S03.E02: How Bright the Moon

[Orcinus orca]

Penelope begins her private lessons in charming suitors, but the arrangement quickly grows complicated. A dazzling debutante seizes the queen's attention.

[Jane Tuesday]

I'm halfway through this (2nd) episode, and this is boring AF.

Maybe I'm just distracted? But the first two seasons completely held my interest. I'm forcing myself to pay attention to this. Hopefully it picks up. 

[Conotocarious]

I’m on my second rewatch already so I can’t agree.

[DanaMB]

I enjoyed the book, but I’m having trouble connecting with onscreen Penelope and Colin. I don’t see any spark…maybe soon? I’m still going to watch, of course. I’m still entertained by the rest. 

Edited May 16 by DanaMB

[Conotocarious]

27 minutes ago, DanaMB said:

I enjoyed the book, but I’m having trouble connecting with onscreen Penelope and Colin. I don’t see any spark…maybe soon? I’m still going to watch, of course. I’m still entertained by the rest. 

I didn’t think much of any of the books but I just adore the show. I love the beautiful bright colors, the scenery, the banter. I just love Penelope, Nicola is so so good. The only thing I don’t like is waiting another month for the rest of it.

[mrsbagnet]

I never realized how stunning the actress who plays Phillipa is. She looks so different with her hair down and wearing somewhat softer colors.

I really don't like that they married such dolts. Portia's baby race is already tiresome.

[Orcinus orca]

Has anyone noticed how shiny the make up is?  It makes the skin look like plastic.

[janie jones]

I can't remember -- does Penelope's maid know she's Lady Whistledown?

[smallfry]

2 hours ago, mrsbagnet said:

I never realized how stunning the actress who plays Phillipa is. She looks so different with her hair down and wearing somewhat softer colors.

I really don't like that they married such dolts. Portia's baby race is already tiresome.

I was thinking the same thing. She really is beautiful!

[gerdialiaVA]

Penelope and Colin's book was always the most boring to me, but I don't like that they've added the Francesca storyline to the show.

Spoiler

We never read about her courtship with John and I don't want to get attached to him too much.

I also always imagined Francesca as a brunette, maybe because of her Italian name. 

[Brn2bwild]

On 5/17/2024 at 12:12 AM, gerdialiaVA said:

Penelope and Colin's book was always the most boring to me, but I don't like that they've added the Francesca storyline to the show.

Spoiler

We never read about her courtship with John and I don't want to get attached to him too much.

I also always imagined Francesca as a brunette, maybe because of her Italian name. 

To me, the real relationship is between Penelope and Eloise.  There is actual chemistry there, and the number of times they give each other longing looks from across the room makes me wonder if we're meant to think they want to be more than friends. 

Colin's story is dull, especially compared to Anthony's last season.

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, Brn2bwild said:

To me, the real relationship is between Penelope and Eloise.  There is actual chemistry there, and the number of times they give each other longing looks from across the room makes me wonder if we're meant to think they want to be more than friends. 

Colin's story is dull, especially compared to Anthony's last season.

Very true. I just don't care about Colin. Two episodes in and I still don't care.  I'm more interested in Penelope and Eloise. I'm more interested in Lady Whistledown and the Queen "game". 

Eloise, don't act like you didn't know what you were doing. You knew and that's why you told Cressida. The real surprise was that Cressida didn't spread the gossip around.

I feel fo Penelope and also tired of her constantly being humilated at balls. I liked her and Francesca and hope they become friends. 

I liked Violet trying hard not to mettle.  

I really like seeing Mondrich adjusting to their new life. I'm just happy to see them have a storyline. They were really wasted last season.

[PRgal]

I empathize with the Mondriches trying to make sure they play by the rules.  It’s their first time out there and they need to make a good impression.  But they also can’t be too fake and obvious.  It’s like being that new kid in school and trying to be cool. Didn’t work well for me…lol…but I didn’t mind being the weirdo who liked Broadway and country over Alanis (I didn’t/don’t DISLIKE her either.  Just not as much) or Cantopop.  
 

Question:  when a minor inherits a title like Nicholas did, would his untitled parents be regent (would they still be called regent?  Or is that only for royalty?)?

[mrsbagnet]

My favorite comedic moment was Phillipa's description of how she and Albion were having sex: he makes a funny noise, then he has to change his britches. Lol. I don't know why these mothers just assume their daughters will figure out sex on their own. Albion is not the type to have gone to brothels.

1 hour ago, PRgal said:

Question:  when a minor inherits a title like Nicholas did, would his untitled parents be regent (would they still be called regent?  Or is that only for royalty?)?

Regent is for royalty only, but I do wonder what the Mondriches's situation is called. I'm researching it.

[Ohiopirate02]

1 hour ago, mrsbagnet said:

Regent is for royalty only, but I do wonder what the Mondriches's situation is called. I'm researching it.

Most likely it's a guardian-ward relationship.  Minor children would have a guardian to protect their estate until they reached the age of majority.  The guardian could be the child's parents or mother or someone not related like a solicitor or another trusted member of the aristocracy.  The person who held the estate before dying is the one who usually gets to decide on who the guardian will be.  This is also a time where children were legally considered the property of their fathers and they got to decide on who was going to protect their estates.  The raising of the male heir was secondary to this, and mothers could and usually were in charge of rearing them up to a certain age before shipping them off to Eton or Harrow or whichever other public school their dad went.  Guardians would also pocket a fee for their efforts.

[tennisgurl]

Since its so important for couples to produce heirs, you would think that moms would spend some time teaching their kids what sex actually is. Its not like its something you can just guess at easily without a LOT of trail and error. 

I am enjoying the season so far, but Colin isn't really grabbing me the way Anthony did last season, I think he needs more of an arc outside of Penelope. 

The Featherington girls are all quite pretty, its just hard to tell when they all dress like the Fruit of the Loom fruit people. 

[libgirl2]

2 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

Since its so important for couples to produce heirs, you would think that moms would spend some time teaching their kids what sex actually is. Its not like its something you can just guess at easily without a LOT of trail and error. 

I am enjoying the season so far, but Colin isn't really grabbing me the way Anthony did last season, I think he needs more of an arc outside of Penelope. 

The Featherington girls are all quite pretty, its just hard to tell when they all dress like the Fruit of the Loom fruit people. 

From what I have read, women were kept in the dark or just not given many details. It was assumed the men, who were "allowed" to sleep around, would know what to do. 

[Ohiopirate02]

14 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

From what I have read, women were kept in the dark or just not given many details. It was assumed the men, who were "allowed" to sleep around, would know what to do. 

That depended on the era, and the Regency period was not one where mothers were neglecting this duty.  Also, you can't cast Polly Walker and give her the scenes she had with Marina in Season One and now act like she did not fully explain the act to her daughters before they got married.  I get that the in the books Lady Featherington is apparently a ditz, but the show one is not.  She has the most street smarts out of all the characters and knows the perils of being a lady in the world in which they inhabit.  They have her forging a will to leave the estate to the first born grandson, of course she is explaining in detail what needs to happen for this to occur.  If the show was looking for some comic relief with that whole line of questioning, then they should have taken a page out of Tessa Dare's Do You Want to Start a Scandal and have Portia use an eggplant in her demonstration.  

[PRgal]

34 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

From what I have read, women were kept in the dark or just not given many details. It was assumed the men, who were "allowed" to sleep around, would know what to do. 

It's sad how innocent upper class (especially) women were in terms of knowing about sex.  It's almost to the point of humour by today's standards.  That being said, when I was 10, a girl asked me whether "Mommies and Daddies wear clothes when making babies."  I told her yes and she thought I was dumb.  I suppose 10 is old for not knowing-knowing, but I'm an only child (I knew how they were made scientifically speaking, just not the act itself (well, for most people)).  And technically, I wasn't wrong (is talking about it TMI?).  She DID say clothes and not pants.  LOL.

[Orcinus orca]

2 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

From what I have read, women were kept in the dark or just not given many details. It was assumed the men, who were "allowed" to sleep around, would know what to do. 

I remember when Violet fumbled around trying to fill Daphne in on things but bailed out at the last second. 

[quarks]

3 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

 They have her forging a will to leave the estate to the first born grandson, of course she is explaining in detail what needs to happen for this to occur.  

Admittedly, I'm giving this entire ridiculous subplot a pass mostly because it's led to hilarious moments. That said, to be slightly fair, Philippa got married early in the second season - well before that will was forged. And I can easily see Portia looking at the obvious affection between Philippa and Mr. Finch and assuming that the two of them will figure it out. I mean, I did. In retrospect, clearly Portia and I both overestimated Philippa's intelligence, but I'm not going to blame Portia for making the same mistake I did.

Prudence was apparently married off after the will was forged - and she, notably, does seem to know what needs to happen. She just doesn't seem to enjoy doing it, partly because it messes up her hair. 

And until the attorney showed up, none of this was an urgent concern.

Notably, Portia started asking questions - and providing detail - shortly after his visit. And equally notably, Philippa seems to have figured out things pretty quickly. I predict a daughter by episode 8.

[Snazzy Daisy]

When a flirting practice gets too real… 

Two sensual encounters with Pen - the hand cut and the garden kiss left Colin emotionally unraveling. Come on Pen, you shouldn’t have begged and thanked him for that kiss. 😣

The threesome scene in a brothel is totally unnecessary. We don’t need to see Colin frolicking other women. 🙄

I love it when Cressida puts Eloise back in her place for being hypocritical. Eloise just cannot stop blabbing, isn’t she? 

When Portia accuses Pen about “being unreasonable about what can achieve”, that’s hurtful, coming from own mother.

Philipa and Prudence are dumber than a rock. The bakers don’t know how to bake, surprisingly.

“His breeches remain on?” 😂

Great call by Lady Danbury to let Francesca be in her happy place with a piano. She sparkles. It’s just the whole sequence with the queen and everything feels forced.

The Mondriches arc is really boring. Why are we wasting time on them?

And we get a shoutout on Edwina finding a good match abroad!

[Sakura12]

I never got how their whole thing was to get married and have heirs but never telling the women how heirs are made. I suppose most men would know but not all. Portia should've have prepared her older daughtes better since she knows they are not the brightest bulbs. 

Which brings me to Penelope the way she writes as Whistledown she seems to know more then either of her sisters. 

They do need to show more of Colin to get me to care. I still find him boring. Pen has always been interesting and she's the gossip writer. Colin needs the same focus that Daphne and Anthony got. 

Are Eloise and Pen even now. She embarrassed Pen. It's interesting that Cressida didn't say anything. She was learning to be less cruel. While Elosie was blurting that out in public. 

I wonder who Lady Danbury's visitor is. Is it one of her children. We've only seen the one on Queen Charlotte. 

[Nidratime]

I was touched by Penelope asking Colin to kiss her because she never expected to ever be kissed. It made me sad for her.

I wonder if they are ever going to get to Benedict's story.

 

[magdalene]

I know they sexed Colin up for his leading man role in this season but he still does nothing for me. And that threesome scene did nothing to change that for me. Lets hope he doesn't give Pen a STD.

[shapeshifter]

3 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

The threesome scene in a brothel is totally unnecessary. We don’t need to see Colin frolicking other women. 🙄

All I could think about was STDs.

[Snazzy Daisy]

9 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

All I could think about was STDs.

A/B/C Bridgerton really go above and beyond to get baking lessons from the ladies at brothel…

[andromeda331]

I'm surprised Portia didn't tell her daughters on how to get pregnant. She seems like the type that would. She's the one who "arranged" to get her daughter engaged to the Featherington Heir to keep control of the estate and etc and married off one before his family found out there was no dowery. But after she forged the document she didn't make sure Prudence and Philippa knew how to get pregnant? She waited this long to ask about it? It really doesn't sound like her.

[PRgal]

6 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

All I could think about was STDs.

And back then, if a woman caught something, she was to blame, not the philandering husband. 

[Ohiopirate02]

One of the we'll go with rules of historical romance is that no hero who is a rake will ever get a STI.  Villians get them, never the hero.  They can also sex it up all over town without getting anyone else pregnant unless the author decides an illegitimate child is essential to the story.  But those are still pretty rare.  Pen like Kate and Daphne are in no danger of contracting any disease from their love interests.  

Good news is the authors who write nonvirgin heroines also do not give them any diseases and few out of wedlock kids.  

[Conotocarious]

12 hours ago, Nidratime said:

I was touched by Penelope asking Colin to kiss her because she never expected to ever be kissed. It made me sad for her.

I wonder if they are ever going to get to Benedict's story.

 

she was so good in that scene. Like she was pitch perfect.

 

I might be the only who just does not care about Benedict or his season. I know he’s the second book but the show has made me far more interested in Eloise and Fran’s seasons. It would help if Benedict had a personality beyond “sometimes artist who likes to screw around.” He has no depth.

[Nidratime]

36 minutes ago, Conotocarious said:

she was so good in that scene. Like she was pitch perfect.

 

I might be the only who just does not care about Benedict or his season. I know he’s the second book but the show has made me far more interested in Eloise and Fran’s seasons. It would help if Benedict had a personality beyond “sometimes artist who likes to screw around.” He has no depth.

Regarding Benedict, to be honest, I'm really interested in his heroine. As far as I know, she has yet to be seen. (I read the book, so I know how she makes her appearance.)

As for Colin and Penelope, it sounds like Colin is going to be furious when he finds out about Pen's other persona. I'm sure that will be a major plot point this season. What I thought was interesting is that Penelope skewered herself in the Lady Whistledown newsletter after everyone found out what she and Colin have been up to with the "trapping a man" lessons.

[Conotocarious]

13 minutes ago, Nidratime said:

Regarding Benedict, to be honest, I'm really interested in his heroine. As far as I know, she has yet to be seen. (I read the book, so I know how she makes her appearance.)

As for Colin and Penelope, it sounds like Colin is going to be furious when he finds out about Pen's other persona. I'm sure that will be a major plot point this season. What I thought was interesting is that Penelope skewered herself in the Lady Whistledown newsletter after everyone found out what she and Colin have been up to with the "trapping a man" lessons.

It’s interesting that she says to Colin it would have been suspicious if LW had not mentioned it. It’s an odd phrasing and he even furrows his brow for an instant. She almost gives herself away there.

[mrsbagnet]

14 hours ago, Sakura12 said:

Which brings me to Penelope the way she writes as Whistledown she seems to know more then either of her sisters. 

Tbh, this has bugged me since Season 1. How does Penelope, writing as Lady Whistledown, know enough about sex to quip about it? In Season 1, she didn't understand how babies were made, and in Season 2, she claimed to not understand what Lord Fife and Miss Goring were doing in a closet for 20 mins.

[Conotocarious]

23 minutes ago, mrsbagnet said:

Tbh, this has bugged me since Season 1. How does Penelope, writing as Lady Whistledown, know enough about sex to quip about it? In Season 1, she didn't understand how babies were made, and in Season 2, she claimed to not understand what Lord Fife and Miss Goring were doing in a closet for 20 mins.

Well, she always had read a lot.  There had to be something that she read that was maybe not considered proper for young ladies. Her mother does remark that she encouraged Pen not to read specifically because she’d get romantic notions in her head.

[andromeda331]

I'm confused about why Colin is upset about what Lady Whistledown did to Marin. Is it because she was humiliated? Because if she hadn't he would have married Marina who was tricking him into marriage? Would he rather have found that out before or after he married Marina? Why is he still not mad at Marina for what she tried to do to him? 

[libgirl2]

19 hours ago, Nidratime said:

Regarding Benedict, to be honest, I'm really interested in his heroine. As far as I know, she has yet to be seen. (I read the book, so I know how she makes her appearance.)

 

Spoiler

Yes, Sophie.

I'm keeping an eye out for her or her name. 

20 hours ago, Conotocarious said:

she was so good in that scene. Like she was pitch perfect.

 

I might be the only who just does not care about Benedict or his season. I know he’s the second book but the show has made me far more interested in Eloise and Fran’s seasons. It would help if Benedict had a personality beyond “sometimes artist who likes to screw around.” He has no depth.

Eloise's book is my favorite but she is my favorite character. 

[Ohiopirate02]

43 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

I'm confused about why Colin is upset about what Lady Whistledown did to Marin. Is it because she was humiliated? Because if she hadn't he would have married Marina who was tricking him into marriage? Would he rather have found that out before or after he married Marina? Why is he still not mad at Marina for what she tried to do to him? 

Pen did more than humiliate Marina.  She ruined her reputation and no respectable male member of the Ton would ever marry her.  Marina was about to be an unwed mother who may or may not be kicked out of her parents' home to fend for herself.   She was saved by Daphne tracking down Sir Philip and Philip being a better man than his late brother.  Colin was upset at Marina's deception, but he never held any ill will towards her and her situation.  He understood why Marina did what she did, and was more hurt that she felt the need to lie instead of telling him the truth.  Colin would have married Marina if she was honest with him from the get go because that spoke to his white night tendencies.  

[janie jones]

On 5/17/2024 at 8:23 AM, PRgal said:

It's sad how innocent upper class (especially) women were in terms of knowing about sex.  It's almost to the point of humour by today's standards.  That being said, when I was 10, a girl asked me whether "Mommies and Daddies wear clothes when making babies."  I told her yes and she thought I was dumb.  I suppose 10 is old for not knowing-knowing, but I'm an only child (I knew how they were made scientifically speaking, just not the act itself (well, for most people)).  And technically, I wasn't wrong (is talking about it TMI?).  She DID say clothes and not pants.  LOL.

When my sister came home from school and told me where babies came from I was confused because she left out the part about people needing to take their underwear off.

19 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

The threesome scene in a brothel is totally unnecessary. We don’t need to see Colin frolicking other women. 🙄

At first I thought it was Benedict and they were going back to his sexcapades. I think part of it is they wanted to show that he isn't sexless, but for me it was just random and he still seems sexless.

[RachelKM]

1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Colin was upset at Marina's deception, but he never held any ill will towards her and her situation.  He understood why Marina did what she did, and was more hurt that she felt the need to lie instead of telling him the truth. 

Part of the reason Colin wasn't too angry is that he believed she held real affection for him.  It wasn't until a year later, when he visited her at her home in Season 2 that he realized she hadn't loved him and she had to basically tell him.  He was truly convinced that she cared about him and would give a crap about his continuing to care. She basically rolled her eyes at him for his continued naivete.  

Edited May 18 by RachelKM
Incomplete sentence.

[PatsyandEddie]

Penelope has perfected the art of moving about through the Ton and collecting information while not being noticed. She would have learned a great deal about how babies are made and who was boinking who behind the shrubbery. 

[Glade]

I'm sad that apparently things aren't going forward with Penelope and Lord Remington. I liked him and thought that would be an interesting friendship at least even if we know Colin is it. 

Edited May 19 by Glade

[Conotocarious]

For some reason Lord Remington’s accent was reminding me of one of those two very old vampires from Breaking Dawn that cam in to the battle hoping for some big Volturi war. I still cannot believe that was my first and most enduring thought.

[quarks]

6 hours ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

Pen did more than humiliate Marina.  She ruined her reputation and no respectable male member of the Ton would ever marry her.  Marina was about to be an unwed mother who may or may not be kicked out of her parents' home to fend for herself.  

I dunno. I'd say that the person who ruined Marina was Sir George Crane, the one who actually slept with Marina and then headed off to Spain without marrying her or making much if any arrangements for her, turning her into an unwed mother with extremely limited options. That's not on Penelope.

Yes, yes, Marina is all "see, he did love me! It's all right," and, like, Marina, it is not all right. What Sir George Crane did was the exact opposite of all right, and it's thanks to him, not Penelope, that the beautiful, charming Marina can't marry a respectable male member of the Ton.

Marina has missed at least one period since arriving in London, so she's at least six weeks along. Probably more - when Portia confronts her, we're told that Marina has been in London for "several weeks," without bleeding, and I don't think we're expected to believe that Marina slept with George and then blithely hopped off to London just a couple of days later. (I do think we're expected to believe that George is one reason why her parents called in Lord Featherington's debts and asked him to present her to Society - not that they necessarily knew about the pregnancy, but I do think they wanted to get her away from George. I'm on their side here.) And I don't think Portia would have had the same reaction if we were talking, say, just four weeks without bleeding - cycles can be late. And Marina is aware that she's missed at least one cycle before Portia comes to the same realization. 

Beyond this, Marina does something very interesting when she arrives in London - she doesn't tell anyone that her affections are engaged. Indeed, she welcomes suitors, even though by her account she is very much in love with Sir George and vice versa, and expects to marry him. In which case....why welcome the suitors? To conceal her relationship with Sir George - or because she's already realized that she may need a backup plan?

That's not clear - but I think we can assume that she's probably at least seven to eight weeks along when Portia confronts her, and quite possibly ten weeks along - which means a birth in seven to eight months, if she's lucky.

Even if she gets married the very next day, this will raise eyebrows, at least.   

And the reality is that Marina cannot get married the very next day. It's not just that at that point, none of her suitors - including Colin - has proposed, but because as we saw with Daphne and Simon, "you are getting married right now" does not actually mean "right now." It takes a few days to obtain a special license and make any other needed arrangements - long enough that Colin later thinks that just heading to Scotland, which also will take a few days, will be faster. (At the time, the trip to Scotland from London took at least three and more usually four days.)

So, even if someone proposes the very next day - and even Colin doesn't do this - and agrees to be married by special license or in Scotland - and again, even Colin doesn't immediately do this - the process adds at least another week to that pregnancy. By the time Colin proposes Marina is apparently at least 12 weeks along - more probably, given what's happening in the rest of the timeline, at least 14 to 15 weeks along, with the baby arriving in four to six months. That could raise some eyebrows. 

Beyond this kinda major issue, Penelope, Portia and Varney aren't the only people who know about Marina - Lord Featherington, Prudence, and the servants also know. And as we saw in season one, servant gossip created enough scandal - aided, admittedly, by Lady Whistledown - to force Lord Burbrooke to flee London.

None of that is on Penelope. Which is not to say I think that using Lady Whistledown was her best approach here - I mean, she lives right across the street from the Bridgertons and is on friendly terms with all of them. She could have just walked across the street and spoken quietly with Violet.

But I also don't think that she was the one who ruined Marina's reputation. That's on Sir George.

Having said all that, Colin's statement in episode one of this season suggests that he doesn't exactly agree with my analysis here. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. 

[Roseanna]

1 hour ago, quarks said:

I dunno. I'd say that the person who ruined Marina was Sir George Crane, the one who actually slept with Marina and then headed off to Spain without marrying her or making much if any arrangements for her, turning her into an unwed mother with extremely limited options. That's not on Penelope.

Yes, yes, Marina is all "see, he did love me! It's all right," and, like, Marina, it is not all right. What Sir George Crane did was the exact opposite of all right, and it's thanks to him, not Penelope, that the beautiful, charming Marina can't marry a respectable male member of the Ton.

Marina has missed at least one period since arriving in London, so she's at least six weeks along. Probably more - when Portia confronts her, we're told that Marina has been in London for "several weeks," without bleeding, and I don't think we're expected to believe that Marina slept with George and then blithely hopped off to London just a couple of days later. (I do think we're expected to believe that George is one reason why her parents called in Lord Featherington's debts and asked him to present her to Society - not that they necessarily knew about the pregnancy, but I do think they wanted to get her away from George. I'm on their side here.) And I don't think Portia would have had the same reaction if we were talking, say, just four weeks without bleeding - cycles can be late. And Marina is aware that she's missed at least one cycle before Portia comes to the same realization. 

Beyond this, Marina does something very interesting when she arrives in London - she doesn't tell anyone that her affections are engaged. Indeed, she welcomes suitors, even though by her account she is very much in love with Sir George and vice versa, and expects to marry him. In which case....why welcome the suitors? To conceal her relationship with Sir George - or because she's already realized that she may need a backup plan?

That's not clear - but I think we can assume that she's probably at least seven to eight weeks along when Portia confronts her, and quite possibly ten weeks along - which means a birth in seven to eight months, if she's lucky.

Even if she gets married the very next day, this will raise eyebrows, at least.   

And the reality is that Marina cannot get married the very next day. It's not just that at that point, none of her suitors - including Colin - has proposed, but because as we saw with Daphne and Simon, "you are getting married right now" does not actually mean "right now." It takes a few days to obtain a special license and make any other needed arrangements - long enough that Colin later thinks that just heading to Scotland, which also will take a few days, will be faster. (At the time, the trip to Scotland from London took at least three and more usually four days.)

So, even if someone proposes the very next day - and even Colin doesn't do this - and agrees to be married by special license or in Scotland - and again, even Colin doesn't immediately do this - the process adds at least another week to that pregnancy. By the time Colin proposes Marina is apparently at least 12 weeks along - more probably, given what's happening in the rest of the timeline, at least 14 to 15 weeks along, with the baby arriving in four to six months. That could raise some eyebrows. 

Beyond this kinda major issue, Penelope, Portia and Varney aren't the only people who know about Marina - Lord Featherington, Prudence, and the servants also know. And as we saw in season one, servant gossip created enough scandal - aided, admittedly, by Lady Whistledown - to force Lord Burbrooke to flee London.

None of that is on Penelope. Which is not to say I think that using Lady Whistledown was her best approach here - I mean, she lives right across the street from the Bridgertons and is on friendly terms with all of them. She could have just walked across the street and spoken quietly with Violet.

But I also don't think that she was the one who ruined Marina's reputation. That's on Sir George.

Having said all that, Colin's statement in episode one of this season suggests that he doesn't exactly agree with my analysis here. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. 

I can't remember, so can somebody help: did Marina know when she came to London that she was pregnant? After all, Daphne didn't know about sex and conception, so how an unmarried girllike Marina would know signs if pregnancy?  

[RachelKM]

22 minutes ago, Roseanna said:

I can't remember, so can somebody help: did Marina know when she came to London that she was pregnant? After all, Daphne didn't know about sex and conception, so how an unmarried girllike Marina would know signs if pregnancy?  

I'm not certain it was made entirely clear.  But she knew for a while before she was confronted by Portia and likely knew or suspected before she arrived in London. 

Portia discovered Marina's pregnancy at the end of the first episode when they established she'd been in London for a month without having her period.  At that point Marina hadn't heard from George much if at all since arriving in London.  In the next episode, she showed Pen a pile of letters from George from Spain.  Even if he wrote two a week, he had been gone for weeks before he stopped writing.

[shapeshifter]

I did not recall the Marina - Colin - Pen/WD plot at all, so thanks everyone above for the questions and answers.

I guess the writers of this season made it work whether or not the viewers recalled the events of the B plot from 4 f’in’ years ago.😵‍💫

netflix.com/tudum/articles/bridgerton-season-1-recap

[quarks]

7 minutes ago, Roseanna said:

I can't remember, so can somebody help: did Marina know when she came to London that she was pregnant? After all, Daphne didn't know about sex and conception, so how an unmarried girllike Marina would know signs if pregnancy?  

The show never clarified if Marina knew she was pregnant when she left her home for London. 

But Marina absolutely knew what not getting her period meant. There's a scene of her getting upset when she can't find blood on her sheets - she crumples them up in fury.  Later, we see Varley carrying sheets around - and starting to do the math. At that point, Portia and Varley confront Marina - who knows exactly what they are accusing her of. 

And at some point, someone told Marina that certain teas could induce abortion.  That could have happened in London, granted, but I think it happened earlier - I think Portia and Varley might have tried the tea if they'd known about it, or thought it would actually work. 

So Marina knew more than Daphne did, at least. Low bar, granted.

10 minutes ago, RachelKM said:

At that point Marina hadn't heard from George much if at all since arriving in London.  In the next episode, she showed Pen a pile of letters from George from Spain.  Even if he wrote two a week, he had been gone for weeks before he stopped writing.

 

And yeah, those letters are one of many indications that the timeline I outlined above - that Marina is seven to eight weeks along when Portia confronts her, and about twelve weeks along when Colin proposes, might be optimistic. It's a decent pile of letters, plus, Sir George would have needed a few days to get to Spain, and his letters would have needed a few days to get back to England. So I think we can conclude that Marina and Sir George's last sexual encounter was at least one month prior to her arrival in London. Probably a bit longer - making her eight to ten weeks along, if not more, by the time Portia confronts her.  And meaning that Marina certainly could have suspected that she was pregnant before she left for London - or at least very soon after her arrival.

And we get multiple hints that Marina is in London precisely because of those suspicions:

1. Marina arrives in London after the Court presentations. On its own, I don't think that means that much - Eloise didn't want to do the Court presentations either, and the Thompsons appear to be a relatively obscure gentry family, possibly not of high enough rank to be presented to the Queen. Edwina, in a clearly long planned debut/Season, doesn't do that formal Court presentation either, although she is later introduced to the Queen.

But Edwina also skips the Court presentation in part because her mother has a bit of scandal in her past - and they aren't sure just how the Queen will react to Lady Mary. As far as we know, this isn't true for Marina. And as we're reminded this season, the whole Court presentation thing is part of the debutante/"Hi, I am looking for a husband" thing, and I think that had her parents planned for Marina to have a London season all along, they would have arranged for that Court presentation, too. Suggestive.

2. Marina's arrival appears to be news to Lady Cowper, who apparently gossips regularly with the Featheringtons. Suggestive.

3. Varley, who is later able to pick up basic information about Lord Berbrooke, Sir George, and Lord Featherington 2 within a couple of days at most apparently has not had time to find out anything about Marina - Lady Featherington tells Lady Cowper, and us, that she knows nothing about the girl. 

This, along with the skipped Court presentation and the conversation with Lady Cowper, suggests that Marina's visit was planned and agreed to fairly recently - like, within the past week or so.

4. After the pregnancy reveal, Lord Featherington refuses to send Marina back home. And sure, he's broke, but the pregnancy/prospective scandal/Portia's reaction presumably gives him a pretty decent excuse to send Marina back and keep her parents' money. Suggestive.

5. And speaking of those parents, nobody - absolutely nobody - suggests contacting Marina's parents, or suggests that her parents might be able to help - either through helping her find a quiet, secretive place to give birth, or by contacting Sir George.  

6. And while we're on that subject, Marina's parents never react to the news that hey, everyone in London now knows that your daughter is pregnant. And sure, they aren't in London, and they probably aren't reading Lady Whistledown - but Daphne and Simon, a good two days from London, are able to have Whistledown delivered. So the news should have reached them at some point - and yet, silence. 

7. Marina arrives in London without a maid and, apparently, without a chaperone - she just enters the room alone. She's not the only unmarried woman in the show to do this, but the others are either not members of the Ton (servants, the opera singer, Madame Delacroix) or are doing illicit activities (Penelope as Lady Whistledown, Eloise). Suggestive.

So, although the show never clarified that point, I think Marina at least suspected that she might be pregnant before she left for London. 

I still mostly blame Sir George, and if this is brought up again later in the third season, I hope someone else blames Sir George too. 

[Fireball]

On 5/17/2024 at 8:34 PM, magdalene said:

I know they sexed Colin up for his leading man role in this season but he still does nothing for me. And that threesome scene did nothing to change that for me. Lets hope he doesn't give Pen a STD.

On 5/16/2024 at 11:06 PM, Brn2bwild said:

Colin's story is dull, especially compared to Anthony's last season.

On 5/17/2024 at 1:34 AM, andromeda331 said:

Very true. I just don't care about Colin. Two episodes in and I still don't care.  I'm more interested in Penelope and Eloise. I'm more interested in Lady Whistledown and the Queen "game". 

On 5/17/2024 at 8:40 AM, tennisgurl said:

I am enjoying the season so far, but Colin isn't really grabbing me the way Anthony did last season, I think he needs more of an arc outside of Penelope.

I'm right there with you all... Colin is boring... He's just there... I am not interested in him. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to root for him and Pen to end up together other than Pen has had a big crush on him for years... 

 

[meep.meep]

On 5/17/2024 at 4:53 AM, mrsbagnet said:

 

Regent is for royalty only, but I do wonder what the Mondriches's situation is called. I'm researching it.

They are managing their son's affairs until he achieves his majority.