Sanditon Season 3 Episode 6 Review: Episode Six

All’s well that ends well as the story of the beach town and its residents closes out with happy endings, closure, and more on a sometimes overly sweet Sanditon Season 3 Episode 6, “Episode Six.”

After Dr. Fuchs’ comments at the end of the last episode, all eyes and thoughts are with Mary for the most part for the better part of the hour while giving some of those closest to the Parkers’ perspective on choices they are making in life.

The mind turns to matrimony for many, including those who never had their minds on it until now, like Samuel and Lady Susan.

It’s a surprising development, but I’ve grown to love their dynamic in the span of maybe three or four episodes. I may have said it before, but it bears repeating that the trope of scheming matchmakers ending up matched together is such a cute and entertaining one, and they’ve played it well with Samuel and Susan.

With one last bit of contrived conflict in the form of the King Regent’s letter to Susan, we get a bit of heartbreak and angst, leading to a heartfelt, sweet moment in the final act.

Leo: I shall never fall in love. It seems a beastly business.

Colbourne: It is Leo. Avoid it if you can.

Elsewhere, fresh off her broken engagement, Charlotte’s ready to finally get her happy ending. However, the hour has a few twists in store for the heroine offering a few more close calls and miscommunications leading to perhaps the most romantic moment Sanditon has ever given viewers.

Alexander Colbourne’s final proposal will go down in the books as one of the most Darcy-esque monologues he’s ever had, and it was just as moving. From the picturesque cliffside as a setting to how Colbourne’s makes his proposal one more time, it’s all a perfect setup for a supremely happy ending for Charlotte.

A happy ending that has eluded her for the last few seasons. Charlotte’s, and in many ways Lady Denham’s, endings highlight another aspect of the characters that I always appreciated despite its sense of anachronism.

In Charlotte and Lady D, they get both aspects of what they seek in life. They get love, family, and marriage while also maintaining their independence and autonomy [as much as a woman in the Regency era could].

Lady Denham gets the company of Mr. Pryce and keeps her title, property, and fortune, Charlotte gets the happiness that comes with finding true love in Alexander and growing their family while becoming a teacher for the Sanditon school.

Meanwhile, Georgiana and Arthur are saved from half-lived lives, and we see their own happy conclusions. It’s fitting that after everything, Georgiana finds herself back with Otis and is can have a future together.

Now that she also has her mother by her side, she finally has that sense of belonging and home she always seemed to look for. And much like Charlotte, it’s well-earned, if slightly underdeveloped, ending for her as well.

So, for those keeping score at home, that is five happy conclusions featuring weddings or couplings, one presumably happy conclusion with a rebuilt friendship, and one end that is not addressed but easy to assume not so happy for one of the parties involved.

Yes, it may be a too-perfect, sugary-sweet ending. But how can it be an Austenian ending without a miraculous recovery, a wedding, and promises of more happy unions in the future.

Random Thoughts

• Agnes coming back to clear the air about Lady Montrose’s schemes to keep her away from Georgiana’s wedding is an amazing moment and leads to a perfect confrontation between Georgiana and the Montrose clan.
• What does Arthur and Harry’s ending ultimately mean for the pair of them, really?

What did you think of this episode of Sanditon? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Sanditon is available to stream in its entirety on the PBS app.

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