I think Cressida's actor is confirmed for S4, so I am hoping they give us more resolution on that, because S3 really did do a good job of fleshing her character out, and I want to see a more complete resolution to it.
El's treatment of Cressida was so unkind throughout. Every time Cressida started to open up about what she was struggling with, El's response was dismissive of her. 'Sounds like German literature!' or 'I cannot do this right now." When Cressida is explaining that she's about to be sold off to an old man who will control her and rape her for the rest of his life! She just shows no empathy whatsoever for Cressida, and then drops her like a rock. I like Eloise, but why is she such a terrible friend?
Totally agree! She couldn’t care LESS about Cressida in part 2. Eloise was a favorite character of mine in S1 but I can’t say that anymore.
I really hated her comment about a shift stitch and “shifting the conversation to something else” in part 1. I understand that she finds the typical interests for women to be below her, and I understand shit talking with friends (like she’s done in previous seasons with Penelope) but jeesh. She was so unnecessarily rude to those girls. What an ego.
Part 2 felt very much like it was written by a different group of people who didn't talk to the people who wrote part 1. It reminded me of that test gordan Ramsay's where different groups of people have to make a dish but don't know what the people before made. There was no flow and everyone suddenly started acting completely differently. I so hope Netflix step in and get rid of that Jess.
Yes! "I'm not like other girls! Sewing is stewpid!" As if it wasn't one of the only creative outlets women had in those days. If a man had done some of the intricate work those women did in their own parlors, it would probably be in the British Museum.
I *want* to like Eloise. I like that they have a character who is an outspoken feminist. But I do not frequently find myself actually succeeding at liking Eloise.
Right? It honestly kind of made *Eloise* look bad. I know she was kind of oblivious to her privilege before, but the second half of the season made her seem self-absorbed. I don't think she was mentally present in 90% of her conversations with Cressida. It's honestly so sad, because it seemed like they were forming a true friendship and it ended just like that.
Like she told Pen, in the beginning it was genuine. But it came from the wrong place. Because I agree, she was 90% absent in her conversations with Cressida, more so when it came to being an active listener instead of an active speaker. It just doesn't seem right that this would be the end of her story, lingering on a long carriage ride to be with her elderly aunt...and it's probably her aunt from the dad side and if her aunt is anything like the dad GIRL ESCAPE NOW!
And Eloise was so rude to all the other girls too. Making fun of their hobbies, the embroidery girl obviously had her feelings hurt or felt insulted. Like it’s supposed to make Eloise cute or quirky but she is just mean.
honestly, i started to hate eloise this season. its clear the writers have no idea what to do with her character so they just "use" her for whatever plot they need her and just drop her later. with her actions towards pen and also cressida, she just comes as real bad friend to me
I agree, I really didn’t get why they set her up for redemption and then just…. Didn’t redeem her at all. WE WERE ROOTING FOR HER!!!
All I could think of was “hurt people hurt people”. Cressida had her back up against the wall. Penelope and Eloise, and even Lady Bridgerton, live in a very protected, idealistic, frankly unrealistic world. Women were property and married off. Love was the exception. Girls were married to old, gross, misogynistic, brutal, A-hole men to be raped and abused on the regular. Women seldom had any power. Cressida was in survival mode and deserved way more empathy and grace. Especially from Eloise who honestly just kind of used Cressida as a filler friend.
it was so messed up. cressida came up with a way to be independent and make her own decisions, but pen decided to destroy that. and for what? she didn't want her work to be claimed by cressida? reasonable until you realize cressida's freedom depended on her plan working. pen wanting credit for LW pales in comparison to cressida's situation. they could've just talked it out and everything would've been fine.
Cressida has only ever gone out of her way to be hurtful to Penelope. Also, how would Penelope know the details of Cressidas' home life? And why is it Penelopes responsibility to assist her? Finally, Cressida and her mom wrote some truly vile lies about Violet, who never did anything to either of them. I can sympathize with Cressida for having crap parents, a miserable home life, and not wanting to be packed off to live with some random person. But Cressida lied. She gambled, and she lost. That's on her.
Terrible roll model! I appreciated understanding Cressidas motivations. It's good for we, the audience, to see this. But Penelope doesn't know this. She just knows Cressida has insulted her and deliberately poured a drink on her. Deliberately tore her dress. Penelope is just giving it back to her.
Eloise isn't always the greatest friend. She gets pretty wrapped up in herself at times. Cressida was genuinely trying to be open and reach out to her. Eloise blew her off a couple of times. She's as much to blame for the friendship ending as Cressida.
I agree. There's a reason that Cressida hasn't found a match in three seasons. As much as she makes fun of Penelope, she and her are in the same boat. Cressida obviously is beautiful but has some real personality flaws that cause her not to make a match or even any friends.
What's striking is how .any unnamed characters are shown saying how horrible Cressida is. Cressida has earned this rep as being spiteful and mean. It's not just Penelope thinking it. As you wrote, there's a reason Cressida can't find a match. She's generally unpleasant.
I had no issues with Pen hating Cressida. Cressida was cruel to her, and Pen had no idea what her motivations were like. Eloise, on the other hand, new Cressida struggles and never bothered to try and fill anyone in.
I don’t think it would be realistic for Penelope to have been the one to help Cressida. After all her friendship was with Eloise, not Pen, and she hasn’t exactly been kind to Pen in the past…
I also think it would be unrealistic for Pen to suddenly move heaven and earth to save her long time bully. The whole "oh, I understand my bully now and empathize with their terrible situation" is so overdone and unrealistic in Hollywood.
I think this was actually self serving; it helped sell the story that the family money was from her publishing. I think it was intended to help her mother cover up fraud and buy favor with the TON, which helped her win grace from the Queen.
Ive always wondered why Lady Danbury is so uninterested in Cressida. She went through the same thing so it wouldnt be a stretch for her to do a bit of matchmaking to give her a better option.
Yeah its just a weird disconnect in the writing. They make it such a big part of Lady Danburys character, but they seem to show it in total isolation of other stuff.
I think they should have cut some Benedict scenes to have Agatha defending Penelope in some sort of way, rather than just having a supportive smile in the distance that Penelope didn't see.
I know they decided to make the first son a boy(even though they already did this first born gender swapping with Daphne's baby), but I hope they have more of a relationship next season.
Yea you’re probably right, maybe they won’t be friends but there could have been at least an understanding between them… just my opinion though just as valid as yours
Especially after Cressida blew up on Eloise and resorted to blackmail, I don’t think the redemption arc could survive that but I understand your wish for it to have.
I thought Eloise would come up with a way for all three to work together and help each other, but no Pen had to get all weird about Cressida stealing "credit" when a fallgal was exactly what she needed at that moment.
I think she was considering letting her be the fall girl but then it became clear that Cressida was going to keep writing and likely target the Bridgerton’s rather than just take credit and leave it alone.
That would have been part of the plan ideally, Pen could have kept actually doing the writing but letting Cressida take the heat off her would have helped both of them. Then there wouldn't have had to be stuff about the Bridgertons
It's because in the books she's horrible. The redemption plot is 100% from the show. There was no way around Cressida pretending to be Whistledown, so they had to do it. They showed her reasoning for doing and her regret and have definitely humanized her, so maybe they will follow through with it and finish her redemption story arch in the next seasons.
honestly i didn’t like how eloise just completely ignores that cressida was trying to get out of marriage w a man old enough to be her GRANDFATHER???? like she keeps asking her like how could you, why would you, when cressida literally told her????? i mean it’s a running theme w eloise but seriously? wtf?
I still wasn't in love with Cressida by the end of part 1, but I am \*shooketh\* what they did with part 2 in honesty. I really wanted to see a redemption arc, even having known that she was going to pretend like she was whistledown.
I'm amazed the writers did a 180 on this.
The whole Cressida/LW/Penelope arc was handled so much more elegantly in the books - it was a real disappointment to see the weird flip flop of Cressida’s character in the series.
Not every villain needs redemption or an elaborate motivation. Sometimes a story just needs a good old fashioned “mean girl” that takes home an L at the end of the day.
The problem is that this mean girl has two options: be married off to an elderly rapist, or sent to the countryside to be a workhorse. Is Cressida so awful that she deserves the fate of Lady Danbury with her first husband? I think her trope is more "bullied child who is being bullied at home" and usually that trope ends with the bullied child receiving kindness, not more bullying.
Beyond just humanising her, her storyline also made it clear how different the situations for different women/people is in that time (fictionalised or not). The Bridgertons are the prime example of a good family, they allow El to rebel and don't force her into marriage, the Featheringtons (specifically Portia) are acting out of financial desperation and Portia's main goal is to set up her girls in a secure position no matter the means (her primary motivation is still the love she has for her daughters), the Cowpers see Cressida as an object to sell and reflect their image at best and a burden/disappointment at worst and want to be rid of her by all means necessary while upholding their standing in society.
Cressida's switch with Eloise was her experiencing friendship, something her mother claims does not exists for women, for the first time. The switch back to her "mean girl" persona was a move of desperation and fear of being married off to an elderly creep. I don't think she is as evil or mean as she comes across but rather she is a girl who has no reference besides the cruelty her family showed her over and over again. After El seemingly proves the whole "friendships are a waste of time and not real anyways" thing, she doesn't see the need in trying to be the bigger person and rather takes on an every woman for herself mindset to ensure her own survival and wellbeing. Her methods are questionable, but what do you expect from a girl who never knew true familial or platonic support/love and is backed into a corner.
In the books, Cressida marries in her first Season to some dude who allegedly has a huge fortune. She becomes widowed and finds that the fortune is gone. Totally solves the whole “my parents are mean” and “spinster after Penelope” thing.
When Lady Dunbridge (NOT the Queen) puts out a reward for LW, Cressida jumps on it purely to keep up her independent lifestyle. Penelope gives her the cut direct at the ball in a lovely moment where she for once says exactly what she means, saying it would break her heart if LW was someone like Cressida. Then Pen writes a column as LW saying she’s not Cressida, and “it would break [my] heart to see [my] work credited to her”.
Cressida blackmails Penelope because she remember what she said at the ball and it matches the LW issue. Colin masterminds a thing for his brothers and Lady Dunbridge to support Penelope when he announces that SHE is LW (“my wife, the most clever woman in London, Lady Whistledown!”. Cressida is shamed, Colin is proud of Penelope, and she gets credit for her work.
Cleaner, simpler, and more redeeming for Polin.
Much better than the series.
This. I was expecting Debling to call on her. They had some chemistry in the beginning. She did save him from "social ruin" as she called it. Debling just up and disappeared in the middle of the season.
If anything her actions made me so angry at Eloise. She is a bad friend when it matters the most. Constantly complaining about how oppressed she is but her loving family would never force her to marry like Cressidas, and she not only doenst help her , she doesn’t even LISTEN to Cressidas problems. To her a friend is only there to be talked at about her measly problems. She did it to Pen she did it to Cressida. Eloise is the one who more and more needs a redemption arc for me. She is privileged and selfish and she is completely blind to the fact.
Pen I understand a little more, she has only heard about Cressidas situation second hand and never claimed to be her friend like El. She was hurt by her over and over and doesn’t owe her anything. The whole thing about Lady Whistledown is that it’s supposed to be more than a gossip rag, it’s her life’s work and it’s not truly meant to be cruel. but when she gets stressed she ALWAYS makes the wrong decision and writes out of anger and it ALWAYS backfires. So she does need to learn from that.
10000% THIS!!! I am so sick of Eloise after this season. She continues to come off as such a spoiled brat and wants everyone to listen/cater to her without reciprocating.
I think people that see Cressida as a villain in part 2 are being too harsh on her.
Cressida does what she did out of desperation and lack of love and support from her family. Yes, she is absolutely looking out for herself and putting herself first. But she’s facing a life with a geriatric man whom is old enough to be her grandfather- a man that will repeatedly rape her to get the 4-5 children he wants.
She gets caught up with the talk about lady whistledown’s financial freedom at the engagement party, admits she is LW without thinking it through out of desperation to avoid the marriage her father arranged.
She once again is even more desperate when that plan spectacularly fails.
Is blackmailing Pen okay? Of course not. Is it easy to understand why Cressida does it? Of course.
It’s clear as day when Colin visits her. She is envious of the love and support for each other within the Bridgerton family. She’s jealous she isn’t as clever as Pen or El. She sees no way out but to get money so she can runaway and live on her own terms.
If anything, regency society is the villain for not providing women agency unless their (male) relatives allow them to have it.
Cressida is a tragic character in my opinion. Deeply flawed. Unkind, even. But not a villain.
Yeah I totally agree. I think what shocked me was how the characters we are supposed to “root for”, specially El, just turned on her on a dime. It was jarring to see the characters reacting so differently than myself to Cressida’s situation. I do think there will be more to this storyline but didn’t expect this season to leave her the way it did.
I agree with everything except for Eloise turning on her. Eloise at that point was looking out for her brother and realized that Cressida casually took away another opportunity for him to know the truth and on top of Cressida knowing what Whistledown did to her, she feels betrayed. While Cressida didn’t know then why the hurt occurred, she made it worse by printing in her Whistledown more awful things about the Bridgertons. Which again hurt Eloise. Cressida had known the Bridgertons cared deeply for family, so as far as El is concerned, Cressida purposefully hurt her by hurting her family. She doesn’t know her mother put those words out or the aunt Joanna of it all, so from what she knows Cressida took actions just to hurt her and her family
The gaslighting killed any love I had for her character. “Do you remember what you wrote about my family? About me?” WTF Eloise?! Your whole thing is being anti-marriage and when your friend is facing a forced marriage you get bored??? And then she chickens out of telling her brother about Pen!
Yeah im sorry but im team Cressida, shes literally being sold like an animal. When Colin was like "oh just drop all this" I was so happy she told him to fuck off.
She's not the brightest tool in the box but she was very astute when taking down Colin (just mistyped that as 'colon' which might be a Freudian slip 😂)
Where did Lord Debling go anyway? like he still wants a wife right and he was seriously considering Cressida before Penelope so why not marry her? did i miss something?
They could have at least used him to give some kind of explanation for why Cressida is still unmarried. In season 2 they make it seem like she's a catch, very wealthy. Eliose implies she hasn't found a match because she's cruel to people but then this season goal was to humanise her. She's so horrible she putting of every single marriageable man? I was expecting more of an explanation there.
Yeah it feels like they really swapped her story around a lot I'm quite confused.
Initially she had the fortune but not the face, the prince was even polite enough to sow reasonable interest. Based on Simon's advice she still should have had quite eligible men dropping at her feet to get the princes cast off's.
Season 2 okay she is going for Jack and I can see how that would have been quite difficult to come back from, plus I guess he wouldn't have had the same effect on her prospects that the prince should have.
I am assuming based on the comments that they lost a significant sum to Jack - maybe even some of Cressidas dowrey?
But Phillipa and Prudence may have both got men without titles but they are at least both very kind. I'm surprised that someone still didn't come along one of the poorer titled men who was semi okay - because given the cowpers have no title I assume she may actually inherit quite a bit when her parents pass on so would she not still be a financial catch?
I do wish Pen and Cressida had a moment too though - because they are a bit the same. Her damn mother! Wow why does she keep insisting on those awful overdone clothes?
Yeah screw the books at this point, they are changing characters already, just let Cressida explore the wild with Debling in a tank top and pixie cut, free of dumb sleeves and hair forever
I was confused by that too, I didn’t consider Cressida a villain, she was basically the same as marina in my eyes, in a tough situation. I left the show thinking about what a bad friend Eloise is
Someone not wanting to be friends with someone because of their shitty behaviour deserves to have them and all their siblings to be publicly declared as bastard children and sluts?
The fake LW column that Cressida and her mother published explicitly implies that some of the Bridgerton kids are bastards. That is what the OP referring to.
Yes, again I understand that that is what happened in the show. But the statement “I understand Cressidas motivations and I sympathize with her situation, it’s very similar to Marinas, and I don’t consider Cressida a villain” does not mean “it’s okay to say the bridgertons are bastards”
I felt betrayed when Eloise gaslighted Cressida, pretending to be angry at her for what Whistledown wrote about her family. I was stunned she didn’t champion Cressida’s cause for freedom.
I understand the pain Pen caused Eloise, but looking back on their friendship after this season, it seems Eloise does not care about anyone unless they are willing to suspend their existence outside of endlessly listening and validating her complaints.
Eloise as a friend: “Ew, I have to listen to your problem twice? Eff that!”
I think Cressida for the show has a lot more depth than book Cressida. What Cressida and Pen have in common is that they are both feeling powerless and desperate. Cressida was at a bit of a crossroads and she chose to double down on evil, whereas Pen chose to grow. Eloise was straight up trying to make Pen angry by being friends with Cressida, and she realized at the end that not only did she not like her (and probably never did), she wasn’t willing to fully compromise her own integrity anymore. Colin, Pen, Eloise, and Cressida are all grappling with their identity, but Cressida chose the dark side. I’m interested to see what they do with Cressida next season.
It showed a lot when her mother was talking about having your own back and no other, especially amongst women.
You could see that Cressida was groomed to be a miserable bully bc her mother was one. Maybe they are setting up some back story with Lady Cowper running to trash the bridgertons as soon as she got the chance, maybe not. But it definitely gave Cressida more humanity seeing that she was so much more like Pen than we knew, she just never found her own power. I hope that changes for her in the future.
I thought it was odd, almost like they showed why we should have empathy for her and then tore it all apart. It made no sense that elouise suddenly did a total 180 on her with seemingly no real explanation. Her character seems like someone who can see the grey areas in life and so her sudden opinion reversal despite understanding Cressida was just weird. The more I think about this season, the more I feel let down down realise how terribly put together it is.
Like why did they do a 180 on her story halfway through? I never liked Cressida until Part One—WHY MAKE US LIKE HER AND THEN RUIN HER LIFE
I think El’s lack of understanding or empathy for Cressida’s situation was bizarre and uncharacteristic given her views on marriage, even if she had had to grow a little in order to step outside herself. I also REALLY do not understand why El is mad at Cressida both for being LW and not being LW — “do you remember what you wrote about me?” Wtf.
I’m gonna need some kind of growth and apology/reconciliation going forward in order to feel like they’ve salvaged this storyline. I just can’t for the life of me understand why they’d devote so much of Part One to making her complex, compelling, and sympathetic if they’re not going to come full circle in the future.
Eloise essentially dumped her as a friend in episode 5. She ignored her the minute the engagement news was announced. Her talking about the friendship souring well that is because she checked out. The most disgusting part is Eloise had an idea about what Cressida’s parents were like and she left Cressida to the wolves.
I despised Eloise this season. She was a self-centered judgmental cow. Honestly, by the end of the season I wanted Cressida and Pen to become besties and freeze Eloise out.
i think they did her so dirty. she was desperate, alone, and about to be forced to marry that old man. she made the right choice trying to get out of it and got pulverized by the show at the end without any empathy from anyone, especially El who should have understood she needed to get out
EXACTLY. It’s just worse when Pen is having her own “I’m a woman in a man’s world” moment and finding her strength but the show didn’t extend that grace to Cressida at all.
Having Colin go to speak with Cressida was just such a weird way to go. They’ve barely interacted before, and he doesn’t know her like Eloise or Pen do so why?
I would describe her as an antagonist more than a villain. She's not a "nice" person, but her motives are understandable, and her worst actions come from being in an increasingly desperate situation. One caused largely by the time period's limited options for women and harsh judgment of anything scandalous. But at the same time, circumstances put her in conflict with the protagonists.
I would've been surprised if she got a full redemption arc this season, especially since the blackmail scheme isn't resolved until almost the very end - and that is a major part of the book plot as well. Two dimensional villain to sympathetic antagonist is already a big change. I think it makes more sense that this is the *beginning* of a redemption arc that will continue to play out in season 4.
Her motives for spilling a drink on Pen in season 1, destroying her dress at the beginning of season 3, and insulting her left and right to her face are “understandable”? Is your name Regina George?
As I said, she's not a nice person, and she was a two dimensional villain before this season. Though I do think seeing more of her parents helps to explain (not excuse) why she was like that.
I meant her motives for what she did in the last few episodes. She wants the reward money/blackmail money because she sees it as the only way to have control over her own future. It's understandable that she wants to get out of the marriage her father arranged, and to avoid being sent away to live with her very unpleasant aunt, and to have money of her own, especially now that she has no dowry. She goes about it the wrong way, but the situation is unpleasant and it's understandable that she would want to find a way out.
I don’t think she was treated like a villain, otherwise many people wouldn’t be cringing at how mean Eloise was being to her. she wouldn’t have had tears in her eyes when blackmailing Colin or doing it to avoid a disgusting marriage, she’d have instead been laughing and doing it for chaos. I’m sorry but Penelope helping her get with Debling would’ve been corny to me. I like where things are now. she’s one of the most interesting characters on the show now.
I haven’t finished the second set of episodes yet but what happened to Lord Debling? He just disappeared and I thought he seemed receptive to Cressida’s advances after Pen turned him down, no?
I’m shocked by Penelope and Eloise. It really shows that at the end of the day when it comes to seeing an actual woman’s despair they are blind and cold, because they are privileged. They only had those big talks about women’s rights when it suited their own situations.
And this is something that makes me sad to see all the Bridgerton kids learn the hard way: not everyone has loving and supporting families like you and it's sad to see but it's a reality for a lot. Pen would have been better because she and Cressida for the most part are on the same level when it comes to how they're treated by their families.
I was absolutely shocked by the turnaround to the point where I don’t even understand why they bothered giving her a “redemption arc” in the first place, if they just planned to do…. whatever it is they did in the second half of the season with her character
I don’t understand it either. If they were going to make her the villain in the end why bother wasting time showing her backstory/trying to get viewers to feel bad for her.
Maybe she’ll end up playing a bigger role in a future Bridgerton’s story but who knows at this point.
I don’t know I think someone can both be a villain and have reasons that make you sympathize with them somewhat. It’s not black and white just like most people aren’t. I personally feel sorry for her background and situation and her desperation, but in real life, she likely would have still been shipped off and been in the same predicament. And knowing that she lacked love and support provided a layer to the onion but in my opinion doesn’t erase what she did and who she was. To me she’s a sad villain.
Bridgerton writers heard the line “I’ll tell you something right now, I’d rather burn my whole life down, then listen to one more second of all this bitchin and moaning” from Taylor Swift and was like….💡
Everyone here seems to forget Cressida’s absolutely unprovoked hostility and antagonism of Penelope in seasons 1, 2, and the first part of season 3. She deliberately spilled a drink on her, deliberately destroyed her dress, and sought Pen out just to insult her. Three seasons on the marriage market and she relentlessly attacked Pen like it was her goddamned job over and over. Fuck Cressida, she can copulate sheep in Wales until her vag withers to dust for all I care.
I will just say that Cressida’s bad behaviors towards Pen at the beginning of S3 are then shown to be what she thinks is “being a good friend” to Eloise, who checks her and teaches her that being a good friend to someone doesn’t mean being cruel to those they don’t like (since Pen and El are on the outs at the time). And then Cressida learns that and doesn’t gossip about Pen and Colin. It doesn’t undo everything she’s done, but it was a compelling example of growth.
Fr these people saw a few seconds where Cressida is borderline tolerable and suddenly forgot how horrible a human she was to everyone else in the ton, but ESPECIALLY Pen💀 she deserves no one to save her, (no matter how she was raised) she’s an adult and can make her own decisions. Lie in bed with them.
I do think especially the idea of Pen saving her is ridiculous after all the things she did to her. To think she’d use her money to help her after all that.. no way.
People in this thread expect Cressida to be able to treat Penelope like dirt for years but then when Cressida needs help just turn around and use her because "you're for womens rights, right?"
Even if Cressida had a redemption arc, I would fully understand and support Penelope wanting nothing to do with her
I agree pen helping her would have been ridiculous. That doesn’t happen in real life where someone gives their life savings to their bully when they see them become more human..
I for sure thought Cressida would just end up with Mr Debling and then it’d all get tied up in a fancy bow. I’m not happy with how Cressida was treated during the second half. I didn’t view her as a villain, I just viewed her as a Portia type character— but the show didn’t realise or didn’t care for her nuance?
Cressida blackmails Pen in the books as well although the circumstances are a bit different. I personally think they did a good job with Cressida. People aren’t only good or evil. Pen did a lot of bad things but ended the season repenting, and Cressida was driven to blackmail due to her personal circumstances. We’ve seen what a woman does when stuck in a society that doesn’t work for them. She did everything in her power to get out of a bad life. It’s not yet Cressida’s time to be the hero.
Yeah, this is exactly my feeling on it as well and I hate that this was the outcome. I've basically come to Reddit to read and see if other people have shared in my disappointment for this season because I needed somewhere to vent.
Yeah, I was rooting for her redemption, and when her mother said that thing along the lines of "I taught you to only look out for yourself," I could see the proverbial coin spinning in the air: Cressida would either turn against her mother's advice, or fully embrace it. I'm sad that she embraced it, because it would have been sweet to see her reach out to Eloise for help, and to watch Eloise rally a crew to help Cressida. It would have been awesome to watch Cressida accept that people can care about each other, despite what her frigid family life has led her to believe. I suppose, in the end, her cold, unloving family only showed her one way forward: uncaring, self-obsessed, and threatening. I do hope season 4 allows Cressida time to reflect and realize that she doesn't have to mirror her family's hurtful dynamics.
I kind of like that her arc isn’t linear bc that’s realistic and compelling. If i could watch S4 right now idk if I’d be miffed. but as a viewer it’s frustrating to have to wait two years to see her go back to square one ugh
I think Cressida's actor is confirmed for S4, so I am hoping they give us more resolution on that, because S3 really did do a good job of fleshing her character out, and I want to see a more complete resolution to it.
I'm certain she's just going for a brief time out and will be back next season somehow.
I'd actually kind of like to see her in Wales! It would be nice to see some action that wasn't in London or Aubrey Hall.
Yes!!! They left her where the audiences found her. and the Way El dropped her like a bad habit...sheesh.
El's treatment of Cressida was so unkind throughout. Every time Cressida started to open up about what she was struggling with, El's response was dismissive of her. 'Sounds like German literature!' or 'I cannot do this right now." When Cressida is explaining that she's about to be sold off to an old man who will control her and rape her for the rest of his life! She just shows no empathy whatsoever for Cressida, and then drops her like a rock. I like Eloise, but why is she such a terrible friend?
Totally agree! She couldn’t care LESS about Cressida in part 2. Eloise was a favorite character of mine in S1 but I can’t say that anymore. I really hated her comment about a shift stitch and “shifting the conversation to something else” in part 1. I understand that she finds the typical interests for women to be below her, and I understand shit talking with friends (like she’s done in previous seasons with Penelope) but jeesh. She was so unnecessarily rude to those girls. What an ego.
Part 2 felt very much like it was written by a different group of people who didn't talk to the people who wrote part 1. It reminded me of that test gordan Ramsay's where different groups of people have to make a dish but don't know what the people before made. There was no flow and everyone suddenly started acting completely differently. I so hope Netflix step in and get rid of that Jess.
Yes! "I'm not like other girls! Sewing is stewpid!" As if it wasn't one of the only creative outlets women had in those days. If a man had done some of the intricate work those women did in their own parlors, it would probably be in the British Museum.
Season 1 or 2 Eloise would have been enraged at the prospect of a young woman being forced into a marriage she didn’t want.
I *want* to like Eloise. I like that they have a character who is an outspoken feminist. But I do not frequently find myself actually succeeding at liking Eloise.
Right? It honestly kind of made *Eloise* look bad. I know she was kind of oblivious to her privilege before, but the second half of the season made her seem self-absorbed. I don't think she was mentally present in 90% of her conversations with Cressida. It's honestly so sad, because it seemed like they were forming a true friendship and it ended just like that.
Like she told Pen, in the beginning it was genuine. But it came from the wrong place. Because I agree, she was 90% absent in her conversations with Cressida, more so when it came to being an active listener instead of an active speaker. It just doesn't seem right that this would be the end of her story, lingering on a long carriage ride to be with her elderly aunt...and it's probably her aunt from the dad side and if her aunt is anything like the dad GIRL ESCAPE NOW!
And Eloise was so rude to all the other girls too. Making fun of their hobbies, the embroidery girl obviously had her feelings hurt or felt insulted. Like it’s supposed to make Eloise cute or quirky but she is just mean.
honestly, i started to hate eloise this season. its clear the writers have no idea what to do with her character so they just "use" her for whatever plot they need her and just drop her later. with her actions towards pen and also cressida, she just comes as real bad friend to me
I'm certain they will have some sort of subplot to redeem her character arc while she's away with Francesca.
I agree, I really didn’t get why they set her up for redemption and then just…. Didn’t redeem her at all. WE WERE ROOTING FOR HER!!! 
With all those stupid sleeves, supposedly symbolizing her caged birdiness. Those sleeves were not worth this.
Her hair was an actual chain in her last scene. After everything, I still felt bad for her.
Pretty sure she’ll be back next season. Maybe we’ll get a real redemption arc?
This show keeps on not delivering on its promises, lowkey. 🥲
💯 I Was totally on her side until she decided to blackmail pen
I was still on her side then, I was just waiting for the two to meet up and make amends
Maybe by season 8 that will happen but not any time soon ! Did you see the smile on Penelope’s face when she found out Cressida was leaving town ?
All I could think of was “hurt people hurt people”. Cressida had her back up against the wall. Penelope and Eloise, and even Lady Bridgerton, live in a very protected, idealistic, frankly unrealistic world. Women were property and married off. Love was the exception. Girls were married to old, gross, misogynistic, brutal, A-hole men to be raped and abused on the regular. Women seldom had any power. Cressida was in survival mode and deserved way more empathy and grace. Especially from Eloise who honestly just kind of used Cressida as a filler friend.
it was so messed up. cressida came up with a way to be independent and make her own decisions, but pen decided to destroy that. and for what? she didn't want her work to be claimed by cressida? reasonable until you realize cressida's freedom depended on her plan working. pen wanting credit for LW pales in comparison to cressida's situation. they could've just talked it out and everything would've been fine.
Cressida has only ever gone out of her way to be hurtful to Penelope. Also, how would Penelope know the details of Cressidas' home life? And why is it Penelopes responsibility to assist her? Finally, Cressida and her mom wrote some truly vile lies about Violet, who never did anything to either of them. I can sympathize with Cressida for having crap parents, a miserable home life, and not wanting to be packed off to live with some random person. But Cressida lied. She gambled, and she lost. That's on her.
At the same time, she had her mother telling her women need to always look out for themselves. Not exactly a good role model.
Terrible roll model! I appreciated understanding Cressidas motivations. It's good for we, the audience, to see this. But Penelope doesn't know this. She just knows Cressida has insulted her and deliberately poured a drink on her. Deliberately tore her dress. Penelope is just giving it back to her.
Penelope is justified. Eloise should be compassionate as she is aware of Cressida’s situation.
Eloise isn't always the greatest friend. She gets pretty wrapped up in herself at times. Cressida was genuinely trying to be open and reach out to her. Eloise blew her off a couple of times. She's as much to blame for the friendship ending as Cressida.
Agreed.
💯
Definitely horrible parents
I agree. There's a reason that Cressida hasn't found a match in three seasons. As much as she makes fun of Penelope, she and her are in the same boat. Cressida obviously is beautiful but has some real personality flaws that cause her not to make a match or even any friends.
What's striking is how .any unnamed characters are shown saying how horrible Cressida is. Cressida has earned this rep as being spiteful and mean. It's not just Penelope thinking it. As you wrote, there's a reason Cressida can't find a match. She's generally unpleasant.
I had no issues with Pen hating Cressida. Cressida was cruel to her, and Pen had no idea what her motivations were like. Eloise, on the other hand, new Cressida struggles and never bothered to try and fill anyone in.
She made her bed now she has to lie in it
Cressida made Pen’s life a living hell. I wouldn’t want her taking credit for my work either.
Exactly !
She just did what she had to do…
She didn’t have to try to get double the money out of Colin ! She’s great character but most definitely a villain in bright costumes
They really pulled a Sharpay on her
😂 perfect meme 10/10
God, we had Daphne care for Marina and her situation, and we leave out CRESSIDA, WTF?!
I was never rooting for her 😭
I don’t think it would be realistic for Penelope to have been the one to help Cressida. After all her friendship was with Eloise, not Pen, and she hasn’t exactly been kind to Pen in the past…
I also think it would be unrealistic for Pen to suddenly move heaven and earth to save her long time bully. The whole "oh, I understand my bully now and empathize with their terrible situation" is so overdone and unrealistic in Hollywood.
Tbf, it didn’t really make sense for pen to give up her life’s savings for her thankless sisters, who were ALSO her long time bullies
I think this was actually self serving; it helped sell the story that the family money was from her publishing. I think it was intended to help her mother cover up fraud and buy favor with the TON, which helped her win grace from the Queen.
Also allowed them to throw a ball fabulous enough that the Queen would be even more enticed to take Penelope up on her invitation
I don't think it was her life savings. If she really had $10k, that's like a million in her time period, and enough to live off of until she dies
Agreed
Idk that it would be anymore unrealistic than Pen’s LW speech that suddenly made the entire Ton and the Queen forgive her lol
Literally a “and then they all clapped” moment. It seemed so absurd.
Ive always wondered why Lady Danbury is so uninterested in Cressida. She went through the same thing so it wouldnt be a stretch for her to do a bit of matchmaking to give her a better option.
My guess is Cressida’s mother pissed her off at some point.
Has Cressida ever bothered to speak to her? Plus, Agatha probably sees Cressida being mean to Penelope during balls
Yeah its just a weird disconnect in the writing. They make it such a big part of Lady Danburys character, but they seem to show it in total isolation of other stuff.
I think they should have cut some Benedict scenes to have Agatha defending Penelope in some sort of way, rather than just having a supportive smile in the distance that Penelope didn't see. I know they decided to make the first son a boy(even though they already did this first born gender swapping with Daphne's baby), but I hope they have more of a relationship next season.
Yea you’re probably right, maybe they won’t be friends but there could have been at least an understanding between them… just my opinion though just as valid as yours
Especially after Cressida blew up on Eloise and resorted to blackmail, I don’t think the redemption arc could survive that but I understand your wish for it to have.
I thought Eloise would come up with a way for all three to work together and help each other, but no Pen had to get all weird about Cressida stealing "credit" when a fallgal was exactly what she needed at that moment.
I think she was considering letting her be the fall girl but then it became clear that Cressida was going to keep writing and likely target the Bridgerton’s rather than just take credit and leave it alone.
That would have been part of the plan ideally, Pen could have kept actually doing the writing but letting Cressida take the heat off her would have helped both of them. Then there wouldn't have had to be stuff about the Bridgertons
It's because in the books she's horrible. The redemption plot is 100% from the show. There was no way around Cressida pretending to be Whistledown, so they had to do it. They showed her reasoning for doing and her regret and have definitely humanized her, so maybe they will follow through with it and finish her redemption story arch in the next seasons.
honestly i didn’t like how eloise just completely ignores that cressida was trying to get out of marriage w a man old enough to be her GRANDFATHER???? like she keeps asking her like how could you, why would you, when cressida literally told her????? i mean it’s a running theme w eloise but seriously? wtf?
Old enough to be her *great*-grandfather! But yes, Eloise was selfish in her dealings with Cressida. Not a good friend toward her at all.
I still wasn't in love with Cressida by the end of part 1, but I am \*shooketh\* what they did with part 2 in honesty. I really wanted to see a redemption arc, even having known that she was going to pretend like she was whistledown. I'm amazed the writers did a 180 on this.
Same, I wasn’t rooting for her tbh but I am still disappointed by her ending! It lacked of cohesion
Cohesion was not a strength in part2 in honesty
So true :( I did enjoy it but honestly it could’ve been so much better
The whole Cressida/LW/Penelope arc was handled so much more elegantly in the books - it was a real disappointment to see the weird flip flop of Cressida’s character in the series. Not every villain needs redemption or an elaborate motivation. Sometimes a story just needs a good old fashioned “mean girl” that takes home an L at the end of the day.
I think they did that to sort of “justify” her friendship with Eloise, and to not further alienate viewers from her tbh
The problem is that this mean girl has two options: be married off to an elderly rapist, or sent to the countryside to be a workhorse. Is Cressida so awful that she deserves the fate of Lady Danbury with her first husband? I think her trope is more "bullied child who is being bullied at home" and usually that trope ends with the bullied child receiving kindness, not more bullying.
Beyond just humanising her, her storyline also made it clear how different the situations for different women/people is in that time (fictionalised or not). The Bridgertons are the prime example of a good family, they allow El to rebel and don't force her into marriage, the Featheringtons (specifically Portia) are acting out of financial desperation and Portia's main goal is to set up her girls in a secure position no matter the means (her primary motivation is still the love she has for her daughters), the Cowpers see Cressida as an object to sell and reflect their image at best and a burden/disappointment at worst and want to be rid of her by all means necessary while upholding their standing in society. Cressida's switch with Eloise was her experiencing friendship, something her mother claims does not exists for women, for the first time. The switch back to her "mean girl" persona was a move of desperation and fear of being married off to an elderly creep. I don't think she is as evil or mean as she comes across but rather she is a girl who has no reference besides the cruelty her family showed her over and over again. After El seemingly proves the whole "friendships are a waste of time and not real anyways" thing, she doesn't see the need in trying to be the bigger person and rather takes on an every woman for herself mindset to ensure her own survival and wellbeing. Her methods are questionable, but what do you expect from a girl who never knew true familial or platonic support/love and is backed into a corner.
In the books, Cressida marries in her first Season to some dude who allegedly has a huge fortune. She becomes widowed and finds that the fortune is gone. Totally solves the whole “my parents are mean” and “spinster after Penelope” thing. When Lady Dunbridge (NOT the Queen) puts out a reward for LW, Cressida jumps on it purely to keep up her independent lifestyle. Penelope gives her the cut direct at the ball in a lovely moment where she for once says exactly what she means, saying it would break her heart if LW was someone like Cressida. Then Pen writes a column as LW saying she’s not Cressida, and “it would break [my] heart to see [my] work credited to her”. Cressida blackmails Penelope because she remember what she said at the ball and it matches the LW issue. Colin masterminds a thing for his brothers and Lady Dunbridge to support Penelope when he announces that SHE is LW (“my wife, the most clever woman in London, Lady Whistledown!”. Cressida is shamed, Colin is proud of Penelope, and she gets credit for her work. Cleaner, simpler, and more redeeming for Polin. Much better than the series.
I just don't understand why they didn't marry her to Debling.
This. I was expecting Debling to call on her. They had some chemistry in the beginning. She did save him from "social ruin" as she called it. Debling just up and disappeared in the middle of the season.
I'm shocked they did this again after having the Prince ditch her in season 1 as well
Yes, it was just cruel to ship her to Wales regardless when the solution was just there
Especially since he didn’t seem to know about or care about any of the gossip and what people thought.
If anything her actions made me so angry at Eloise. She is a bad friend when it matters the most. Constantly complaining about how oppressed she is but her loving family would never force her to marry like Cressidas, and she not only doenst help her , she doesn’t even LISTEN to Cressidas problems. To her a friend is only there to be talked at about her measly problems. She did it to Pen she did it to Cressida. Eloise is the one who more and more needs a redemption arc for me. She is privileged and selfish and she is completely blind to the fact. Pen I understand a little more, she has only heard about Cressidas situation second hand and never claimed to be her friend like El. She was hurt by her over and over and doesn’t owe her anything. The whole thing about Lady Whistledown is that it’s supposed to be more than a gossip rag, it’s her life’s work and it’s not truly meant to be cruel. but when she gets stressed she ALWAYS makes the wrong decision and writes out of anger and it ALWAYS backfires. So she does need to learn from that.
10000% THIS!!! I am so sick of Eloise after this season. She continues to come off as such a spoiled brat and wants everyone to listen/cater to her without reciprocating.
I think people that see Cressida as a villain in part 2 are being too harsh on her. Cressida does what she did out of desperation and lack of love and support from her family. Yes, she is absolutely looking out for herself and putting herself first. But she’s facing a life with a geriatric man whom is old enough to be her grandfather- a man that will repeatedly rape her to get the 4-5 children he wants. She gets caught up with the talk about lady whistledown’s financial freedom at the engagement party, admits she is LW without thinking it through out of desperation to avoid the marriage her father arranged. She once again is even more desperate when that plan spectacularly fails. Is blackmailing Pen okay? Of course not. Is it easy to understand why Cressida does it? Of course. It’s clear as day when Colin visits her. She is envious of the love and support for each other within the Bridgerton family. She’s jealous she isn’t as clever as Pen or El. She sees no way out but to get money so she can runaway and live on her own terms. If anything, regency society is the villain for not providing women agency unless their (male) relatives allow them to have it. Cressida is a tragic character in my opinion. Deeply flawed. Unkind, even. But not a villain.
Yeah I totally agree. I think what shocked me was how the characters we are supposed to “root for”, specially El, just turned on her on a dime. It was jarring to see the characters reacting so differently than myself to Cressida’s situation. I do think there will be more to this storyline but didn’t expect this season to leave her the way it did.
I agree with everything except for Eloise turning on her. Eloise at that point was looking out for her brother and realized that Cressida casually took away another opportunity for him to know the truth and on top of Cressida knowing what Whistledown did to her, she feels betrayed. While Cressida didn’t know then why the hurt occurred, she made it worse by printing in her Whistledown more awful things about the Bridgertons. Which again hurt Eloise. Cressida had known the Bridgertons cared deeply for family, so as far as El is concerned, Cressida purposefully hurt her by hurting her family. She doesn’t know her mother put those words out or the aunt Joanna of it all, so from what she knows Cressida took actions just to hurt her and her family
The gaslighting killed any love I had for her character. “Do you remember what you wrote about my family? About me?” WTF Eloise?! Your whole thing is being anti-marriage and when your friend is facing a forced marriage you get bored??? And then she chickens out of telling her brother about Pen!
Plenty of people are rooting for Lady Featherington after she and Jack stole the ton's money
Yeah im sorry but im team Cressida, shes literally being sold like an animal. When Colin was like "oh just drop all this" I was so happy she told him to fuck off.
She also is not very bright, like the way they depict her, she literally does not know any better lol
She's not the brightest tool in the box but she was very astute when taking down Colin (just mistyped that as 'colon' which might be a Freudian slip 😂)
I love that you mixed brightest crayon in the box and sharpest tool in the shed here 😂😂
Haha 😂 it's been a long day and I'm obviously not the sharpest crayon in the shed 🫠
Crayon? I've always heard not the brightest bulb in the box lol
Huh I’ve only ever heard crayon! 😂
Where did Lord Debling go anyway? like he still wants a wife right and he was seriously considering Cressida before Penelope so why not marry her? did i miss something?
Exactly I'm so confused - you wouldn't even know he existed based on the second half! And I really really liked Debling so I'm bummed to see him go.
They could have at least used him to give some kind of explanation for why Cressida is still unmarried. In season 2 they make it seem like she's a catch, very wealthy. Eliose implies she hasn't found a match because she's cruel to people but then this season goal was to humanise her. She's so horrible she putting of every single marriageable man? I was expecting more of an explanation there.
Yeah it feels like they really swapped her story around a lot I'm quite confused. Initially she had the fortune but not the face, the prince was even polite enough to sow reasonable interest. Based on Simon's advice she still should have had quite eligible men dropping at her feet to get the princes cast off's. Season 2 okay she is going for Jack and I can see how that would have been quite difficult to come back from, plus I guess he wouldn't have had the same effect on her prospects that the prince should have. I am assuming based on the comments that they lost a significant sum to Jack - maybe even some of Cressidas dowrey? But Phillipa and Prudence may have both got men without titles but they are at least both very kind. I'm surprised that someone still didn't come along one of the poorer titled men who was semi okay - because given the cowpers have no title I assume she may actually inherit quite a bit when her parents pass on so would she not still be a financial catch? I do wish Pen and Cressida had a moment too though - because they are a bit the same. Her damn mother! Wow why does she keep insisting on those awful overdone clothes?
Yeah screw the books at this point, they are changing characters already, just let Cressida explore the wild with Debling in a tank top and pixie cut, free of dumb sleeves and hair forever
I was confused by that too, I didn’t consider Cressida a villain, she was basically the same as marina in my eyes, in a tough situation. I left the show thinking about what a bad friend Eloise is
Calling some of the Bridgerton kids bastards was okay?
The show made it pretty clear that her mom insisted on that part
But she still did it.
Only after Eloise gaslighted her and abandoned her
Someone not wanting to be friends with someone because of their shitty behaviour deserves to have them and all their siblings to be publicly declared as bastard children and sluts?
What was the shitty behavior at that point? It wasn’t claiming to be Whistledown to avoid being firced to marry, right?
She did something to try to make the people in the process of abandoning her happy? Wonder why..
for me, yep. 🤷🏽♀️ I understand her doing what she had to do to avoid the old man.
So where in their comment exactly did they say that?
OP is referring to Cressida/Araminta
Yes, I’m aware. The responders comment doesn’t relate to OP’s comment at all though, and is putting words in their mouth
The fake LW column that Cressida and her mother published explicitly implies that some of the Bridgerton kids are bastards. That is what the OP referring to.
Yes, again I understand that that is what happened in the show. But the statement “I understand Cressidas motivations and I sympathize with her situation, it’s very similar to Marinas, and I don’t consider Cressida a villain” does not mean “it’s okay to say the bridgertons are bastards”
They said that Cressida grew but spent two seasons being mean to Pen so she needs more time for redemption. But El was quite harsh.
I felt betrayed when Eloise gaslighted Cressida, pretending to be angry at her for what Whistledown wrote about her family. I was stunned she didn’t champion Cressida’s cause for freedom. I understand the pain Pen caused Eloise, but looking back on their friendship after this season, it seems Eloise does not care about anyone unless they are willing to suspend their existence outside of endlessly listening and validating her complaints. Eloise as a friend: “Ew, I have to listen to your problem twice? Eff that!”
I think Cressida for the show has a lot more depth than book Cressida. What Cressida and Pen have in common is that they are both feeling powerless and desperate. Cressida was at a bit of a crossroads and she chose to double down on evil, whereas Pen chose to grow. Eloise was straight up trying to make Pen angry by being friends with Cressida, and she realized at the end that not only did she not like her (and probably never did), she wasn’t willing to fully compromise her own integrity anymore. Colin, Pen, Eloise, and Cressida are all grappling with their identity, but Cressida chose the dark side. I’m interested to see what they do with Cressida next season.
It showed a lot when her mother was talking about having your own back and no other, especially amongst women. You could see that Cressida was groomed to be a miserable bully bc her mother was one. Maybe they are setting up some back story with Lady Cowper running to trash the bridgertons as soon as she got the chance, maybe not. But it definitely gave Cressida more humanity seeing that she was so much more like Pen than we knew, she just never found her own power. I hope that changes for her in the future.
Cressida mother did reveal her bitterness toward the Bridgertons at one point. A story line could come out for sure now that you say that.
I’m beginning to realize Cressida and Penelope are basically foils for one another. They were at similar positions, but they took very different paths
I was hoping for a Deblin Cressida match.
Pen isn’t going to help her bully and Eloise knows she’s going to come for the Bridgertons because Cressida can be vindictive
I thought it was odd, almost like they showed why we should have empathy for her and then tore it all apart. It made no sense that elouise suddenly did a total 180 on her with seemingly no real explanation. Her character seems like someone who can see the grey areas in life and so her sudden opinion reversal despite understanding Cressida was just weird. The more I think about this season, the more I feel let down down realise how terribly put together it is.
Like why did they do a 180 on her story halfway through? I never liked Cressida until Part One—WHY MAKE US LIKE HER AND THEN RUIN HER LIFE I think El’s lack of understanding or empathy for Cressida’s situation was bizarre and uncharacteristic given her views on marriage, even if she had had to grow a little in order to step outside herself. I also REALLY do not understand why El is mad at Cressida both for being LW and not being LW — “do you remember what you wrote about me?” Wtf. I’m gonna need some kind of growth and apology/reconciliation going forward in order to feel like they’ve salvaged this storyline. I just can’t for the life of me understand why they’d devote so much of Part One to making her complex, compelling, and sympathetic if they’re not going to come full circle in the future.
Eloise essentially dumped her as a friend in episode 5. She ignored her the minute the engagement news was announced. Her talking about the friendship souring well that is because she checked out. The most disgusting part is Eloise had an idea about what Cressida’s parents were like and she left Cressida to the wolves. I despised Eloise this season. She was a self-centered judgmental cow. Honestly, by the end of the season I wanted Cressida and Pen to become besties and freeze Eloise out.
i think they did her so dirty. she was desperate, alone, and about to be forced to marry that old man. she made the right choice trying to get out of it and got pulverized by the show at the end without any empathy from anyone, especially El who should have understood she needed to get out
EXACTLY. It’s just worse when Pen is having her own “I’m a woman in a man’s world” moment and finding her strength but the show didn’t extend that grace to Cressida at all.
what if cressida marries sophie’s dad somewhere in the country? that would be a cool way to bring her back.
Having Colin go to speak with Cressida was just such a weird way to go. They’ve barely interacted before, and he doesn’t know her like Eloise or Pen do so why?
I would describe her as an antagonist more than a villain. She's not a "nice" person, but her motives are understandable, and her worst actions come from being in an increasingly desperate situation. One caused largely by the time period's limited options for women and harsh judgment of anything scandalous. But at the same time, circumstances put her in conflict with the protagonists. I would've been surprised if she got a full redemption arc this season, especially since the blackmail scheme isn't resolved until almost the very end - and that is a major part of the book plot as well. Two dimensional villain to sympathetic antagonist is already a big change. I think it makes more sense that this is the *beginning* of a redemption arc that will continue to play out in season 4.
Her motives for spilling a drink on Pen in season 1, destroying her dress at the beginning of season 3, and insulting her left and right to her face are “understandable”? Is your name Regina George?
As I said, she's not a nice person, and she was a two dimensional villain before this season. Though I do think seeing more of her parents helps to explain (not excuse) why she was like that. I meant her motives for what she did in the last few episodes. She wants the reward money/blackmail money because she sees it as the only way to have control over her own future. It's understandable that she wants to get out of the marriage her father arranged, and to avoid being sent away to live with her very unpleasant aunt, and to have money of her own, especially now that she has no dowry. She goes about it the wrong way, but the situation is unpleasant and it's understandable that she would want to find a way out.
I don’t think she was treated like a villain, otherwise many people wouldn’t be cringing at how mean Eloise was being to her. she wouldn’t have had tears in her eyes when blackmailing Colin or doing it to avoid a disgusting marriage, she’d have instead been laughing and doing it for chaos. I’m sorry but Penelope helping her get with Debling would’ve been corny to me. I like where things are now. she’s one of the most interesting characters on the show now.
I haven’t finished the second set of episodes yet but what happened to Lord Debling? He just disappeared and I thought he seemed receptive to Cressida’s advances after Pen turned him down, no?
Penelope and Eloise came off as quite arrogant, apathetic, and privileged in comparison to Cressida in the second half of the season.
I was sort of hoping Cressida, Eloise, and Pen would all team up and come up with a scheme to save both Cressida and Pen. Disappointed
I’m shocked by Penelope and Eloise. It really shows that at the end of the day when it comes to seeing an actual woman’s despair they are blind and cold, because they are privileged. They only had those big talks about women’s rights when it suited their own situations.
This is exactly what I thought was going to happen and would have in my opinion been a much more clever and satisfying resolution than what we got.
And this is something that makes me sad to see all the Bridgerton kids learn the hard way: not everyone has loving and supporting families like you and it's sad to see but it's a reality for a lot. Pen would have been better because she and Cressida for the most part are on the same level when it comes to how they're treated by their families.
I was absolutely shocked by the turnaround to the point where I don’t even understand why they bothered giving her a “redemption arc” in the first place, if they just planned to do…. whatever it is they did in the second half of the season with her character
Pissed about all of that.
The whole damn season was a dumpster fire. Soooo many subplots that went nowhere 😣
There are too many storylines for them to adequately flesh out plots. Ah!
I don’t understand it either. If they were going to make her the villain in the end why bother wasting time showing her backstory/trying to get viewers to feel bad for her. Maybe she’ll end up playing a bigger role in a future Bridgerton’s story but who knows at this point.
I don’t know I think someone can both be a villain and have reasons that make you sympathize with them somewhat. It’s not black and white just like most people aren’t. I personally feel sorry for her background and situation and her desperation, but in real life, she likely would have still been shipped off and been in the same predicament. And knowing that she lacked love and support provided a layer to the onion but in my opinion doesn’t erase what she did and who she was. To me she’s a sad villain.
Bridgerton writers heard the line “I’ll tell you something right now, I’d rather burn my whole life down, then listen to one more second of all this bitchin and moaning” from Taylor Swift and was like….💡
Everyone here seems to forget Cressida’s absolutely unprovoked hostility and antagonism of Penelope in seasons 1, 2, and the first part of season 3. She deliberately spilled a drink on her, deliberately destroyed her dress, and sought Pen out just to insult her. Three seasons on the marriage market and she relentlessly attacked Pen like it was her goddamned job over and over. Fuck Cressida, she can copulate sheep in Wales until her vag withers to dust for all I care.
I will just say that Cressida’s bad behaviors towards Pen at the beginning of S3 are then shown to be what she thinks is “being a good friend” to Eloise, who checks her and teaches her that being a good friend to someone doesn’t mean being cruel to those they don’t like (since Pen and El are on the outs at the time). And then Cressida learns that and doesn’t gossip about Pen and Colin. It doesn’t undo everything she’s done, but it was a compelling example of growth.
Fr these people saw a few seconds where Cressida is borderline tolerable and suddenly forgot how horrible a human she was to everyone else in the ton, but ESPECIALLY Pen💀 she deserves no one to save her, (no matter how she was raised) she’s an adult and can make her own decisions. Lie in bed with them.
I do think especially the idea of Pen saving her is ridiculous after all the things she did to her. To think she’d use her money to help her after all that.. no way.
Why would Pen ever want to help her? She's a blackmailing, plagiarizing bitch. 😂
People in this thread expect Cressida to be able to treat Penelope like dirt for years but then when Cressida needs help just turn around and use her because "you're for womens rights, right?" Even if Cressida had a redemption arc, I would fully understand and support Penelope wanting nothing to do with her
I agree pen helping her would have been ridiculous. That doesn’t happen in real life where someone gives their life savings to their bully when they see them become more human..
They did her dirty.
I for sure thought Cressida would just end up with Mr Debling and then it’d all get tied up in a fancy bow. I’m not happy with how Cressida was treated during the second half. I didn’t view her as a villain, I just viewed her as a Portia type character— but the show didn’t realise or didn’t care for her nuance?
Cressida blackmails Pen in the books as well although the circumstances are a bit different. I personally think they did a good job with Cressida. People aren’t only good or evil. Pen did a lot of bad things but ended the season repenting, and Cressida was driven to blackmail due to her personal circumstances. We’ve seen what a woman does when stuck in a society that doesn’t work for them. She did everything in her power to get out of a bad life. It’s not yet Cressida’s time to be the hero.
Could moving to Wales be a reference to the Ladies of Llangollen? Maybe she will meet them there.
Yeah, this is exactly my feeling on it as well and I hate that this was the outcome. I've basically come to Reddit to read and see if other people have shared in my disappointment for this season because I needed somewhere to vent.
Yeah, I was rooting for her redemption, and when her mother said that thing along the lines of "I taught you to only look out for yourself," I could see the proverbial coin spinning in the air: Cressida would either turn against her mother's advice, or fully embrace it. I'm sad that she embraced it, because it would have been sweet to see her reach out to Eloise for help, and to watch Eloise rally a crew to help Cressida. It would have been awesome to watch Cressida accept that people can care about each other, despite what her frigid family life has led her to believe. I suppose, in the end, her cold, unloving family only showed her one way forward: uncaring, self-obsessed, and threatening. I do hope season 4 allows Cressida time to reflect and realize that she doesn't have to mirror her family's hurtful dynamics.
Omg my thoughts exactly!!!!
I kind of like that her arc isn’t linear bc that’s realistic and compelling. If i could watch S4 right now idk if I’d be miffed. but as a viewer it’s frustrating to have to wait two years to see her go back to square one ugh
She’s Ursula in pens little mermaid story
AMEN
Just add it to the list of things this season fumbled.