E01.01: Diamond of the First Water

[GaT]

I really don't re-watch shows, but I'm re-watching this. Duke of Hastings, sigh.

[Avaleigh]

On 1/30/2021 at 2:55 PM, gingerella said:

If you feel that way about the colors and fabrics then let me add to this that the jewelry is anything but period-correct! There are Edwardian, Belle Epoque, Victorian, but very little Georgian-era jewelry spotted as of yet. I mean, it's not that difficult to do period-correct jewelry and costuming, I don't understand the need to do otherwise.

The above aside, I felt the first episode was trite and thin in terms of it's depth with both characters and writing. However, given what we've endured during 2020, I gave it wider berth and continued on, and the series grows on you, and the lightness and frivolity is what I need right now, so I'm okay with the mediocre acting on certain levels, and the lack of depth. It is fluffy, light, rather like eating a Pavlova or a Macaron, as opposed to a rich cake or pie confection.

I finally got around to checking out the pilot. I wanted to like this so much. I'm okay with the plot and I'm not going to give the show a hard time about the various inaccuracies since it's obvious that this is the kind of show that we're supposed to just have fun with and not take too seriously. 

That being said, half of the reason I wanted to see this was for the fashion. It's one of my favorite things about a period drama and I found the fashion to be disappointing overall. This looks more like a CW show in terms of production values. The costumes, the CGI, the sets, the hairstyles--I was fully prepared for the idea that I'd enjoy the visual spectacle of Bridgerton if nothing else, but this mostly feels like a missed opportunity. 

Harlots was a show that wasn't going for 100% accuracy with the fashion, but they still managed to make the costumes fun and gorgeous with out being nailed down to every historical detail of the period.

In this first episode, I thought so many of the hairstyles were terrible to the point of being distracting. The jewelry--it all looks so cheap. Netflix shows usually have terrific production values so I'm surprised by how tacky some of this stuff looked. 

Thanks to the posters who clarified that the Featherington (sp?) ladies costumes are actually supposed to look garish and terrible. Poor Marina for having to deal with them. 

I'm going to watch more of the show. I'm hoping it'll grow on me based on all of the positive stuff I've heard and read. 

[GaT]

2 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

I'm going to watch more of the show. I'm hoping it'll grow on me based on all of the positive stuff I've heard and read. 

Most people seem to start watching out of curiosity, & keep watching for the Duke of Hastings. 😆

[gingerella]

2 hours ago, Avaleigh said:

I finally got around to checking out the pilot. I wanted to like this so much. I'm okay with the plot and I'm not going to give the show a hard time about the various inaccuracies since it's obvious that this is the kind of show that we're supposed to just have fun with and not take too seriously. 

That being said, half of the reason I wanted to see this was for the fashion. It's one of my favorite things about a period drama and I found the fashion to be disappointing overall. This looks more like a CW show in terms of production values. The costumes, the CGI, the sets, the hairstyles--I was fully prepared for the idea that I'd enjoy the visual spectacle of Bridgerton if nothing else, but this mostly feels like a missed opportunity. 

Harlots was a show that wasn't going for 100% accuracy with the fashion, but they still managed to make the costumes fun and gorgeous with out being nailed down to every historical detail of the period.

In this first episode, I thought so many of the hairstyles were terrible to the point of being distracting. The jewelry--it all looks so cheap. Netflix shows usually have terrific production values so I'm surprised by how tacky some of this stuff looked. 

Thanks to the posters who clarified that the Featherington (sp?) ladies costumes are actually supposed to look garish and terrible. Poor Marina for having to deal with them. 

I'm going to watch more of the show. I'm hoping it'll grow on me based on all of the positive stuff I've heard and read. 

At the end of the day, we're still in a pandemic situation and for me, it was worth enduring the inaccurate details and as you said, the rather poor excuses for wardrobe, hair and jewelry. But since I'm not traveling right now it was an armchair escape and it was worth watching all in all. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts as you move on in the series...there are other 'issues' but I shan't bitch about them here!

[Camera One]

I just watched the first episode, and it seems like it will be an enjoyable light diversion.  I'm not terribly attached to any of the characters yet, and they seem to be well acted.  The only actress I'm familiar with so far is Lady Featherington who seems to be playing a similarly meddlesome mother like she did on "Rome".   The sets and cinematography are visually nice to look like.  The colour conscious casting and the pop music gives the show the feel of a modern fantasy/fairy tale.  I'm not familiar with the books, though it was difficult to avoid reading a bit about the show/upcoming season casting since it was such a runaway success, and I don't know if that will affect my enjoyment of the story vs. coming in completely blind.  It does seem to be a bit cliched in terms of plot so far with the initial animosity between the two main love interests, and the cousin being pregnant, probably against her will considering her reaction to Lady Featherington's accusations.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Camera One

[RealHousewife]

I just started watching this. I tend to prefer reality TV, talk shows, news, and sitcoms over dramas, but my goodness, what a visually stunning show. I don't think I've ever watched a TV show that was so easy on the eyes. 

[GaT]

20 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

I don't think I've ever watched a TV show that was so easy on the eyes. 

Especially if the eyes are looking at the Duke of Hastings 😄

[RealHousewife]

On 12/26/2021 at 5:06 PM, GaT said:

Especially if the eyes are looking at the Duke of Hastings 😄

To be honest, he's so beautiful looking that it's too much for me! lol

[iwantcookies]

12 minutes ago, RealHousewife said:

To be honest, he's so beautiful looking that it's too much for me! lol

I burn for him 🤪🤣🥵

[andromeda331]

7 hours ago, iwantcookies said:

I burn for him 🤪🤣🥵

You're not the only one.

[seacliffsal]

I just watched the first episode and what seemed really disjointed for me was how old Eloise looked.  Someone above included the actress' real age and I think the character looks every bit of that.  I want to like the character as she has spunk (per Lou Grant on the Mary Tyler Moore show), but her older appearance doesn't make the spunk work so well for me.

[ouinason]

Eloise's petulance is not cute.  

[Roseanna]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:15 AM, ouinason said:

I don't think they specifically search for blood on the sheets as some kind of purity test or whatever, but I do think that they notice that it hasn't happened.  Like, they have to have special products and processes for cleaning the period sheets of the females of the house, so they probably sort and check for stains on a regular basis, based on past experience (so they see it's the first week of the month and go "right, check girl A's sheets over the next week or so" or whatever.  And, with Marina being newly in the house, they would probably start looking out for it right away to get a good idea of when in the month they might need to keep an eye out in the future, and be puzzled as hell when it doesn't appear.  And I do believe that bloody sheets were much much more of a thing back then since our more modern ways of preventing that didn't exist, and cloth can only do so much.

I think it was rather strange, both to Mariana and the servant. Marina was unmarried, but she was supposed to know rightway what it meant that didn't gert peiod. And the servant who already had four ladies in the house to take care of was keen to know if and when a guest's period ahd her periods.

Some women have very irregular periods, and sometimes there can be some blood even when one is pregnant.

[Roseanna]

I don't understand Anthony's reasoning. Wanting to protect her sister from unsuitable súitors he begaved in such a way that she had no suitors at all, and then he tried to force her to marry to a man who had nothing to recommend him.    

[andromeda331]

2 minutes ago, Roseanna said:

I don't understand Anthony's reasoning. Wanting to protect her sister from unsuitable súitors he begaved in such a way that she had no suitors at all, and then he tried to force her to marry to a man who had nothing to recommend him.    

I don't either. Also he seemed to know everything about the suitors but somehow knew nothing about the one he decided on.  

[Roseanna]

Why did Lady Featherington to have all her three daughters presented in the same time?  

[quarks]

19 minutes ago, Roseanna said:

I think it was rather strange, both to Mariana and the servant. Marina was unmarried, but she was supposed to know rightway what it meant that didn't gert peiod. And the servant who already had four ladies in the house to take care of was keen to know if and when a guest's period ahd her periods.

Some women have very irregular periods, and sometimes there can be some blood even when one is pregnant.

The impression I'm getting from the show is that the amount of knowledge about pregnancy varies greatly from woman to woman, married and unmarried, even in the same family.  This is the first episode, so....I'll keep things vague, but we get multiple hints later on that some unmarried women appear to be significantly more knowledgeable than others - even if this information didn't come from their mothers.

Also, this came up in some other threads but...the script noted that Marina hadn't bled for "weeks." That's a bit more than just "irregular." Combined with:

1. She was sent to live with strangers who have never met her. The relationship is so distant that Lord Featherington (her supposed blood relative) never speaks to her throughout the entire season; Lady Featherington tells Lady Cowper that they know nothing about her, and continues to address Marina as "Miss Thompson" throughout the entire season. 

2. A couple of things suggest that this was a very last minute, sudden visit. Again, Lady Featherington knows nothing about Marina, suggesting that she hasn't had time to find anything out, and it seems that Lady Cowper has also just heard about this country cousin. And Marina arrives a few days after the debutantes are presented to the Queen. It's quite possible that she wouldn't have been presented to the Queen in any case - but I think that if her parents had planned for her to have a Season in London, they would have tried to have her presented, or the show would have given us some sort of explanation. It didn't.

(We do get an explanation when something sorta similar happens in the second season, so....yeah, I think that's kinda significant.)

3. And Marina didn't arrive with a maid. That seems to go along with the general sense that Marina isn't quite as high ranking as the Featheringtons - along with, perhaps, that whole not getting presented thing, but it's another sense that things are somewhat off.

So, the servants, who probably already suspected that something was going on, noticed the lack of bleeding and drew the correct conclusions.