The belated Sanditon post
Oct. 11th, 2019 07:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessI posted A Dish Fit for A Queen, a Snow White and warm apple pie drabble. I’ve written, but not posted, a similar ficlet about The Sleeping Beauty’s Aurora and bed/sleep. It’s based on an ur-Snow White story - I haven’t seen Snow White and the Seven Dwarves the whole way through – do all versions have the idea of a constant winter under the Evil Queen?
Sanditon – ep 7
The Regatta finally happened, while Lady Denham did not die, and instead of there being tension about which couples will be acting out the wedding in the title sequence, we had a previously random ship teased.
I was most sorry for the broken-hearted characters, excepting Georgiana. I had reached the ‘turf her out of bed’ stage long before she showed she clearly doesn’t know what crucifixion entails, being a teenage drama queen. BUT THEN Arthur came and got her outside and was this brilliant mix of calling a spade and spade and obsessing over cake. (Did I float Georgiana/Arthur before?) Now, that is not to say that his decision to fetch her did not seem completely random in the moment. Were a few lines cut? But he made her suddenly tolerable instead of petulant.
(HER: I am RUINED!
ME: Why? Because all the men of Sanditon seem to treat your bedroom as a parlour?)
The rowing race lacked any tension because any crew with Arthur as a cox should come last.
Also, the Parker sister has had barely any interaction with two thirds of her siblings. Just saying.
Before I get back to heartbreak, Sidney was dithering. And also brooding. But whatever we and Charlotte had been wondering about his feelings in London got answered, as he was dithering over the return of Eliza and what he really wanted in life. Eliza was trying to rewrite history (i.e her jilting him for someone richer 10 years ago) but surely her bad manners to Charlotte ought to have done it, but then you would have thought he’d have noticed he was having UST with someone else. I thought the rowboat UST was restrained and more effective because of the teamwork and touching than a lot of what Davies has introduced.
The final scene, a declaration that wasn’t went a little too far, although I fear I may have talked over most of it, because I was mocking Sidney Parker, time traveller, although I may have conflated ‘my best self’ with ‘living my best life’ which is very 2010s.
And surely ‘self-esteem’ didn’t mean what it means today in Regency England. The final scene with Babbington meant being torn, because he made her cry (although Esther needed the release after all she’d been through) and ‘HE HAS A HANKY! BABBINGTON (AND HiS VALET) IS A KEEPER.’
He’d been clearly not over Esther, and she was a mess for most of the episode, but a sympathetic one.
Clara’s problem (apart from greed and having been made to think sex is her chief weapon) was counting her chickens before they were hatched. While I was amused at her upping the amount she was getting, again, she couldn’t resist bragging to Esther, and fair play, it was what Forehead had done to the will PLUS Forehead and Clara having it off PLUS her aunt dying unloved that all got to her.
Pace thesmallhobbit’s previous points about Austen heroines learning something and growing (although isn’t Fanny Price an exception?), Esther turned out to be the one with that arc. (It also smashed my theorising that she hadn’t given up her virginity to Chin, and you can feel Andrew Davies thinking he’s been clever about leading the audience up the garden path and pretending he hasn’t there.)
Back to Clara, what if she’s pregnant with a mini Forehead? Counting her chickens again?
But back to Our Official Heroine, Charlotte threw herself into the regatta planning, as Mary learned quite how much debt Tom was in. Sidney paraded Eliza around, Charlotte FELT LOTS. I was amused that it was Charlotte blabbing to ‘Susan’ who had brought London society to the Regatta, even if a part of me does not think that Charlotte/Sidney is quite as interesting as Susan thinks it is.
Charlotte knowing Greek (so she’s a bookworm as well as a tomboy as well as a nurse and secretary and a girl who just wants to dance in blue shoes) lost me a bit. The line about being a farmer’s daughter was meant to be a callback to Lizzy’s declaration to Lady Catherine, although surely her father is a gentleman farmer, and she never thought of Young Stringer like that. Poor Young Stringer, he picked up where her affections lay soon enough, and though he was scowling like he was in a Hardy novel whilst rowing, he was quite subtle in his comments to Sidney.
Most of the ladies were well-dressed this ep, Esther in that green (she’s always had dramatic, not quite Regency stereotype, looks), Susan in the decorated green, Mary in dark blue (the actress should own lots of denim in that exact shade) and Charlotte in her paler blue, although she was mainly in a white gown, as Eliza tried to paint her like a girlish nanny (bad move, Mrs Campion, given what some gentlemen can be like around young nannies.
Sanditon – ep 7
The Regatta finally happened, while Lady Denham did not die, and instead of there being tension about which couples will be acting out the wedding in the title sequence, we had a previously random ship teased.
I was most sorry for the broken-hearted characters, excepting Georgiana. I had reached the ‘turf her out of bed’ stage long before she showed she clearly doesn’t know what crucifixion entails, being a teenage drama queen. BUT THEN Arthur came and got her outside and was this brilliant mix of calling a spade and spade and obsessing over cake. (Did I float Georgiana/Arthur before?) Now, that is not to say that his decision to fetch her did not seem completely random in the moment. Were a few lines cut? But he made her suddenly tolerable instead of petulant.
(HER: I am RUINED!
ME: Why? Because all the men of Sanditon seem to treat your bedroom as a parlour?)
The rowing race lacked any tension because any crew with Arthur as a cox should come last.
Also, the Parker sister has had barely any interaction with two thirds of her siblings. Just saying.
Before I get back to heartbreak, Sidney was dithering. And also brooding. But whatever we and Charlotte had been wondering about his feelings in London got answered, as he was dithering over the return of Eliza and what he really wanted in life. Eliza was trying to rewrite history (i.e her jilting him for someone richer 10 years ago) but surely her bad manners to Charlotte ought to have done it, but then you would have thought he’d have noticed he was having UST with someone else. I thought the rowboat UST was restrained and more effective because of the teamwork and touching than a lot of what Davies has introduced.
The final scene, a declaration that wasn’t went a little too far, although I fear I may have talked over most of it, because I was mocking Sidney Parker, time traveller, although I may have conflated ‘my best self’ with ‘living my best life’ which is very 2010s.
And surely ‘self-esteem’ didn’t mean what it means today in Regency England. The final scene with Babbington meant being torn, because he made her cry (although Esther needed the release after all she’d been through) and ‘HE HAS A HANKY! BABBINGTON (AND HiS VALET) IS A KEEPER.’
He’d been clearly not over Esther, and she was a mess for most of the episode, but a sympathetic one.
Clara’s problem (apart from greed and having been made to think sex is her chief weapon) was counting her chickens before they were hatched. While I was amused at her upping the amount she was getting, again, she couldn’t resist bragging to Esther, and fair play, it was what Forehead had done to the will PLUS Forehead and Clara having it off PLUS her aunt dying unloved that all got to her.
Pace thesmallhobbit’s previous points about Austen heroines learning something and growing (although isn’t Fanny Price an exception?), Esther turned out to be the one with that arc. (It also smashed my theorising that she hadn’t given up her virginity to Chin, and you can feel Andrew Davies thinking he’s been clever about leading the audience up the garden path and pretending he hasn’t there.)
Back to Clara, what if she’s pregnant with a mini Forehead? Counting her chickens again?
But back to Our Official Heroine, Charlotte threw herself into the regatta planning, as Mary learned quite how much debt Tom was in. Sidney paraded Eliza around, Charlotte FELT LOTS. I was amused that it was Charlotte blabbing to ‘Susan’ who had brought London society to the Regatta, even if a part of me does not think that Charlotte/Sidney is quite as interesting as Susan thinks it is.
Charlotte knowing Greek (so she’s a bookworm as well as a tomboy as well as a nurse and secretary and a girl who just wants to dance in blue shoes) lost me a bit. The line about being a farmer’s daughter was meant to be a callback to Lizzy’s declaration to Lady Catherine, although surely her father is a gentleman farmer, and she never thought of Young Stringer like that. Poor Young Stringer, he picked up where her affections lay soon enough, and though he was scowling like he was in a Hardy novel whilst rowing, he was quite subtle in his comments to Sidney.
Most of the ladies were well-dressed this ep, Esther in that green (she’s always had dramatic, not quite Regency stereotype, looks), Susan in the decorated green, Mary in dark blue (the actress should own lots of denim in that exact shade) and Charlotte in her paler blue, although she was mainly in a white gown, as Eliza tried to paint her like a girlish nanny (bad move, Mrs Campion, given what some gentlemen can be like around young nannies.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-11 02:15 pm (UTC)And I was rooting for Esther for once! Babbington is such a good guy and so patient (or perhaps foolish?) for still coming to her rescue.
Good riddance to Clara and Forehead and their scheming.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-12 07:53 am (UTC)I think it was clear that Babbingston had never fallen so hard before, and Esther's rejection - which was very recent! - did not match with how she'd been when he proposed, so his patience made sense to me. I hope it will be rewarded - Esther's response to her aunt's 'death' heartened me.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-11 06:32 pm (UTC)And there's still hope for Esther and Babbington - he certainly is a keeper and one of the few decent people there.
I'm not sure I'd wish even Clara pregnant. Edward would only deny it and not accept any responsibility and she'd be really doomed.
As for Sidney and Charlotte, I still think they should have gone with 'only one bed' rather than all this drawn out UST.
no subject
Date: 2019-10-12 08:02 am (UTC)There's certainly hope for Esher/Babbington. For one thing, he can only shine in comparison with her aunt.
Fair enough, I was harsh on Clara.
ITV could have embraced a tropetastic Regency romp, or had it stuck to relistic, Austenish mores...well, there should have been social comeback for Charlotte spendin most of a night unchaperoned in a coach with Sidney. And visitng a brothel.
Drabble
Date: 2019-10-12 11:44 am (UTC)“She’s gone,” Tom Parker replied. “I sent her away.”
“Why?”
“Word has got out she spent the night alone with you in your coach. I cannot afford to upset society by any such behaviour, or they will shun Sanditon as they must shun Miss Heywood.”
Sidney’s brow darkened. “How did the news get out? Was it you?”
“Of course not. It must have been the servants.”
“What servants?”
“You know,” Tom waved his arm vaguely, “Servants.”
“I’m going for a swim. That will change everything.”
Re: Drabble
Date: 2019-10-13 07:07 am (UTC)Re: Drabble
Date: 2019-10-13 07:55 am (UTC)