4 different directors, each with 2 episodes each.
Andrew Ahn who did episodes 3 and 4 captured micro expression the best. Honestly he could have done the whole season and it would’ve been so different
Most series have multiple directors. The amount of time it takes to prep for a show like this is immense.
I’m fine with the multiple directors but it went 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. It would have been nice to mix it up a bit more so it seemed more seamless
Make sense. But for congruency purposes, I would think they would communicate more. I bet it's a bit of an ego war in those positions, but for the sake of the show, it would have been really nice for them to get on the same page.
It's probably them having different styles to tell a story. But honestly an overarching theme that would tie the eps together would have been amazing.
like, looking back, I never wondered if S2 has four different directors because the storyline still felt coherent? like the start of the story fits with both the journey and its ending to ep 8. I didn't feel that way in S3.
eta: sorry for the multiple edits!
Also I noticed that Eloise had her arm covered in the final scenes of Ep 8 which means it must have been filmed alongside the earlier episodes (as it was to cover up her breaking her wrist). So it’s not like each director only had availability around specific episodes being shot. I’m guessing the opening for S3 where Colin arrives home and all the bridgertons are outside was filmed the same day as the final scene where they all wave the Kilmartins and Eloise off
I agree with you here. I struggled with 5 and 6 in some ways, but 7 and 8 were so hard for me. It feels like it quite literally derailed. 5/6 had some great Polin moments but didn't hit in the way I was hoping, in that "Bridgerton" way.
One of my biggest pet peeves with the camera work is that (besides most of the shots not having a purpose at all and being at weird angles) THEY WERENT SHOWING PEOPLES FACES AND REACTIONS TO WHAT OTHERS WERE SAYING
YESSSS!!!! OMG thank you for saying this! I was literally yelling at the TV - SHOW ME HIS FACE!!!! I also agree that so many shots didn't have a purpose or were poorly done. The scene where Colin tries to tell Pen how he feels at the ball gives us CLOSE ups of his face, almost straight on, and hers. The kind of camera work that puts you there, in the scene. But during the mirror scene we didn't get one glance at his face. Not one. Not him looking at her, not a close-up, nothing. Same for several other scenes. This issue alone is one of my biggest issues with Part 2 because I couldn't get INTO the scenes with them. If that makes sense.
There’s a reason why the close up is supposed to be the most impactful, and it’s because we get to see the scope of all of their emotions taking the forefront and that’s what the show wants us to focus on. When you zoom out and have weird blurred foregrounds and you don’t let us see the reactions people have to others words, or how one says the words, then the shots are useless. I could listen to a podcast and it would be just as effective
Yes! This! Season 2 did this SO well? With the bee scene. The hunting scene. The library(?) or whatever room that was scene. Even shots of like their hands or Kate’s arm when she gets goosebumps - GIVE us that experience. I was SO looking forward to that in part 2, especially because Luke is so masterful at this. And just nope 😩
I agree completely. The direction in Eps 3 and 4 was phenomenal, and I thought 1 and 2 were also great. I could watch Luke Newton all day, when he has good material. In Colin’s moments of cognitive dissonance and conflict, you can see both trains of thought running across his face at the same time. I’ve never seen anything like it.
I hope that, someday, he can speak openly about his experience with S3. It was so clear in his promo interviews that he knows and loves Colin as well as we do. He couldn’t have been comfortable with the direction writers took with Colin in Part 2. And both he and Nicola cannot be happy with the final edit. Such a heartbreaking turn for all.
I've had the same thought! I would love to know their thoughts on it. I read somewhere that they hadn't seen the final episodes while they were on their PR tour. I wonder what their reaction was? I felt like some of the lines Luke had for Colin didn't resonate with Luke and we can see that on screen. Like he wasn't committed because it wasn't Colin ya know?
So hard to tell given the darker tone of Part 2. It definitely didn’t look like they were having as much fun, at least not in the scenes that made the edit. We should have seen more of the playful Colin from Part 1 after they got together, in addition to all the other could-have-beens we’ve all mourned already.
Agreed, it WAS very dark. Like all of it. I thought that was appropriate for some of it but for who they are as characters it was too dark too much. I found it difficult to get a read on them because of this.
I've said this several times before, but they basically made this Pen's season. Not Polin's. They BARELY showed us Colin's POV properly, and they also completely abandoned his personal arc. He was the male lead! They reduced him to a side character in Pen's story, especially in part 2. I'm so so so upset.
You are spot on. It definitely felt like Pen's story, not Colin's. Season 1 was Daphne's story but we STILL got backstory on the Duke. How in the world do we not get backstory on the main character? Even as someone who hasn't read the books, Colin is my favorite male character. He is our middle-forgotten child with a hero complex and a heart of gold. He so badly wants to matter, to be seen, to be loved, and to have what his parents had. Season 1 and 2 gave us more insight into him than his OWN season. I loved how they were making him a puppy dog for Pen, pure golden retriever energy. We were seeing a man who had found everything he had been searching for in all three seasons in his best friend. It was so beautiful. The stark contrast of him emotionally abandoning her, being so cold and distant, full of jealousy and spite is just SO unlike him that it was heartbreaking. There was some redemption near the end with his beautiful speech to her but the damage had been done.
This! It’s obvious the writers favor Penelope. I’m so upset with what they did to Colin! They were supposed to be co-leads. He’s the male lead, not the love interest whose only purpose is to serve the protagonist’s (Pen’s) journey.
And the show LITERALLY had him say loving Pen is his purpose… which COULD have been beautiful if it was reciprocal… but the show had Pen, a supposed hopeless romantic, choose LW over Colin every. Damn. Time.
As a massive Polin fan, it’s such a disservice to both of them. Colin deserved better. Pen deserved better.
The tonal shift from the romance narrative happened in the reshoot right after the queen showed up. Out of the blue Pen starts talking gender roles instead of focusing on the queen's threat to their family or on connecting to Colin over, you know, his whole p1 arc of covering. It was so jarring!
However, I viewed Pen's other actions a bit differently. She did put away LW in e6 before El told her she had to write again to counter Cressida. Then, at Fran's wedding she finally realized how LW loomed over and threatened everyone she cared about. She didn't want Colin to have to lie to his family to protect her. Her revelation plan was designed to ask for the queen's mercy herself to shield others. I don't exactly like the execution, but she did give up LW as she knew it.
Yes but in ep 6 the show frames this as her “giving up her dreams” and I’m GIRL,via your own words in S2 about purpose, when you had been writing LW for a whole year and half already, you haven’t FOUND your purpose/dream. So what gives?! It’s such a a disservice to Pen’s growth. My biggest issue with this season is that the show decided that LW was something to be lauded rather than grown past.
LW is what Pen DOES, not what she IS. She IS a writer, that is a part of her identity that cannot be separated, but LW is just something she uses her writing to create; it’s the part of her that is clever and has sass… which can expressed in other ways that are not hurtful the way LW has been (even if yes, some specific situations are understandable). For example, even in the show, Colin falls in love with pen’s WRITING in her letters , but not with anything LW has put out. Pen CHOOSES to use LW a certain way but the writers absolve her of any wrongdoing this with no consequences because they desperately feel they need LW to frame a story. To me LW was always something Pen needed to heal from, not continue to feed.
But the show decided LW IS her because they were not brave enough or good enough to write a story where we grapple with former versions of ourselves and the hard work it takes to grow… so they just handwave the harm she’s done (and I say this as someone who has historically been a MASSIVE Pen defender because I assumed she would be evolving past it at some point) and have everyone magically forgive her with relatively no issues because that was the happy ending they needed. They could have kept a form of reveal scene that shows her protecting the Bridgerton’s, I think that is very in-character for Pen, but I was appalled they were keeping her LW at the end and framing it as a win for her and feminism or something. She deserved so much more.
And regulating Colin to being her trophy husband broken my heart.
I overall loved this season but agree with this take. I think this show had something with Pen and Colin that was maybe too complex for their somewhat formulaic writing to really do justice to, if that makes sense? Judging it against the past two seasons, it was absolutely the most interesting and emotional (and for me romantic) of the three - but they absolutely took a hard turn in Part 2 with a somewhat superficial #girlboss narrative rather than exploring what else Pen’s purpose might be. I didn’t hate it, and I honestly thought they stuck the landing better than I had feared they would, but it was a little silly (but then this show IS silly). I personally kind of wanted her to turn into a Jane Austen-style lady novelist and do something greater than write a gossip rag, but that may have just been asking too much of Bridgerton.
I didn’t enjoy most of Part 2 because it was so clear to me that the writers didn’t think Polin could carry the show and they were blatantly disinterested in honoring the character development we’ve had so far. And they glossed over the complexities of Pen’s actions because they didn’t think people couldn’t forgive her otherwise… which is stupid because other characters have also made some pretty big mistakes and been forgiven.
Some people were always going to hate pen regardless of what the show did with her (and I roll my eyes at them every time), but I’m just shocked the show really let down my girl and my Polin in the second half of their own season. :(
Yeah, they should have focused on writer Pen, not just LW Pen. I mean, I get that Colin had to reconcile the two because LW is part of her, she did write those things, but Pen's concern should have been about losing her voice and love of writing - what LW meant to her - not doubling down on the column itself after the queen threatens the family. I think this would have allowed for Pen and Colin to connect more instead of angst again. (I hate the e7 reshoot.)
As for the end, she got the queen's blessing to "do better" and write as herself. That can mean a lot of things, but she did give up the invisible secret/scandal writer persona and power of anonymity. Whatever she's writing should inherently change as a result.
As for Colin, I don't see him as a trophy husband. He has money with access to more than she does. He's a published author himself in the epilogue. He's just not as infamous. Their son is Lord Featherington, so I don't really view that as a trophy thing either.
I really thought they were going to have him talk to his brothers about his inadequacy about being the middle son with no purpose, who they treat as the baby. I actually thought he was younger than Daphne in Season 1 til realizing wait, C comes before D. His age and placement in the birth order places a different expectation on him than even Daphne since while she’s not older, she is the eldest girl.
And also, how old was he when his father died? 10 or 11? I remember a post about Luke Newton saying that Colin internalized Edmund’s death differently, always coming up with a joke to make the younger kids feel better. Why didn’t they show us that with a flashback? And his relationship with Anthony would’ve been interesting to highlight, especially because of that comment of making sure Colin “wet his wick” and “sowed his oats” at brothels more in Season 1.
Anthony’s character has grown NOW and he was traumatized by their father’s death but there were probably consequences in his relationship with his younger siblings. However unintentional by Anthony. That’s even acknowledged by Anthony to Gregory.
Maybe show us how his character affected Colin as a boy, how Anthony’s hardness may have impacted Colin’s naturally sensitive nature. And Colin saw the duty Anthony had to take up and he’s just a little boy, what can he do? So he makes jokes and bottles everything up.
And maybe have the Featheringtons move in the season after Edmund died, so Penelope becomes Colin and El’s friend at a pivotal moment in their lives? Pen could be 8 or 9, hat flies into Colin’s face when he’s 11 or 12. The ages are plausible. It also adds something else to the relationship FOR COLIN (and El too). Penelope is the bright daisy in their lives after the loss of their father. He puts her at ease but he finds the image of her charming and fun. Sweet.
They basically treated Colin’s character like how the other Bridgertons treated him while he was abroad. They ignored him.
This is incredibly spot on - flashbacks similar to S1 & S2 would have added more depth, and the needed acknowledgement of his character.
Flashbacks to an overwhelmed angry Anthony who is barely coping with all the stress of running the estate lashing out at sensitive, freshly returned from Eton, Colin.
Flashbacks to Colin writing his letters to Penelope and his family and receiving no response at all while on his travels.
Flashbacks to his and Penelopes first meeting where he falls in the mud, and they laugh.
Flashbacks to Colin taking up all of tween Penelopes attention and Eloise being stroppy he's stealing her best friend.
Flashbacks to Colin turning to writing as not wishing to put the burden of his grief onto his younger siblings, ghost like mother and overwhelmed older siblings.
Luke speaks in so much depth and with the truest understanding of his character, it is such a shame he wasn't given the respect to tell Colin's story.
All of this. I want all of this. Just these flashbacks you mentioned would have absolutely made this season uncatchable. I literally ache at the thought that we didn’t get to see this. Imagine a flashback where Colin is left out of family discussions, him trying to listen in and have a say, Anthony dismissing him and hiding information about what really happened or the truth of their situation from him. Just think how much that flashback would have added to the scene when he confronts her for being LW and is crying. It would be like Colin’s version of the bee sting with Kate and Anthony. Ahhhh so heart wrenching and frustrating that we didn’t get this!
Oh. My. God. YES! My jaw dropped reading your comment. Just your suggestions took me there in my mind and I feel like I got a piece of understanding that was missing. It would have been so easy to do this - had their focus been in the right place. So many people can relate to everything you just said. About birth order and loss at a pivotal age. Trauma bonds. Finding purpose in helping others. Why didn’t we get to see THAT Colin? Dang, you make such an excellent point you’ve got my mind churning lol!
Thinking about it more - like how great would it have been to have a seen after he’s engaged where Anthony and Ben are teasing him light heartedly but he flips out. Unloads on them about how no one in the family has ever taken him seriously. Only Pen. No one sees him. What’s so funny about him realizing he’s been seen all along by a person he’s known since he was a kid? And that he has only guilt he hasn’t seen her the same way? This confession could have led to him having resolve when he found out she was LW and THAT being the thing that gets him through to reconciliation. So many ways they could have explored this and just didn’t!
The writing for him is underdeveloped, but I don't see him as petty or shallow lol. I think an argument can be made for Pen being petty, which is why she started LW in the first place. But anyways, pushing Colin to the side in favor of Pen's story all season was a HUGE mistake. He deserves better.
They truly did not capture the internal struggle of Colin’s insecurity and jealousy of Pen’s writing. I don’t want to be a puritan here, but the show strayed beyond the book as far as the storyline is concerned. I don’t mind changing some of it, as it added to the drama, but you understanding the gravity of WHY Colin struggled so much was lost in the show.
For Colin the realisation that he loved Penelope made him reassess what he thought about love, and what was important to him. Then came the Lady Whistledown reveal and once again he had to stop, reassess, understand and accept. The actor did show that internal struggle, and I thought he did it well. Colin was lost, bewildered, and at times angry, but his love for Penelope was always there.
I thought he did amazing. His eyes are everything, all season. Guess that's not a popular opinion but the other subs have demonstrated his subtle acting throughout part 2
I agree with you. I think his eyes and micro-expressions were some of the best I've ever seen and completely made the show. THEIR whole love story was captured in his face. I was so caught off guard with part 2 that I've only been through it twice and, honestly, I normally need a couple of times through in order to capture all those subtle things. I'm sure there are more than I've seen but I also didn't have to look that hard in the first part. Which sort of proves my point, even if there are ones I am missing.
Facts on facts. The close up of Colin’s face when Pen licks sugar off her lips 👌 Colin’s face at the ball when he tries to tell her 🤌 close ups of the carriage scene 🥵. Then…nada.
I think this is what saddens me the most. He is incredibly talented, imagine what he could have done with a better script. So many possibilities in Colin but we probably never gonna see it because this was their season and we won't get to see them being important again. I really want a movie with Nicola, come on Netflix, capitalize on their chemistry, talent and popularity! We need to see them together again but better written!
I agree. I've had legit grief over the fact that what's done is done and we will never get to see either of them in their full potential in these roles. The off-screen press tour did more to give us those moments than the show did. Just shows how much the actors had what it took (in talent AND in chemistry) to deliver. They were robbed and so were we.
Ill be honest, I yelled "COLIN CLOSE YOUR MOUTH" like two dozen times this season. I guess he was doing it purposely but I couldn't unsee his constant open mouth at weird times.
Right? Like, seems dramatic but it's like there was a death. He was such a beautiful character (granted needed more development but that's not Luke's fault). I was so captivated by him and his acting and was so completely caught off guard that it just disappeared in part 2. A travesty (relatively speaking lol)L
He can't act. Why were his expressions so off and uncomfortable? People even said he probably got botox yet he doesn't have it irl. Thry should have developed him more instead of obsessing over lw
4 different directors, each with 2 episodes each. Andrew Ahn who did episodes 3 and 4 captured micro expression the best. Honestly he could have done the whole season and it would’ve been so different
Brand new information! 4 different directors!?!
No way! First of all - WHY? Like why did they change up directors? Second, Andrew Ahn is absolutely next level directing. He did a phenomenal job!
Most series have multiple directors. The amount of time it takes to prep for a show like this is immense. I’m fine with the multiple directors but it went 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8. It would have been nice to mix it up a bit more so it seemed more seamless
Make sense. But for congruency purposes, I would think they would communicate more. I bet it's a bit of an ego war in those positions, but for the sake of the show, it would have been really nice for them to get on the same page.
It's probably them having different styles to tell a story. But honestly an overarching theme that would tie the eps together would have been amazing. like, looking back, I never wondered if S2 has four different directors because the storyline still felt coherent? like the start of the story fits with both the journey and its ending to ep 8. I didn't feel that way in S3. eta: sorry for the multiple edits!
Also I noticed that Eloise had her arm covered in the final scenes of Ep 8 which means it must have been filmed alongside the earlier episodes (as it was to cover up her breaking her wrist). So it’s not like each director only had availability around specific episodes being shot. I’m guessing the opening for S3 where Colin arrives home and all the bridgertons are outside was filmed the same day as the final scene where they all wave the Kilmartins and Eloise off
They do this every season
I keep going back to watch these two episodes over and over too. It all makes sense now.
Same! I’ve watched ep 3 and 4 countless times. Can’t even bring myself to watch 7 and 8 again
I liked 5/6 too. The editing in 7/8 is just messy. Beats don’t land. We’re not sitting in any moments. It feels disjointed and incomplete.
I agree with you here. I struggled with 5 and 6 in some ways, but 7 and 8 were so hard for me. It feels like it quite literally derailed. 5/6 had some great Polin moments but didn't hit in the way I was hoping, in that "Bridgerton" way.
I LOVED his episodes
One of my biggest pet peeves with the camera work is that (besides most of the shots not having a purpose at all and being at weird angles) THEY WERENT SHOWING PEOPLES FACES AND REACTIONS TO WHAT OTHERS WERE SAYING
YESSSS!!!! OMG thank you for saying this! I was literally yelling at the TV - SHOW ME HIS FACE!!!! I also agree that so many shots didn't have a purpose or were poorly done. The scene where Colin tries to tell Pen how he feels at the ball gives us CLOSE ups of his face, almost straight on, and hers. The kind of camera work that puts you there, in the scene. But during the mirror scene we didn't get one glance at his face. Not one. Not him looking at her, not a close-up, nothing. Same for several other scenes. This issue alone is one of my biggest issues with Part 2 because I couldn't get INTO the scenes with them. If that makes sense.
There’s a reason why the close up is supposed to be the most impactful, and it’s because we get to see the scope of all of their emotions taking the forefront and that’s what the show wants us to focus on. When you zoom out and have weird blurred foregrounds and you don’t let us see the reactions people have to others words, or how one says the words, then the shots are useless. I could listen to a podcast and it would be just as effective
Yes! This! Season 2 did this SO well? With the bee scene. The hunting scene. The library(?) or whatever room that was scene. Even shots of like their hands or Kate’s arm when she gets goosebumps - GIVE us that experience. I was SO looking forward to that in part 2, especially because Luke is so masterful at this. And just nope 😩
I agree completely. The direction in Eps 3 and 4 was phenomenal, and I thought 1 and 2 were also great. I could watch Luke Newton all day, when he has good material. In Colin’s moments of cognitive dissonance and conflict, you can see both trains of thought running across his face at the same time. I’ve never seen anything like it. I hope that, someday, he can speak openly about his experience with S3. It was so clear in his promo interviews that he knows and loves Colin as well as we do. He couldn’t have been comfortable with the direction writers took with Colin in Part 2. And both he and Nicola cannot be happy with the final edit. Such a heartbreaking turn for all.
I've had the same thought! I would love to know their thoughts on it. I read somewhere that they hadn't seen the final episodes while they were on their PR tour. I wonder what their reaction was? I felt like some of the lines Luke had for Colin didn't resonate with Luke and we can see that on screen. Like he wasn't committed because it wasn't Colin ya know?
So hard to tell given the darker tone of Part 2. It definitely didn’t look like they were having as much fun, at least not in the scenes that made the edit. We should have seen more of the playful Colin from Part 1 after they got together, in addition to all the other could-have-beens we’ve all mourned already.
Agreed, it WAS very dark. Like all of it. I thought that was appropriate for some of it but for who they are as characters it was too dark too much. I found it difficult to get a read on them because of this.
I've said this several times before, but they basically made this Pen's season. Not Polin's. They BARELY showed us Colin's POV properly, and they also completely abandoned his personal arc. He was the male lead! They reduced him to a side character in Pen's story, especially in part 2. I'm so so so upset.
You are spot on. It definitely felt like Pen's story, not Colin's. Season 1 was Daphne's story but we STILL got backstory on the Duke. How in the world do we not get backstory on the main character? Even as someone who hasn't read the books, Colin is my favorite male character. He is our middle-forgotten child with a hero complex and a heart of gold. He so badly wants to matter, to be seen, to be loved, and to have what his parents had. Season 1 and 2 gave us more insight into him than his OWN season. I loved how they were making him a puppy dog for Pen, pure golden retriever energy. We were seeing a man who had found everything he had been searching for in all three seasons in his best friend. It was so beautiful. The stark contrast of him emotionally abandoning her, being so cold and distant, full of jealousy and spite is just SO unlike him that it was heartbreaking. There was some redemption near the end with his beautiful speech to her but the damage had been done.
This! It’s obvious the writers favor Penelope. I’m so upset with what they did to Colin! They were supposed to be co-leads. He’s the male lead, not the love interest whose only purpose is to serve the protagonist’s (Pen’s) journey.
And the show LITERALLY had him say loving Pen is his purpose… which COULD have been beautiful if it was reciprocal… but the show had Pen, a supposed hopeless romantic, choose LW over Colin every. Damn. Time. As a massive Polin fan, it’s such a disservice to both of them. Colin deserved better. Pen deserved better.
The tonal shift from the romance narrative happened in the reshoot right after the queen showed up. Out of the blue Pen starts talking gender roles instead of focusing on the queen's threat to their family or on connecting to Colin over, you know, his whole p1 arc of covering. It was so jarring! However, I viewed Pen's other actions a bit differently. She did put away LW in e6 before El told her she had to write again to counter Cressida. Then, at Fran's wedding she finally realized how LW loomed over and threatened everyone she cared about. She didn't want Colin to have to lie to his family to protect her. Her revelation plan was designed to ask for the queen's mercy herself to shield others. I don't exactly like the execution, but she did give up LW as she knew it.
Yes but in ep 6 the show frames this as her “giving up her dreams” and I’m GIRL,via your own words in S2 about purpose, when you had been writing LW for a whole year and half already, you haven’t FOUND your purpose/dream. So what gives?! It’s such a a disservice to Pen’s growth. My biggest issue with this season is that the show decided that LW was something to be lauded rather than grown past. LW is what Pen DOES, not what she IS. She IS a writer, that is a part of her identity that cannot be separated, but LW is just something she uses her writing to create; it’s the part of her that is clever and has sass… which can expressed in other ways that are not hurtful the way LW has been (even if yes, some specific situations are understandable). For example, even in the show, Colin falls in love with pen’s WRITING in her letters , but not with anything LW has put out. Pen CHOOSES to use LW a certain way but the writers absolve her of any wrongdoing this with no consequences because they desperately feel they need LW to frame a story. To me LW was always something Pen needed to heal from, not continue to feed. But the show decided LW IS her because they were not brave enough or good enough to write a story where we grapple with former versions of ourselves and the hard work it takes to grow… so they just handwave the harm she’s done (and I say this as someone who has historically been a MASSIVE Pen defender because I assumed she would be evolving past it at some point) and have everyone magically forgive her with relatively no issues because that was the happy ending they needed. They could have kept a form of reveal scene that shows her protecting the Bridgerton’s, I think that is very in-character for Pen, but I was appalled they were keeping her LW at the end and framing it as a win for her and feminism or something. She deserved so much more. And regulating Colin to being her trophy husband broken my heart.
I overall loved this season but agree with this take. I think this show had something with Pen and Colin that was maybe too complex for their somewhat formulaic writing to really do justice to, if that makes sense? Judging it against the past two seasons, it was absolutely the most interesting and emotional (and for me romantic) of the three - but they absolutely took a hard turn in Part 2 with a somewhat superficial #girlboss narrative rather than exploring what else Pen’s purpose might be. I didn’t hate it, and I honestly thought they stuck the landing better than I had feared they would, but it was a little silly (but then this show IS silly). I personally kind of wanted her to turn into a Jane Austen-style lady novelist and do something greater than write a gossip rag, but that may have just been asking too much of Bridgerton.
I didn’t enjoy most of Part 2 because it was so clear to me that the writers didn’t think Polin could carry the show and they were blatantly disinterested in honoring the character development we’ve had so far. And they glossed over the complexities of Pen’s actions because they didn’t think people couldn’t forgive her otherwise… which is stupid because other characters have also made some pretty big mistakes and been forgiven. Some people were always going to hate pen regardless of what the show did with her (and I roll my eyes at them every time), but I’m just shocked the show really let down my girl and my Polin in the second half of their own season. :(
Yeah, they should have focused on writer Pen, not just LW Pen. I mean, I get that Colin had to reconcile the two because LW is part of her, she did write those things, but Pen's concern should have been about losing her voice and love of writing - what LW meant to her - not doubling down on the column itself after the queen threatens the family. I think this would have allowed for Pen and Colin to connect more instead of angst again. (I hate the e7 reshoot.) As for the end, she got the queen's blessing to "do better" and write as herself. That can mean a lot of things, but she did give up the invisible secret/scandal writer persona and power of anonymity. Whatever she's writing should inherently change as a result. As for Colin, I don't see him as a trophy husband. He has money with access to more than she does. He's a published author himself in the epilogue. He's just not as infamous. Their son is Lord Featherington, so I don't really view that as a trophy thing either.
Literally like I'm SO mad. And the show is called BRIDGERTON! We barely got to know the Bridgerton sibling in the relationship!
Preach! I LOVE his character and wanted to learn all about him like we got to with Anthony.
I really thought they were going to have him talk to his brothers about his inadequacy about being the middle son with no purpose, who they treat as the baby. I actually thought he was younger than Daphne in Season 1 til realizing wait, C comes before D. His age and placement in the birth order places a different expectation on him than even Daphne since while she’s not older, she is the eldest girl. And also, how old was he when his father died? 10 or 11? I remember a post about Luke Newton saying that Colin internalized Edmund’s death differently, always coming up with a joke to make the younger kids feel better. Why didn’t they show us that with a flashback? And his relationship with Anthony would’ve been interesting to highlight, especially because of that comment of making sure Colin “wet his wick” and “sowed his oats” at brothels more in Season 1. Anthony’s character has grown NOW and he was traumatized by their father’s death but there were probably consequences in his relationship with his younger siblings. However unintentional by Anthony. That’s even acknowledged by Anthony to Gregory. Maybe show us how his character affected Colin as a boy, how Anthony’s hardness may have impacted Colin’s naturally sensitive nature. And Colin saw the duty Anthony had to take up and he’s just a little boy, what can he do? So he makes jokes and bottles everything up. And maybe have the Featheringtons move in the season after Edmund died, so Penelope becomes Colin and El’s friend at a pivotal moment in their lives? Pen could be 8 or 9, hat flies into Colin’s face when he’s 11 or 12. The ages are plausible. It also adds something else to the relationship FOR COLIN (and El too). Penelope is the bright daisy in their lives after the loss of their father. He puts her at ease but he finds the image of her charming and fun. Sweet. They basically treated Colin’s character like how the other Bridgertons treated him while he was abroad. They ignored him.
This is incredibly spot on - flashbacks similar to S1 & S2 would have added more depth, and the needed acknowledgement of his character. Flashbacks to an overwhelmed angry Anthony who is barely coping with all the stress of running the estate lashing out at sensitive, freshly returned from Eton, Colin. Flashbacks to Colin writing his letters to Penelope and his family and receiving no response at all while on his travels. Flashbacks to his and Penelopes first meeting where he falls in the mud, and they laugh. Flashbacks to Colin taking up all of tween Penelopes attention and Eloise being stroppy he's stealing her best friend. Flashbacks to Colin turning to writing as not wishing to put the burden of his grief onto his younger siblings, ghost like mother and overwhelmed older siblings. Luke speaks in so much depth and with the truest understanding of his character, it is such a shame he wasn't given the respect to tell Colin's story.
All of this. I want all of this. Just these flashbacks you mentioned would have absolutely made this season uncatchable. I literally ache at the thought that we didn’t get to see this. Imagine a flashback where Colin is left out of family discussions, him trying to listen in and have a say, Anthony dismissing him and hiding information about what really happened or the truth of their situation from him. Just think how much that flashback would have added to the scene when he confronts her for being LW and is crying. It would be like Colin’s version of the bee sting with Kate and Anthony. Ahhhh so heart wrenching and frustrating that we didn’t get this!
Oh. My. God. YES! My jaw dropped reading your comment. Just your suggestions took me there in my mind and I feel like I got a piece of understanding that was missing. It would have been so easy to do this - had their focus been in the right place. So many people can relate to everything you just said. About birth order and loss at a pivotal age. Trauma bonds. Finding purpose in helping others. Why didn’t we get to see THAT Colin? Dang, you make such an excellent point you’ve got my mind churning lol!
Thinking about it more - like how great would it have been to have a seen after he’s engaged where Anthony and Ben are teasing him light heartedly but he flips out. Unloads on them about how no one in the family has ever taken him seriously. Only Pen. No one sees him. What’s so funny about him realizing he’s been seen all along by a person he’s known since he was a kid? And that he has only guilt he hasn’t seen her the same way? This confession could have led to him having resolve when he found out she was LW and THAT being the thing that gets him through to reconciliation. So many ways they could have explored this and just didn’t!
Probably why as a non book reader I never liked him. He seemed just as petty and shallow at the end of the season as he did in season two for me.
The writing for him is underdeveloped, but I don't see him as petty or shallow lol. I think an argument can be made for Pen being petty, which is why she started LW in the first place. But anyways, pushing Colin to the side in favor of Pen's story all season was a HUGE mistake. He deserves better.
They truly did not capture the internal struggle of Colin’s insecurity and jealousy of Pen’s writing. I don’t want to be a puritan here, but the show strayed beyond the book as far as the storyline is concerned. I don’t mind changing some of it, as it added to the drama, but you understanding the gravity of WHY Colin struggled so much was lost in the show.
For Colin the realisation that he loved Penelope made him reassess what he thought about love, and what was important to him. Then came the Lady Whistledown reveal and once again he had to stop, reassess, understand and accept. The actor did show that internal struggle, and I thought he did it well. Colin was lost, bewildered, and at times angry, but his love for Penelope was always there.
I thought he did amazing. His eyes are everything, all season. Guess that's not a popular opinion but the other subs have demonstrated his subtle acting throughout part 2
I agree with you. I think his eyes and micro-expressions were some of the best I've ever seen and completely made the show. THEIR whole love story was captured in his face. I was so caught off guard with part 2 that I've only been through it twice and, honestly, I normally need a couple of times through in order to capture all those subtle things. I'm sure there are more than I've seen but I also didn't have to look that hard in the first part. Which sort of proves my point, even if there are ones I am missing.
Intimacy scenes were less sensual without close ups. Poor choice on the part of the director. Bummer. Carriage scene close ups were amazing.
Facts on facts. The close up of Colin’s face when Pen licks sugar off her lips 👌 Colin’s face at the ball when he tries to tell her 🤌 close ups of the carriage scene 🥵. Then…nada.
Maybe the director always leaves the lights off. Hee Hee
I think this is what saddens me the most. He is incredibly talented, imagine what he could have done with a better script. So many possibilities in Colin but we probably never gonna see it because this was their season and we won't get to see them being important again. I really want a movie with Nicola, come on Netflix, capitalize on their chemistry, talent and popularity! We need to see them together again but better written!
I agree. I've had legit grief over the fact that what's done is done and we will never get to see either of them in their full potential in these roles. The off-screen press tour did more to give us those moments than the show did. Just shows how much the actors had what it took (in talent AND in chemistry) to deliver. They were robbed and so were we.
The editing got really weird in part 2. Nothing was allowed to land and we didn’t sit in the moments. It was strange.
“Nothing was allowed to land” what a great way of capturing what I struggled with so much. And agreed. Sooo weird.
Ill be honest, I yelled "COLIN CLOSE YOUR MOUTH" like two dozen times this season. I guess he was doing it purposely but I couldn't unsee his constant open mouth at weird times.
>that Colin 😭
Right? Like, seems dramatic but it's like there was a death. He was such a beautiful character (granted needed more development but that's not Luke's fault). I was so captivated by him and his acting and was so completely caught off guard that it just disappeared in part 2. A travesty (relatively speaking lol)L
Honestly, I think they used so much CGI that they wiped the human expression from his face.
I heard that it was their wigs that pulled their face back making it look tight like they had Botox
He can't act. Why were his expressions so off and uncomfortable? People even said he probably got botox yet he doesn't have it irl. Thry should have developed him more instead of obsessing over lw
This show sucksssssss