Agalea Charis
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The episode that shall not be named is the sixth episode of the first season. Prior to this, Daphne and Simon are caught kissing in the garden by Anthony. Anthony demands that Simon marry her or they duel. Simon refuses to marry Daphne and accepts a duel. This means one man will die and the one who survives will have to leave the country since dueling is illegal. Daphne interrupts the duel begging Simon to reconsider. He then tells her that he cannot have children and doesn't want to rob her of being a mother which is what she wants. Daphne then gives up her dream of having children to marry Simon. The episode that shall not be named contains a lot of sex. When Simon and Daphne have sex, Simon withdraws each time. (Which is not effective birth control). Daphne is very uninformed about bedroom activities so she is none the wiser. However, she starts putting two and two together, asking the staff questions about how sex works and how babies are made. The next time they are doing the deed, Daphne climbs on top of him and as Simon says "wait" he ejaculates inside of her, clearly not wanting to. Daphne then yells at him for taking advantage of her naivety in order to justify her taking advantage of him. Simon can have children. But he will not have children due to his traumatic upbringing. He told Daphne he could not. There is a version of this in the books. This is a very divisive scene with some calling it downright assault. When the episode aired it sparked a lot of conversation about how males are treated in these scenarios. My unpopular opinion is Daphne violated the trust and consent of her husband's body. She even admits that was her intent. It wasn't done out of naivety or cluelessness. Her actions were deliberate. Simon should have been upfront with her about his thoughts on having children. But that does not excuse what Daphne did which she does excuse herself in her own words. It is rather unsettling. No matter what Simon omitted in telling her, the response to that shouldn't be to take advantage of a spouse. Her speech to him afterwards is very jarring considering she outright says people who are in love don't lie or fool each other. After doing exactly that to her husband. The show treats Simon as the one who is more in the wrong which is unfortunate. I cannot believe the writers included this in a romance show between the main couple of the season. This scene in a modern context was never going to be seen in a good light. Even in a fantastical period drama. It was such a bad way of getting the audience to root for them. A more compelling story would have been Daphne putting the pieces together, then having a big fight with Simon about it, traveling back to her family home to deal with Colin's mess, thus giving Simon the space and time to work through his past. Maybe with Lady Danbury. Then Daphne and Simon could come back together with more insight and better communication. There was no reason to put that scene in there. The writers already changed so much about the stories, this one could have been changed as well. An audience in 2020 was not going to receive this very well from a couple people were supposed to be fans of.
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I get that not all are like this. I was thinking of shows like Game of Thrones. Poldark came out yearly and that was a historical romance like Bridgerton. Poldark might be the most comparable of all shows being an hour long period piece with the same number of episodes. I think since Bridgerton is only eight episodes, the show would benefit by doing a ninety minute or two episode premiere, then dropping the episodes weekly. Or increasing the episode count to ten.
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Unpopular Opinions: Season One was ruined by that one episode that shall not be named. I will never understand why the writers, who are notorious for changing things up, included that in the show. It was never going to translate over well to a modern audience regardless of the show being a historical fantasy. It was unnecessary and did a disservice to both Daphne and Simon. It made them as a couple hard to root for. I also don't understand Simon's method of not getting anyone pregnant. Pregnancy can still happen regardless of when one pulls out. While Marina's situation was sympathetic, her attitude was not. It was hard to connect with her as a character as she seemed to have an axe to grind with everyone. She was failed by her children's father. He should never left for war without marrying her first. Had she been his wife, she would have gotten his benefits when he died. It makes no sense why this character was in the show in the first place other than to add extra drama to this season. I have read the books so Marina's placement in the story at that point made no sense. The writers did this character and this actress a disservice. Regardless of Penelope's romantic feelings for Colin, she was still someone who cared for him and didn't want to see him duped by Marina. However, I think Penelope should have written a letter to Lady Violet or to Colin. Exposing Marina in public was uncalled for and cruel. Besides standing up to Lady Portia for Penelope, Colin's shining moment was his devastation over being lied to by Marina and saying that he would have married her anyway. Speaking of bad writing decisions, having the Season Two climax be actually getting Edwina down the aisle was wild. This is my favorite season out of the three and Anthony and Kate are the best pairing in the series. But this wedding made everyone involved look dumb. Instead of focusing on the main couple of the season, the bulk of the series dragged on with that wedding. The show could have had more explanation of Kate's backstory rather than some shoehorned in wedding plot. I didn't like Edwina's "half sister" comment or her not being able to grasp the sacrifices Kate had made for their family. I can understand Edwina been angry with Kate but that comment was deliberately hurtful. Unless Lady Mary was completely catatonic after her husband's death, it makes no sense how she wasn't aware of the family's finances. Kate's correspondence with the Sheffield's didn't seem that bad considering in order for Edwina to have a dowry, she would need the inheritance. I like how they showed Anthony and Kate's self sacrificing actions ending up negatively impacting others but it didn't need to have been shown in a wedding storyline. While I love Anthony and Kate, the plot of that season was bad. Anthony and Kate's gazebo scene was much better than their kiss at the church scene. They should have brought back Lord Lumley for Edwina. He was adorable. The secondary love interests like Lumley, Dorset, and Debling just disappear and never come back. I don't mind Eloise. She isn't my favorite but she's never grated my nerves. I hope there is a lot of development coming her way because that would be interesting to see. Colin was not convincing as a leading man and the show would have benefited in having the current season as Benedict's story while continuing to develop Colin. Simon and Anthony both look and sound like adults so I found them more believable as leading men. Francesca and John's story should not have happened this season. This should have been introduced the season before Francesca's season for continuity purposes. Writing out the Featherington family next season would make the most sense as to why the show runners went out of book order. The cousins marrying cousins and the fake gemstones in America plots were pointless. Penelope is a mean girl. I understand that she was seen as the laughingstock of the ton but she did the same to others as Lady Whistledown. It made the entire thing hypocritical. I didn't like how this plot was justified as a girl boss moment when the column was used to make fun of other women. I didn't find that empowering. Penelope's popularity as a character might be in part due to the actress being so delightful. The men in Bridgerton go right for hitching up the skirts. The carriage scene did nothing for me. The sex scene on the futon looked so uncomfortable for a woman. Lady Whistledown was full of innuendos so it was strange that Penelope seemed to know nothing about sex. The sixth episodes of all three season are the weakest. Season One had that episode that shall not be named. Season Two had that silly non wedding. Season Three had the one where Cressida of all characters took center stage as Lady Whistledown by in which the episode at large was a drag. The current season was the most hyped season but is probably going to be the most forgettable. There wasn't an "I burn for you" or "You are the bane of my existence and the object of all my desires" level of memorability. It's a good thing Shondaland has so much pull in the industry because if next season is anything like this season, it would not be renewed for more. It's still baffling to me why it takes over two years to produce eight episodes when others shows with bigger productions and more episodes don't take that long.
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Colin and Penelope- Nicola Coughlan is a smoke and she really is a talented performer. Penelope really spent a whole episode on the verge of hyperventilating. That being said, something about the Colin and Penelope romance feels rushed. I would have preferred a Benedict season while Colin and Penelope took over the B-plot where Colin realizes his feelings for Penelope. There could have been more pining from him rather than another season of Penelope mooning over him. Then in Season Four, these two took over the main plot. The audience was told rather than shown their deep friendship. Penelope's perpetual unrequited crush was not compelling. The wedding was beautiful. Luke Newton is a few years older than me and he has such a baby face and sometimes came across like high schoolers going to the dance. I liked how Colin defended her to her mother. I understand that Colin has a right to be upset with Penelope over what she's written about him and his family but I didn't expect the “entrapment” line. I wish his feelings would have been better explored other than his supposed jealousy. I felt we got character development with Simon and Anthony but Colin was underdeveloped. This was Penelope's season. Not Colin and Penelope’s. Colin, though he is a Bridgerton, the season felt lopsided to Penelope. None of his plots came full circle. Colin and Penelope are cute and fun to watch but last season set the bar high in terms of that lightning in a bottle. Anthony and Kate- These two actors really sell this relationship no matter what they are given. They truly make a handsome pairing. Simone Ashley is otherworldly stunning and Disney should invent an original princess movie for her to star in. Jonathan Bailey is such a captivating actor with a lot of range. It really shows that these two actors are committed to these characters. I would watch an entire spin off of Anthony and Kate as they grow their family. They steal every scene they are in. They have the best chemistry on this show. I love seeing Anthony completely obsessed with his wife and Kate handling her duties as Viscountess. It is nice to see them more relaxed. But it is strange that these two duty bound individuals would be in and out of their household so regularly. They have responsibilities. It's very out of character. Multiple honeymoons and now a very long voyage to India. While it is wonderful they have incorporated Kate's background into the show, a pregnant woman who is showing, traveling that great a distance does not sound like a good plan. There's no Suez Canal yet. It was such a weird way to explain why the actors weren't in the last episode. They could have just gone to have the baby at Aubrey Hall, then in the finale, Violet mentions their travels in India. The babies of all the Featherington sisters were shown but for some reason Anthony and Kate's was not, the Bridgerton heir, even. On a show called Bridgerton. Everyone else gets onscreen weddings and babies but not Anthony and Kate. It was also odd that the head of the household missed his own sister's wedding considering he is also a father figure. Weird. Speaking of Violet, she seems absolutely happy with Anthony's choice of wife. John and Francesca- I have no strong opinions about these two. But I do like how the show highlights different kinds of love. Not every romance needs dramatic confessions. I did like how Violet saw how Francesca reacted to John telling the boots story. Her scenes with her children are the best. But it was such whiplash when she began questioning it. I am not sure how they are going to work in the Michaela character as I am aware of the source material. I hope they don't go down the route of an emotional affair as that would be such a disservice to the quiet love story they spent time building on. It would be very discontinuous to have Francesca have an understated romance to instantly fall in love/lust with her husband's cousin. The Featheringtons- This would have been the season to have the cousin husband come on the show instead of last season where it hijacked a lot of screen time. That storyline, as silly as it was, would have made more sense this season as Penelope's family was a central focus. The sisters are funny and the usage of them this season makes more sense. Their housekeeper remains the best part of that family. Eloise- With a lot of characters in this show, their motivations and actions are understandable even if they handle them poorly. Eloise isn't my favorite character but I completely understand her wanting to put up boundaries when came to Penelope. I appreciated how even though she didn't want to be friends with her, she wasn't catty towards her. Eloise didn't seem to have a storyline this season other than to give ultimatums. She is a lot of talk but joining Francesca in Scotland will be interesting for her. Benedict- It's almost as if the show didn't know what to do with him but needed to be kept around because he's waiting in the wings for his love story. I didn't care for his relationship with the blonde lady with the 1940's hairstyle or his throuple situation. I am not sure what it added to the story. Benedict is best when interacting with the family. The actor has great chemistry with all the Bridgertons. His storylines this season just felt contrived and didn't go anywhere. It makes the most sense for his season to be next. Lady Whistledown- The back and forth blackmailing and crisis over this identity got tedious. Having Penelope actually confess this to Colin would have been worth the payoff. It didn't seem believable that the Queen would devote so much time and energy into uncovering the identity to then shrug it off so easily. Cressida was way overused. That time could have been spent developing the friendship of Colin and Penelope. It would have been great to see flashbacks to them meeting for the first time. It's weird to have gotten Simon flashbacks in the first season, but none for Kate or Penelope in the following seasons. Cressida should have been shipped off with Lord Debling who randomly disappeared. Colin's Whistledown discovery might have worked better as the cliffhanger for the split season. While neither are my favorite characters, the show's treatment of Penelope getting the fairytale ending after spreading gossip about the Ton and Cressida's vilification assuming that identity, was an unusual juxtaposition. I didn't buy Penelope feeling bad about Whistledown. I didn't buy the Queen's response to that. It really seemed as if Penelope was only upset about getting caught, not the terrible gossip she spread around. Other than her husband and best friend being upset with her, Penelope faced no real consequences for her actions. It took away from the story. Other side plots- This show has a lot of side stories. I like the older ladies of the show such as Charlotte, Lady Violet, and Lady Danbury. This might be an unpopular opinion but I didn't care too much for the Mondrich family story or Lady Danbury's brother. The actors are fine but these stories don't advance the plot. It would have been great to get more Penelope and Lady Danbury scenes or more of Violet with her children. Lady Danbury has great one liners and I do like her scenes with Violet. The Bridgerton family scenes are some of the better parts of the show. Daphne and Simon weren't even mentioned with a throw away line which disconnects with the closeness of this family. Overall, this season had some good moments despite the pacing being clunky at times. It felt hurried. It's such a shame that the actors went on a giant press tour, hyping up the show, when the finished product was a little lackluster. They all did well in their roles; it just seemed like they were promoting a different show. The network advertised something that did not come to fruition. The characters just didn't feel like themselves. The main love story just didn't feel earned in a way the two before it did, the first season sans that one episode the writers decided to include. On a shallow note, the Regency Era costumes flatter no one even if the dresses are beautiful in themselves. Everyone looks pregnant. I wonder if the great Julie Andrews will return. A two year wait for the next season... Game of Thrones, a show with a bigger scale with more episodes didn't even take that long. Season Two remains the far superior season out of the three.