katha

I do think Colin and Benedict drifting around uselessly like that is also tied to Edmund's death. There were no plans yet in place of perhaps getting them into professions and Violet seems to focus all her attention/expectations in good/bad ways on Anthony and largely ignore the other sons. IMO something like law or the church doesn't seem totally out there for Colin, and perhaps the military or law for Benedict? Agree that he's not a church man LOL. And because they're doing well money-wise, Anthony is not forcing the issue while Violet has a total blind spot. I think it's done bad things to the state of mind of Anthony, Benedict and Colin. Too much/too little expectations.

Penelope is just the obvious writers's fave IMO. There's nothing in itself wrong with it, NC is a good actor, the character is interesting. But they do tend to prioritize her in storytelling even when arguably it doesn't serve the larger construction. They also love Polly Walker, understandably. But don't shove in such a nonsense plot like that ruby stuff and let it eat up that much screentime, make better decisions. Why not already focus on the strained relationship between Portia and Pen when they knew that Polin comes next? I liked the Cousin Jack actor, but that plot whas a whole lotta nothing. And arguably they could have done more with the Sharmas instead.

I like how they play with stereotypes and then deconstruct them in the season. Anthony is a rake, but his main issue is being traumatized and swallowed by his duties. Kate is a walking, talking girlboss parody in the first two episodes or so. But the show relentlessly pokes fun at her for it. Lady Danbury is dragging her and her misguided plans all over town, pointing out how they will fail. And lo and behold, they fail exactly as predicted. Anthony outmanouvers her for access to Edwina and she has to realize that she can't micromanage her sister for the rest of her life. What did she think, that she could somehow be the third person in the marriage to make sure everything went as she wanted it? The dreaded love triangle becomes a horror version of what Kate actually wanted to establish when she refused to let Edwina make her own decisions and tried to screen her suitors IMO. I liked that Anthony's experience was not used in the usual rake narrative, but to establish that he's just very comfortable in his skin during sex. Both taking charge and letting a partner take charge. That was already established in the first season with Siena as well. He doesn't have the hang-ups about having to stay in control to hide things about himself that were such an issue with Simon. And then the dysfunction further spiraled with Daphne assaulting Simon. He understands that Kate is on very uncertain emotional footing in the gazebo and so he makes it about her, because he knows what he wants at that point and emotionally Kate needs that focus much more than he does. And he's right because afterwards she drowns in guilt for it and basically tries to self-harm with that reckless ride. So I don't think he's being melodramatic when he regrets the gazebo, for all it was nice at the moment it led to Kate further spinning out of control. Contrast that with the scene in the epilogue where he can take things for himself because they're on safe emotional ground now. It was good storytelling. That said, I do think Kate's meltdown in the second half of the season needed more focus. No one needed that much Featheringtons. The dysfunction that was the Sharmas lacked the proper attention that the Violet/Anthony dysfunction got. And Anthony got the full leading man arc with basically falling apart with the Edwina proposal and then getting a dynamic and proactive arc where he finds his voice and goes for what he wants in his life. Kate OTOH was stuck in guilt and passivity until the very end of episode 8. She would have gone back to India in penance if Mary and Edwina hadn't forgiven her. Making herself that subservient in the family unit is deeply troubling and I don't think she understands that there's anything wrong with it even at the very end. I can see her doing the same thing with the Bridgertons while they are oblivious and self-involved and just take it for granted tbh. So ideally Kate gets some more development in season three in this regard.

Why are they chucking out the original plot and throwing in a completely different plot that is suspiciously similar to season one? I kinda understood why they deviated the way they did in season two, even though some of it was messy. But I thought Polin's book is actually pretty straightforward? Even if you throw away the time skips. Tied to that and after a rewatch of season two: I think they want/need to do something with the loopsided way the family/Violet is treating her sons. She drowns Anthony in pressure and drones on and on about how he will never measure up to his father. Yet at the same time there seems to be zero expectations for Colin and Benedict? Like, they act like overgrown children in their twenties and when Anthony tries to address that they throw hissyfits about it? Why has neither of them taken up a profession? Anthony is financing all their frivolous pursuits even though he could chuck them out and tell them to go find themselves rich spouses and when he only so much as tries to talk to them about responsibilities they either make stupid quips or run away. And Violet constantly only rags on Anthony how he can dare to even consider putting any kind of pressure or responsibility on his brothers. I'm starting to think something went severely out of joint after Edmund's death in that family.

I looove Kate and Anthony and think that they are splendidly acted and often quite well written, so that's where we disagree. ;-) But yeaaah: They're supposed to be total jerks the both of them at the beginning of the season and it's played for comedy mostly. The show sets both of them up with massive amounts of unearned confidence and then it all crumbles down on them. They basically throw each other off their dysfunctional trajectories. Anthony hits his lowest point with the Edwina proposal and then realigns and tries figuring out what to do with his life. Kate takes longer because she's so very hung up on her grand masterplan, very inflexible and seems absolutely incapable of reacting to change at all. What I like is also that the series basically presents this stereotype, extreme version of "girlboss" with her at the beginning and then starts deconstructing it. Because it becomes clear that she's not super confident, she lashes out because the Sharmas are desperate and Kate thinks only her scheme will save them. And then it becomes clear that she thinks she has to earn the love of Mary and Edwina and is only worthy of being a supporting act in her own life. So pretty much the polar opposite of the front she presented at the start. The second half of the season is her basically going into a protracted psychological meltdown because her whole identity is put into question. And I did understand where both Anthony and Kate picked up their toxic patterns. You see Anthony being denied any kind of grieving time for his father as a teenager and immediately thrown into the role of head of household. Then observing that Violet spins into depression for a few years. It makes sense that a traumatized kid basically concludes that love is a force of destruction and he needs to stay away from it. Not logical for not-traumatized people, but IMO it made perfect sense. And Kate takes over as head of household also as a teenager because Mary is struck by grief and just in general a passive and avoidant personality who is used to being taken care of. Being a kid as well, she interprets her role all wrong and gets super controlling and overbearing because she doesn't know any better. Basically two parentified eldest siblings stumbling around because they had to pick up the slack for out of commission parents.

I think shooting a supporting arc for Kate and Anthony should be no problem, if they want to do that. There could also be the possibility that Bailey and Ashley (I'm assuming she's working on things and hasn't announced yet, she's been everywhere and super busy) are able to book so much extra stuff because they have gotten the scripts and seen that there's not that much content for them. That's not what I'm hoping, but who knows. In the long run, what will also prove tricky IMO is those big spectacle scenes. They eat up so much time and basically the cast waits around to do a bit of banter, when they're not leads. I do think lead couples who go back to supporting after their season will probably opt out of those and try to schedule around them because in a career you can't really afford to have background stuff like that eat months of your time while you could have a bigger part somewhere else.

I'm happy for the actors that their run as leads has led to good things. I'm seeing Simone everywhere as well, I'm sure she'll announce new projects soon. :-) As for season three: I think Bailey probably has been able to take on a lead role in such an extended series because he knows how much he is needed/not needed on the set of Bridgerton. His contract for Bridgerton has priority because it is of longer standing, I would think. That said, if they want to give Anthony (and Kate) a decent plot, they can still do so. It's certainly possible to block the necessary time and shoot relevant scenes for him in a few weeks/a month or so, he'll be a supporting act anyway from now on. I don't think his other project will be shooting for 8 months or so, which is how long Bridgerton productions have tended to go. But yeah, I did think the excess of Featheringtons was a pity in season two. There's just stuff for Kate and Anthony that they can't ever cover now, even though they're still in the series and will get nice scenes, I'm sure.

Saw this recently. I liked it mostly. Raimi put his horror aesthetic with a twist and humor into it and IMO it really benefited from looking a bit different than the usual Marvel fare. Also served the characters. Wanda was a terrifying villain, really well done. Kudos to Olsen. And IMO it worked that Strange is so gray and Cumberbatch leans into his questionable characteristics. The script did a decent job of showing that Strange himself was only a step away from doing the same things Wanda would do, that's why he worked as someone who has the ruthlessness and deviousness to stop her. Being only noble and kind would have probably been a death sentence. I also liked that it all centered on her power and it took a village to defeat her by basically waking her up to herself and how that life she imagined with her kids would collide with reality. Wong was cool, America was a nice introduction and IMO Christine was better used this time compared to the last movie. Solid effort all around for me.

Sigh. I'm so tired of this. These female characters don't need to be "modernized", JA knew what she was doing. They were strong and interesting, but also introverted and quiet. Imagine that. Not every Austen heroine needs to be turned into a spunky, quippy stereotype. Austen wrote Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse, if she wanted such a type, she'd have managed no problem. It's the same with Fanny Price. She's quiet and scared and traumatized. That't the point. That's what makes her act of defiance meaningful. Or Wentworth's whole realization that Anne is strong and impressive even though she is not loud about it. Like, that's a major revelation for him in the book. All the points missed. If you want to actually throw out all the characterization and essence of Austen, then just write your own story and don't adapt Austen.

I think we're trying to assign some sort of rational thinking to Kate and Anthony that just...is not present. Once Anthony knew that he's in love with Kate, but that she doesn't consider him an option and wants to go back to India, he needed to end his courtship with Edwina and take a step back from both sisters to figure out what he wants. IMO the connection with the Sharmas would have ended for good at that point, because Kate would not have considered getting married to a guy who had rejected her sister. Or married at all because she only sees herself as the helper of the family. She was pretty much stuck in that mindset until almost the end of the season and only really catastrophic events coud shake her out of it to some degree. But he thinks he can just stick to the original plan and his feellings for Kate will go away. Once Anthony starts connecting to reality and figures out what misery this will be for everyone, Kate has so drowned in her own guilt that she dares have feelings at all that she makes catastrophic panic choices by pleading with Anthony to not end the engagement. Like the show deliberately puts in various scenes that show how she's not thinking straight at all, for example when Edwina says she will be a fave aunt. So either she will hurt Edwina badly by permanently going away to India or, as Anthony rightly says, they will end up having an affair. They're in the middle of committing emotional betrayal already anyway, what with the clandestine meetings and deciding for Edwina behind her back. Anthony sees this, but thinks he can't back out anymore because of his love for Kate, and his honor and duty towards family and Edwina. Kate at this point is almost disassociating from reality IMO.

LOL, I looove that he drinks the lemonade. I don't know if it was in the script or if it was something that Bailey added, but it's such a random petty detail, but so hilarious.

Edwina became real collateral damage to both Anthony's and Kate's twisted thinking and trauma responses about what familial duty and love are supposed to be. Kate thinks Edwina will be happy if things are kept from her and she is treated like a baby who never has to face any kind of realities. Anthony by that point is a bit more connected with the reality of the situation, but still has these notions of familial duty and that deciding for other people what is best for them is a good idea. And they both think that self-abnegation is a good way to show love, Kate ignoring her own feelings so Edwina can "have" Anthony and Anthony listening to Kate's plea to go ahead with the wedding because he loves her and agrees with her twisted mindset on honor and duty. They both don't realize how much they hurt Edwina with these sorts of actions, with going behind her back like that and lying to her. Because in their twisted mindsets that they've been stuck in for the last decade they need to make themselves unhappy out of family duty. Not realizing that they hurt others with these decisions as well. Edwina needed to set them on fire, since therapists don't yet seem available in their world and Kate and Anthony both badly need one. ;-)

I love that they have Violet always saying exactly the wrong thing to Anthony in particular. She means well and it comes from a place of love, but she always leads with "you're doing your duty wrong, your father would be so disappointed" and he totally shuts her down and you basically see that he dreads even having to talk to her most of the time. It's exactly the wrong approach to a son who was traumatized by his father's death and carries a lot of survivor's guilt anyway. You can see imagine how she has tried this tactic again and again for a decade and it constantly makes their relationship worse and she's frustrated and doubles down on it and their relationship gets even more damaged. A really good depiction of dysfunctional dynamics like that.

I think Daphne and Simon were acting on their attraction and then didn't want to admit and verbalize that. Which is why it escalates like that. Daphne should not have gone into the garden. Simon should have stayed the hell away if he knows that he does not want to get married. Once he has her compromised it all gets pretty tangled. Then Daphne says yes to a proposal that Simon never made... Their relationship is getting off to a pretty rocky start tbh.

Pen being kinda implicated in a possible death/tragedy surrounding Marina is another problem they will have on their hands, that's true. By making LW so central in what happened to Marina, I don't know if it would reflect very well on Penelope. It can't be that hard to just not have Marina die... They've changed plenty of other stuff. I don't see why they have to cling to that.

Killing off Marina would have always seemd a very unfortunate choice IMO since they made her circumstances so very unhappy on the show. If they want to keep Philip and Eloise, why not do something actually radical to go with Eloise's convictions and have Philip and Marina divorce amicably despite the scandal or something because they have found that they make each other miserable? And then Eloise can defy conventions by getting together with a divorced man. Or they change the story and have Marina and Philip work on their marriage and fall in love, as you say.

I thought the wedding night in the TVWLM book is a weird mash of bad romance tropes and actual decent writing for the characters Quinn created. So you have Anthony pressuring Kate at the beginning, which is supposed to denote "passion" or something but just comes off as creepy and manipulative. And then the actual wedding night that totally throws out the nonsense that Anthony was talking about before about not being able to control himself. And he reigns himself in and focuses on making things comfortable for Kate, as it should be. It's like two people almost. As if Quinn thought she had to throw out characterization to bring in some "alpha hero can't contain himself" trainwreck.

Yeah, what I remember in the first season discussions is several posters saying that the Anthony actor was good and that they just needed to give him proper material and he would shine. It was pretty obvious IMO. Looking back, it was also pretty obvious that they set up his leading man arc already in season one, even though they were hamfisted about various aspects of it. For me, Colin's position seems much wobblier. And I'm mostly concerned with the writing because IMO they have for two seasons tried to give him material and none of it has worked at all. They seem to have no idea who he is.

IMO it was clear in season one that Bailey is a strong and experienced actor who can handle whatever they throw at him. And looking back, some of the stuff they started with him in season one paid off in season two: Trying to escape his duties with his mistress, his tense relationship with Violet, him being the one character who actually apologizes when he screws up. OTOH the writing for him in season one at least had some sort of direction, even if it made him unlikeable. The writing for Colin is IMO either non-existent or just bad. At current evidence I'm not sure they know how to write for him at all. Yeah, it was all about Pen and Marina, but that was also because Colin was just written as clueless. That has been his one beat far too often. I don't know if the actor can handle more because they never give him anything. Even scenes that are supposedly about him treat him as a nonentity. And IMO that is much more a script than a performance problem. I've enjoyed the recent Coughlan interviews, though. I concur with her view on Pen and hope that this perception lands on screen next season.

I think while Violet loves her children, she seems very set in her ways. And very much tied to her own experiences with little imagination how it could be different for other people. And so she keeps on doing things that are not working even though she sees that she's not reaching her kids. So far this has been a problem with Daphne, Anthony and Eloise.

See I think that Penelope has been trying to rationalize that she had no choice but to attack Daphne, Marina or Eloise. Or ruin that other modiste's livelihood. But she had other choices, they would just have meant giving up LW or coming up with different ways to protect herself. Every time it was about doing something that did damage to someone else so Penelope could keep on doing what she wanted. It wasn't for their own good at all. That doesn't make her evil, but it makes her wholly self-absorbed and ruthless and I'd absolutely want some introspection from her why she is doing these things and how much damage she has done in other people's lives. At the moment she seems to think that her position in life entitles her to play judge, jury and executioner as LW. I understand that she feels disempowered in her everyday life and compensates as puppet master with the column. But even then some self-awareness about how she contributes to those dynamics in her own life would be good: For example, yeah her friendship with Eloise is centered on Eloise. But that is both because Eloise is self-absorbed and because Pen has been lying and holding back from Eloise for years.

I think that focusing on familial duty so heavily with Kate made sense and I've seen articles that it resonated with viewers with a South Asian background. So that might have been a conscious choice and in fundamentals it worked. What I think doesn't work is the white characters skating on behavior that would have been dragged if committed by a POC, I sometimes suspect on the idea that a white female audience will not care what they do because they can function as self-inserts. Daphne assaulting Simon without consequences also brings in really unfortunate additional connotations since the show might sometimes act as if race does not matter, but it's not operating in some sort of vacuum. And OTOH you have the Sharmas, where there is at least a tacit acknowledgement that they come from a different cultural background than the London Ton. Same with just assuming goodwill and identification for Penelope. So to sum up: The writing for Kate is not what I'm criticizing here, I'm criticizing that they don't think they need to do the work for Pen and Daphne when it comes to holding them accountable for faults. Not even the characters realizing stuff themselves, the lenient framing they get in-show. Of course the final judgement on that is already in with Daphne, that was a trainwreck. Jury is still out on Pen, but IMO so far they've been wobbling about what they want to do with the LW stuff and what sorts of ramifications it should have. And IMO the fallout should be pretty drastic and I'm not sure that they will have the guts to go there.

Yes, that is true. But what I am mostly talking about is framing by the show. Kate thinks she has to do everything for her family. But she does it in controlling ways that can do more harm than good. The show calls her on the carpet for this. Lady Danbury points it out and then she basically plays herself by pulling Edwina's attention only to Anthony by trying block him. Hence the temper tantrum at the soiree. And then of course the more grave fallout after the wedding, including "half-sister" and all. When she makes mistakes there are consequences. We're supposed to think that Daphne assaulting Simon was okay. And yeah, Penelope is always a bit teary before she throws yet another person to the wolves as LW. But I think the fact that we are in her point of view draws sympathy towards her and minimizes the ramifications in the narrative structure.

I think both Violet and Mary were in some ways in imaginary relationships with their eldest kids. That's why they were so ineffective. They both don't know their children all that well because Kate and Anthony are so walled off. Violet to some degree understands that something is not right but she always goes about it the wrong way by droning on about duty and how he's not Edmund to a son who is already drowning in duties and traumatized by his father's death. So he shuts her out even more. Or look at how oblivious Mary is when she says that Kate just wants her independence. Kate's whole face falls and it doesn't register with Mary at all. The trainwreck wedding and how Kate and Anthony keep hurting themselves because they think that is what they owe their families finally serves as a wake up call. But even then Anthony basically has to spell out that he thinks she doesn't love him for Violet to get a clue. The unhealthy dynamics are pretty deeply ingrained.

The problem with Colin so far has been that they don't write well for him at all. Yeah, he has scenes. But nothing so far has made him interesting or distinct. And yes, perhaps that's also on the actor not elevating the material, but tbh the material he is getting has been such a dud, it's probably difficult to make any of that work. Penelope: She's well acted and interesting. But agree that this show often has difficulty holding its characters accountable. I don't trust them to come to satisfying terms with the fact that Pen has been deliberately hurting people and ruining lives as LW. They also seemed to think that Daphne assaulting Simon because she wants babies is just hunky dory. They have a bit of a history of not quite understanding what they are putting on screen... I do think the second season resonating is also tied to the fact that no one pretended in show that Anthony and Kate are perfect. And they themselves are always ready to take responsibility for mistakes. And as a viewer you could have sympathy for these two control freak micromanagers have their lives thrown asunder by each other because the show didn't pretend that they hadn't made a mess of things. I'd even go as far as to say that Kate getting constantly berated or berating herself started to get uncomfortable the longer into the season they went and the clearer it got how little she values herself and that she thinks that she's not entitled to want things of her own. Contrast that with Penelope and Daphne. I know the show doesn't want to dwell on race as a topic. But I find the difference in presentation contrasting Kate with Daphne and Pen a bit striking.