Warning: Spoilers ahead for Sanditon Season 3, Episode 2. Enjoy the seaside until you’ve finished the episode and come back later!
Things are rolling right along on Sanditon Season 3, now that we’ve seen Charlotte return to town, be faced with her former boss/boo Alexander Colbourne, and have to reveal to him that she’s now engaged to Ralph (new Sanditon Season 3 cast member Cai Brigden). It’s clear that the big enemies-to-lovers couple still have a thing for one another, despite the upsetting decisions they both made which led to their breakup and Charlotte now preparing to marry someone else. The most recent episode saw them showing their feelings even more, when they illicitly and covertly touched hands, and now star Ben Lloyd-Hughes has opened up about why that moment had to be “sexy,” but also “subtle.”
Why Sanditon’s Charlotte And Colbourne Hand Touch Had To Be Subtly Sexy
As fans will likely remember from the shocking Sanditon Season 2 ending, the final minutes saw Charlotte reveal to Georgiana and the Parkers that she’d become engaged to Farmer Ralph only two months after her heartbreak with Alexander. The second episode of the third season recently saw a reception and concert for the king be held in the small seaside town, where the former lovers suddenly found themselves seated side-by-side. During the performance, their hands touched, and Alexander’s portrayer, Ben Lloyd-Hughes talked to Decider about why the moment went down like it did, saying:
I do remember it being a kind of night shoot on the promenade set and it was great to have quite a few takes of really working out what the movement was. Because it has to be subtle enough to not play the end of the series. It has to be subtle enough for it to be only Episode 2. But also magnificent enough and sexy enough and poignant enough for it to capture both the characters’ attention and the audience’s attention. So it was that fine line between coming on too strong, so to speak. Too hard, too ‘pokey pokey.’ But I loved it.
Char’s decided to stay in town to support Georgiana in the fight to retain her inheritance, but it also means that she can see more of Alex, and without sweet Ralph (who almost wasn’t Charlotte’s new love interest) looking over her shoulder, as he’s returned to their hometown. As soon as Char and Alex flopped down in those chairs next to each other, both without realizing that the other would be so close until it was too late to change seats without it being obvious, they looked super nervous, and, of course, it was because each still has big hots for their former love.
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Like Lloyd-Hughes noted, their hand touch is the stuff of swoony dreams for anyone who adores a slow burn romance, and those who enjoy their fictional love affairs with a tinge of thrill that comes from said lovers' activities being a big no-no. The inappropriateness of engaged Charlotte and Alexander slowly reaching for the other as the soprano sings a song for “ladies” “suffering a heartache of their own” is definitely the Regency romance definition of “no-no.”
As such, they needed to craft a moment that would be “sexy” and “poignant” enough to show that they absolutely still want each other, but also be small enough to show that they know they shouldn’t be dallying in such a way. Charlotte has, supposedly, moved on, and we all know Ralph wouldn’t be cool with her caressing another dude’s digits were he to find out what went down. The race is now on to see just how these two deal with their continued attraction, not to mention how Ralph finds out about it, and I can’t wait to see how they wrap this up!
