'The Larkins' Episode 6 Recap: "In Which The Larkins Are Determined to Convince Mariette to Stay"

The season finale of The Larkins is here, which sees the series finally confront its one season-long narrative arc: Mariette's future. Given that the eldest Larkin child is played by buzzy Bridgerton star Sabrina Bartlett, it feels very unlikely that Mariette has left Littlechurch and the family farm behind her forever, but Season 1 does at least gift her with the opportunity to forge her own future for a little while - sending her off to France for what will at least be the space between this finale and the upcoming Christmas special. (Which had already aired in the U.K. but will arrive in America in two weeks.)

And maybe I'm a monster, but I want Mariette to love the crap out of France. To see that there's more to the world and can be more to her life than this strange stasis everyone in Kent seems to be stuck in. I don't think I'll get that since the show has seemingly decided that she's in love with Charley without bothering to really show us how that happened, but I can dream, can't I? Seriously, when did Mariette decide she was in love with Charley? We've seen her be jealous of her former BFF for flirting with him, we've watched Charley pine over her for half the season, and then there was the Hot Tom of it all. But other than Charley like moving into her house for an unspecified amount of time, I'm not sure when, precisely, this relationship formed?

That said, the fact that the episode ultimately ends with Charley deciding to go with Mariette, rather than ask her to stay behind for him, is a refreshing change, even though I think we all know there's not much show if her French adventure sticks beyond more than a hiatus or two. Bartlett and Tok Stephen have a charming sort of chemistry, and one can only hope that should the show continue, we'll actually get to see their relationship achieve a greater depth than the one-sided pining that has largely characterized it here.