[Lady Whistledown: Friend or Foe]

For me, Pen deciding it’s okay to ruin lives as long as she’s telling the truth is made even worse by the fact that she’s a hypocritical coward. She never thinks she ought to tell the truth about herself or have her secrets outed. Part of the reason she was horrified that Eloise was hanging out with Theo is because she thought it might lead to him revealing her secret identity. A poison pen writer preaching truth and honesty is laughable.

Pen herself runs around town unchaperoned and has private meetings with lower class men,  but she never thinks dropping a tidbit like that about herself is a good way of keeping suspicion off or that the masses have the right to know that truth. She also never considers trying to lessen the blow to Eloise by saying she was going to the meetings too as some form of solidarity with her BFF. Nope, instead it’s all about how terrible Eloise is for her unchaperoned outings.

I wonder if Pen’s going to write that Colin was overheard making derisive remarks about the suggestion of courting her because she’s such a bad catch, and all the guys were laughing at her and basically implying that she’s a gross loser? I’m guessing probably not.

Its also interesting that Pen thinks she can’t possibly tell the Queen the truth because she won’t believe her, yet thinks writing a hit piece on Eloise is a sure fire plan. Like, the Queen basically threatened to thrown Eloise in the dungeon and ruin her family, and the consequences of the hit piece are apparently a better option. Why would the Queen not think that Eloise was just trying to salvage a slightly better outcome for her and her family by making a fake story up about herself. That story badmouthing Eloise coming out a few days after the Queen threatened her honestly just made Eloise look more suspicious!

[S02.E06: The Choice]

But I would say the problem is that Kate didn't give Edwina a valid reason for why Anthony was such a bad guy, as she once again didn't give her all the relevant information.  If Kate had actually told Edwina the full details of what she overheard then Edwina might have agreed that he was awful and steered clear.  Kate just kept making vague statements about Anthony being bad without really backing it up, meanwhile Anthony was laying on the charm and acting like a perfect gentleman.  Also, Lady Danbury vouched for Anthony being a good guy and she had known him his whole life, so Kate really just came off as being unreasonable.

I do think this tied into the parent/child dynamic that was at play with Kate and Edwina.  Kate basically acted like an authority figure for Edwina and thought "because I said so" was sufficient justification for giving her orders.  However, Edwina was now out in the world as a grown woman about to get married and was chaffing a bit at her overbearing sister, and wanted input into selecting her own husband.

I think Kate and Anthony's failure to communicate and acknowledge their feelings caused most of the problems this season, but I guess the season would have only had one episode if they admitted their attraction for the start lol.

[S02.E08: The Viscount Who Loved Me]

I find the whole Lady Whistledown thing to be a major writing fail.  Aside from how unbelievable it is that a sheltered girl who doesn't even know where babies come from is capable of writing bon mots full of sexual innuendo, as well as galavanting around town unsupervised at all hours of the night, the writers seem to be unaware that they have written Penelope as a total sociopath.  Like, they seem to think LW is the equivalent of Fashion Police (making snarky remarks about clothing), when she is actually more like TMZ (posting pictures of celebrity corpses or whatever).  The main problem is that they want Pen to remain a viable Bridgerton friend and love interest, while also using LW to continually almost to ruin the B's for the sake of maximum drama.  If they were going to make Pen the big bad and have the B's band together to ruin her that would be one thing, but it doesn't appear that's where it's heading.

We are supposed to sincerely believe that Eloise is Pen's best friend and that she truly loves Colin, yet in the space of two seasons she has posted malicious poison pen gossip about Daphne, Colin and Eloise that has nearly caused the ruin of this family all for her own financial gain.  There was zero reason for Pen to write her hit piece on Daphne, who as far as we are aware had never been mean to Pen.  Not to mention that Pen would have been well aware that ruining Daphne would have ruined Eloise and the other B sisters, but she clearly didn't give a fuck about that.

Pen tried to justify the outing of Marina by saying she had no choice but her actions show that is not true.  She could have told Colin directly, or spoken to any other Bridgerton to pass on the info so they could stop Colin running off to get married.  We know she has no problem sneaking out at night and being alone with men, so she was clearly capable of providing the necessary information discretely.  But instead she went nuclear and nearly ruined both families.

Then, the Eloise thing.  Yikes.  Pen proved herself to be a completely selfish coward here.  Her claim that the Queen wouldn't believe her was total bullshit, especially since we know Pen was on her list of suspects.  Would the Queen really believe that Pen would fall on her sword with a fake confession and risk the Queen's wrath to protect her friend?  Even if the Queen did think that, all Pen had to do was prove herself by writing a LW column in front of the Queen and then have it printed as proof of her identity.  I didn't have a problem with Eloise invading Pen's privacy by ransacking her room because Pen's actions as LW have proven that she doesn't give a fuck about anyone else's privacy.

Also, Pen was totally gaslighting Eloise by blaming her for the for the column.  She could have confessed to the Queen, confessed to Eloise, or written something less awful than what she did.  But nope, she chose to betray her best friend and cry her crocodile tears.  Also, Pen's outrage at Eloise's activities rings pretty hollow when she regularly sneaks out alone with her male driver, goes to seedy parts of town, and is alone again with the various men at the print shop.  If any other person in the ton had been doing this I'm sure LW would be implying they were a prostitute or something.

Let's not forget that at the start of the season it has been 10 months and the Featheringtons were suffering massive financial hardship and had no idea when the new LF was going to arrive to "save" them.  Pen is apparently sitting on stacks of cash from her LW endeavours but she never considers coming clean to her mother and offering up any of the money to help her family.

This makes for a pretty good Machiavellian villain, who has harboured a secret hatred and jealousy for the perfect Bs and delights in seeing them get knocked off their pedestal.  But it doesn't make much sense for a sweet girl who loves Eloise like a sister and wants nothing more than to marry Colin.

[Book vs. Series: On The Shelf]

I cannot imagine Colin in a sex scene at all. In fact, I can’t imagine him even kissing anyone passionately. He just doesn’t give off any sexual energy and he’s so bland and relatively homely. I think it’s made even worse by Penelope hero worshiping him for no discernible reason, as I find all their scenes super cringey and completely chemistry-free.

It also doesn’t help that Colin is completely useless. In that era a fully grown man who just bumbles around traveling, who doesn’t have any interests, doesn’t help at all with the running of the family estate, and helps himself to family funds for risky investments would be looked upon as a bit of a wastrel. He would have been forced into the army or something by now.

I think the problem with the next few seasons is that the romances will be pretty lacking compared to s1 and 2. Benedict - eh, Colin - just no, Eloise - maybe if they change it up because I can’t see her believably going for Marina’s husband (maybe she will go for Marina instead and they will kill off the husband lol), Francesca - maybe, although I couldn’t even pick her out of a line up now.

[Book vs. Series: On The Shelf]

I think they might have already renewed the show for seasons 3 and 4, so I can definitely see it getting 4 seasons but I agree I can't really see it going longer than that.  There's no way it's lasting 8 seasons and continuing the 1 book 1 season route.

I find Benedict and Colin very dull and frankly kind of homely compared to super hot Simon and Anthony, so I'm not really interested in their romances.  Especially since Pen is a total psychopath and while Colin is boring, I think it's pretty gross that he would end up marring the poison pen writer who is has printed stuff that nearly brought about his family's ruin like three times.

But, I would imagine they would could combine Benedict, Colin and Eloise's romances over the next 2 seasons.  I'm not sure how old Francesca is supposed to be since she's never there, but maybe her too and then they can just leave out the younger ones.  Although since I gather Francesca is widowed before she meets her "true love", they would have to marry her off pretty soon if they stick to her book story.

I do wonder if they will change anyone's sexuality from the books so it's not all hetero couples in love.  The producers clearly want to be inclusive with the racially diverse casting and changing that up from the books, which is great.  With that many Bridgerton kids running around though surely odds are that at least one would be queer.  I agree with others who have said that Eloise and Pen would make the most sense based on how they have been written (certainly their scenes have much more passion and emotion  than Pen following Colin around like a meek little puppy), but they will probably stay with the "pining girl finally gets the object of her affection" thing.  Although, Colin was also vibing with the plant guy so they should just for it and have Colin and Eloise both be queer!

[Spoilers And Shockers]

DOOL now seems to have more people go away for a while and then come back for a bit etc.  I'm assuming it's a budget thing because the show is too poor to have everyone as permanent cast members at once, so they get rid of some for a little while to make payroll.

It appears that Sami and Lucas will be off for a couple of months and then be back for a while to presumably reveal the stupid kidnapper thing.  Kristen is always on and off.  They could easily have Gabi go to visit Ari for a month or so, which may even segue to bringing Will and Sonny back (as everyone seems to think they are coming back).  Jack and Jen left, but again indications are they return at some point.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

Seriously, by now everyone in Salem should immediately feel up a person’s face to check for a mask before talking to, kissing or sleeping with them. There is no excuse, especially since the masks can magically change voices, height and body types as well!

[Spoilers And Shockers]

Some people are theorizing that Lucas’ actions will be explained away by either devil possession or a brain tumor (calling back to when he faked having a tumor earlier in the year during the Kristen blackmail thing with Sami). I could actually maybe see Ron doing the brain tumor thing and patting himself on the back for his masterclass in irony. They could maybe even tie it into Sami’s next leave of absence and have her take Lucas to get treatment overseas for a few months. The main thing against this is that I don’t know that Ron cares enough about Lucas to give him an excuse for the kidnapping to be handwaved.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

It’s even more stupid because unless the new EJ actor is leaving, or AS has signed on for longer then her original 1 year deal, it doesn’t seem like they can really have EJami either.  Even if AS is sticking around a bit longer she’s going to keep going on these months-long absences to film her Hallmark movies.

Like all of Ron’s idiotic plot contrivances this will probably end up dropped with no lasting consequences. I’m guessing once the truth comes out Sami will flounce off in a huff for a while to cover AS’s next absence. Lucas should just do a Ben and blame a non-specific mental illness for his actions lol. I kind of even doubt he will go to jail, or if he does it will be for a few months or something.

[Current Plots Discussion: Actually Today's Episode]

6 hours ago, boes said:

I am too.  As much as I'm not interested in any more kids on the show, I'd be down for Shawna and Belle having another one.  If Ollie and Ciara can have one, why can't a couple who are at least in shouting distance of sanity have a kid??  (Their first attempt was pretty much a bust).

Given Ron’s usual disregard for continuity and history, he should do something useful with it for once and just have Shelle’s teenage son Bo appear one day and have everyone pretend he has existed all along.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

9 hours ago, FilmTVGeek80 said:

I'm not sure what about the preview makes people think Lucas kidnapped Sami.

I have seen some people say that Lucas is involved because he says he will come get Sami, which means he must be involved because Sami doesn’t know where she is. But it is only a 2 second promo clip so i think it’s a bit hard to judge based on that snippet. Also, if they want Sami out of there they can easily just have her overhear something about her location or have Lucas magically trace her phone call.

I don’t think it would make much sense for Lucas to have kidnapped her (plus, he has been one of the few people saying this disappearance is out of character for Sami), but you never know what nonsense Ron will come up with.

Didn’t AS only sign on to come back for a year? If so, it wont be that much longer until she’s gone again. 

[Spoilers And Shockers]

This Kristen thing is so ridiculous. Why would any woman want to get within two feet of Brady when his psycho baby mama is off in the shadows ready to torture anyone who looks at him for longer than a second? Now, I don’t know why any woman would want to date an oiled up ham hock anyway, but the Kristen thing makes it a million times worse.

Hell, Chloe was recently kidnapped and nearly killed by Kristen for having feelings for Brady, so why is even willing to be in the same room as him as this point?

[Spoilers And Shockers]

11 hours ago, boes said:

I wonder what - or who, will get hung on the Horton Christmas tree

Maybe MarDevil can do us all a favour and cut off Ben's balls to make two new ornaments for the Horton tree lol?  Give me MarDevil getting her crafting on with some glitter and paint to make those balls dazzling.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

I wonder if this means that Johnny (and Allie) will finally learn about EJ raping Sami? If it’s a story of her life surely the whole “twins with two different fathers” situation would need to be covered and someone will finally spill the beans about that night?

[Spoilers And Shockers]

So Johnny turned up and is a budding filmmaker, which matches those MarDevil spoilers.  I think Ron might really be going there.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

I'd say it's a blessing in disguise for Theo because being married to Ciara would truly be a fate worse than death.  She's often more unpleasant than her serial killer boyfriend!

I don't even know what they're doing with this since Ciara's return is apparently temporary, and unfortunately it doesn't seem like Ben is leaving with her.  So if Ciara gets her memory back does she then leave town again to "find herself" or something?  Maybe Cin will reunite and then Eric's random friend will pop up to beg Ciara to come back to Africa to help with whatever the situation is over there that can only be solved by Salemites with dubious qualifications lol?

[Spoilers And Shockers]

Given this show’s rape obsession, MarDevil will probably kidnap Ben, chain him up shirtless and get creepy with him. That way they can have Marlena do something “titillating” but handwave it away after because the devil made her do it.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

The MarDevil spoilers have been floating around Twitter. It’s not confirmed and could end up being fake, but it does seem right up Ron’s alley.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

The rumors are that Johnny is an aspiring filmmaker (lol1) and comes to Salem to do a doco on Marlena’s demonic possession (lol2), which opens a gateway or whatever and allows her to be possessed again (lol3). This could be the upcoming story that DH was saying her fans might be upset with.

It sounds completely stupid so that must mean it’s probably true, and totally on-brand for ReRon.

I can just imagine Ben, the serial killer, standing around sweaty and shirtless as he holds a bible and a cross and is the only person in town holy enough to perform an exorcism.

I cannot believe there is a legit possibility of MarDevil 2.0.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

It's ridiculous that pretty much everyone in Salem is just so gaga over the stupid love story between a serial killer and Bo and Hope's daughter.  I half expect Ron to have Sami and Lucas show up and declare what a tragedy it is that poor, sweet Ben is separated from his wifey.  Seriously, why have Lumi not teamed up to murder this block of wood yet?

And why are people like Allie and Claire, who have also known Theo since childhood, participating in this kidnapping/bride switch thing which is going to be pretty damn humiliating for him.  Theo may be an idiot for wanting to marry Ciarra, but he's not forcing or coercing her in any way, so everyone acting like this is the end of the world is ludicrous.  Besides, everyone gets divorced at the drop of a hat in Salem, so if Ciarra recovers her memory she can divorce Theo and marry her beloved serial killer by the end of the week anyway.

Also, is the Ciarra actress still not wanting to be on contract? If so, what is the point of all this?

[Current Plots Discussion: Actually Today's Episode]

Lucas isn’t jobless, he has made numerous references to his job since he came back to Salem. He just went on a business trip a few months ago before Sami came back to town, and was always going upstairs to do work or have a business call. He’s just like every other person in Salem (apart from the cops and doctors) and only goes to work about one day a month lol. 

We have barely seen Jake and Chad at DiMera, and Brady, Nicole and Chloe have had like two meetings in the past few months at Basic Black lol. Gabi and Philip are probably the only business type people who have been shown doing any work in the past month heh.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

It says that Lucas badmouths Gabi, so I guess it might be something to do with the Jake situation. Although if she kicks him out I will laugh since she let Kate and Jake live there while they were hooking up and she was still in love with him, not to mention she lets Abby and Chad live there despite all their bad blood. Lucas talking shit about her seems way less of a “betrayal” than any of that stuff.

If Lucas does get kicked out I guess he could take up Xander’s now-vacant room at the Salem Inn, or else move in to the K mansion with Phillip. It would be funny if Jen got pissed at Jack letting Xander and Gwen move into the H house so she told Lucas he could bunk there too.

But the retaliation might not be related to his living situation. Gabi and Rafe were talking about Lucas and his weirdness with the whole Kristen thing. It could be that she figures out the Lumi affair and outs them. EJ shows up soon so maybe she rats them out to EJ which causes him to come back to Salem?

[Spoilers And Shockers]

Gabi owns the D-Mansion so Lucas only has to leave if she tells him to. EJ can’t even live there unless Gabi okays it. But since Days has no money and all the cast lives communally in about 3 or 4 places, and it seems a Lumi/EJami triangle is likely, I wouldn’t be shocked if Lucas, Sami and EJ all live there for a while.

Lucas can stare jealously at Sami and EJ, and Sami can stare jealously at Lucas if he brings a rando home, and EJ can stare jealously at Lumi’s obvious affair energy. Lucas and Sami will probably kiss or have sex again after having one of their fights and then there will be the drama of when EJ will find out. If they go for maximum drama either EJ or one of the EJami kids (if they show up) will walk in on Lumi having sex in a re-Ron of Sami walking in on Jarlena lol.

I also kind of hope that Abby and EJ have an affair themselves when the actress is back, because I want to see Chad’s face crack lol.

[Spoilers And Shockers]

Days is also weird about not giving people kids when they probably should. Like, when Shelle were off the show for a few years when Claire was young, they should have made them have a son offscreen.

Also when Carrie and Austin left together in 2006(?), they should have had 1 or 2 kids offscreen. Instead they were still childless when they came back in 2011(?), and only finally had a kid a year or so later when they were leaving again. And even then wasn’t there a question that Rafe could have been the father or something?

[Spoilers And Shockers]

It’s ridiculous that Kristin has now kidnapped 4 people (including Lucas and Sami next week), and used her magic masks to impersonate 2 of them and meddle in their lives, yet she won’t go after Chloe, her actual enemy. Like, WTF? If she wanted Chloe away from Brady I don’t get why she decided blackmailing Sami was a better plan than just doing to Chloe what she did to Sarah.