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shallownessSanditon – ep 4
Let’s begin with the most pointless aspect, was the Parker siblings and exercise plotline sponsored by a public health body?
Laboured developments on the money-Forehead-Chin-Clara front. Lady Denham was trying to marry her niece and nephew off, though she was testy with Clara, making the Forehead’s ‘plans’ seem even more ridiculous. Although ‘Where’s your maid?’ is my constant cry with this series, I’m assuming Forehead and Chin’s servants are in the hall or wherever there’s no hole in the roof, skiving and having a good time. So, Clara was able to tiptoe in and espy definite stepsibling incest instead of strongly implied SSI.
I thought the whole conversation over the piano was redundant except to make Chin angry enough to flounce off. But hey, this is not the show for subtlety. We learned more Clara backstory as she thought Chin was a victim, too. Clara is a better judge of Useless Edward, who had, after all, flirted with Charlotte, too, for no reason other than he’s girl crazy. Chin sobbed like it hurt…and I didn’t feel sorry for her. Babbington, I might feel sorry for yet.
Groaning ensued at this show tackling slavery to whatever extent. Well-meaning when it’s not intelligently done is probably less helpful than it means to be. And I found Georgiana hard to sympathise with, as she not only lied, but dragged Charlotte into the lie, didn’t tell her she was meeting her never before mentioned lover and behaved like a brat a lot of the time. (Just elope with Otis, then!) So, my take was that Sidney might well be disapproving of Otis because he didn’t help her moral tone even when they claimed racism.
Anyway, we had Charlotte playing the chaperone to a couple who were all over each other, which was inherently funny, so ‘tongue’ could have been cut. From the bluebell wood setting, someone making the show has seen Bright Star – and as I’m quoting references, the horror about the licentiousness of picnics just made me shake my head. The picnic in Emma was much more respectable than that!
Sidney turned up about halfway through the episode, and I will give them props for having him come across the party of three when Charlotte was in the middle of a cheeky impression of him.
But I’m not quite on Team Enabling Georgiana/Otis yet. I don’t think it’s proved that Sidney is against the match simply out of racism – it is called right of reply, and Georgiana has form for twisting the truth, so maybe Miss Opinionated for The Regency Era might want to do more than accept whatever the last person she talked to told her.
It was telling how much they’d changed their minds about each other at the start of the episode, though Charlotte looked panicked at ‘habit forming’. He was obviously more enthused about seeing her than his ward. (Mary is totally matchmaking them, yes?) And then, well, yes, you wouldn’t get involved in a ‘I am very disappointed you so I am angry’ slanging match in the street (let me count the number of such scenes Austen penned…oh wait) if you didn’t care. So, Charlotte wore out the word ‘disagreeable’ and clearly had no idea of the affect she was having on Poor Young Simpkins. She seems to be unconsciously feeding off his admiration, and all ‘better yourself, yay!’ without thinking through the personal ramifications…which ouch for him.
And he has plenty to cope with, a dampener of a father and a boss who may pay his wages, but is full of hollow promises about making the project more workable. Tom’s impulse purchase of the jewellery and hollow promise TO HIS WIFE spoke of bad things ahead.
Which leaves us with the question: what about the regatta? Will it be delayed to the end of the series? What is this ‘cricket match’ of which they speak? Did they play cricket in Regency England?
Let’s begin with the most pointless aspect, was the Parker siblings and exercise plotline sponsored by a public health body?
Laboured developments on the money-Forehead-Chin-Clara front. Lady Denham was trying to marry her niece and nephew off, though she was testy with Clara, making the Forehead’s ‘plans’ seem even more ridiculous. Although ‘Where’s your maid?’ is my constant cry with this series, I’m assuming Forehead and Chin’s servants are in the hall or wherever there’s no hole in the roof, skiving and having a good time. So, Clara was able to tiptoe in and espy definite stepsibling incest instead of strongly implied SSI.
I thought the whole conversation over the piano was redundant except to make Chin angry enough to flounce off. But hey, this is not the show for subtlety. We learned more Clara backstory as she thought Chin was a victim, too. Clara is a better judge of Useless Edward, who had, after all, flirted with Charlotte, too, for no reason other than he’s girl crazy. Chin sobbed like it hurt…and I didn’t feel sorry for her. Babbington, I might feel sorry for yet.
Groaning ensued at this show tackling slavery to whatever extent. Well-meaning when it’s not intelligently done is probably less helpful than it means to be. And I found Georgiana hard to sympathise with, as she not only lied, but dragged Charlotte into the lie, didn’t tell her she was meeting her never before mentioned lover and behaved like a brat a lot of the time. (Just elope with Otis, then!) So, my take was that Sidney might well be disapproving of Otis because he didn’t help her moral tone even when they claimed racism.
Anyway, we had Charlotte playing the chaperone to a couple who were all over each other, which was inherently funny, so ‘tongue’ could have been cut. From the bluebell wood setting, someone making the show has seen Bright Star – and as I’m quoting references, the horror about the licentiousness of picnics just made me shake my head. The picnic in Emma was much more respectable than that!
Sidney turned up about halfway through the episode, and I will give them props for having him come across the party of three when Charlotte was in the middle of a cheeky impression of him.
But I’m not quite on Team Enabling Georgiana/Otis yet. I don’t think it’s proved that Sidney is against the match simply out of racism – it is called right of reply, and Georgiana has form for twisting the truth, so maybe Miss Opinionated for The Regency Era might want to do more than accept whatever the last person she talked to told her.
It was telling how much they’d changed their minds about each other at the start of the episode, though Charlotte looked panicked at ‘habit forming’. He was obviously more enthused about seeing her than his ward. (Mary is totally matchmaking them, yes?) And then, well, yes, you wouldn’t get involved in a ‘I am very disappointed you so I am angry’ slanging match in the street (let me count the number of such scenes Austen penned…oh wait) if you didn’t care. So, Charlotte wore out the word ‘disagreeable’ and clearly had no idea of the affect she was having on Poor Young Simpkins. She seems to be unconsciously feeding off his admiration, and all ‘better yourself, yay!’ without thinking through the personal ramifications…which ouch for him.
And he has plenty to cope with, a dampener of a father and a boss who may pay his wages, but is full of hollow promises about making the project more workable. Tom’s impulse purchase of the jewellery and hollow promise TO HIS WIFE spoke of bad things ahead.
Which leaves us with the question: what about the regatta? Will it be delayed to the end of the series? What is this ‘cricket match’ of which they speak? Did they play cricket in Regency England?
no subject
Date: 2019-09-17 11:45 am (UTC)The anti-slavery was layered on with a trowel - having checked the date, slavery wasn't abolished in the UK until 1834, which could be a problem for something supposedly set in the 1820s.
Agree totally with you re Sidney's possible view of Otis. And Charlotte seems to accept unquestioningly anything which she's told.
And I thought Tom's jewellery purchase was an obvious indicator that there were money problems. I've lost all sympathy with him.
It turns out cricket was well established far earlier than we might expect. There was even a cricket match the day before the Battle of Waterloo.
I didn't feel this episode was as entertaining as the previous ones - too much time spent on the picnic, too much establishing 'things are going to get worse'.
But a cricket match and the hoped for regatta are worth looking forward to.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-19 05:57 pm (UTC)I didn't feel this episode was as entertaining as the previous ones - too much time spent on the picnic, too much establishing 'things are going to get worse'.
Very much agree with this.
Also agree with your point RE: Tom. This also makes me feel that Sidney had a point about having helped him quite enough.
Also, well done you for checking up the dates of things, instead of idly speculating as I've done.
It is weird that and ITV (home of Downton) show should forget about servants (apart from Georgiana's, who doubles as a postwoman/messenger.)