The Non-Bon-Ton: Unpopular Opinions

[Roseanna]

8 hours ago, quarks said:

and then there's "oh, right, Portia robbed people this is fine."

I don't even remember any more who she robbed (except Lord F two). Anyway, I remember books and movies where *cheating* money from people who "deserve" it is just entertaining. 

However, I remember well how bad she had treated Penelope and while it was good to see her giving her credit at last it wasn't wholly convincing. 

[Orcinus orca]

6 hours ago, Roseanna said:

I don't even remember any more who she robbed (except Lord F two).

She was the one that identified all of the targets for Lord F.

[Roseanna]

1 hour ago, Orcinus orca said:

She was the one that identified all of the targets for Lord F.

That means that she understands people quite well. It makes one wonder why didn't she understand Penelope? Maybe because she was too near?

BTV, why on earth did Violet encourage Daphne to accept the suitor whom she didn't love but who was the only one who proposed to her just to get a house, a position and children?       

[Ohiopirate02]

15 hours ago, quarks said:

I just find it fascinating that we've all spent more time discussing Simon and Daphne, or for that matter Penelope, than about the show's decision to give Portia a happy ending despite, well, everything.

Don't get me wrong: I like Portia, and I adore Polly Walker, and I get that Portia is a side character, and was never presented as a particularly ethical person to start with, and I also get that people disagree about Simon, Daphne, and Penelope, which creates discussion. But there's just been so much time analyzing/focusing on Simon, Daphne, and Penelope, and then there's "oh, right, Portia robbed people this is fine."

I can overlook Portia's crimes because I understand her motivation and all of the marks in her and Lord F's schemes are obscenely wealthy. If Colin had not stopped Will Mondrich from investing, then my opinion would be different. I find Portia fascinating. She was dealt a shitty hand and is making the best of it for her and her daughters. She's a realist who knows how precarious her family's position is in society and how unremarkable her daughters are in the eyes of the Ton. The money she stole from the Ton was used as dowries for two of her daughters. Both Prudence and Philipa marry men who adore them and are good men albeit a bit dumb, but they are not going to gamble away their limited fortunes or abuse their wives in any way. 

[quarks]

8 hours ago, Roseanna said:

I don't even remember any more who she robbed (except Lord F two). Anyway, I remember books and movies where *cheating* money from people who "deserve" it is just entertaining. 

However, I remember well how bad she had treated Penelope and while it was good to see her giving her credit at last it wasn't wholly convincing. 

The victims, with one notable exception, weren't named.

That one notable exception? Colin Bridgerton, who realized it was a scam - but still seems to have given Lord F Two a sum of money large enough to make Anthony pay attention. 

It's possible that Portia did repay Colin, given that he was the one to uncover the scam - but I don't think she did, mostly because of her speech to Penelope in episode 5, indicating that she still held a grudge against Colin for the way the Bridgertons (more Lady Bridgerton than Colin, but moving on) treated her family after the Colin/Marina scandal. And partly because she knows the Bridgertons are wealthy.

The show also heavily hints, but doesn't confirm, that the Cowpers were the other targets.

I do agree that the whole taking money from wealthy people and keeping it is a pretty popular storyline, and I don't think that the Cowpers are particularly sympathetic victims, either. And Colin, of course, inherited that money; he didn't earn it, and he still seems to be very wealthy - even if he now has to go through Anthony or Benedict for larger sums.  But, you know, still theft.

 

[andromeda331]

My problem is Colin being the one who figured it out. The same idiot who went back to the woman who tried to trick him into marriage somehow manage to figure out the jewels were fake. I'd believe it if it had been Anthony or Benedick. But not Colin. Then again I find it hard to believe not one person Lord F tricked figured it out. Most sure. But all of them? None of them know jewels or have rubies or whatever of their own to know the difference? 

[Roseanna]

6 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

My problem is Colin being the one who figured it out. The same idiot who went back to the woman who tried to trick him into marriage somehow manage to figure out the jewels were fake. I'd believe it if it had been Anthony or Benedick. But not Colin. hen again I find it hard to believe not one person Lord F tricked figured it out. Most sure. But all of them? None of them know jewels or have rubies or whatever of their own to know the difference? 

These are about two quite different matters. The first one is about human relationships, the second one is about materials.

The jewess should have been easily to avaluated as it wasn't a gold mine in some distant country nor stocks of a company whose business ordinary people didn't understand.

Regarding Colin, that he was fooled by love doesn't mean that he could also be fooled by greed.    

[quarks]

15 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

My problem is Colin being the one who figured it out. The same idiot who went back to the woman who tried to trick him into marriage somehow manage to figure out the jewels were fake. I'd believe it if it had been Anthony or Benedick. But not Colin. Then again I find it hard to believe not one person Lord F tricked figured it out. Most sure. But all of them? None of them know jewels or have rubies or whatever of their own to know the difference? 

Well, to start with, the jeweler at least some of them seem to be using appears to be more interested in cake than in gems. So, apparently very good at discovering fake cake; not quite as good at discovering fake gems. He thought the fake Portia showed him was real.

And I'm not sure how many gems Lord F Two actually gave or sold to the Ton -he claimed to be looking for investors, not selling jewelry. So it's quite possible that most of them didn't have any fake gems to show to jewelers. 

And although I honestly don't know if the showrunners know this - my guess is not - northwest Georgia does in fact have ruby, sapphire and garnet gem mines, which usually only yield very low quality stones. Real, just not particularly valuable. If - and this is a huge if; I have no idea when people started looking at pebbles in Georgia and said, hmm, if we polish these up a bit they might be able to make them into jewelry in the UK -- these London jewelers had previously seen these low quality Georgia stones, they might - might - have attributed any flaws in the fakes to "eh, well, more iffy Georgia stones."

Though in that case I'd think the jewelers would have told their clients that stones from Georgia probably aren't worth all that much, even polished up.

[Roseanna]

On 7/4/2024 at 4:14 AM, quarks said:

But, you know, still theft.

Isn't it rather fraud?

[Lastwaltz]

On 6/23/2024 at 8:57 AM, LoveIsJoy said:

Thank you so much @Agalea Charis and @Roseanna for your detailed replies!  Now I do remember that plot after all.  And, yes, I can see why it was such a problematic episode. 

Thanks from me too! I recently watched this season for the first time and, now in the middle of season 3, I had no idea what this referred to.  I'm a bit troubled because I didn't have any reaction to that scene in the moment -- maybe I was half asleep, lol. 

[Mulva]

Quote

Francesca’s big drama was that she selected a nice guy over a nobleman with money and Queen Charlotte’s backing.

Her choice between a high ranking nobleman with a lot of money, and a somewhat lower ranking nobleman with less money wasn't quite a nail biter.  

Judging by the actress's frozen botox forehead, I don't think she's exactly a teenager.  It was pretty distracting, she looked like a beautiful statue, but I like it when actresses can show emotion.

 

 

Edited August 17 by Mulva