E01.08: After the Rain

[Adgirl]

On 1/22/2021 at 8:56 AM, scenicbyway said:

60 million viewers? Really?

That's all the Black people who liked Downton Abbey and longed to see ourselves in those types of costume dramas. '

Long live Shonda, queen of TV.

[Camera One]

Overall, I enjoyed this season.  The series was very pretty, with effective performances and was a light diversion and escape.  I have been watching a lot of shows with violence lately, and it's nice to watch something that can engage without the worries of who might be brutally attacked next.

I can see why it became popular.  However, beyond the novelty factor and the shock value of sex scenes, the underlying story and characterizations weren't really the strongest.  If I thought of the eight episodes as a long movie, I found this episode to be a tad anti-climatic and not too satisfying even if one were truly invested in Daphne and Simon as a "one true love" type couple, which I found difficult to do.  Though I really thought they had potential in the first few episodes, and I actually liked Daphne and Simon as individuals.

I thought the resolution of their disagreements was rushed and unearned.  That sudden rainfall climax even felt kind of hokey.  Reading the letters made Daphne accept that she will be fine not having children?  With Simon, it was even more abrupt how he let go of his vow with his father, and out popped a baby.  The two characters were mean-spirited towards each other for multiple episodes, and neither was fully redeemed before this "happy" ending.  If I wasn't thrilled at a couple getting together at the end of a romantic comedy, I would consider that a fail, and that was my feeling about this.

Before this show started, I had read about who was in the cast in Season 2

Spoiler

so I knew the actor who played Simon wasn't going to be back.  I was really worried that I would grow so attached to his character that the prospect of Season 2 without him would make the show less attractive.  Although the actor gave a great performance and was attractive, I suppose I actually don't mind not seeing him next season.  However, I think the whole Daphne/Simon plot needed another season to truly work, though at the same time, it was already tiresome midway through this season.  If this was the book plot, then it needed to be reworked.

The other subplots were middling in effectiveness as well.  It made no sense to me why the Opera Singer was back to her carefree attitude of sleeping with Anthony even though she found a guy to support her.  And then at the end, she reverted back to how she was right before she left.  How did she explain to that guy why Anthony showed up with flowers?  He didn't suspect she cheated on him?

Benedict and the seamstress didn't have much chemistry, and his character was too thinly drawn for me to see the point.  For limited subplots like this to work, the actor or character needed to make a big impression, but he really didn't.  Did Benedict want to become an artist?  Or was it more about having sex?  Who knows.  How was Benedict's sexual desires any more "out there" than Anthony's?

I liked the boxer guy, so I'm sad that he gave in to throwing the fight.  Though I think we needed to see more of their financial situation to understand his motivations.  

I found myself alternating between sympathesizing with Marina and not liking her.  Maybe the whole unwanted pregnancy thing had been so overdone that I just wasn't as engaged and Marina was not charismatic enough for me to care enough.  I was curious about the true character of George's brother.  I wonder if he would have been amenable to them at least having a few more conversations before she made her decision.  Anyway, I would be fine with this subplot being closed.

Finally, the reveal of Lady Whistledown was one of those high surprise twists! that shows like to have, but it made no sense, so was more WTF than What a clever reveal!  As others said above, I don't buy that Penelope would be able to get the money/opportunity to publish regular pamphlets, nor that she was capable of writing in the voice of a middle-aged woman of experience, nor that she could easily leave in the middle of big events like a ball, nor that she could write an entire pamphlet during those society events when she was so busy standing around looking sadly at Colin or "rescuing" Marina or chatting with Eloise.  Yes, it was shocking, but that was only because Lady Whistledown was the complete opposite of Penelope's naive personality as they showed it.  For it to work, they needed to make Penelope a bit more worldly.  Heck, she too should have been walking around with a notebook like Eloise if she enjoyed writing that much.  I suppose the main reason it had to be Penelope was the publication of Marina's secret, and she had the biggest motivation to have that come to light.  But none of her other writings (eg. about Daphne) fit with Lady Whistledown being Penelope.  Even the voiceover in this episode had a bunch of sage words about marriage which Penelope was supposed to have somehow conjured up?  They might as well have said Mary Alice from "Desperate Housewives" travelled back in time and was Lady Whistledown.

Edited October 9, 2021 by Camera One

[LilJen]

Has anybody remarked on how adorable the actor playing Gregory is? Cutest dimples ever.