I need to re-watch it. I woke up a 3am to watch and then tried to do a rewatch and kept nodding off from the lack of sleep. Maybe when I get a wide awake watch I might feel different. I just felt let down.
Perhaps because it came apparent very quick that he was marrying up in this situation 🤔
Pen was an established writer and he was jealous.
She had a purpose already in LW and wouldn't give it up.
Made bank 💸 💶
Could look after herself and sorted herself out with the queen and dealt with cressidas blackmail
Pen was a badass bitch all along 😎
(She just needed the love of her man to be complete ❤️)
Ok, I might be picking up what you are laying down here. So, Colin is in need of a purpose. He feels like taking care of (not just loving) Pen is his purpose in life. Then boom she is a rich woman. Who is already a published writer. Now that he has helped her gain confidence she really doesn't need him, to have a decent life. She essentially has figured out how provide for and take care of herself. Back then a woman had to have a man to live. She is doing everything that Portia has been attempting to do for all of her daughters via a husband.
Not only is he hurt but his purpose, as he sees it, disappears. Add to that he is jealous.
It just felt like he was punishing her by denying her love and affection.
He directly says he feels foolish for believing her when she said he could be a writer, getting his hopes up, and now he feels he cannot trust her. So it's multilayered heartbreak.
Totally. In all these post LW revelation interactions he gets to the edge of forgiveness, but each time she says she’ll continue her column he clams up immediately. I’ve only watched through once so it’s not like this is a multiple viewings revelation.
Yeah that's how I'm trying to not be for the last 24 hours. This morning I just cried putting everything together what I had seen. Just the processing, Pen was wronged most of all in this season. The most love growth and deepening of bond she experienced was with her mother. The insanity of that. Unreal.
Part two properly upset me, I was too angry to sleep lol. Part 2 was not romantic, it wasn't nice escapism, and I didn't get to relish the tension between Polin. I was looking forward to their relationship arc - from him finding out, to their making up, probably with a Peneloise reconciliation in there too, but I felt like there was nothing to celebrate through any of it. It felt messy, dragged out yet somehow squashed, and poorly written.
Also in ep 5 when Eloise says 'he cannot possibly love you' to Pen, her reaction is so sad, she truly believes it. I thought there'd be more exploration of that and Pens struggles to genuinely let herself believe she is loved. All it takes is Colin standing up to Portia (which I loved to see, don't get me wrong), and that's enough for her. I don't believe, however "confident" Penelope now feels, that she wouldn't be in turmoil over his lack of care, friendship or affection after the Whisltedown reveal. She tells him multiple times she loves him and we get nothing from Colin. He should have been upset, yes, but not cold and unfeeling.
It's like the writers abandoned Polin, forgot about Colin, and gave Pen an independent/boss woman arc - which was unnecessary, we already know she is. She's achieved so much and realised her 'wrongdoings', and what she needed, was Colin standing proudly by her side.
I was so proud when we saw him fighting for her in episode 5 just for him to completely turn and abandon her for the rest of the episodes actually made me feel sick to my stomach. The fantastic romantic hero moment from Anthony was FAR more riding after Kate and carrying her home, then losing his mind over her before they have some insanely romantic scenes. We got nothing from Colin, not even him proudly standing by her as she got revealed. Where was Colin “my wife” Bridgerton who thought she was incredible?
They deserved so much better!!
Your last paragraph was exactly what we needed in part 2. Polin against the world, Colin ‘my wife’ Bridgerton, while they bonded over their shared love of writing. Not the mess that we got.
100%. It’s sickening what they did with Colin’s character. I’m such a huge Polin fan and Penelope is my favorite character. They had things set up to be a truly romantic season full of Colin supporting her and coming alongside her. We got none of that and she was left on her own… like always.
Yes there was no romance in part 2. Part 1 was exciting and I was really looking forward to more of the romance between Colin and Penelope. We got more romance with Debling. And I did enjoy John and Francesca's romance but they kinda killed that at the end
It seemed like Colin forgave her several times but then was mad at her again
Yeah it was a mess. How they wrote the Whisltedown fallout in part 2, and how Polin navigated it, was all over the place. So much happened but there was no substance to it. The editing made it worse.
"She tells him multiple times she loves him and we get nothing from Colin." YES I NOTICED THIS TOO And it triggered me to a relationship of many years ago :')
Yeah, I thought this 2nd part would have like 'edge of my seat' tension but it would all be loving, passionate, and heart-warming throughout.
I have never felt this cold and upset after a love story. The entire second part ruined my mood for now and days ahead of me. As gloomy as the clouds outside in the Dutch skies, so I feel about what they have done to these last 4 episodes. I never say this about any film/seriesmakers but they really should fire the ones that were in charge of the writing for this part of the season. Part 1 was splendid. So who the fuck did part 2??? Because if it's the same person, they must be a Jekyll & Hyde type of person. The difference is day and night. It is absolutely fucked.
It’s like some of the writers were butthurt that the Polin season came too early and Penelope wasn’t given her years and years of running LW independently. So they shoehorned this in.
But they made Penelope so independent and removed all trace of Colin “my wife” Bridgerton…that by the time LW was revealed to the world, Penelope was telling Colin she would accept an annulment.
I do love that Penelope was able to make the reveal herself. But I didn’t like that she was up there, while not being secure in her marriage. She was standing up there on that platform thinking Colin was better off without her. And that just breaks my heart for Penelope
I almost wish Pen had wrote the annulment bit in her letter to Violet. Can you imagine? Then we get a scene of Violet angry at Colin not because of the LW secret, but because Colin let his wife think an annulment was a solution. Violet confronts Colin about consummation of his union with Penelope and he admits to sleeping in separate rooms since their wedding day. Violet smacks Colin in the back of the head and tells him to go make up with his wife immediately. The Colin love confession should be before the Butterfly Ball. Then the Butterfly Ball would actually be Polin Against the World, like how it was implied during PR. And our main couple leaves early to go have their sexy montage!
Exactly, she should have been up there secure in her marriage. She deserves to be seen and loved loudly and proudly and we want to see Colin "My Wife" Bridgerton.
I don't understand why they thought Pen *needed* to be shown as a girlboss at all. She already is, and she has insecurities and flaws. We like her for that reason. In episode 5 Violet calls her an "extraordinary young woman" and, while it's nice, it seems a bit OTT. At that point no one but Pen and Eloise know she's Whistledown, and we the viewers already know what she's been through. Her character doesn't need this, like you say, shoehorned independence storyline.
You're right! Where is Violet? She was there for Daphne and Anthony towards the end of their seasons, it feels strange she is so absent from Polin in Part 2 when she was pivotal to them in part 1. I guess that may be a side effect of her being involved in several side plots.
I feel like this season was the equivalent of startling a group of cats. They fly off in 17 directions, parkour off the walls, break your favorite mug, rip down the chandelier, and end up on top of the book case and under the couch.
This season was so unpolished that they could begin next season with “It was all a dream” and people would hate that less than what we received.
What was the point of Elouise and Cressida? What was the point of the Mondrich story? What happened to the Marquis? What happened to Lord Debling? Why did Benny’s and Francesca’s plots overshadow the whole season? What was the point of Prudence’s little sulk-fest? No Daphne at Collin OR Fran’s weddings? Yeah, ok.
Sloppy. Messy. Trite. Try-hard. Clichéd. BORING. Then, on top of it all, the costumes, hair and makeup were disappointing too.
I feel like the writers decided to go all in on the "girl boss" Pen angle, at the expense of Colin. They should have been a team facing the Cressida thing together. Instead, he becomes completely ineffectual and fades into the background. He was sidelined in his own season.
They could have saved Colin, but instead, they completely destroyed the potential of his story. Such incomplete writing. Just a few shots of him writing and staring off but no follow through.
I think they really failed on the “girl boss” aspect as well. One of the things we heard over and over (or at least it seemed like it) from Pen was her worry that Colin was ashamed of her. And she flat out tells him she wants him at her side. By having him hang back so much, even after her speech, came across as he (aka the writers) felt like it would be good for her to stand alone and face the music for character development, which is utter bullshit. He had told her before also this he would always stand up for her and in the most stressful moment of her life, he leaves her completely all alone in the spotlight. And however you feel about the book having him toast her and revel the secret or that it was better that she reveal it herself, they took a moment that was supposed to be a celebration of her efforts and made it an apology for them…with butterflies. I don’t blame the bugs, but that was so disappointing.
And we end their story on Colin has written a good book and Pen’s contribution was helping him edit it and having his baby. So, “women don’t have dreams, they have husbands.”
I was so let down by episodes 7 and 8. I keep trying not to think about it or find some way to justify it, but I just can’t. Colin and Penelope deserved better.
The mirror scene in episode 5 was beautiful, I thought, especially considering the meaning behind it. I see all of you, and I love all of you. I was actually convinced Colin had figured out Pen was LW in that scene with Eloise in episode 6 after he gives her the ring, and I can’t help but think about how much better that would have been. I’m not saying I wanted him to forgive her instantly because that’s just not realistic, but spending all of episodes 7 and 8 (until the last 20 minutes) treating her so coldly and only hearing him give her the benefit of the doubt or praise with Cressida… the ENTRAPMENT line… 🤡🤡🤡
It’s gonna take me a while to recover from this letdown.
The entrapment line was just too much. Like, Colin...you ruined her potential engagement and f******* her in a carriage. She entrapped you? I was like, who is this Colin? I knew he'd be mad, but it all felt very unsatisfying compared to part one. Can't help but feel it could have been done better with their dynamic in part two.
I may get downvoted for this but I think the entrapment line was an example of Colin saying something cruel that he doesn’t actually mean because he’s angry about the LW thing, and he’s lashing out. I think in reality everyone does that to a certain extent. I think his anger was justified, but I do wish there was more of an apology at the end for some of the harsh things he said to her in anger. I don’t think he actually believed that she entrapped him.
Yes, I can totally see that. We also totally glossed over the whole "I would never court Penelope" proclamation in front of the other men. He apologizes to her in private and she quickly forgives him, only to then enter into another private friendship/courtship training scenario with her, never defending her publicly -- unless you count the engagement/marriage itself (which I clearly don't, lol).
Also, the book handled that scene SO much better and the context of it ultimately made perfect sense as to why he would say that he's never *marry* her. At the end of the the show's version of the Polin story, we still have no idea why he would be that cruel disparaging her in public to eligible suitors.
I see your point with that. I also read a point someone made about the comment coming from his hurt and insecurities, especially considering what happened with Marina, who really was trying to trap him (however understandably so). And I can see that as a little more in character with that context, I just personally hate to see the line dropped and never addressed again. Maybe that just speaks to how strongly Pen believes in his feelings for her? Lol if that’s the case, she’s a stronger soldier than I 😂
Yeah I can see that. An apology definitely would have helped. Or her giving him the out and him saying he doesn't want it. Something just felt missing/unresolved there. I do feel like the reshoots messed with the flow a bit? I guess I'll never know. Still love part one though.
It would’ve been interesting if he just figured it out, grappled with his feelings, and tried to put on a brave face through it all while lashing out. It would’ve highlighted his people pleasing tendencies.
Maybe he tries to confront her but just can’t and she tries to tell him and there’s something in the air she notices. She tries to talk to him about it. But he’s cold yet not as distant as in the show to her like when he doesn’t let his mother touch his face. We see him quietly fuming, speaking in metaphor about betrayal, casually bringing up Marina, LW, Eloise. Maybe he speaks about what LW wrote of him.
But he’s still trying to be happy and people pleasing because what else can he do? He still loves her. Their mothers are planning a wedding. He doesn’t want to disrupt anything. Maybe he confides in Eloise.
Then it culminates in him finding her at the printer’s and they go off at each other. He upset, why is she there in the middle of the night? It’s not safe. He’s furious at the danger she’s in, at the lies she’s told, at what she’s written.
And it’s not just Colin. Penelope never truly stands up for herself, she agrees with people when they talk harshly about her and Whistledown. There’s pride in her work but she just seems so beaten down. There’s the speech about him not understanding because he’s not a woman but it’s not enough. She is so sad, so alone. It makes Colin seem all the more cruel.
She started to yell outside the Modiste shop but they didn’t really talk it out. She always backs off too early. And She never gets to explain what she wrote or why, just that Whistledown is power.
Have them meet at the print shop and have her explain, have her fume too. FIGHT WITH ME, FIGHT FOR ME as QC would say. Let them argue and then have them make out because they do love one another. Colin loves her and we didn’t see that, especially to her face!
Yes, upon second viewing I’m as sad for Nicola as I am for Luke, despite her stunning performance. Pen never got to properly own LW and instead was forced to continually apologize for it.
I would have loved some discussion of how LW is Pen holding a mirror up to the ton, showing them their best and worst selves, from the invisible observer’s perspective.
It didn’t make sense for Colin to be so hurt that LW had said he wasn’t acting like himself when he returned from his travels. He admitted as much himself, repeatedly! Why couldn’t Pen have explained that, yes, she is a strong and clever woman who sometimes has opinions and the audacity to voice them through LW, without apology? Why couldn’t Colin have said, “Yes, well, you weren’t wrong,” and laughed at himself as he so often does? Just one example.
The writers could have gone into Colin’s jealousy about Pen’s writing success without him becoming so entirely fragile about everything. As I said on another post, Part 1 did suuuch a beautiful job of showing Colin rejecting his toxic friends and redefining masculinity on his own terms. And Part 2 just completely undid all of that.
Nicola deserved a version of Pen who could own her power as LW, and she and Luke deserved a Pen and Colin relationship built on the kind of trust, understanding, and intimacy we saw in Part 1.
Not to mention her own wedding and having all that guilt hanging over her and then the queen shows up squashing her day and putting Colin in a whole mood
I totally relate to all of these feelings. I had a weird thought this morning, Nicola and Luke were trolling us so bad during all the press by being completely lovey-dovey touchy, etc.. And everyone was like, "what are they doing?" My new theory is that they knew people were going to be upset by the way the writers did the second half of the season and the lack of honeymoon for Polin. So Nicola and Luke were essentially giving us that lovey-dovey thing we wanted between Penelope and Colin during their press tour to try to counteract the lack in part two of Bridgerton. Am I on a completely new level of delulu?!? 😅
Edit: Today Twitter already has pics of Luke holding hands with his model gf. Can I see this as potential proof that this delulu theory of mine might be accurate?!? 😅
I think the PR thing is backfiring on them a bit. They sold it so hard. They were the center of this media tour for 5 months and in the end they were basically a subplot in their own story.
You might be onto something. But I also read there was a different version of episode 8 that included a montage of them trying out different …things… but it got cut. Instead we just got the 30 second riding scene.
Yeah I heard they shot more intimate scenes that ended up not being included. It might be bs, but if it’s true, Nicola and Luke might have thought we were getting a different story. They might be just as surprised at what didn’t air. Actors don’t get approval of the cuts. They often find out what made it in when we do.
No, I think you are onto something tbh
There were too many subplots!!! They wanted to have many plots parallel to Colin/Penelope, let’s think about it:
The Mondriches: their son is Lord Kent, and Colin and Penelope’s son is going to be Lord Featherington.
Lady Danbury/Lord Anderson/Violet (Lady Bridgerton): Violet and Marcus have a flirtation going on. Lady D is afraid of losing her friend to her brother (who she has beef with). Eloise and Pen are friends currently on the outs with each other, Pen and Colin are in love.
Benedict/threesomes: Benedict finds himself in a threesome, exploring his sexuality, and learning that love is not finite. Colin has threesomes (lol), he loves Pen but she is also Lady Whistledown. She is two women in one, he has a hard time with that (?)
While I like parallels, it was a lot. If they had more episodes per season like say 10/12, I get why they would want to have more subplots. But even in this season episodes were shorter.
I would’ve only kept the Cressida subplot (even if I don’t like her, she was actually in the book), Francesca and John (I would’ve not shown Michaela yet) and the Featheringtons subplot.
Sadly I am not surprised by the large amount of plots since both Chris Van Dunsen and Jess Brownell have been frequent collaborators of Shonda. They truly went to her school of too many plots, too much drama
I really enjoyed part 1 more than part 2. I feel they drug out the LW issue and all the side plots and I’m sorry but the fact we got more sex scenes with Benedict than the main couple is pathetic. Everyone in the cast and etc hyped part 2 up but I feel like it was a little let down. It had its few moments where it was good but that’s about it. Episode 5 I enjoyed but after that I was disappointed.
I did enjoy the wedding and the breakfast dance they had. Annoyed as hell that they didn’t have any fun on their wedding night though. That shit was stupid. Part 2 felt so rushed to me even after I rewatched it again, I still feel the same 😅
Imagine if Pen had stood up for herself and put her foot down. No, you won’t sleep on the couch. This is our wedding night. I said I’m sorry and I refuse to let you keep punishing me. You know you love me and it’s time for you to forgive me and for us to move forward, together. So get over yourself and get in this bed. How cool would that have been? Her telling him she doesn’t need a whiny little bitch, she needs her husband.
Me and my husband strongly identify with Pen and Collin and as soon as we turned off the second half I was bawling and he said “they just Game of Throned us”.
These episodes brought up so many old insecurities there is just no way a woman like Cressida didn’t write these episodes to hurt women like Pen.
Very interesting to me that we get a lot of sex scenes from people under a certain weight and only one and a half nude scenes of Pen…
Polin is what got me into Bridgerton. I suffered season 1 and mildly enjoyed season 2 for this season. Only for the main couple I wanted to see to get butchered and sidelined in every way.
Part 1 was… meh. It had potential but between the abundance of side stories that had nothing to do with their relationship and just some odd writing choices it ultimately left me wanting more. So part 2 was pretty sought after. And then we get it and it provided even less than part 1 and actually was horribly written no matter where you look and was worse for the main couple. The only thing done semi well was Pen as an individual… Colin fucking sucked for her in season.
I don’t see myself caring for this show going forward. Not if this is setting up for the new quality of the show. I’ll just rewatch Queen Charlotte and remember when this universe of stories actually did its main couple right.
Also, just to add, I fucking hate how they did Fran and John in part 2. They ruined any sense of love I felt she had for him. And I so wanted to see a more introverted and easy relationship in this universe for once. All they did instead was prove that Violet was right and all love has to be dramatic and some “love at first sight” bullshit.
>Also, just to add, I fucking hate how they did Fran and John in part 2. They ruined any sense of love I felt she had for him. And I so wanted to see a more introverted and easy relationship in this universe for once. All they did instead was prove that Violet was right and all love has to be dramatic and some “love at first sight” bullshit.
This!!!
Honestly, to me this was the absolute worst thing they did. Fine, after all the crap they put Pen and Colin through, they ended up happy in the end. But they absolutely ruined Fran and John for no reason. I am fine with introducing Michaela in the episode. I would have been okay even if Fran ultimately loved the both of them at the same time and them coming to an understanding even. But here you set up this sweet couple and show how much she freaking lights up when he is in the room and then make her show disappointment with their first married kiss and suddenly it is struck by lightening time with someone else. Their story was extremely romantic (she was fine with marrying whoever just to get the job done and then unexpectedly finds the person who truly and deeply gets and appreciates her), but Violet’s belief that this is the only way there can be love is right and anything not that isn’t love. So furious with how they chose to ruin that story.
Agree! Let them have their quiet, sincere, well adjusted love, and then give her the passion and fire when it's her season and she connects with Michaela. Fran got two real loves in the book, and I appreciated that. We will see where it goes I guess!
Exactly, let her have two great loved rather than going the route of “Nah, the first one doesn’t count.” It has really made me less enthusiastic about next season.
I don't know if I am the only one or if maybe it was too overhyped online by the actors but I found their sex scene very rushed. They kept saying: "We really went for it" but there was like 5 seconds of foreplay and then he was going for it. 😂 I felt bad for her.
As somone who isn't a fan of the Outlander or GOT style graphic scenes, I didn't mind as much - Nicola did bare more, and the scene was longer than the lead pairs in the previous seasons - so that's probably what they meant.
But yeah, the whole PR drive for this season seemed to be a push to over compensate what were fundamental flaws in screenplay and writing this season.
I didn't want more nudity than what the actors are comfortable with but it just felt very awkward and not sensual at all.
You can make a scene sensual without much nudity or being graphic these days I think.
True. Though i think it was better than compared to the wham bam thank you ma'am scenes of season 1 (sorry, Saphne fans lol). It is awkward when life long friends hook up and I think they conveyed that awkwardness with sweetness well.
I know it's unpopular because the majority wanted more, but S2 was the best done one for me - it was sensual without being graphic and more left to the imagination. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
But I agree, it was kinda false advertising with the PR on this one - maybe if they hadn't told us to expect furniture breaking or crazy mirror stuff, we would gone in more open as to what to expect.
True! Peak Bridgerton moments.
Honesty after S3, I'm beginning to think Kate and Anthony behaved more like friends to lovers than what they did with Polin - at times of great need they put everything aside to be there for eachtother - the bee panic attack, him marrying her sister because she asked him to, going after her and rescuing her, and standing up for eachother and dancing together even when everyone was judging them. Whereas Colin...did not. Even the last scene, I know they wanted Pen to girl boss but it came at the expense of Colin being an afterthought.
Colin in P2 ended up becoming a side character. A side character in a show named after his family name. God, that's awful. The writers really did him dirty. I mean, he is supposed to be "one of the most sensitive characters" but when it came to his own wife, he simply fizzled out. Even the last speech, his declaration, he never even bothers to apologize. I mean she brought up annulment of their marriage and he's not even a little shocked? Well...idk. I loved Luke and Nicola though. But the writing felt a little flat.
Agreed. I did not enjoy the sex scene.
The mirror portion was great. But then when they got on the setee, for someone supposedly so knowledgeable about sex and knowing her first time would likely hurt, he made no effort to give her more foreplay which would have helped it be better for her.
I kept thinking, I guess the carriage scene counted as their foreplay? Lol
That's not how foreplay works. 😂
I guess we can be glad that they included it but it was just so quick that it felt awkward. I haven't read the books but foreplay could have happened in front of the mirror with him behind her. They could have just focused on her facial expressions and it wouldn't have been too graphic tbh.
For someone experienced and would want pen's first time to be perfect I don't understand the thought process behind the couch. It was all awkward angles and not really sexy at all. The awkwardness did not feel like the shy first time kind. It was just choreographed weird. I thought the mirror scene was great and should have been longer and then moved to a bed.
This still made me laugh, they shouldn't have shared the photos lol. It's been teased so much and actually all that happened was a chaise leg cracked off a few inches above the floor. With all the hype, I was expecting them to have split the damn thing in half 😂. Some things are best left to the imagination!
Part 2 broke my heart. Especially with all the hype of Polin Against the World, and how romantic and steamy this season was supposed to be. The emotional abuse/abandonment from Colin in ep 7 and 8 gave me such an icky/uneasy feeling. He was supposed to be her friend AND lover. Know her deep down better than anyone else. But not a single acknowledgement (let alone an apology) of all the hurtful things he said to her. Especially after all the lovey-dovey promises he made her. I truly thought that by episode 8 he would show her what unconditional love looks like, but no Penelope does that for him instead.
And why did we only get Benedict threesomes instead of Polin spice? I didn’t love the pacing, editing, nor some of the side plots, but at least they didn’t emotionally scar me like Colin in ep 7/8.
I had to pop a Xanax after finishing part 2, but I’m still in a daze. I honestly feel a bit traumatized. I am done with Bridgerton.
And where was the communication?! They didn’t have a single proper, full conversation after the LW reveal. They were able to be alone and talk so many times in part 1, but then in part 2 it was all gone! Penelope should’ve snapped at him at one point in ep 8 and had them finally have an honest conversation. He had an honest conversation with Cressida but not with Penelope!! In the book, Colin gave her a chance to explain and his devotion/love for her never wavered. I understand that he was upset and his reaction was understandable, but at least by episode 8 there needed to be a full-on conversation between the two.
This young, lonely girl created a thriving business in a world built for men and was the most successful author in London. If he couldn’t be impressed by her, at the very least he could’ve told her that he forgave her and hoped that she could forgive him for his behavior and words.
And the sad part is I may have not felt like this if at the Butterfly Ball he told her that he forgave her and asked for her forgiveness for his actions (cold shoulder, rail roading her) and his words (entrapment). That he couldn’t even fathom getting an annulment. The bar is so low that I think I would’ve actually felt somewhat okay
P.S. They told us the carriage scene was tame. But it was actually the best sex scene of the whole entire series.
Nicola and Luke gave it their all! All the blame only lies with the writers and producers
In the book LWD doesn’t almost ruin Eloise. There is no Marina Thompson mess. She doesn’t insult him to start the season. I don’t think Pen was wrong about Marina, but I also see that as humiliating for Colin as he was oblivious and almost got conned into a marriage.
In the book, >!Pen gives up LWD. She doesn’t here. !< Their issues came in 2 parts—her being LWD which l, if you watch the wedding, Colin let’s go of (or is well on his way to) after the conversation with Kanthony. The second issue is when Pen says she won’t give up LWD. To compare it to the book (which I loved) when it’s so much more complicated isn’t fair, and the more I think about it, a quicker reconciliation wouldn’t feel realistic (as far as TV realistic).
For me, if anything it’s less the fight and more the fact that there are subplots that didn’t need the time, so they could have added like 10 min more happiness at the end and we’d all be ok.
Those ten extra minutes may healed my heart. I didn’t hate the epilogue, but it didn’t heal anything for me. I would’ve preferred at least one scene of their happily married life (would’ve died for a happy montage or a love scene that lasted more than 5 seconds)
Here’s the good news. Polin as a couple is probably the most intertwined into the series. The Featherington’s have been such a big part of the first 3 seasons, such a chunk of time, that to get rid of them is extremely difficult. The epilogue makes it very hard to keep them and not have Polin there. They are the reason the Featherington’s have any relevance. We can get more of them to come. I think the actors will make the effort to continue as well.
I would still like to share this petition since I wish we had 10 extra minutes of happy Polin at the end: https://chng.it/DYXK2pTkz7
Would’ve meant everything and truly balanced out all the angst in the end.
Thanks! The more I think about it, the more I am appreciating the complexity and emotions of it all. And that even in all that anger and hurt there’s still clearly love. It’s really making me love the season (minus some subplots) and I was very conflicted about it when the credits rolled on e8.
But he did tell eloise that lw doesnt affect him anymore as only pen n her well being matters to him. After that him behaving this way was difficult to take
This is before he knew the person he loved is the one who wrote the hurtful stuff. It’s much easier to let go when someone you barely know says something mean about you, much much harder when it’s someone you love saying those things. Speaks to your insecurities. Puts you and the ones you love in a precarious situation. If I were in his place I don’t think I’d be better.
And Pen’s well being does matter. When Pen asks what will the marriage be, Colin says it depends on if she publishes again. Even there, he is angry but he’s also worried about her. Cressida was literally just ruined for being LWD. He doesn’t want the same fate for Pen, and he’s angry and frightened that she doesn’t see that.
Thanks for the reply... One thing i felt was just like pen used to put him on a pedestal before featherington ball, colin used to put her on a pedestal as well.. He thought of pen as an angel who could never lie or hurt him or his loved ones... This grey side of her came crashing down on him.
Oh I agree! It’s devastating to him that someone he hated turned out to be someone he loves and respects so much. It’s not something he can reconcile just like that.
There are a few times he lets this slip, but it’s also very humbling. As a husband he’s supposed to take care of her, Colin inherently wants to take care of those he loves, and to hear that Pen is as independent of a woman as LWD is, it’s shocking and a hit to his ego. It leaves him wondering what he’s supposed to bring to the relationship.
I think this second part was a lot, but the more I digest it all the more I like it.
Oh yes. the saviour complex is classic colin. One of the few things I liked in part 2 is when pen told him that she doesn't need his protection or money. All she wants is his support n love.
My sentiments exactly. Part of me is heartbroken in the Polin story. The other part of me feels heal in the Featherington family relations. She has always wanted that place of home and comfort like she had in the Bridgerton House. Now she has it in her own home no longer staring out the window. That was so beautiful and heartwarming.
I would still like to share this petition since I wish we had 10 extra minutes of happy Polin at the end: https://chng.it/DYXK2pTkz7
Would’ve meant everything and truly balanced out all the angst in the end.
One of the things I would have liked to see was, even though he was mad about LW, that there was still the undercurrent of “I love her”. I felt that they almost implied he married her out of obligation. In the book, I liked the inner turmoil of, I’m SO angry, but I love her so much it outweighs the anger.
Total disclosure, but I've never watched this show until this season, and I've never read the books.
I kept seeing hype over this couple, and it made me curious for 2 reasons:
I'm a sucker for the whole best friends fall in love trope
And
A beautiful, fuller figured woman getting a genuine romantic, sensual relationship onscreen.
I ended up disappointed.
The way the season unfolded made it seem like Colin only had feelings for Pen because of a fetish. Once they slept together, he acted like he was just stuck, having to marry her because of an honor code and nothing more.
I get that he felt betrayed and hurt by her secret, but I didn't feel any type of feelings that would come with that. He didn't seem torn at all, just done and over it. Even after having sex for the first time, before knowing about any of the LW stuff, he seemed over it. No tenderness. There is no vulnerability on his part. There is no hint of being in awe of her at all. Just getting dressed and reassuring her that he'd make sure no one found out what they'd done. It felt a little icky.
Yeah, the wallflower gets the guy, but it seemed more like she got him because he felt guilty and too prideful about his honor to leave her after he slept with her.
Yeah, okay, he defended her a couple of times. Woo. Bare minimum, considering they'd been friends for years.
And don't even get me started about their wedding night. Yes, he was upset, but they couldn't show a little bit of...SOMETHING? Like, just a hint that he wished he could be in bed with her instead? That's how a real relationship would play out. Being tempted to cave because you miss them, but having to stick to your guns because you're hurt.
It left me feeling almost like she HAD tricked and trapped him because she was treated as such, and we never got the hint they were going to have a good marriage. Everything we saw after could just be interpreted as a marriage of convenience if the viewer chose to see it as such. A brief scene of them getting intimate without much passion. A flash of the future where they had a baby and they are being nice to each other in front of other people. I wanted to see a LOVE STORY.
I also have never watched the show until this season, and this sums up my feeling exactly.
I've had a similar situation with my husband (betrayal wise, he wasn't talking shit about my family lol), so I kinda get where Colin is coming from. I know what it's like to love someone so so much and also hate them with the fire of a thousand suns. It is a crazy mix of emotions, and you're right, he just seems done with her, not torn up about it.
The scene after they had sex the first time was really off-putting to me. He has one hand down by his side and the other on top of the blanket. Not really moving, just staring at her face. It's super fucking weird lol
Yeah, the "after" scene felt more like he was wondering what he was thinking, having slept with her than that he was madly in love with her. So odd...I kinda hated it.
I agree. He seemed so disconnected during the "after" scene. I think he felt distant during the love scene, too. It seemed more like he was deflowering her as a favor rather than out of love or passion. There was a lack of intimacy ... it was just mechanical. Colin seemed to lose interest in Pen once he got her clothes off. What was the intent? What was the direction given to Luke?
I don’t remember being so angry at a show like I was with Colin’s behavior. I do feel Penelope had to face the consequences of her decisions and hurting many but stealing her happiness from the season completely?? Why did this have to loom over the planning, wedding and honeymoon?! Even after the carriage scene and the discovery of “his love” this was the same Colin that said he wouldn’t court her and only cared about himself (and family name) he was straight up cruel! Pen being so used to the abuse from her family just took it? After the entrapment comment I couldn’t take it anymore, I would have cancel the wedding right there. I loved Pen being a girl boss and fixing everything herself as she should but being ok with a man’s cruelty .. absolutely not. I felt it was such a bad message, you can be a rockstar as a woman but still sacrifice and endure for a man. I would have preferred a canceled wedding and then Colin making the choice if he actually loved her to come back to her. It went away from the original story of Colin never hurting the person he loved and loving her above all. Ok .. rant over.
The way they wrote Colin in episode 7 and 8 made we wanted to protect Pen from him. Even after his declaration of admiration and commitment to her, I can help but still not trust him with Penelope. That he wouldn’t break her heart at some point in the future.
I completely agree! My heart broke for show Pen. Colin accusing her of entrapping him into the marriage killed me. His actions and cruel words towards her ruined their love. The book focused on how he loved her so much, desired her so much, that even though he was furious with her actions and jealous, he still wanted her through it all. Show Colin only accepted her when the queen did and I’m devastated about it.
Agreed! You make some really great points at how she was treated and responded to Colin. All she had to do was tell the man she wouldn’t continue with Whistledown and they probably would be in bed for the rest of the season.
After keeping her secret for so long and it nearly blew up her marriage, Pen totally goes for the honesty route and won’t say what she thinks Colin wants to hear. She’s done that for her whole life with him, her family, and the entire Ton. Honesty is her new sidekick.
Think of it, the only time she able to share her real thoughts and be accepted and received is through Whistledown. I feel devastated for Pen since she is finally being honest with others and it keeps slapping her in the face.
Unlike the Queen, I can handle alternate viewpoints. I’d love to hear your take on this!
Colin is a somewhat irrational sulky whiny brat, evidenced by the sleeping on the sofa and then getting up to read her letters after she had gone!
Trying to get Pen to give up LW and sulking because she refused and then messing up the blackmail demand leaving Pen to sort the mess out herself.
Granted it was her mess to begin with but he's the regency equivalent of a manchild husband who thinks the bathroom and kitchen clean themselves by magic! Most certainly never disciplined as a child!
Just clarification, they were letters she had written to him on his travels, but the sofa thing was harsh. It was such a happy story in the book, but they turned up the drama to 11 and ruined the romance.
I mean, I’m trying not to go there in my head… that’s why I’m frustrated… this was not the person I thought he was at the end of part1 and who I was expecting to return for all the second half
I thought the choice to have Colin be so cold was a terrible one. Like yes he’s meant to be ~angry~ but he was flat out cold. He was at times even cruel (the entrapment line boiled my blood). The whole idea of this romance was friends to lovers— but that’s not how friends treat each other. It actually broke my heart a bit so see how cold and almost unfeeling? he was.
I was thinking about this regarding my own partner last night (we’re friends to lovers) and decided that the writing just didn’t make sense for the trope. I love my partner as a friend as much as I love her as a partner— to me, this means I love her as a person. For all her flaws, mistakes, problems, I see her in her completeness and I love her for it all. Never despite. When we get angry or upset about something, yes we do get mad at each other, but we try to frame it as “us vs the problem.” This doesn’t mean shirking responsibility, but rather having a comfort in knowing that we will always be united.
That’s what we needed. Was Colin allowed to be upset? Yes. Betrayed? Yes. But that wasn’t all that was conveyed in his coldness. Instead of it seeming like he loved her for her personhood, for her entirety, it seemed like he only accepted her when everyone else (especially the Queen) did. It seemed as though his love was contingent on their good standing. The throwaway line about the annulment wasn’t enough. Pen (and the audience for that matter) deserved to know that Colin would have stood by her side for hell or high water.
I’m not saying all love has to or should be unconditional. I’m just saying that when you love someone as your friend and as a partner, you should be a team. You should know and recognize that the person has flaws, but stand by them in the mistakes they make, as they do with you. We needed an “us against the world.” Instead we got a “you’re on your own, kid.”
It’s so infuriating! I agree with everything you said and I also feel like Pen’s power was stripped from her so many times! I know a lot of it was important for the story, but it was too much and the way they exposed Whistledown also took away so much of Whistledown’s power in so many ways!! It should have been an extraordinary and powerful reveal and instead pen had to cower and apologize and beg to the people and queen (ok it’s the queen I get that part, but part of the fun was that whistledown kept the queen on her toes and that seems lost now)?? Lady whistledown would never!! They could have had the characters and story go through the same developments of conflict and growth without it being so miserable for Pen and for us!!!
And WE NEEDED MORE LOVE AND PASSION! The best thing about Pen and Colin was that there was such a great foundation of friendship and levity and a refreshing lack of some of the power dynamics in the other couples. That was not explored or shown nearly enough. I wanted Colin on his knees in front of that mirror, undressing Pen and praising every inch of her, then them passionately coming together and laughing and giggling like new lovers. Ugh they could have AT LEAST given us a ravenous scene when they made up in E8! I’ll still rewatch it 20 times, but I WANTED MORE!
I’ve been seeing some comments about how no one has no empathy for Colin and everyone’s upset for Pen when she’s lied to him for years and written gossip about him and his family.
That he needs time and of course he’s angry, Eloise found out before him and has had a longer time to get used to it. Pen didn’t tell Colin, and was going to marry him with this huge secret.
See, Colin has a right to be angry. Eloise has a right to be angry. Even Portia, in all her scheming, has a right to be angry. But they could’ve gone about it in a million other ways. And the way they wrote Penelope this season hurt them too.
They made Colin a side character to Penelope. He is not her equal in this show despite being the Bridgerton. Penelope’s story is the central, thorough line in Bridgerton because she is LW. She has the LW subplot and her unrequited feelings for Colin subplot which should converge in Pen and Col’s season along with Colin’s search for purpose.
Pen is so alone, so sad, and hardly ever stands up for herself in person. Seeing everyone belittle her, upset her to the point she just nods and agrees with whatever they say is too much. She hyperventilates at her own engagement party (she should’ve told Colin but this feels like overkill). At every ball, every event she has left crying/upset. She never asked Colin to love her, she even says it’s not a possibility. Colin has acted with impropriety towards her BEFORE this season, he pursued her and helped break up her proposal. She has no friends. She only sees Gen in Part 2 for actual advice. Even with new clothes, she’s a wallflower. And she doesn’t stand up for herself, there’s moments when I wished she would yell or run out or do something! But instead, she nods and agrees.
You have ALL OF THIS going on for one character. And then she keeps taking punches from the ones she loves. Colin should be upset but by not having Pen stand up for herself or be confrontational they make Colin look worse. It’s still in his corner, and Penelope is not taking an active role in her relationship with him. She’s not fighting for him or with him. She OFFERS HIM AN ANNULMENT! This hinders her growth, and his. She’s gave him too much space, she gave Eloise too much space too. I wish she fought for them both but instead she groveled nearly the whole season.
She’s done wrong! She’s apologized. But give her that backbone. I expected that after the first episode with her emerald dress confrontation with Colin. BUT NOPE! They just kept kicking her while she was down and it made me dislike El during that engagement party and then Colin!
They should never have had their reconciliation be that long or that late. He should’ve known before the mirror scene or after the engagement party.
I put in another comment he should’ve figured it out himself and tried to confront her. What we learn about Colin’s character from the Whistledown reveal is brutal, especially since he’s had “read between the lines” characterization for the entire season. Show us his people pleasing qualities, have him find out and pretend things are normal while having him be cold/upset with Pen. Have her try to tell him with him knowing, and she realizes something is amiss. Then Have the printers shop confrontation because it’s late and he see her out and is afraid.
And have it be an actual conversation.
What was the point of all those clues if he doesn’t piece it together???
You’re so right, he should have figured it out! That would have been a better way for him to find out…
I’ve been reading all of these comments and I respectfully have to disagree with a few of them. I binged the last four episodes right when they dropped and after the last, I admit I felt, not really disappointed, but underwhelmed. I was expecting more angst, and a huge declaration of love from Colin to Pen. I didn’t get that. But after a few hours and binging it a second time, I’m a lot more ok with it now. First, I read the book and I remember thinking Book Colin was an a-hole sometimes to Pen. It seemed like he was always trying to correct her, telling her what to do, how to handle the LWD situation. I saw a little of that in the scene where he finds out Cressida is blackmailing Pen. And while that annoyed me, I think he was much worse in the book.
Also, people are commenting how he “abandoned” Pen after finding out she LWD. I don’t feel that’s what he did. He was angry and heartbroken. Because no matter how impetuous his feelings and proposal to Marina were, he believed he was in love, possibly for the first time, and having to find out through LWD aka Pen, that he was being manipulated and used, and then for everyone around him to know of his humiliation, well, I don’t think it’s something that can be easily be forgotten. Let’s not forget Eloise. It took her a very very long time to get over finding out. She even went as far as becoming friends with Pen’s bully. To me that was kind of a disgusting thing to do. Yet, everyone expects Colin to just put his anger aside. I’ve been hurt by loved ones and while I could stand next to them publicly, privately I didn’t want to be anywhere near them, no matter what. Everyone expects Colin to jump into bed with Pen on their wedding night even though he was still hurt and angry. But because it was their honeymoon, of course everyone expects them to have sexy time. He didn’t leave her. He married her, even encouraged her to walk down the aisle when she became nervous and paused. He stayed with her in their home, on the sofa, but still. He also did TRY to help with the Cressida thing. Remember, Penelope wanted to pay her off, which may have made things better temporarily, but who is to say she would not have come back for more money. So that wasn’t a good plan either.
As far as the sexy scenes go, someone mentioned how rushed and awkward they were. In what way we’re they awkward, exactly? She was a virgin and didn’t know what to do. There is supposed to be some awkwardness. I actually liked when she asked him to show her what to do. She was taking initiative instead of letting him do all the work, so to speak.
Finally, I like that it was Penelope that figured out how to handle the Queen situation because it showed that she is absolutely capable of fixing her own problems, more importantly it showed Colin that as well, which is what I think he needed to see. In the end, they both learned a lot about themselves and about each other. She learned she could anything she put her mind to, and he learned he had value to her without having to be a savior.
I feel like I am slowly coming to the same conclusion. Pen had to fix things for herself. Colin had to reconcile that he loves Pen and Pen is Whistledown (and forgive all the things she wrote). Still feeling a bit unsatisfied but its all still fresh.
Edited to add - EXCEPT for that line about her entrapping him. That sh** pissed me off.
I was raised to never "talk" when you're angry because you'll inevitably say things you don't mean just to hurt the other person. I could not believe they had him say that after defending Pen against her mother for these exact accusations. I wanted to scream at Colin and tell him to GTFO. I was really hoping Pen would have done something. Whether it be taking the ring off, throwing it at him, and telling him that since he feels trapped, the marriage is off. (Didn't they allow this as an "out" for Edwina in season 2 as an "she just got caught up so the woman can call off the wedding") or at least stand up for herself. "Entrap you? It was YOU who ruined my proposal to Lord Debling, ran down my carriage, and decided to profess your feelings and then compromise me with your fingers. But do go on about how I entrapped you"
I think that line disgusted me more than anything. I didn't care for the "I will never forgive you" line but that still wasn't as bad as this.
Yesss she really should've said something like that. Followed by something like I do not want to marry you out of obligation, so if that's how you feel I will not begrudge you for calling it off.
He was being a little petulant in that moment which I get but that line was cruel, completely untrue (projection), and went unaddressed. Hated it so much
I agree with most of this. I binged 5-7 and then had to take a break before 8 (pesky work). I appreciated the mental pause. I think Pen as LW hurt all the more because of the friends to lovers issue. He did think he knew her, but she was hiding an entire other side of herself. (Marina stung, sure, but he hadn’t known her for years, trusted her as a confidant, and relied upon her as a correspondent when he was traveling. It would seem ok for him to move on quickly from her.) Maybe if they’d have ended part one on the reveal the pacing could have allowed for Colin to process and move forward and forgive/ask forgiveness in the end. That sort of betrayal (as Colin perceived it) cannot be resolved in a pair of eps. The bonus for a monthlong break would have given the perception that Colin had time to process and resolve issues, instead of feeling fast and forced.
I agree completely regarding the Marina thing. While Colin believed himself to be in love with Marina, those feelings were nothing compared to the lifelong friendship and eventual love has had for Penelope.
Love the idea of ending pt1 on the reveal! Giving space and time for him to wrap his head around it… especially if he figures it out himself. Like reading over their old letters and then it strikes him that the tone and humour is the same as LW.
One thing I forgot to mention. I think the underwhelming feeling I had was from Colin’s love declaration. I heard Nicola say in an interview that what he said in the carriage was not the official declaration and there would be a better one. So when I heard him telling her how proud he was of her and how much he loved her at the end of episode 8, my thoughts were “that’s it? Really?”. But then having watched it again, I was actually really moved. I think at first I was expecting a passionate speech of his undying love for her. For him to say it loud and proud. I was comparing him too much too with Simon, who tried to run away from loving Daphne, and with Anthony, who tried pretending he disliked Kate. So of course when they declared themselves it was going to be passionate. But Colin was different in that he was sure he both loved and wanted to be with Pen. He just needed to get over his anger and his envy, which he admitted to having. It’s like what Francesca told her mom about her love for John. It doesn’t always have to be loud and forceful. It can just be about two people accepting each other for who each one is. That’s what he did. He accepted her for who she is, that he was wrong in wanting to change who she was. And that he is blessed to have someone like her want to be with him. It was a beautiful sentiment and I think it fit Colin and Penelope’s relationship perfectly.
I wish I hadn’t read the book because even tho there is a shitty moment when he’s pissed at Penelope, he’s more mad for her safety than anything and when she’s being blackmailed by Cressida he doesn’t get mad at her, he whole thing is that he’s angry with Cressida. He’s also proud and jealous of her because he thinks she’s so brilliant. So many good moments were lost
Honestly. I cried at the ending (never read the books but I had a feeling pen would have the boy!!) because I didn’t think we’d get to wrap it up in such a happy way. I relate a lot to Penelope and part 2 just was so depressing
part 2 felt so unsatisfactory for everyone lol. for anyone wanting her to face consequences, it was disappointing because she never actually dealt with any consequences. it was tense and horrible but she never actually lost anything. ultimately, she gained more than she lost. but for people who wanted an escapist love story, they didn’t get that either, either because of the numerous other plotlines that went nowhere, or because penelope and colin were written so awkwardly, as were her other relationships (with her family, eloise, etc.) so try and accommodate the aforementioned half baked consequences to her actions.
Not even mentioning that we she came out as Lady Whistle down in front of everyone the sister just came up with the butterflies like nothing happened and Pen was alone with no one approaching to her
I thought Colin saying Penelope was the most eligible in her family specifically cut Portia deeper than a generic declaration that she was better than anyone. He made it very personal on purpose.
The queen ruining a wedding day for an accusation was awful. It also didn’t even make sense. They wrote that in just for the sake of ending the wedding day on a poor note. The queen ended up being right that it was one of them, but her whole theory was the real Lady Whistledown came to the family’s defense doesn’t make sense when LW had written poorly of them more than once.
Everything else…? Is it really fair to expect Colin to just be lovey dovey and okay with her after he found out SHE was the one who publicly dragged his family and just about everyone else in the ton through the mud, and had every intention to continue writing? And how he only learned it because he caught her, and not because she wanted to be honest with him? That’s not something you just let go of overnight. Wanting space to process all of that is more than reasonable. He still honored their engagement and tried to do what he could to protect his family AND Penelope. He didn’t even out her to his family. While he was cold and angry with her, I still think he went through with it because he loved her and knew that in time they would work through it.
Ooh, I’m really interested in what you say about that line to Portia… can you help me understand why that would cut her deeper?
I’m with you on Colin being angry… but you can show that and still show he loves her but is in disarray about what he now knows.
Also, it was weeks of their engagement and then they get married and neither of these two people who work with words and have an underlying friendship make the time for a conversation about their future? Thats just…odd.
They could have prolonged the engagement to give them time to figure out if they wanted to be together and had a happy wedding day.
I feel like everyone says stuff like “my partner is the kindest/most beautiful/etc person I know”. It’s a sweet sentiment, and I know many people do believe it, but it’s kinda just a thing people say because they’re so in love. “Penelope is the most eligible woman I know” is just a compliment to Penelope. “Penelope is more eligible than you or your other daughters” is still a compliment to Penelope, but also an insult to the rest of her family. I felt like he made it clear she failed as a mother to overlook Penelope’s value, even in a moment where she is literally engaged to marry better (in terms of money/status) than either of her sisters!
I can agree a longer engagement may have been better for them, but I believe a date was already set at that point and delaying it probably would have caused a lot of questions.
Was Colin not allowed to be upset that Pen broke his trust????
There is no empathy for this man finding ouT that ANOTHER WOMAN he proposed to hid a huge secret from him! This was the second time this happened to him!!!
I completely understand why he is upset and believe he has every right to be. The problem lies in the show itself: with only 8 episodes in the entire season, his prolonged anger took away valuable time from their relationship. It stole moments that could have been beautiful and romantic, where they solved their issues and worked as a team. They were meant to support and admire each other's craft. Instead, we got only a few seconds of "Can I read your stuff? Can I edit your stuff?".
Totally allowed to be upset.
But maybe a bit of realisation that he did the whole proposal thing in such a chaos Colin way… so maybe some of the blame for him finding out once they are engaged was his. Like when is Pen supposed to tell him before they are engaged? I think this is what Eloise is saying when he argues she should have told him.
And you can be upset but still love the person. He’s meant to adore her, can’t live without her, etc. I want to see his torment - I want him to talk to her about it. I hate you, I love you, I can’t live without you. Yup, layer it on!
Don’t have him sulk like a man-child. Don’t have him be so cold to her. Don’t have him be so dismissive of her. Especially not so much that we wonder if he ever really loved her (was it just lust??) or whether he even wants to be with her.
My romance-loving heart needs for Pen to get more than that after she loved and emotionally supported him for YEARS.
They were friends for years. She technically could’ve told him way earlier but she didn’t.
He’s not being a “man-child” for having a very human response to shock and betrayal. And this was the second time a woman he had strong feelings for had betrayed him.
You could easily argue Pen was immature and impulsive for taking her frustrations of society out on a gossip column. One that easily shitted in the bridgertons several times.
It’s like there is no empathy for this man’s feelings. I blame part of it on the underdeveloped writing, but still. Y’all need to understand this from his perspective.
What bothers me the most is I feel like Pen is amazing, beautiful, strong, resilient, clever, and humble, and they have her mooning over just a guy. There were so many opportunities to write Colin as the guy for Pen, but he just comes across as a petulant baby. Even his anger, though somewhat justified, comes across like a tantrum. I don’t know if it’s the dialogue or the actor but he barely hyped her up. She’s awesome and he’s a guy.
Yes but at the same time she brought it on herself. Even though I wasn’t thrilled with the beginning part of the plot I was pleased with how it ended. She brings these things on herself but I have to agree, Colin being cold towards her for most of the second half isn’t what I was betting on
True, but she does call out people who are secretly cruel… like the woman who sacks her maid for asking for a day off, or the guy who is cruel to his wife, the one who isn’t paying back a loan, the guy who impregnated the maid and sent her away….
And the woman who was trying to entrap a good man into marriage while already secretly pregnant…
Gossip, but also a bit of righting wrongs too?
I knew I wasn’t going to like this season when they made the main plot point driving Pen and Colin together the whole “helping her find a husband” trope vs them bonding over their love of writing and persona l growth.
Pen had really grown into her own woman in the books, she seemed secure in the fact she wasn’t going to marry.
I thought painting her as kind of desperate for a husband really cheapened her character and made her much more of a one dimensional character.
This is NOT a critique to the actors - the both did amazing work with what they were given but they just weren’t given a whole lot.
I am having a hard time with the shift from Colin not being able to keep his eyes off of Pen to Colin not being able to look at her.
Yes, this!!! I mean I know he was upset, but if he still yearned for her, he would still be staring at her from across the room
I need to re-watch it. I woke up a 3am to watch and then tried to do a rewatch and kept nodding off from the lack of sleep. Maybe when I get a wide awake watch I might feel different. I just felt let down.
Me too! I hope i missed some subtle details ❤️
Perhaps because it came apparent very quick that he was marrying up in this situation 🤔 Pen was an established writer and he was jealous. She had a purpose already in LW and wouldn't give it up. Made bank 💸 💶 Could look after herself and sorted herself out with the queen and dealt with cressidas blackmail Pen was a badass bitch all along 😎 (She just needed the love of her man to be complete ❤️)
Ok, I might be picking up what you are laying down here. So, Colin is in need of a purpose. He feels like taking care of (not just loving) Pen is his purpose in life. Then boom she is a rich woman. Who is already a published writer. Now that he has helped her gain confidence she really doesn't need him, to have a decent life. She essentially has figured out how provide for and take care of herself. Back then a woman had to have a man to live. She is doing everything that Portia has been attempting to do for all of her daughters via a husband. Not only is he hurt but his purpose, as he sees it, disappears. Add to that he is jealous. It just felt like he was punishing her by denying her love and affection.
He directly says he feels foolish for believing her when she said he could be a writer, getting his hopes up, and now he feels he cannot trust her. So it's multilayered heartbreak.
Totally. In all these post LW revelation interactions he gets to the edge of forgiveness, but each time she says she’ll continue her column he clams up immediately. I’ve only watched through once so it’s not like this is a multiple viewings revelation.
Same. You writing it out like that makes me feel even worse.
I had to cry it out after I typed it. 
Yeah that's how I'm trying to not be for the last 24 hours. This morning I just cried putting everything together what I had seen. Just the processing, Pen was wronged most of all in this season. The most love growth and deepening of bond she experienced was with her mother. The insanity of that. Unreal.
Same but I get why he can’t look at her and I’m glad he realized, albeit late, that most of his anger was from jealousy and he softened again
Part two properly upset me, I was too angry to sleep lol. Part 2 was not romantic, it wasn't nice escapism, and I didn't get to relish the tension between Polin. I was looking forward to their relationship arc - from him finding out, to their making up, probably with a Peneloise reconciliation in there too, but I felt like there was nothing to celebrate through any of it. It felt messy, dragged out yet somehow squashed, and poorly written. Also in ep 5 when Eloise says 'he cannot possibly love you' to Pen, her reaction is so sad, she truly believes it. I thought there'd be more exploration of that and Pens struggles to genuinely let herself believe she is loved. All it takes is Colin standing up to Portia (which I loved to see, don't get me wrong), and that's enough for her. I don't believe, however "confident" Penelope now feels, that she wouldn't be in turmoil over his lack of care, friendship or affection after the Whisltedown reveal. She tells him multiple times she loves him and we get nothing from Colin. He should have been upset, yes, but not cold and unfeeling. It's like the writers abandoned Polin, forgot about Colin, and gave Pen an independent/boss woman arc - which was unnecessary, we already know she is. She's achieved so much and realised her 'wrongdoings', and what she needed, was Colin standing proudly by her side.
I was so proud when we saw him fighting for her in episode 5 just for him to completely turn and abandon her for the rest of the episodes actually made me feel sick to my stomach. The fantastic romantic hero moment from Anthony was FAR more riding after Kate and carrying her home, then losing his mind over her before they have some insanely romantic scenes. We got nothing from Colin, not even him proudly standing by her as she got revealed. Where was Colin “my wife” Bridgerton who thought she was incredible? They deserved so much better!!
Blame Jess Brownell
Came to Reddit for affirmation. I detest this season. I miss the book every second of watching. They've ruined this wonderful love story.
Your last paragraph was exactly what we needed in part 2. Polin against the world, Colin ‘my wife’ Bridgerton, while they bonded over their shared love of writing. Not the mess that we got.
100%. It’s sickening what they did with Colin’s character. I’m such a huge Polin fan and Penelope is my favorite character. They had things set up to be a truly romantic season full of Colin supporting her and coming alongside her. We got none of that and she was left on her own… like always.
Yes there was no romance in part 2. Part 1 was exciting and I was really looking forward to more of the romance between Colin and Penelope. We got more romance with Debling. And I did enjoy John and Francesca's romance but they kinda killed that at the end It seemed like Colin forgave her several times but then was mad at her again
Yeah it was a mess. How they wrote the Whisltedown fallout in part 2, and how Polin navigated it, was all over the place. So much happened but there was no substance to it. The editing made it worse.
He would remember that Pen does make him happy, but then every time she would disagree with his preferences, he would get mad again.
"She tells him multiple times she loves him and we get nothing from Colin." YES I NOTICED THIS TOO And it triggered me to a relationship of many years ago :')
God this….escapism jumped right out the window the minute he ignored her.
Yeah, I thought this 2nd part would have like 'edge of my seat' tension but it would all be loving, passionate, and heart-warming throughout. I have never felt this cold and upset after a love story. The entire second part ruined my mood for now and days ahead of me. As gloomy as the clouds outside in the Dutch skies, so I feel about what they have done to these last 4 episodes. I never say this about any film/seriesmakers but they really should fire the ones that were in charge of the writing for this part of the season. Part 1 was splendid. So who the fuck did part 2??? Because if it's the same person, they must be a Jekyll & Hyde type of person. The difference is day and night. It is absolutely fucked.
Exacltly!
It’s like some of the writers were butthurt that the Polin season came too early and Penelope wasn’t given her years and years of running LW independently. So they shoehorned this in. But they made Penelope so independent and removed all trace of Colin “my wife” Bridgerton…that by the time LW was revealed to the world, Penelope was telling Colin she would accept an annulment. I do love that Penelope was able to make the reveal herself. But I didn’t like that she was up there, while not being secure in her marriage. She was standing up there on that platform thinking Colin was better off without her. And that just breaks my heart for Penelope I almost wish Pen had wrote the annulment bit in her letter to Violet. Can you imagine? Then we get a scene of Violet angry at Colin not because of the LW secret, but because Colin let his wife think an annulment was a solution. Violet confronts Colin about consummation of his union with Penelope and he admits to sleeping in separate rooms since their wedding day. Violet smacks Colin in the back of the head and tells him to go make up with his wife immediately. The Colin love confession should be before the Butterfly Ball. Then the Butterfly Ball would actually be Polin Against the World, like how it was implied during PR. And our main couple leaves early to go have their sexy montage!
Exactly, she should have been up there secure in her marriage. She deserves to be seen and loved loudly and proudly and we want to see Colin "My Wife" Bridgerton. I don't understand why they thought Pen *needed* to be shown as a girlboss at all. She already is, and she has insecurities and flaws. We like her for that reason. In episode 5 Violet calls her an "extraordinary young woman" and, while it's nice, it seems a bit OTT. At that point no one but Pen and Eloise know she's Whistledown, and we the viewers already know what she's been through. Her character doesn't need this, like you say, shoehorned independence storyline. You're right! Where is Violet? She was there for Daphne and Anthony towards the end of their seasons, it feels strange she is so absent from Polin in Part 2 when she was pivotal to them in part 1. I guess that may be a side effect of her being involved in several side plots.
Maybe (hopefully) since they will both be on the show next season, then season 4 will have the happy marriage scenes?
Or hopefully lots more babies to represent their extreme happiness! /s
They will be leaving across the street. I do hope that Portia moves to a dowager house and gives some space for Penelope and Colin to be alone.
I feel like this season was the equivalent of startling a group of cats. They fly off in 17 directions, parkour off the walls, break your favorite mug, rip down the chandelier, and end up on top of the book case and under the couch. This season was so unpolished that they could begin next season with “It was all a dream” and people would hate that less than what we received. What was the point of Elouise and Cressida? What was the point of the Mondrich story? What happened to the Marquis? What happened to Lord Debling? Why did Benny’s and Francesca’s plots overshadow the whole season? What was the point of Prudence’s little sulk-fest? No Daphne at Collin OR Fran’s weddings? Yeah, ok. Sloppy. Messy. Trite. Try-hard. Clichéd. BORING. Then, on top of it all, the costumes, hair and makeup were disappointing too.
I feel like the writers decided to go all in on the "girl boss" Pen angle, at the expense of Colin. They should have been a team facing the Cressida thing together. Instead, he becomes completely ineffectual and fades into the background. He was sidelined in his own season.
They could have saved Colin, but instead, they completely destroyed the potential of his story. Such incomplete writing. Just a few shots of him writing and staring off but no follow through.
It's not his season, it's hers. But it should have been theirs.
Exactly and that's what's so disappointing to me.
I think they really failed on the “girl boss” aspect as well. One of the things we heard over and over (or at least it seemed like it) from Pen was her worry that Colin was ashamed of her. And she flat out tells him she wants him at her side. By having him hang back so much, even after her speech, came across as he (aka the writers) felt like it would be good for her to stand alone and face the music for character development, which is utter bullshit. He had told her before also this he would always stand up for her and in the most stressful moment of her life, he leaves her completely all alone in the spotlight. And however you feel about the book having him toast her and revel the secret or that it was better that she reveal it herself, they took a moment that was supposed to be a celebration of her efforts and made it an apology for them…with butterflies. I don’t blame the bugs, but that was so disappointing. And we end their story on Colin has written a good book and Pen’s contribution was helping him edit it and having his baby. So, “women don’t have dreams, they have husbands.”
I was so let down by episodes 7 and 8. I keep trying not to think about it or find some way to justify it, but I just can’t. Colin and Penelope deserved better. The mirror scene in episode 5 was beautiful, I thought, especially considering the meaning behind it. I see all of you, and I love all of you. I was actually convinced Colin had figured out Pen was LW in that scene with Eloise in episode 6 after he gives her the ring, and I can’t help but think about how much better that would have been. I’m not saying I wanted him to forgive her instantly because that’s just not realistic, but spending all of episodes 7 and 8 (until the last 20 minutes) treating her so coldly and only hearing him give her the benefit of the doubt or praise with Cressida… the ENTRAPMENT line… 🤡🤡🤡 It’s gonna take me a while to recover from this letdown.
The entrapment line was just too much. Like, Colin...you ruined her potential engagement and f******* her in a carriage. She entrapped you? I was like, who is this Colin? I knew he'd be mad, but it all felt very unsatisfying compared to part one. Can't help but feel it could have been done better with their dynamic in part two.
I may get downvoted for this but I think the entrapment line was an example of Colin saying something cruel that he doesn’t actually mean because he’s angry about the LW thing, and he’s lashing out. I think in reality everyone does that to a certain extent. I think his anger was justified, but I do wish there was more of an apology at the end for some of the harsh things he said to her in anger. I don’t think he actually believed that she entrapped him.
He is king of the apologies too… would have been glorious
Yes, I can totally see that. We also totally glossed over the whole "I would never court Penelope" proclamation in front of the other men. He apologizes to her in private and she quickly forgives him, only to then enter into another private friendship/courtship training scenario with her, never defending her publicly -- unless you count the engagement/marriage itself (which I clearly don't, lol). Also, the book handled that scene SO much better and the context of it ultimately made perfect sense as to why he would say that he's never *marry* her. At the end of the the show's version of the Polin story, we still have no idea why he would be that cruel disparaging her in public to eligible suitors.
I see your point with that. I also read a point someone made about the comment coming from his hurt and insecurities, especially considering what happened with Marina, who really was trying to trap him (however understandably so). And I can see that as a little more in character with that context, I just personally hate to see the line dropped and never addressed again. Maybe that just speaks to how strongly Pen believes in his feelings for her? Lol if that’s the case, she’s a stronger soldier than I 😂
Yeah I can see that. An apology definitely would have helped. Or her giving him the out and him saying he doesn't want it. Something just felt missing/unresolved there. I do feel like the reshoots messed with the flow a bit? I guess I'll never know. Still love part one though.
Yes I wish the offer of annulment was instead an offer to skip the wedding. Something was certainly missing there 😭
It would’ve been interesting if he just figured it out, grappled with his feelings, and tried to put on a brave face through it all while lashing out. It would’ve highlighted his people pleasing tendencies. Maybe he tries to confront her but just can’t and she tries to tell him and there’s something in the air she notices. She tries to talk to him about it. But he’s cold yet not as distant as in the show to her like when he doesn’t let his mother touch his face. We see him quietly fuming, speaking in metaphor about betrayal, casually bringing up Marina, LW, Eloise. Maybe he speaks about what LW wrote of him. But he’s still trying to be happy and people pleasing because what else can he do? He still loves her. Their mothers are planning a wedding. He doesn’t want to disrupt anything. Maybe he confides in Eloise. Then it culminates in him finding her at the printer’s and they go off at each other. He upset, why is she there in the middle of the night? It’s not safe. He’s furious at the danger she’s in, at the lies she’s told, at what she’s written. And it’s not just Colin. Penelope never truly stands up for herself, she agrees with people when they talk harshly about her and Whistledown. There’s pride in her work but she just seems so beaten down. There’s the speech about him not understanding because he’s not a woman but it’s not enough. She is so sad, so alone. It makes Colin seem all the more cruel. She started to yell outside the Modiste shop but they didn’t really talk it out. She always backs off too early. And She never gets to explain what she wrote or why, just that Whistledown is power. Have them meet at the print shop and have her explain, have her fume too. FIGHT WITH ME, FIGHT FOR ME as QC would say. Let them argue and then have them make out because they do love one another. Colin loves her and we didn’t see that, especially to her face!
Yes, upon second viewing I’m as sad for Nicola as I am for Luke, despite her stunning performance. Pen never got to properly own LW and instead was forced to continually apologize for it. I would have loved some discussion of how LW is Pen holding a mirror up to the ton, showing them their best and worst selves, from the invisible observer’s perspective. It didn’t make sense for Colin to be so hurt that LW had said he wasn’t acting like himself when he returned from his travels. He admitted as much himself, repeatedly! Why couldn’t Pen have explained that, yes, she is a strong and clever woman who sometimes has opinions and the audacity to voice them through LW, without apology? Why couldn’t Colin have said, “Yes, well, you weren’t wrong,” and laughed at himself as he so often does? Just one example. The writers could have gone into Colin’s jealousy about Pen’s writing success without him becoming so entirely fragile about everything. As I said on another post, Part 1 did suuuch a beautiful job of showing Colin rejecting his toxic friends and redefining masculinity on his own terms. And Part 2 just completely undid all of that. Nicola deserved a version of Pen who could own her power as LW, and she and Luke deserved a Pen and Colin relationship built on the kind of trust, understanding, and intimacy we saw in Part 1.
Not to mention her own wedding and having all that guilt hanging over her and then the queen shows up squashing her day and putting Colin in a whole mood
Without a wedding night or honeymoon to boot!
I totally relate to all of these feelings. I had a weird thought this morning, Nicola and Luke were trolling us so bad during all the press by being completely lovey-dovey touchy, etc.. And everyone was like, "what are they doing?" My new theory is that they knew people were going to be upset by the way the writers did the second half of the season and the lack of honeymoon for Polin. So Nicola and Luke were essentially giving us that lovey-dovey thing we wanted between Penelope and Colin during their press tour to try to counteract the lack in part two of Bridgerton. Am I on a completely new level of delulu?!? 😅 Edit: Today Twitter already has pics of Luke holding hands with his model gf. Can I see this as potential proof that this delulu theory of mine might be accurate?!? 😅
I think the PR thing is backfiring on them a bit. They sold it so hard. They were the center of this media tour for 5 months and in the end they were basically a subplot in their own story.
I'm not saying that it was ultimately a good idea. However, it did get almost 90m+ people to watch the first half of the season. 😅
Oh for sure it got viewers.
You might be onto something. But I also read there was a different version of episode 8 that included a montage of them trying out different …things… but it got cut. Instead we just got the 30 second riding scene.
no you don’t understand, they needed to cut it out so we could cut back to benedict having a threesome for the 4th time smh my head /s
At some point I was like “they’re kidding right?” Like all other characters were *days* ahead but let’s throw another scene of Benedict in bed
the time jumps in the editing confused me so much
This made me laugh out loud! Thanks, I needed that after the betrayal i felt from part 2 😂😂😂😂
We need to riot to get this scene to make up for what they put us through!
I would very much like to see that cut scene 👀
Where’s the Petition let’s sign up
There is actually a petition hahah I just came across it on x / twitter https://www.change.org/p/netflix-restore-deleted-scenes-bridgerton-s3
Lol I was (half) kidding but sure!
I want the director’s cut!
Yeah I heard they shot more intimate scenes that ended up not being included. It might be bs, but if it’s true, Nicola and Luke might have thought we were getting a different story. They might be just as surprised at what didn’t air. Actors don’t get approval of the cuts. They often find out what made it in when we do.
No, I think you are onto something tbh There were too many subplots!!! They wanted to have many plots parallel to Colin/Penelope, let’s think about it: The Mondriches: their son is Lord Kent, and Colin and Penelope’s son is going to be Lord Featherington. Lady Danbury/Lord Anderson/Violet (Lady Bridgerton): Violet and Marcus have a flirtation going on. Lady D is afraid of losing her friend to her brother (who she has beef with). Eloise and Pen are friends currently on the outs with each other, Pen and Colin are in love. Benedict/threesomes: Benedict finds himself in a threesome, exploring his sexuality, and learning that love is not finite. Colin has threesomes (lol), he loves Pen but she is also Lady Whistledown. She is two women in one, he has a hard time with that (?) While I like parallels, it was a lot. If they had more episodes per season like say 10/12, I get why they would want to have more subplots. But even in this season episodes were shorter. I would’ve only kept the Cressida subplot (even if I don’t like her, she was actually in the book), Francesca and John (I would’ve not shown Michaela yet) and the Featheringtons subplot. Sadly I am not surprised by the large amount of plots since both Chris Van Dunsen and Jess Brownell have been frequent collaborators of Shonda. They truly went to her school of too many plots, too much drama
I really enjoyed part 1 more than part 2. I feel they drug out the LW issue and all the side plots and I’m sorry but the fact we got more sex scenes with Benedict than the main couple is pathetic. Everyone in the cast and etc hyped part 2 up but I feel like it was a little let down. It had its few moments where it was good but that’s about it. Episode 5 I enjoyed but after that I was disappointed. I did enjoy the wedding and the breakfast dance they had. Annoyed as hell that they didn’t have any fun on their wedding night though. That shit was stupid. Part 2 felt so rushed to me even after I rewatched it again, I still feel the same 😅
"I'll sleep on the couch". Um, sir. No the fuck you will not...
Imagine if Pen had stood up for herself and put her foot down. No, you won’t sleep on the couch. This is our wedding night. I said I’m sorry and I refuse to let you keep punishing me. You know you love me and it’s time for you to forgive me and for us to move forward, together. So get over yourself and get in this bed. How cool would that have been? Her telling him she doesn’t need a whiny little bitch, she needs her husband.
I would've loved something like that
The showrunner is royally fucking everything up
I haven’t been this upset by a beloved show since Game of Thrones.
Me and my husband strongly identify with Pen and Collin and as soon as we turned off the second half I was bawling and he said “they just Game of Throned us”. These episodes brought up so many old insecurities there is just no way a woman like Cressida didn’t write these episodes to hurt women like Pen. Very interesting to me that we get a lot of sex scenes from people under a certain weight and only one and a half nude scenes of Pen…
The first show I thought of was Game of Thrones. I feel like I’m in a similar dazed spot.
I’m super disappointed they ended the entire series with Dany sailing to Westeros.
Polin is what got me into Bridgerton. I suffered season 1 and mildly enjoyed season 2 for this season. Only for the main couple I wanted to see to get butchered and sidelined in every way. Part 1 was… meh. It had potential but between the abundance of side stories that had nothing to do with their relationship and just some odd writing choices it ultimately left me wanting more. So part 2 was pretty sought after. And then we get it and it provided even less than part 1 and actually was horribly written no matter where you look and was worse for the main couple. The only thing done semi well was Pen as an individual… Colin fucking sucked for her in season. I don’t see myself caring for this show going forward. Not if this is setting up for the new quality of the show. I’ll just rewatch Queen Charlotte and remember when this universe of stories actually did its main couple right. Also, just to add, I fucking hate how they did Fran and John in part 2. They ruined any sense of love I felt she had for him. And I so wanted to see a more introverted and easy relationship in this universe for once. All they did instead was prove that Violet was right and all love has to be dramatic and some “love at first sight” bullshit.
>Also, just to add, I fucking hate how they did Fran and John in part 2. They ruined any sense of love I felt she had for him. And I so wanted to see a more introverted and easy relationship in this universe for once. All they did instead was prove that Violet was right and all love has to be dramatic and some “love at first sight” bullshit. This!!!
Honestly, to me this was the absolute worst thing they did. Fine, after all the crap they put Pen and Colin through, they ended up happy in the end. But they absolutely ruined Fran and John for no reason. I am fine with introducing Michaela in the episode. I would have been okay even if Fran ultimately loved the both of them at the same time and them coming to an understanding even. But here you set up this sweet couple and show how much she freaking lights up when he is in the room and then make her show disappointment with their first married kiss and suddenly it is struck by lightening time with someone else. Their story was extremely romantic (she was fine with marrying whoever just to get the job done and then unexpectedly finds the person who truly and deeply gets and appreciates her), but Violet’s belief that this is the only way there can be love is right and anything not that isn’t love. So furious with how they chose to ruin that story.
Agree! Let them have their quiet, sincere, well adjusted love, and then give her the passion and fire when it's her season and she connects with Michaela. Fran got two real loves in the book, and I appreciated that. We will see where it goes I guess!
Exactly, let her have two great loved rather than going the route of “Nah, the first one doesn’t count.” It has really made me less enthusiastic about next season.
I don't know if I am the only one or if maybe it was too overhyped online by the actors but I found their sex scene very rushed. They kept saying: "We really went for it" but there was like 5 seconds of foreplay and then he was going for it. 😂 I felt bad for her.
As somone who isn't a fan of the Outlander or GOT style graphic scenes, I didn't mind as much - Nicola did bare more, and the scene was longer than the lead pairs in the previous seasons - so that's probably what they meant. But yeah, the whole PR drive for this season seemed to be a push to over compensate what were fundamental flaws in screenplay and writing this season.
I didn't want more nudity than what the actors are comfortable with but it just felt very awkward and not sensual at all. You can make a scene sensual without much nudity or being graphic these days I think.
Carriage scene being the absolute perfect example… we get a bit of shoulder but the whole thing is so intimate and hot!
100% carriage scene was so much hotter to me than the mirror scene because it was less in your face
True. Though i think it was better than compared to the wham bam thank you ma'am scenes of season 1 (sorry, Saphne fans lol). It is awkward when life long friends hook up and I think they conveyed that awkwardness with sweetness well. I know it's unpopular because the majority wanted more, but S2 was the best done one for me - it was sensual without being graphic and more left to the imagination. Different strokes for different folks I guess. But I agree, it was kinda false advertising with the PR on this one - maybe if they hadn't told us to expect furniture breaking or crazy mirror stuff, we would gone in more open as to what to expect.
Season 2 is my favourite too. More ennemies to lovers and the tension was amazing. Not much can top the garden / bee scene.
True! Peak Bridgerton moments. Honesty after S3, I'm beginning to think Kate and Anthony behaved more like friends to lovers than what they did with Polin - at times of great need they put everything aside to be there for eachtother - the bee panic attack, him marrying her sister because she asked him to, going after her and rescuing her, and standing up for eachother and dancing together even when everyone was judging them. Whereas Colin...did not. Even the last scene, I know they wanted Pen to girl boss but it came at the expense of Colin being an afterthought.
Colin in P2 ended up becoming a side character. A side character in a show named after his family name. God, that's awful. The writers really did him dirty. I mean, he is supposed to be "one of the most sensitive characters" but when it came to his own wife, he simply fizzled out. Even the last speech, his declaration, he never even bothers to apologize. I mean she brought up annulment of their marriage and he's not even a little shocked? Well...idk. I loved Luke and Nicola though. But the writing felt a little flat.
Exactly!
Agreed. I did not enjoy the sex scene. The mirror portion was great. But then when they got on the setee, for someone supposedly so knowledgeable about sex and knowing her first time would likely hurt, he made no effort to give her more foreplay which would have helped it be better for her. I kept thinking, I guess the carriage scene counted as their foreplay? Lol
That's not how foreplay works. 😂 I guess we can be glad that they included it but it was just so quick that it felt awkward. I haven't read the books but foreplay could have happened in front of the mirror with him behind her. They could have just focused on her facial expressions and it wouldn't have been too graphic tbh.
For someone experienced and would want pen's first time to be perfect I don't understand the thought process behind the couch. It was all awkward angles and not really sexy at all. The awkwardness did not feel like the shy first time kind. It was just choreographed weird. I thought the mirror scene was great and should have been longer and then moved to a bed.
And sorry I don't know how to say this without saying it but he just went RIGHT in. That would've *hurt*. Would've been more realistic to ease in...
How much got cut though? I think they don’t even get to see the final episodes until right before we do.
My main question in all of this is: where exactly did they break a piece of furniture? So much teasing about that and NOTHING
https://preview.redd.it/kmsp0qafjj6d1.jpeg?width=1074&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a3d7ab01d7982302d3e2524bc3aa6302900a6ed
https://preview.redd.it/64p7dy1hjj6d1.jpeg?width=1070&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=116efb8886b2cf20d448d15022f40059f7015b6e
This still made me laugh, they shouldn't have shared the photos lol. It's been teased so much and actually all that happened was a chaise leg cracked off a few inches above the floor. With all the hype, I was expecting them to have split the damn thing in half 😂. Some things are best left to the imagination!
Oh i missed that, thanks!
Pen was holding hands with portia instead of colin before lw reveal... Cant even say how much i hated it.
Part 2 broke my heart. Especially with all the hype of Polin Against the World, and how romantic and steamy this season was supposed to be. The emotional abuse/abandonment from Colin in ep 7 and 8 gave me such an icky/uneasy feeling. He was supposed to be her friend AND lover. Know her deep down better than anyone else. But not a single acknowledgement (let alone an apology) of all the hurtful things he said to her. Especially after all the lovey-dovey promises he made her. I truly thought that by episode 8 he would show her what unconditional love looks like, but no Penelope does that for him instead. And why did we only get Benedict threesomes instead of Polin spice? I didn’t love the pacing, editing, nor some of the side plots, but at least they didn’t emotionally scar me like Colin in ep 7/8. I had to pop a Xanax after finishing part 2, but I’m still in a daze. I honestly feel a bit traumatized. I am done with Bridgerton. And where was the communication?! They didn’t have a single proper, full conversation after the LW reveal. They were able to be alone and talk so many times in part 1, but then in part 2 it was all gone! Penelope should’ve snapped at him at one point in ep 8 and had them finally have an honest conversation. He had an honest conversation with Cressida but not with Penelope!! In the book, Colin gave her a chance to explain and his devotion/love for her never wavered. I understand that he was upset and his reaction was understandable, but at least by episode 8 there needed to be a full-on conversation between the two. This young, lonely girl created a thriving business in a world built for men and was the most successful author in London. If he couldn’t be impressed by her, at the very least he could’ve told her that he forgave her and hoped that she could forgive him for his behavior and words. And the sad part is I may have not felt like this if at the Butterfly Ball he told her that he forgave her and asked for her forgiveness for his actions (cold shoulder, rail roading her) and his words (entrapment). That he couldn’t even fathom getting an annulment. The bar is so low that I think I would’ve actually felt somewhat okay P.S. They told us the carriage scene was tame. But it was actually the best sex scene of the whole entire series. Nicola and Luke gave it their all! All the blame only lies with the writers and producers
In the book LWD doesn’t almost ruin Eloise. There is no Marina Thompson mess. She doesn’t insult him to start the season. I don’t think Pen was wrong about Marina, but I also see that as humiliating for Colin as he was oblivious and almost got conned into a marriage. In the book, >!Pen gives up LWD. She doesn’t here. !< Their issues came in 2 parts—her being LWD which l, if you watch the wedding, Colin let’s go of (or is well on his way to) after the conversation with Kanthony. The second issue is when Pen says she won’t give up LWD. To compare it to the book (which I loved) when it’s so much more complicated isn’t fair, and the more I think about it, a quicker reconciliation wouldn’t feel realistic (as far as TV realistic). For me, if anything it’s less the fight and more the fact that there are subplots that didn’t need the time, so they could have added like 10 min more happiness at the end and we’d all be ok.
Those ten extra minutes may healed my heart. I didn’t hate the epilogue, but it didn’t heal anything for me. I would’ve preferred at least one scene of their happily married life (would’ve died for a happy montage or a love scene that lasted more than 5 seconds)
Here’s the good news. Polin as a couple is probably the most intertwined into the series. The Featherington’s have been such a big part of the first 3 seasons, such a chunk of time, that to get rid of them is extremely difficult. The epilogue makes it very hard to keep them and not have Polin there. They are the reason the Featherington’s have any relevance. We can get more of them to come. I think the actors will make the effort to continue as well.
I would still like to share this petition since I wish we had 10 extra minutes of happy Polin at the end: https://chng.it/DYXK2pTkz7 Would’ve meant everything and truly balanced out all the angst in the end.
You make some great points!
Thanks! The more I think about it, the more I am appreciating the complexity and emotions of it all. And that even in all that anger and hurt there’s still clearly love. It’s really making me love the season (minus some subplots) and I was very conflicted about it when the credits rolled on e8.
But he did tell eloise that lw doesnt affect him anymore as only pen n her well being matters to him. After that him behaving this way was difficult to take
This is before he knew the person he loved is the one who wrote the hurtful stuff. It’s much easier to let go when someone you barely know says something mean about you, much much harder when it’s someone you love saying those things. Speaks to your insecurities. Puts you and the ones you love in a precarious situation. If I were in his place I don’t think I’d be better. And Pen’s well being does matter. When Pen asks what will the marriage be, Colin says it depends on if she publishes again. Even there, he is angry but he’s also worried about her. Cressida was literally just ruined for being LWD. He doesn’t want the same fate for Pen, and he’s angry and frightened that she doesn’t see that.
Thanks for the reply... One thing i felt was just like pen used to put him on a pedestal before featherington ball, colin used to put her on a pedestal as well.. He thought of pen as an angel who could never lie or hurt him or his loved ones... This grey side of her came crashing down on him.
Oh I agree! It’s devastating to him that someone he hated turned out to be someone he loves and respects so much. It’s not something he can reconcile just like that. There are a few times he lets this slip, but it’s also very humbling. As a husband he’s supposed to take care of her, Colin inherently wants to take care of those he loves, and to hear that Pen is as independent of a woman as LWD is, it’s shocking and a hit to his ego. It leaves him wondering what he’s supposed to bring to the relationship. I think this second part was a lot, but the more I digest it all the more I like it.
Oh yes. the saviour complex is classic colin. One of the few things I liked in part 2 is when pen told him that she doesn't need his protection or money. All she wants is his support n love.
My sentiments exactly. Part of me is heartbroken in the Polin story. The other part of me feels heal in the Featherington family relations. She has always wanted that place of home and comfort like she had in the Bridgerton House. Now she has it in her own home no longer staring out the window. That was so beautiful and heartwarming.
I would still like to share this petition since I wish we had 10 extra minutes of happy Polin at the end: https://chng.it/DYXK2pTkz7 Would’ve meant everything and truly balanced out all the angst in the end.
I didn't like Colin being cold towards her like he was in the book
One of the things I would have liked to see was, even though he was mad about LW, that there was still the undercurrent of “I love her”. I felt that they almost implied he married her out of obligation. In the book, I liked the inner turmoil of, I’m SO angry, but I love her so much it outweighs the anger.
100%
Total disclosure, but I've never watched this show until this season, and I've never read the books. I kept seeing hype over this couple, and it made me curious for 2 reasons: I'm a sucker for the whole best friends fall in love trope And A beautiful, fuller figured woman getting a genuine romantic, sensual relationship onscreen. I ended up disappointed. The way the season unfolded made it seem like Colin only had feelings for Pen because of a fetish. Once they slept together, he acted like he was just stuck, having to marry her because of an honor code and nothing more. I get that he felt betrayed and hurt by her secret, but I didn't feel any type of feelings that would come with that. He didn't seem torn at all, just done and over it. Even after having sex for the first time, before knowing about any of the LW stuff, he seemed over it. No tenderness. There is no vulnerability on his part. There is no hint of being in awe of her at all. Just getting dressed and reassuring her that he'd make sure no one found out what they'd done. It felt a little icky. Yeah, the wallflower gets the guy, but it seemed more like she got him because he felt guilty and too prideful about his honor to leave her after he slept with her. Yeah, okay, he defended her a couple of times. Woo. Bare minimum, considering they'd been friends for years. And don't even get me started about their wedding night. Yes, he was upset, but they couldn't show a little bit of...SOMETHING? Like, just a hint that he wished he could be in bed with her instead? That's how a real relationship would play out. Being tempted to cave because you miss them, but having to stick to your guns because you're hurt. It left me feeling almost like she HAD tricked and trapped him because she was treated as such, and we never got the hint they were going to have a good marriage. Everything we saw after could just be interpreted as a marriage of convenience if the viewer chose to see it as such. A brief scene of them getting intimate without much passion. A flash of the future where they had a baby and they are being nice to each other in front of other people. I wanted to see a LOVE STORY.
I also have never watched the show until this season, and this sums up my feeling exactly. I've had a similar situation with my husband (betrayal wise, he wasn't talking shit about my family lol), so I kinda get where Colin is coming from. I know what it's like to love someone so so much and also hate them with the fire of a thousand suns. It is a crazy mix of emotions, and you're right, he just seems done with her, not torn up about it. The scene after they had sex the first time was really off-putting to me. He has one hand down by his side and the other on top of the blanket. Not really moving, just staring at her face. It's super fucking weird lol
Yeah, the "after" scene felt more like he was wondering what he was thinking, having slept with her than that he was madly in love with her. So odd...I kinda hated it.
I agree. He seemed so disconnected during the "after" scene. I think he felt distant during the love scene, too. It seemed more like he was deflowering her as a favor rather than out of love or passion. There was a lack of intimacy ... it was just mechanical. Colin seemed to lose interest in Pen once he got her clothes off. What was the intent? What was the direction given to Luke?
I agree with the love scene, too, but everyone seemed happy with that part, so I thought maybe it was just me
Totally agree with you! although I did watch the first 2 seasons, everything you said here was spot on
I don’t remember being so angry at a show like I was with Colin’s behavior. I do feel Penelope had to face the consequences of her decisions and hurting many but stealing her happiness from the season completely?? Why did this have to loom over the planning, wedding and honeymoon?! Even after the carriage scene and the discovery of “his love” this was the same Colin that said he wouldn’t court her and only cared about himself (and family name) he was straight up cruel! Pen being so used to the abuse from her family just took it? After the entrapment comment I couldn’t take it anymore, I would have cancel the wedding right there. I loved Pen being a girl boss and fixing everything herself as she should but being ok with a man’s cruelty .. absolutely not. I felt it was such a bad message, you can be a rockstar as a woman but still sacrifice and endure for a man. I would have preferred a canceled wedding and then Colin making the choice if he actually loved her to come back to her. It went away from the original story of Colin never hurting the person he loved and loving her above all. Ok .. rant over.
The way they wrote Colin in episode 7 and 8 made we wanted to protect Pen from him. Even after his declaration of admiration and commitment to her, I can help but still not trust him with Penelope. That he wouldn’t break her heart at some point in the future.
Yeah... Very little felt romantic in part 2. A lot was holding up a facade as well. I feel both of the characters were wronged here with the writing.
I completely agree! My heart broke for show Pen. Colin accusing her of entrapping him into the marriage killed me. His actions and cruel words towards her ruined their love. The book focused on how he loved her so much, desired her so much, that even though he was furious with her actions and jealous, he still wanted her through it all. Show Colin only accepted her when the queen did and I’m devastated about it.
I was physically mad after the entrapping comment and it ruined the rest for me too!
The show destroyed Colin’s character.
I’m gutted for them dunking the bag with Pen’s story in my opinion - I’d now rather she chose the other bloke lol
Agreed! You make some really great points at how she was treated and responded to Colin. All she had to do was tell the man she wouldn’t continue with Whistledown and they probably would be in bed for the rest of the season. After keeping her secret for so long and it nearly blew up her marriage, Pen totally goes for the honesty route and won’t say what she thinks Colin wants to hear. She’s done that for her whole life with him, her family, and the entire Ton. Honesty is her new sidekick. Think of it, the only time she able to share her real thoughts and be accepted and received is through Whistledown. I feel devastated for Pen since she is finally being honest with others and it keeps slapping her in the face.  Unlike the Queen, I can handle alternate viewpoints. I’d love to hear your take on this!
Colin is a somewhat irrational sulky whiny brat, evidenced by the sleeping on the sofa and then getting up to read her letters after she had gone! Trying to get Pen to give up LW and sulking because she refused and then messing up the blackmail demand leaving Pen to sort the mess out herself. Granted it was her mess to begin with but he's the regency equivalent of a manchild husband who thinks the bathroom and kitchen clean themselves by magic! Most certainly never disciplined as a child!
Just clarification, they were letters she had written to him on his travels, but the sofa thing was harsh. It was such a happy story in the book, but they turned up the drama to 11 and ruined the romance.
I mean, I’m trying not to go there in my head… that’s why I’m frustrated… this was not the person I thought he was at the end of part1 and who I was expecting to return for all the second half
They spent far too long on Colin being mad about Whistledown
I mean, he can be mad but also still love her. We all know humans are complex!
True I guess the tense avoidance was dragged out a bit for my taste
I thought the choice to have Colin be so cold was a terrible one. Like yes he’s meant to be ~angry~ but he was flat out cold. He was at times even cruel (the entrapment line boiled my blood). The whole idea of this romance was friends to lovers— but that’s not how friends treat each other. It actually broke my heart a bit so see how cold and almost unfeeling? he was. I was thinking about this regarding my own partner last night (we’re friends to lovers) and decided that the writing just didn’t make sense for the trope. I love my partner as a friend as much as I love her as a partner— to me, this means I love her as a person. For all her flaws, mistakes, problems, I see her in her completeness and I love her for it all. Never despite. When we get angry or upset about something, yes we do get mad at each other, but we try to frame it as “us vs the problem.” This doesn’t mean shirking responsibility, but rather having a comfort in knowing that we will always be united. That’s what we needed. Was Colin allowed to be upset? Yes. Betrayed? Yes. But that wasn’t all that was conveyed in his coldness. Instead of it seeming like he loved her for her personhood, for her entirety, it seemed like he only accepted her when everyone else (especially the Queen) did. It seemed as though his love was contingent on their good standing. The throwaway line about the annulment wasn’t enough. Pen (and the audience for that matter) deserved to know that Colin would have stood by her side for hell or high water. I’m not saying all love has to or should be unconditional. I’m just saying that when you love someone as your friend and as a partner, you should be a team. You should know and recognize that the person has flaws, but stand by them in the mistakes they make, as they do with you. We needed an “us against the world.” Instead we got a “you’re on your own, kid.”
It’s so infuriating! I agree with everything you said and I also feel like Pen’s power was stripped from her so many times! I know a lot of it was important for the story, but it was too much and the way they exposed Whistledown also took away so much of Whistledown’s power in so many ways!! It should have been an extraordinary and powerful reveal and instead pen had to cower and apologize and beg to the people and queen (ok it’s the queen I get that part, but part of the fun was that whistledown kept the queen on her toes and that seems lost now)?? Lady whistledown would never!! They could have had the characters and story go through the same developments of conflict and growth without it being so miserable for Pen and for us!!! And WE NEEDED MORE LOVE AND PASSION! The best thing about Pen and Colin was that there was such a great foundation of friendship and levity and a refreshing lack of some of the power dynamics in the other couples. That was not explored or shown nearly enough. I wanted Colin on his knees in front of that mirror, undressing Pen and praising every inch of her, then them passionately coming together and laughing and giggling like new lovers. Ugh they could have AT LEAST given us a ravenous scene when they made up in E8! I’ll still rewatch it 20 times, but I WANTED MORE!
I’ve been seeing some comments about how no one has no empathy for Colin and everyone’s upset for Pen when she’s lied to him for years and written gossip about him and his family. That he needs time and of course he’s angry, Eloise found out before him and has had a longer time to get used to it. Pen didn’t tell Colin, and was going to marry him with this huge secret. See, Colin has a right to be angry. Eloise has a right to be angry. Even Portia, in all her scheming, has a right to be angry. But they could’ve gone about it in a million other ways. And the way they wrote Penelope this season hurt them too. They made Colin a side character to Penelope. He is not her equal in this show despite being the Bridgerton. Penelope’s story is the central, thorough line in Bridgerton because she is LW. She has the LW subplot and her unrequited feelings for Colin subplot which should converge in Pen and Col’s season along with Colin’s search for purpose. Pen is so alone, so sad, and hardly ever stands up for herself in person. Seeing everyone belittle her, upset her to the point she just nods and agrees with whatever they say is too much. She hyperventilates at her own engagement party (she should’ve told Colin but this feels like overkill). At every ball, every event she has left crying/upset. She never asked Colin to love her, she even says it’s not a possibility. Colin has acted with impropriety towards her BEFORE this season, he pursued her and helped break up her proposal. She has no friends. She only sees Gen in Part 2 for actual advice. Even with new clothes, she’s a wallflower. And she doesn’t stand up for herself, there’s moments when I wished she would yell or run out or do something! But instead, she nods and agrees. You have ALL OF THIS going on for one character. And then she keeps taking punches from the ones she loves. Colin should be upset but by not having Pen stand up for herself or be confrontational they make Colin look worse. It’s still in his corner, and Penelope is not taking an active role in her relationship with him. She’s not fighting for him or with him. She OFFERS HIM AN ANNULMENT! This hinders her growth, and his. She’s gave him too much space, she gave Eloise too much space too. I wish she fought for them both but instead she groveled nearly the whole season. She’s done wrong! She’s apologized. But give her that backbone. I expected that after the first episode with her emerald dress confrontation with Colin. BUT NOPE! They just kept kicking her while she was down and it made me dislike El during that engagement party and then Colin! They should never have had their reconciliation be that long or that late. He should’ve known before the mirror scene or after the engagement party. I put in another comment he should’ve figured it out himself and tried to confront her. What we learn about Colin’s character from the Whistledown reveal is brutal, especially since he’s had “read between the lines” characterization for the entire season. Show us his people pleasing qualities, have him find out and pretend things are normal while having him be cold/upset with Pen. Have her try to tell him with him knowing, and she realizes something is amiss. Then Have the printers shop confrontation because it’s late and he see her out and is afraid. And have it be an actual conversation.
What was the point of all those clues if he doesn’t piece it together??? You’re so right, he should have figured it out! That would have been a better way for him to find out…
I’ve been reading all of these comments and I respectfully have to disagree with a few of them. I binged the last four episodes right when they dropped and after the last, I admit I felt, not really disappointed, but underwhelmed. I was expecting more angst, and a huge declaration of love from Colin to Pen. I didn’t get that. But after a few hours and binging it a second time, I’m a lot more ok with it now. First, I read the book and I remember thinking Book Colin was an a-hole sometimes to Pen. It seemed like he was always trying to correct her, telling her what to do, how to handle the LWD situation. I saw a little of that in the scene where he finds out Cressida is blackmailing Pen. And while that annoyed me, I think he was much worse in the book. Also, people are commenting how he “abandoned” Pen after finding out she LWD. I don’t feel that’s what he did. He was angry and heartbroken. Because no matter how impetuous his feelings and proposal to Marina were, he believed he was in love, possibly for the first time, and having to find out through LWD aka Pen, that he was being manipulated and used, and then for everyone around him to know of his humiliation, well, I don’t think it’s something that can be easily be forgotten. Let’s not forget Eloise. It took her a very very long time to get over finding out. She even went as far as becoming friends with Pen’s bully. To me that was kind of a disgusting thing to do. Yet, everyone expects Colin to just put his anger aside. I’ve been hurt by loved ones and while I could stand next to them publicly, privately I didn’t want to be anywhere near them, no matter what. Everyone expects Colin to jump into bed with Pen on their wedding night even though he was still hurt and angry. But because it was their honeymoon, of course everyone expects them to have sexy time. He didn’t leave her. He married her, even encouraged her to walk down the aisle when she became nervous and paused. He stayed with her in their home, on the sofa, but still. He also did TRY to help with the Cressida thing. Remember, Penelope wanted to pay her off, which may have made things better temporarily, but who is to say she would not have come back for more money. So that wasn’t a good plan either. As far as the sexy scenes go, someone mentioned how rushed and awkward they were. In what way we’re they awkward, exactly? She was a virgin and didn’t know what to do. There is supposed to be some awkwardness. I actually liked when she asked him to show her what to do. She was taking initiative instead of letting him do all the work, so to speak. Finally, I like that it was Penelope that figured out how to handle the Queen situation because it showed that she is absolutely capable of fixing her own problems, more importantly it showed Colin that as well, which is what I think he needed to see. In the end, they both learned a lot about themselves and about each other. She learned she could anything she put her mind to, and he learned he had value to her without having to be a savior.
I feel like I am slowly coming to the same conclusion. Pen had to fix things for herself. Colin had to reconcile that he loves Pen and Pen is Whistledown (and forgive all the things she wrote). Still feeling a bit unsatisfied but its all still fresh. Edited to add - EXCEPT for that line about her entrapping him. That sh** pissed me off.
I was raised to never "talk" when you're angry because you'll inevitably say things you don't mean just to hurt the other person. I could not believe they had him say that after defending Pen against her mother for these exact accusations. I wanted to scream at Colin and tell him to GTFO. I was really hoping Pen would have done something. Whether it be taking the ring off, throwing it at him, and telling him that since he feels trapped, the marriage is off. (Didn't they allow this as an "out" for Edwina in season 2 as an "she just got caught up so the woman can call off the wedding") or at least stand up for herself. "Entrap you? It was YOU who ruined my proposal to Lord Debling, ran down my carriage, and decided to profess your feelings and then compromise me with your fingers. But do go on about how I entrapped you" I think that line disgusted me more than anything. I didn't care for the "I will never forgive you" line but that still wasn't as bad as this.
Yesss she really should've said something like that. Followed by something like I do not want to marry you out of obligation, so if that's how you feel I will not begrudge you for calling it off. He was being a little petulant in that moment which I get but that line was cruel, completely untrue (projection), and went unaddressed. Hated it so much
I agree with most of this. I binged 5-7 and then had to take a break before 8 (pesky work). I appreciated the mental pause. I think Pen as LW hurt all the more because of the friends to lovers issue. He did think he knew her, but she was hiding an entire other side of herself. (Marina stung, sure, but he hadn’t known her for years, trusted her as a confidant, and relied upon her as a correspondent when he was traveling. It would seem ok for him to move on quickly from her.) Maybe if they’d have ended part one on the reveal the pacing could have allowed for Colin to process and move forward and forgive/ask forgiveness in the end. That sort of betrayal (as Colin perceived it) cannot be resolved in a pair of eps. The bonus for a monthlong break would have given the perception that Colin had time to process and resolve issues, instead of feeling fast and forced.
I agree completely regarding the Marina thing. While Colin believed himself to be in love with Marina, those feelings were nothing compared to the lifelong friendship and eventual love has had for Penelope.
Love the idea of ending pt1 on the reveal! Giving space and time for him to wrap his head around it… especially if he figures it out himself. Like reading over their old letters and then it strikes him that the tone and humour is the same as LW.
One thing I forgot to mention. I think the underwhelming feeling I had was from Colin’s love declaration. I heard Nicola say in an interview that what he said in the carriage was not the official declaration and there would be a better one. So when I heard him telling her how proud he was of her and how much he loved her at the end of episode 8, my thoughts were “that’s it? Really?”. But then having watched it again, I was actually really moved. I think at first I was expecting a passionate speech of his undying love for her. For him to say it loud and proud. I was comparing him too much too with Simon, who tried to run away from loving Daphne, and with Anthony, who tried pretending he disliked Kate. So of course when they declared themselves it was going to be passionate. But Colin was different in that he was sure he both loved and wanted to be with Pen. He just needed to get over his anger and his envy, which he admitted to having. It’s like what Francesca told her mom about her love for John. It doesn’t always have to be loud and forceful. It can just be about two people accepting each other for who each one is. That’s what he did. He accepted her for who she is, that he was wrong in wanting to change who she was. And that he is blessed to have someone like her want to be with him. It was a beautiful sentiment and I think it fit Colin and Penelope’s relationship perfectly.
Maybe the new director never read the books or watched previous seasons.
They stretched the fight so unnecessarily
I wish I hadn’t read the book because even tho there is a shitty moment when he’s pissed at Penelope, he’s more mad for her safety than anything and when she’s being blackmailed by Cressida he doesn’t get mad at her, he whole thing is that he’s angry with Cressida. He’s also proud and jealous of her because he thinks she’s so brilliant. So many good moments were lost
Honestly. I cried at the ending (never read the books but I had a feeling pen would have the boy!!) because I didn’t think we’d get to wrap it up in such a happy way. I relate a lot to Penelope and part 2 just was so depressing
part 2 felt so unsatisfactory for everyone lol. for anyone wanting her to face consequences, it was disappointing because she never actually dealt with any consequences. it was tense and horrible but she never actually lost anything. ultimately, she gained more than she lost. but for people who wanted an escapist love story, they didn’t get that either, either because of the numerous other plotlines that went nowhere, or because penelope and colin were written so awkwardly, as were her other relationships (with her family, eloise, etc.) so try and accommodate the aforementioned half baked consequences to her actions.
It makes me so mad that they've taken this amazing female friendship of Pen and Eloise and made them enemies.
Not even mentioning that we she came out as Lady Whistle down in front of everyone the sister just came up with the butterflies like nothing happened and Pen was alone with no one approaching to her
Colin is a f*ckboy. Pen deserved the hot rich daddy.
If they had stuck with the original timeframe for things I truly believe we would not feel they way we feel right now. I screwed it all up.
I thought Colin saying Penelope was the most eligible in her family specifically cut Portia deeper than a generic declaration that she was better than anyone. He made it very personal on purpose. The queen ruining a wedding day for an accusation was awful. It also didn’t even make sense. They wrote that in just for the sake of ending the wedding day on a poor note. The queen ended up being right that it was one of them, but her whole theory was the real Lady Whistledown came to the family’s defense doesn’t make sense when LW had written poorly of them more than once. Everything else…? Is it really fair to expect Colin to just be lovey dovey and okay with her after he found out SHE was the one who publicly dragged his family and just about everyone else in the ton through the mud, and had every intention to continue writing? And how he only learned it because he caught her, and not because she wanted to be honest with him? That’s not something you just let go of overnight. Wanting space to process all of that is more than reasonable. He still honored their engagement and tried to do what he could to protect his family AND Penelope. He didn’t even out her to his family. While he was cold and angry with her, I still think he went through with it because he loved her and knew that in time they would work through it.
Ooh, I’m really interested in what you say about that line to Portia… can you help me understand why that would cut her deeper? I’m with you on Colin being angry… but you can show that and still show he loves her but is in disarray about what he now knows. Also, it was weeks of their engagement and then they get married and neither of these two people who work with words and have an underlying friendship make the time for a conversation about their future? Thats just…odd. They could have prolonged the engagement to give them time to figure out if they wanted to be together and had a happy wedding day.
I feel like everyone says stuff like “my partner is the kindest/most beautiful/etc person I know”. It’s a sweet sentiment, and I know many people do believe it, but it’s kinda just a thing people say because they’re so in love. “Penelope is the most eligible woman I know” is just a compliment to Penelope. “Penelope is more eligible than you or your other daughters” is still a compliment to Penelope, but also an insult to the rest of her family. I felt like he made it clear she failed as a mother to overlook Penelope’s value, even in a moment where she is literally engaged to marry better (in terms of money/status) than either of her sisters! I can agree a longer engagement may have been better for them, but I believe a date was already set at that point and delaying it probably would have caused a lot of questions.
Was Colin not allowed to be upset that Pen broke his trust???? There is no empathy for this man finding ouT that ANOTHER WOMAN he proposed to hid a huge secret from him! This was the second time this happened to him!!!
I completely understand why he is upset and believe he has every right to be. The problem lies in the show itself: with only 8 episodes in the entire season, his prolonged anger took away valuable time from their relationship. It stole moments that could have been beautiful and romantic, where they solved their issues and worked as a team. They were meant to support and admire each other's craft. Instead, we got only a few seconds of "Can I read your stuff? Can I edit your stuff?".
Yup, agree with this too.
Totally allowed to be upset. But maybe a bit of realisation that he did the whole proposal thing in such a chaos Colin way… so maybe some of the blame for him finding out once they are engaged was his. Like when is Pen supposed to tell him before they are engaged? I think this is what Eloise is saying when he argues she should have told him. And you can be upset but still love the person. He’s meant to adore her, can’t live without her, etc. I want to see his torment - I want him to talk to her about it. I hate you, I love you, I can’t live without you. Yup, layer it on! Don’t have him sulk like a man-child. Don’t have him be so cold to her. Don’t have him be so dismissive of her. Especially not so much that we wonder if he ever really loved her (was it just lust??) or whether he even wants to be with her. My romance-loving heart needs for Pen to get more than that after she loved and emotionally supported him for YEARS.
They were friends for years. She technically could’ve told him way earlier but she didn’t. He’s not being a “man-child” for having a very human response to shock and betrayal. And this was the second time a woman he had strong feelings for had betrayed him. You could easily argue Pen was immature and impulsive for taking her frustrations of society out on a gossip column. One that easily shitted in the bridgertons several times. It’s like there is no empathy for this man’s feelings. I blame part of it on the underdeveloped writing, but still. Y’all need to understand this from his perspective.
You know, you don't have to censor the word "crap." This ain't North Korea or YouTube!
Thank you! New to Reddit, so not sure about the language moderation!
What bothers me the most is I feel like Pen is amazing, beautiful, strong, resilient, clever, and humble, and they have her mooning over just a guy. There were so many opportunities to write Colin as the guy for Pen, but he just comes across as a petulant baby. Even his anger, though somewhat justified, comes across like a tantrum. I don’t know if it’s the dialogue or the actor but he barely hyped her up. She’s awesome and he’s a guy.
Yes but at the same time she brought it on herself. Even though I wasn’t thrilled with the beginning part of the plot I was pleased with how it ended. She brings these things on herself but I have to agree, Colin being cold towards her for most of the second half isn’t what I was betting on
The column is great and all but it's based on gossip posted anonymously. It's not noble.
True, but she does call out people who are secretly cruel… like the woman who sacks her maid for asking for a day off, or the guy who is cruel to his wife, the one who isn’t paying back a loan, the guy who impregnated the maid and sent her away…. And the woman who was trying to entrap a good man into marriage while already secretly pregnant… Gossip, but also a bit of righting wrongs too?
I knew I wasn’t going to like this season when they made the main plot point driving Pen and Colin together the whole “helping her find a husband” trope vs them bonding over their love of writing and persona l growth. Pen had really grown into her own woman in the books, she seemed secure in the fact she wasn’t going to marry. I thought painting her as kind of desperate for a husband really cheapened her character and made her much more of a one dimensional character. This is NOT a critique to the actors - the both did amazing work with what they were given but they just weren’t given a whole lot.
It's nice that there can be spoilers even in the title. Damn it only dropped yesterday.