'Sanditon' Finale Recap

Following Sanditon’s penultimate episode, yours truly – and, likely, several other people – wondered loudly more than once about what the show’s final episode still had left to do. At that moment, most of our outstanding questions seemed answered, or set up with obvious solutions, and all that was left to do was tie a bow on them all and roll around in the inevitable fuzzy joy that is the conclusion of a Jane Austen story.

Unfortunately, Sanditon’s final episode…explicitly does not do that. Instead, it seems to take great glee in stepping all over every trope it can find, leaving virtually every one of our leads in a state of abject despair or pained resignation by the end of it. Other than the newly married Lord and Lady Babbington, almost no one gets an ending that could even be remotely called happy. (I mean, I guess Tom’s resort is ultimately saved, but there’s a lot of public shame involved first and Sidney's life is ruined in the process.)

The show’s final installment is disappointing, a largely incoherent hour that feels like a bait and switch of what we were all initially promised, as viewers. Sure, you can read this ending as an obvious plea for a second season – look at how many stories we still have to tell! – but in a television landscape where renewals aren’t guaranteed even for the most successful of shows, it’s a risk that doesn’t seem entirely worth it.