a big speech against Lady Denham and I agreed with her sentiment, but it did feel false for the time period.

The final plotline in the episode involved the Denhams. Edward was back to his old ways and interferes with the Denham family’s affairs. He intercepts the post and tries to work his way back into the family fold. However, Esther and Clara were suspicious because they know what the man is like. Although Clara was in a vulnerable state because of her struggles with motherhood. Esther’s description of her relationship with Edward was incredibly witty.

Clara’s struggles with her son also play into Esther’s issues with pregnancy. Esther has to take responsibility for the baby. There’s the potential for drama since Esther wants a child but can’t have one whilst Clara faces the stigma of being an unmarried woman with a baby. The events of the previous episode have led to an understanding between Esther and Clara and Esther has softened her attitude towards her blonde rival. It led to a tender moment at the end of the episode.

On a final note, the episode did have an incredibly sassy moment when Leo hugged her cousin and revealed the reason why.

This episode of Sanditon had all the romantic drama that Jane Austen fans would want and it provided many attempts at feel-good moments, even if not all of them worked.