S1 E5
- Daphne talking to hungover Violet who thinks she wants to marry Simon in a hurry because they'd done the deed 😆- awkward! But Daph has no clue what she's talking about, and might have probed more if Wilson hadn't entered just then with a pick-me-up remedy 😆
- Why is the Queen planning Prince Friedrich's wedding to Daphne, he hasn't even proposed!
- "You think I'm to follow in your footsteps. Can there be a more dreadful fate?" Oh El! 😆
- The Prince is here to see Daph - and oh, he's such a good, understanding fella. I truly hope he doesn't end up with a cat like Cressida.
- Daph and Simon in the park - Simon looks like someone died, 😆 but they both look really gorgeous in this scene Come on, Si! At least Daph is trying! She tries to take his hand, and he pulls away 🤢. And people see. Nope, not good, Simon! 😔
- Anthony visiting Siena and Madame Delacroix is there. Were they roomies? I don't get where Siena used to live. Did she move in with Madame D after she broke up with A? Was she living in a house provided by A prior to this?
- Featheringtons home scene: Mama F wants Papa F to go without his tobacco instead of saving on the girls' dresses! 😆 Colin visiting Marina and Pen urging him to go on his travels, Marina glares at her. Of course, Colin is her ticket out of this mess now! 🤢
Pen tries valiantly to ward her off him by talking to her Mama. Just how young is Colin supposed to be here? I'm thinking 22 or thereabouts? I remember in the books, Pen makes her debut when she's 17, same age as El, and she's 5 years younger than him.
- Daphne is having a wedding trousseau fitted, and she runs into Cressida. B**ch wars ensue! 😆 Daph is not cowing down!
- Ok, I like the Prince more and more and I'm sorry I called him vanilla. He understands, and has no need to flaunt his male pride by 'fighting for the girl'. And damn he has my respect when he says - I'm happy for them. Not many people in positions of power like he is would manage their ego so well as to actually show empathy and understanding and maturity beyond any normal human being. Full marks to Prince Freidrich! 👏 I like his attitude more than the Queen's who thinks it's accepting defeat. No, ma'am, it's respecting another person's agency and right to choose!
- I liked the small Simon and A scene at the church. Simon ribbing A about what a terrible shot he is. I do enjoy the scenes between them, RJP and Jonny play off each other delightfully. S does not want a dowry, he thinks it's an insulting tradition. Attaboy! Also they are denied a special license by the Archbishop with no reason given! Because of course, he's acting under orders from the Queen (as Lady D later reveals)
I have read hundreds of HRs and there's never been an occasion where it's been denied once the circumstances are explained. This seems like a convenient plot point that wrangled its way into the episode just so they could stretch and drag out the drama with the Queen! How can a sovereign be so petty? - oh I know a lot of them are, but if they wanted to paint Queen Charlotte as a badass woman with a heart of gold, they're not doing a very good job of it.
- Simon looks so out of it, really. I feel for Daph. The only way she can repair the damage done to her reputation is by marrying the one man who looks like he'd rather be dead than be married to her. Show some enthusiasm, man!
- Ben arrives at Lord Granville's orgy. (Sidenote : how is it that he's a Lord but is always opening the door himself. Does he not have a butler?) Anyways, Ben hooks up with Genevieve Delacroix, then catches Lord G with another man and then has a threesome with his wife! Phew! All in day's work for our Ben! 😆
- Will pulls a drunk Simon off the streets. I get it Simon. You don't want her to be shackled with you. You think she's going to be trapped. But man up! You can still give her a good life! And she chose this too! So I don't get this self-loathing and self-pity and self-indulgence right now! Honestly!
- Okay Marina is appearing to be a ruthless opportunist in this scene with Mama F. She lost a little bit of sympathy from me here. She's conniving to get Colin over Rutledge because he's young and pretty and well-connected. Girl, where's your self-preservation instinct? Although I do get her distaste in marrying that creepy old hag. But still, she shows no signs of remorse at trapping a good man using false pretenses. 'If I have not secured a proposal by Saturday' she says to Mama F. I do feel for Marina and her plight and I understand her desperation, and I also get her disgust for Lord R. But how could she not think twice about using Colin like this - especially after being used herself by George (like she probably thinks she has been at this point)? She's talking about tricking Colin into sleeping with her so she can hurry the wedding along??? So not okay!! 👎🏼
And ofc, Pen overhears her nefarious plan. So I do kinda get why she did what she did, but it does seem a tad vindictive, given the extent of what Marina would have to face. So yeah, Marina wasn't right, but then neither was Pen.
- The Queen and mad King George scene. It was sad to see her hopes up initially when he's lucid and then fading when he descends back into madness.
- Daph and Rose scene in the garden. I really like the actress who plays Rose. There's something so warm and likeable about her. (Her name is Molly McGlynn). I also like how she and Phoebe play off each other.
I can sense Daph's pain here as she talks to Rose of her aunt and uncle who don't have children but are still happy- because they love each other. Phoebe is really good here, her expressions convey the turmoil Daph is feeling at this point because she is unsure of Simon's feelings for her.
- Simon waking up hungover at Will's place and Alice does not leave the opportunity of asking him (and Anthony) to invest in Will's scheme of exhibition matches (the Regency equivalent of WWF?)
- D and S are presented to the Queen who asks them to plead their case. Daph starts off insincerely and clearly the Queen does not believe her, and then Simon chips saying they were not in love, but were friends, and I did not believe him 😆. Where is the evidence of friendship? Friends talk to each other, bare hearts, trust each other. I see none of this in the D&S relationship, so I have a hard time believing they're friends and all the misunderstanding that ensues later between them just proves this point.
- They are married. I liked Anthony walking D up the aisle, he looked happy and proud. So did El and Hyacinth. Colin and Ben were smiling, Vi was emotional. It was a beautiful scene and D looked pretty, S looked bewildered and reluctant and slightly dazed but I did not see any of the adoration/ awe that he must have felt for his beautiful bride. I could tell RJP was trying hard here to conjure up the right expression, but it got too complicated I guess. 😆 So he ended up just looking kinda blank, except when he blinked, which I guess was to signify him waking up from the trance.
- Arggh!! 😡I do not like Marina tricking Colin and yes, she disregards what Pen says to her about entrapping a 'good' man. I can't help but feel this storyline is so sordid no matter what angle I look at it from. I can neither take Pen's side nor Marina's. Marina is definitely being conniving here, laying a blatant trap for Colin.
Perhaps you could say Pen did try and when nothing worked she revealed it all, but would she have done the same had it been anyone other than Colin? Ben perhaps? Or even Anthony? She loved Colin so she was willing to do anything to 'save' him from Marina. Which makes her intentions suspect. She was willingly thrusting Marina onto other hapless young men. Were they not 'good' men then? Only Colin?
And what if Sir Phillip hadn't come along? What if Marina had killed herself or some such? She did try to harm herself/ the baby. What if that attempt had killed her? How would Pen have lived with herself? Argghhh... I hate it, hate it, hate it. I wish they'd never gone down this path for Colin and Pen. I just cannot see them in the same light after this.
- Colin is totally cornered by Marina but he refuses to succumb to temptation and holds back, much to Marina's chagrin. Luke N did well here, much to my surprise! I did not think of him as much of an actor, but this scene had me revising my opinion. Perhaps he will surprise me when it's time for his and Pen's story! But yes, Colin came across as quite a greenhorn in the throes of his first passion. 😆
It's funny how this scene went. Colin says No to kissing her, Marina is resigned and accepts he's a gentleman, and is about to leave when he turns around and asks her to marry him. Then her hopes are up again, then he dashes them by saying they will wait until end of the season which does not suit her plans at all! 😆
And I don't even understand how they could be alone in a room together when D and S were all in a tizzy just being outdoors together! Probably because Colin still does not understand these things as well as a rake like Simon would. Colin is a baby and needs to get 'experienced'.😆
- Ahh El suspects Lady D of being Whistledown. I don't know how they're going to play this Lady W scenario now that they've revealed it all in S1. Pen's truth only comes out in her book, which might be S4. It could get tiresome to keep it a secret from the ton until then.
- El's face when the Queen asks her what evidence she has gathered and then Ben's face when he realizes the woman that was part of his adventurous threesome is Lady Granville! 🤣 Gold!
Julian Ovenden as Lord G is fun - I remember him from Downton Abbey where he played one of Mary's endless suitors 😆- a much younger version of him.
- Where's this reception party happening? At Bridgerton House? Daph runs upstairs when Anthony tells her she'd have a brood as big as their mother's! I can see why she got upset.
Ahh Violet having 'THE TALK' with Daph. It's so awkward! 😆 'The marital act, which you may perform' - Oh Violet! 🤡
- Daph saying goodbye to her siblings has my heart, especially Anthony. ' Even me'? and then the kiss she gives him. ❤️ And they drive off - I wish Anthony had said something to Simon at this point- something like 'take care of my sister'. Idk, it sounds cliched but my heart wished for it.
- They both look so bleak and sad during the ride, little knowing that things are about to change very quickly.
- Ahh, the pacing has begun..😆
You know - with Simon it's hard for me to believe his desperation. Something in the way RJP played this all this while (since that kiss in the garden) seemed to portray (to me at least) that he hated being where he was. I felt like Phoebe conveys that desperation, that longing, the disappointment and then the anger that she's so alone despite being married, so much better.
But of course it becomes clear why he was like that when he explains it- he felt he had trapped her yadda yadda yadda. And that makes it okay, somewhat. Still I can't help but feel that it should have been show, not tell. I wish I could have borne witness to more of Simon's agony other than just him getting drunk.
"From the mornings you ease, to the evenings you quiet, to the dreams you inhabit, my thoughts of you never end." This was beautiful ... I believe I like this piece of dialogue much much better than the overused and now jaded 'I burn for you'.
"It is you I cannot sacrifice."
I love the background music in the scene that follows and the aesthetics of it, but the dialogues were pretty cringey. 😆
Phoebe does convey her amazement and incredulity at what's happening quite effectively.
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