Masterpiece, Sanditon, Season 2

PBS Western Reserve (WNEO 45.1 / WEAO 49.1):

Sunday, Feb. 12, from 11 AM-4 PM 

Sunday, Feb. 19, from 11 AM-1:30 PM 

The plot thickens at an English seaside resort in the early 1800s as the hit series “Sanditon” expands on Jane Austen’s unfinished final novel. Rose Williams returns as the high-spirited heroine Charlotte Heywood, with Crystal Clarke as independent West Indian heiress Georgiana Lambe. 

Season 2 continues Jane Austen’s classic quandary of how independent-minded young women can make their way in patriarchal Regency-era England. Society insists that they take a husband, and some women, such as Charlotte’s sister Alison, can’t wait to find one. But others, notably Charlotte and Georgiana, have mixed feelings about matrimony.

Another Austenian theme is the allure of military men. During the Napoleonic Wars, young officers moved around the country with their troops, providing eligible women dashing dance partners, who were usually more romantically experienced than the local lads. 

“Sanditon” is filled with other delights as well as pointed social commentary. As the series depicts, English ladies really did organize a sugar boycott to protest the evils of slavery connected to the sugar trade. Georgiana has more than enough reason to lead the banner in this cause.