'Sanditon' Episode 6 sees Charlotte adrift in dangerous London as Georgiana realizes the perils of romance
Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) is a village girl for whom the seaside town of Sanditon is a revelation of sorts. But even Sanditon, a small town with friendly folks, is the complete antithesis of big, bad London. Over the course of the series, Charlotte has seen London's elite drop by for a visit and has seen Sidney Parker (Theo James) rush off to the big city often enough and has heard Georgiana Lambe (Crystal Clarke) discuss its glittering balls. Is this what gives her the confidence to run off to London, unaccompanied, to try and find Georgiana herself?
In her mind, London must have felt like a bigger version of Sanditon where everyone smiles and nods to her on the street as she passes. But she is in for a rude awakening when she finally does reach the sooty, grimy metropolis where people are unfriendly, coarse and crude and ignore her when she asks for directions. She stumbles, more by luck than any actual acumen, on to the inn where she has been sending Georgiana's missives to Otis Molyneux (Jyuddah Jaymes).
There she is informed that it is not Otis who has been getting the letters but two unknown men. Right after this, she is accosted by hoodlums in a dark alley. Thankfully Sidney, who has also managed to find his way to the inn, sees her and rescues her from being assaulted.
He is furious, needless to say, but Charlotte does give him the "Sons of Africa" lead which leads them to the hall where Otis is preaching his revolutionary ideas. He is shocked by the news of Georgiana's kidnapping and reveals that he has "gambling debts" and the ruthless men who he owes money to are quite capable of stealing his mail and plotting to get their hands on Georgiana to get back their money.
With a guilty Otis in tow, Sidney questions these men who reveal that Georgiana has been sold to a brothel where a Scottish man bought her so that he can marry her and her wealth. In a break-neck chase (in horse carriages no less) Sidney and Charlotte catch up to Georgiana and her captor. Having secured her release, the trio then makes their way to Tom Parker's (Kris Marshall) London flat. Both Georgiana and Charlotte have lost quite a bit of their naivete by this time and are shaken by the turn of events. They finally understand Sidney's concerns about Otis.
Even though Otis is not a bad man, his gambling debts and his boasting that he was going to marry an heiress had put Georgiana in harm's way. Sidney, under the influence of Charlotte, pays off Otis' debts and lets him meet Georgiana for one last time. When Otis tries to explain himself to her, broken-hearted Georgiana bitterly asks him, "What does it matter now?".
But the sequence of events does bring Charlotte and Sidney closer together, with Charlotte admitting to her impulsive behavior and rash judgment. Sidney also acknowledges that he might have been too autocratic and devoid of compassion before Charlotte's intervention. "I underestimated you," he tells Charlotte before whisking her away to a glittering ball.
Charlotte looks like a proper Austen heroine in this sequence and Sidney is smitten until he spies his former flame "Mrs. Campion" aka the-one-who-got-away. As Tom had told Charlotte earlier, Mrs. Campion married a man richer than him and broke his heart. But now, as a wealthy widow, Mrs. Campion seems all set to get back with Sidney, who looks willing.
Meanwhile, Lady Denham (Ann Reid) is still on her death bed. So Edward (Jack Fox) goes tearing through the house trying to find her will but Clara Brereton (Lily Sacofsky) beats him to it. The will specifies that the estate and its wealth will go to the development of Sanditon and not to any of her relatives. Both Edward and Clara agree to burn the will and after some hard bargaining (and sex) - Edward who would inherit the estate without a will promises to give Clara one-fifth of the inheritance.
Esther (Charlotte Spencer), however, has no idea that her step-brother has done the dirty with Clara and that he is more interested in the wealth he will inherit than a happily-ever-after with her. Edward too seems content to keep her in the dark, which means all the secrets will come tumbling out sooner or later.
'Sanditon' airs on Sundays at 9 pm on PBS.