'Sanditon's' Series Finale Is Full of Happy Endings, But Very Little Heart
For the second time in its history, it is time to say goodbye to Sanditon. The Little Period Drama That Could survived cancellation, significant cast changes, and behind-the-scenes shifts and ultimately managed to run for three seasons. It is a testament to the power of viewer enthusiasm and a dedicated online campaign that the show got a proper series finale. (It's pretty incredible, honestly.) No matter how anyone feels about how the series wraps up, it's still a better ending than one that leaves Charlotte Heywood forever crying in a carriage on the side of the road. All that said, I'm not entirely sure this is the finale we were all hoping for.
The thing is, the Sanditon ending isn't bad, per se. It ostensibly gives us precisely what we want — no one is unceremoniously dumped, tears are only of joy, and every possible plot thread is tied up in the neatest of bows. But, somehow, despite the abundance of happy endings, the problem is the Sanditon finale is almost entirely without heart. Little of the supposedly high-stakes drama — Mary's near-death illness, Charlotte's decision to leave for Ireland, even Lady Denham's decision to leave Mr. Price at the altar — feels like it matters.
It would be one thing if the ending of Sanditon were simply predictable. Obviously, Charlotte and Colbourne will find their way back to one another, Georgiana and Harry Montrose are unlikely to marry, and Lady Denham is never going to be the kind of woman who's going to willingly give up a title and a comfortable lifestyle for any man, whether she genuinely cares about him or not. There are ways to tell stories like this that are satisfying and meaningful, natural endpoints for these characters we've come to care for. But the problem with this finale is it doesn't do any of that, instead choosing to speed down a list of what often feels like pre-determined endings without pausing to think about whether they make sense for where characters are in their various journeys.
