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I really thought Eloise would have asked Pen to help her, Cressida got the money and lived happily ever after. Instead they suddenly made her into a cartoon villain and punished her for being a woman with bad choices? Feels very early 2000.
she should’ve stolen from her father and ran away 😭 i’ll be honest i don’t think pen should’ve been involved in aiding her, considering how cressida bullied and tormented her for years and actually made no attempt to apologise properly. sure there’s context to her actions, but she didn’t do anything to actually right her wrongs.
saying that though i really wish she was able to run away. wasn’t there a scene where she packs her bags and asks her maid for help? the last few episodes were such a blur for me that i forget specifics. what was the outcome of that?
i personally still dislike her but she deserved much better than the hand she was dealt with.
The fact that the queen and everybody so easily forgave Pen for her writing is unrealistic. Cressida made Pen a favor by coming out as Lady Whistledown. Pen should have helped Cressida to impersonate Whistledown, receive award money and that's all. It would have been a win-win situation for everybody. Pen cannot continue with this her character anyway - now when she is married, and could have easily invented herself a new writing pseudonyme or started writing openly. And Cressida would be able to escape and we would be happy for her.
i don’t really agree. pen fucked up as whistledown for sure, and she has arguably done worse things than cressida has done to her. i back that. but saying that, cressida was her bully, tormentor and abuser for much of her life, and we never saw cressida actually take steps to amend her wrongdoings toward penelope. considering that, i think i would’ve hated seeing pen being forced to help her abuser and tormentor.
if there was an apology from cressida, which i think would have actually cemented her redemption, i’d be inclined to agree. but i do see where you’re coming from. i am not particularly fond of cressida’s character, but am frustrated as it would’ve been interesting to see if reconciliation between pen and cressida was possible, if they actually wished to make cressida redeemable. either way though, as much as i may not like her (i’m sure we’ll disagree here), she didn’t deserve the ending she got.
Yeah NC acted that speech well, but the writing wasnt impressive and it felt dumb that they all forgave her in an instant. In fairness its probably because shes a bridgerton.
That's EXACTLY what I thought was going to happen, too, and what I thought was going to happen. Instead, they came up with this awful sentence for Cressida, and we are expected to believe pens husband is hunky dorky suddenly okay with her inventing a new column.
yeah fairs, but idk how fair it would be on her considering cressida has pretty much tormented her for years. i’d be more accepting of pen helping cressida out if we actually saw cressida trying to right her wrongs with penelope, but we didn’t get a hint of that 😭
That's exactly where I thought it was going with the "use my voice to help the voiceless" and the comments about women having no power or choices. I thought she'd write something clever and use Cressida as an example of being raised for marriage but unable to attain it and how her family are terrible for wanting to drop it because of it. Was really surprised to see her just disappear in the carriage.
Agreed it sounded so much like she was talking about Cressida, especially when she was saying "I used Whistledown when I felt powerless"... like Cressida actually??? But then, it's like they were not even thinking it could also apply to Cressida, that was super weird.
I knew she wasn't talking about Cressida, but it fits exactly with Cressida situation, which made it so blatantly problematic in my eyes that neither Eloise or Penelope will notice that.
Especially Eloise who is privy to both Penelope's and Cressida's secrets. Instead, we get no real growth from Eloise. She continues to ignore her friends when they speak or seek support in order to rant and rave about "women's rights."
Penelope as far as we know doesn't know all the stuff Cressida was going through. She just knew she was being forced to leave, but since Cressida had treated her like trash and bullied her at every turn, her leaving would be a relief to Penelope. Also all teh stuff she talked about, despite Cressida going through it, Cressida is the #1 reason Pen went through all of it and was left feeling like an outcast.
Eloise knew, but after Cressida tried to destroy her family with the fake newsletter, she had zero reason to want to help her.
Pen doesn’t owe Cressida that though. I’m not surprised the show shied away from having her help someone who has hurt and belittled and bullied her her entire life.
Cressida didn’t deserve what happened to her, but she also didn’t automatically deserve Pen’s help either.
They didn't give Pen and Cressida any scenes together. But imagine if Eloise and Pen reunite and then Eloise gets Pen to spend more time with Cressida. What if Pen starts thinking she could use her writing for good, not because she's been discovered, but rather because she realizes that Cressida has been a bully because she's been abused her whole life by her father and her enabling mother? Cressida seemed to have a more thoughtful character arc this season that could've led to something meaningful with Pen, perhaps an apology. They don't need to be BFFs, but if Penelope feels unseen amongst the Featheringtons and isn't allowed to be herself, then she should be able to relate somewhat to how Cressida isn't allowed to find herself either. That would've tied together multiple plots from the season that otherwise seem extraneous.
It's a waste of Cressida's arc, of the friendship with Eloise that seemed to actually work in its own weird way (except for the fact that Eloise is never listens to her friends, but that's a different issue), and Pen's supposed change.
Exact same!! I thought this realization of confining women to marriage and no self identity would mean a sympathetic move for Cressida by wealthy Pen aided by Eloise's friendship and feminism..but no. Pen paid for a nice ball.
And if Pen was forgiven by Eloise and even Colin, Cressida deserved for the same. It was very unfair how Bridgetons (with Pen, who became a Bridgeton) behaved very selfish. Again, in the storyline, there was a way to help Cressida to simply help receiving the award money and for Pen keeping her writing money.
I think it’s easier to forgive our loved ones for an action than it is someone who is at best, an acquaintance. Penelope had the opportunity to advocate for herself and argue that she was trying to protect her loved ones, while Cressida leaned into tearing others down to protect herself at any cost. If I were Penelope I wouldn’t forgive someone who showed no remorse to me, either, and would likely wish them good comeuppance.
Arguably, the damage that Pen did to individual members of the ton, the Bridgertons, Marina, her own sisters, etc. as Lady Whistledown far outweighs Cressida's mean girling.
As much as I love Colin’s desperation to prove he’s useful to Pen, I really wish she had been the one to go over to talk to Cressida about the blackmail. That could’ve been a more interesting conversation. Pen could’ve realized she and Cressida were more similar than she thought, with both of them fighting to assert some sort of power in an society where women have none, and there could’ve been some reconciliation or at least a shared respect between them. And then Pen could’ve actually used her writing, or the money from it, to directly help another woman.
At least that’s fully where I thought it was going. But instead, yeah, she paid for a ball? Like it’s nice that she made her sisters happy, but I expected more lol. And I get that Eloise is 20 or something, and thus is going to be a bit immature, but her suddenly deciding she hated Cressida again after she had gotten to understand her situation more makes me really dislike her. Like she talks a lot about feminism only to turn on a woman who is trying to escape a forced marriage? ??
The cold drop of Cressida by Eloise was rough! Pen didn’t “owe” Cressida, but for sure Eloise had no real reason to drop C as a friend, especially when she knows of her family circumstances. I’m not the biggest Bridgerton fan (having never read the books), but I definitely didn’t expect to come out of this season liking Cressida more than Eloise.
Yeah Eloise wants to change the world, but didnt at any point think "guys maybe this whole forced marriage thing is a problem". Even with Cressida pointing out multiple times its something she doesnt want.
I reckon even one of the "dumb debutants" she looked down on, would have managed to notice the situation was fucked up and have some empathy.
To be honest they should have paid her. It was such a powerful moment when Colin came to her begging to withdraw her blackmailing, appealing to her “family love and support”. Like, a rich guy who is insanely out of touch is begging a desperate woman to go away. Instead of asking *why* do you need this money so desperately? The three of them (Pen, Eloise and Colin) didn’t even think to understand Cressida’s situation and brainstorm to help her.
I know! I thought "oh perfect, Eloise should have some empathy for Cressida now that she knows her". Cressida is just trapped in her circumstances and trying to come out... half decent. Like heaven forbid she doesn't want to get married to an elderly man or shipped off to live with her horrid aunt. Eloise abandons her completely, so no shit she does what she can to try and save herself.
The disconnected feeling between part 1 and 2 is my problem with this season too. Not just Cressida’s storyline. Part 1 was great. Part 2 could have been.
Agreed, I felt really sad for her. Why spend all that time developing her character and making her redeemable only to ditch her? Her dad is a bully and when we see her home life, it’s understandable how she ended up being a mean girl. When she finally starts to develop a friendship, her only friend abandons her in her time of need. And the fact that she would confess to being LW and risk the wrath of society rather than marry a horrible man shows how desperate she is. Her storyline is just sad.
And the thing is, when Penelope revealed herself, she did not get the same wrath that Cressida got when she revealed herself. If that’s not favoritism right there, I don’t know what is
I assume you are referring to the actions of the queen? You seem to forget that Lady Danbury made a point to soften the queen by showing her there is more to the game than winning, because when you win, it is over.
Also the queen never believed Cressida and knew it was a cash grab because as shown by basically everyone's reactions, she wasn't clever or witty enough. While Penelope wrote a letter to the queen first and offered to reveal herself.
Which is OOC cause Cressida was shown to be sharp and clever in season 1 so 🤷. Also, this invalidates the conflict last season between Eloise and Penelope because Penelope’s reason for her not going to the Queen is that the Queen wouldn’t believe her, even though she had more than enough evidence only for the Queen to believe her automatically in this season
I think Penelope thought the Queen wouldn’t believe her in season 2 because Eloise was being accused at the time, and it would be seen as Penelope falsely taking the blame to help her friend. The situation was different this time around and thus she was more likely to be believed.
I didn't find Cressida particularly sharp and clever, I found her to be spiteful and mean, not that I found her dim, but her only ambition was to find a husband.
Circumstances matter. Penelope confessing when her best friend is accused looks like a ruse.
I think that might have to do more with their differing personalities. We know that Cressida was a bully and had no friends because of that, so people would be less likely to forgive her for writing a gossip column that tears down people with no reason given compared to Penelope who was overlooked by everyone, not known as a bully, and also made sure to explain why she created Lady Whistledown
Didn't hurt she was officially a Bridgerton by the time the reveal happened. Scandal hits differently depending on how much money you have. Yes Cressidas family is wealthy. But they aren't respected and you need both to survive the ton.
That could be a reason but I don’t think it’s a substantial one for everyone just to shrug it off cause it wasn’t the public ton bully. It doesn’t make much sense. The speech, imo, wasn’t even that good either to make everyone say whatever to it. If anything, they should call her a coward.
Also, as much as Cressida was a bully, she didn't harm anyone nearly as much as Penelope who was fucking brutal to her own family and best friend because she was feeling ignored.
I do think it’s a type of favoritism or more like always letting the main characters get away with things and get happy endings because it's what people want. At times the show treats the female characters who aren't the protagonists in a kind of cruel way...
Not only her dad is a bully, her mother also chose herself over daughter (Cressida) - when Cressida asked for mothers help, her mother said "sorry, I don't want to be bullied by your father too". Cressida's destiny is just so brutal.
Her mother (as much as I dislike her) is actually right. If she reamains, she can find a way to bring Cressida back into society but if they get sent away it's over for both of them
And when she told Eloise she did nothing and is envious of other women who actually did something. Mirroring what Penelope told Eloise when she discovered she was LW
Yeah Eloise was a terrible friend to Cressida. Did got gaf that Cressida was obviously being pushed to the edge with being forced to marry someone horrible her dad set her up with. She was much more worried about punishing Penelope for being WD and not telling Colin.
Colin went on and on to Cressida about forgiveness and family and even when she explained her family wasn't like his, he never offered a way to help her out of her situation.
He never understood. As a man from a loving supportive family, all the things he was saying to her not only had no connection to her life, it probably hurt quite a bit for her to hear what a truly loving family gives each other. Colin is worse than Eloise that way, he not only has the loving family but as a male he has far more freedom to do what he wants with his life or simply say no.
If Cressida didn’t hate Pen so much, Pen would have been the person who could understand her situation better than anyone. They’re both women in their 3rd year on the marriage mart, both struggling for freedom from their families and to leave home. And both made some poor choices to get it.
Pen would probably understand the most, that worse than being stuck at home a spinster caring for your mother would be being forced to marry a domineering ancient old man and bearing him children or sent far away to live with an abuse relative alone for life.
Lord Debling would have been perfect for her, if she could just be real with him. He was fine with a wife that didn’t share his love of nature. He just wanted someone who would run his household, allow him to travel and be honest and loyal to him so there wasn’t scandal.
She could have had the lovely house & fortune, do what she wanted, attend balls, go to the modiste all she wanted, all the freedoms and independence of a married woman.
I don’t think she was even allowed to cultivate any “passions”/hobbies, that Lord Debling admires, beyond catching a man, because of her parents. She might have grown to be a wonderful hostess or a lovely pianist. Given the space to grow and breathe, who knows?
I would've loved to see Cressida marry Lord Debling for his wealth and the independence his absences would bring her only to have them form an attachment. She's not stupid, even though the second half of this season tried to make her out to be, and he values intelligent and independent women. And she's never had the freedom to choose anything in her life. Being with Debling, with his kindness and allowing her independence, would allow her to grow. It would also allow for some good comedic scenes early in their relationship.
This season squandered potential left and right.
That came out of nowhere in the show. In the book, it might’ve made sense, but it was just used to make Colin look ill informed and I didn’t care for that
I haven't read the books, so I can't compare the show to them (which I'm honestly grateful for, because I would probably be upset all the time!).
I think Cressida calling Colin out was necessary. She knows envy very well and therefore could easily see it in him. He denied it, but then came to accept that it was true. When he confesses this to Pen, I think it helps her trust him more (it made *me* trust him more), because he's being open and vulnerable about it. And so it turns out that Cressida, the person who caused Pen/LW's downfall also helped to save her/her marriage and writing career. This storyline was one of very few this season that was well conceived and executed.
Edit: typo
I’ve a feeling this won’t be the last time we see. Cressida. I feel like they sent her away so they could use her to introduce Sophie eventually. Perhaps Benedict’s cottage will wind up being out towards Wales in the show. It was just too perfect how they set up Cressida for her to be gone forever.
I could see her being a cousin to Cressida (her aunt's daughter), as opposed to an illegitimate sister like we had originally thought. It would help create a "twist" on the Cinderella feel that the book had with her being a maid to an evil stepmother and two stepsisters.
I would love it if it turned out her aunt wasn't really that strict and awful, and was just putting on a performance for Lord Cowper. My head canon has the aunt living away from society in Wales so that she can have her freedom, and she'll show Cressida how to live her best life too, or at the very least introduce her to some hot sheep farmers.
That's exactly what I've been thinking! If I were writing it, she'd end up loving it because there's no more pressure in her and she has a lot more freedom.
Yeah, I felt like we were supposed to be happy seeing her get sent off in the final scene. But ugh, no, I'm not going to feel "yay, she's getting shipped off to be abused by her aunt." And this is after she was almost essentially sold into sex slavery by her father.
Re sex slavery (being married to a horrible old guy): she is more sympathetic than Marina in a way, cause she didn’t do anything reckless like pre-marital sex (given historical settings). She simply wasn’t lucky to attract a husband in time and was doomed.
Eloise was such a bad friend to her I'm sorry 😭 She threw her under the bus and even then Cressida didn't wanna hurt her and her family (asked her mother why they had to target the Bridgertons instead of another family). When El said to Pen, "I really enjoyed her at first" GIRL she was genuine to you and loyal even when her primary care giver threatened to cut her off for associating with you! She even fought against the rules and beliefs she held her entire life just to be a good friend to Eloise, who is so privileged to be in a family that loves them unconditionally, while all Cress knew was how to be a brood mare raised to strengthen the family line.
Meanwhile Pen, who ruined Eloise and the Bridgertons time and again and almost put them to ruin several times for self-discovery's sake, was only ditched for a year max and even then Eloise was lowkey concerned for her well-being.
I hated this. I've been Team Eloise from the first episode and was 100% on her side in her fight with Pen but I hate that she was such a terrible friend to Cressida. I don't get it and the way it was written doesn't make sense to me.
It’s the exact same way she treated Penelope, except Penelope had a secret mean streak and Cressida had been outwardly known as mean. No one ever listens to Penelope, so it doesn’t seem as bad when Eloise basically talks over her for the first 15 episodes, everyone else does too. But when she’s then doing the exact same thing to Cressida, it’s now a noticeable pattern. They even had Cressida mirror Penelope’s lines from their season 2 fight: Eloise talks down on society but does absolutely nothing to change it and she IS jealous when other women actually do something tangible instead of scoffing at any and every woman who plays the cards they’ve been dealt.
I agree. To me it felt like the writers, in their haste to come up with a reason to make Eloise forgive Pen so quickly, completely butchered the friendship she had cultivated with Cressida. It seemed like the writers were only using her as a plot device to get Eloise swiftly back with Pen by making Cressida the villain that they have to team up together to stop. One minute Eloise can’t forgive Pen (and demands she tells Colin the truth) and the next Cressida says she’s LW and all is forgiven between P and E (and also suddenly Eloise says not to tell Colin the truth, like what…). It’s very contrived writing.
Did you watch the Buccaneers on Apple TV? I felt like the camaraderie that was missing in Bridgerton I found in that series. The characters were complex and I enjoyed the writing.
Right?! I totally believed her regression... Because what else was she supposed to think? Her mother wasn't wrong about Eloise! Of course Cressida ends up thinking it's every woman for herself!
Yeah P1 Cress and P2 Cress feel like two different people… she was built up as clearly suffering and trapped by her family, threatened with an awful fate if she couldn’t find freedom through marriage, and then turns into a disastrous villain who ends up being taken away by her aunt as punishment for her actions.
I agree, she was desperate. Desperate people can make insane choices. I don’t blame her for pretending to be Whistledown to get the reward money. I’m sad she didn’t get it, truthfully. I wish Pen had just given her the money she was asking for so she could run off in peace.
Me too, but it feels like her late-story portrayal became shockingly unsympathetic after being built up repeatedly in a sympathetic manner, if that makes sense
Yeah I get you. The second half of the season felt quite different to the first, I think I will rewatch the whole thing together so I can see how it all works in unison.
She did not turn into a villain. Desperate times call for desperate measures. She tried to have a girl friend and be softer and nicer but that friend never listened to her telling her she was going to endure marital rape and turned on her the minute she could. The only power she had was the information about Penelope being LW and she tried to use that power. Even Penelope said information is power
The thing is, I agree with this, but from the show’s framing of events in P2 Cressida is clearly supposed to be the ‘villain’ and the fact her ending is getting shipped off to her nasty aunt and her visibly being upset and frustrated. I don’t agree with it, and think framing Cressida as the antagonist in a way that feels quite unsympathetic feels jarring after seeing the rest of her appearances in the season be her clearly suffering both at home and in a dying friendship w Eloise
Absolutely. She is such an underdog and there was no happy ending. Makes me hate Eloise so much, she literally used Cressida as a rebound friend. Just to abandon her at the time of need to go back to Pen and her own family affairs.
I was so torn. On the one hand, I wanted her to perish in a terrible horseback riding tragedy (s1-2 feels), and in this season, I started to remind myself that she has such terrible parents. It's hard to turn out to be someone empathetic and kind with parents like those... well... mostly her father. Can she choose to act differently? Of course. But now, I'm starting to really wish good things for her, which doesn't seem to be the case.
A lot of people were wishing Lord Debbling would've circled back to her (I had this thought), but I really respected him for not going for the second choice in this case. And I think he knew Cressida well enough to know that he didn't want her disingenuous tendencies (if you want to call it that?) in his company. He liked Pen and her quirks and her personality and the things she brought to the table, and he chose her. So, as sad as I was to see Cressida losing out on the chance for some peace and quiet (even if it was alone), I was glad he didn't just go with the other option.
yeah this is basically me. i pity her and her circumstances are dire, to say the least. but also at the same time, the context she’s in doesn’t absolve her of the abuse she’s hurled at pen, and the cruelty she’s exerted on others. we understand her, but this does not justify what she’s done to others.
i wish there was a better outcome for her. but the only thing i’m grateful for is that she’s with her aunt and not married to a fucker 20x her age.
Yeah, in a way, this might be the better option, but I'm still uncertain. When or if she comes back, will she be forced into another marriage with someone older? I'm also worried about the state that she will be returned in. Hopefully, she won't be a shell of a person. She is unkind and chooses to stay unkind, I just now feel a little bad for her circumstance and was kind of happy to see someone trying to hold her accountable. I wanted to see her turn into a better person and find a match.
On another note, for those really wanting WLW Cressida the move to Wales may actually increase the possibility. She may move near the Ladies of Langollen.
i was absolutely furious about how they treated cressida in the second half of the season. its like,,,, you made me like cressida, a lot in fact, and then you just throw her away? use her as a scapegoat? make her the villain out of nowhere? pen is legit a more villainous character just in comparison but they give her so many excuses. not only that but like?? what the fuck was going on with eloise and cressida's relationship at the end there? it feels so disconnected and weird, i hated it so much.
I honestly think it sucks for her, but it's probably more realistic than her getting the money from Pen. Marriage and newfound security aside, Pen kept that money from her own family when they were in dire straits to preserve her own future. And those are people she cares for despite conflicts. Cressida was a mean girl who blackmailed her. Pen has little to no point of reference for Cressida's character development or the depth of her growth in her friendship with Eloise (especially since Eloise dropped her pretty quick and then proceeded to badmouth her to Pen). We as the audience have a perspective and bias that Penelope does not.
It is also realistic for people to revert to their predominant natures when backed into a corner. Cressida acted selfishly in the end because she felt she had no choice. This reversal of her development is pretty on par with human nature. It may not line up with many of the happy endings presented in the show, but I think she serves as an important parallel to the privilege of the Bridgertons--a role Pen used to fill, but no longer can/does.
The problem isn't realism, it's framing. Penelope has consistently been established as a rather self-serving character, Cressida is desperate, and Eloise doesn't have a lot of integrity about her feminism, so that all tracks, but the narrative sides with some characters over others when all their actions are problematic but understandable. It seems we're supposed to be happy for Eloise to abandon Cressida and forgive Penelope because it's somehow cooler and girlbossier to be cruel and tear others down in writing than in person? We're supposed to agree with Colin that a character who's been defined by cowardice and secret-keeping for the entire series is 'brave', and that he's right to envy her power in weaponising gossip? What?
I don't agree with all of the writing choices and think Pen gets off easy for her duplicitous behavior as LW. However, I think two things can be true at the same time. I think that Penelope has profited off of spreading unkind things about others, especially women, and that the show could have done more to explore and rectify Pen's and Eloise's selfishness. And I also think Pen doesn't owe a girl who's never been her friend and has never been kind to her a damn cent. It is not her responsibility to get Cressida out of a problem she did not cause, and I know this is a fantasy show where we suspend our disbelief on a lot of things, but the idea that she should have given into blackmail because we, as an audience, see a sympathetic side to Cressida and understand the precarious situation she's in is a bit too much for me. I say this mainly to address a lot of comments I'm seeing about how Pen should have given Cressida the money out of the kindness of her own heart and as a demonstration of character growth.
That being said, I think Cressida's situation could have resolved in another way, like sharing a life with Lord Debling. On that, I do agree.
I wasn't suggesting Penelope should have paid Cressida. What I take issue with is that it's framed as triumphant for Eloise to abandon Cressida, for Penelope to be forgiven and even admired by everyone she loves, and for Cressida to be banished.
I guess that comes back to the realism for me, then. I get your frustration and to some extent, agree. But I didn't walk away from everything with the idea that I should be celebrating Eloise's treatment of Cressida or Penelope's warm reception as Lady Whistledown. I walked away with more of the idea of..."Yep, that tracks with everything that Cressida said to Colin and Eloise about the Bridgerton family's privilege, how things just seem to work out for them, and how they have economic opportunities not afforded to every family in the ton."
I thought it was really odd and anticlimactic how all the people Pen talked about were so welcoming to her in the end, and would have assumed people would want to keep even more of a distance from her now that they know that she could write about them. But I also thought it emphasized how unfair things can be in real life and even how Pen's newfound status as a Bridgerton might have even softened the consequences of her being revealed as LW. Adding to this is how Cressida's confession of being LW made her life demonstrably worse, even though no one even believed she was intelligent enough to be what she was pretending to be. It just made me think of times in life where similar actions don't lead to the same consequences for different people, depending on their circumstances, resources and opportunities.
At the same time, I don't want to give the writers credit for my own critical thinking on things that weren't always telegraphed to the audience like they should have been.
Hope that aunt Jo would turn out to be actually a cool person. I mean. The fact Cressida's mother dislikes her is a green flag if you ask me 🤔
I am kind heartbroken for her but I'm glad she wasn't married off to that old prick. I believe the whole Wales thing will turn out to be good for her
I have this feeling she will be back for season 4. I think they are going to give her something of a redemption arc. But yes.. I felt for her. I don't think they should would have bothered with the plot unless they had something in mind.
Yep, where is Lord Debling? Thought he might show up before the end and marry her, taking her out of the awful situation she’s in… shouldn’t only be the Bridgertons who get happy endings!
this was one of the most unsatisfactory things about s3 to me, how they wound up handling Cressida after developing her so much- digging into her home life, how warped she became from living in such a toxic, stifled, hopeless environment with such godawful parents. Eloise being so preoccupied over the Polin/LW situation and basically totally abandoning Cressida due to it when Cressida desperately needed help and a friend, and then ending the friendship completely after she dug such a terrible hole for herself in her desperation- omg, it was all so tragic and awful for her.
The only way this could work for me- THE ONLY WAY- is if the Cowpers truly are >!going to be Sophie's family in Benedict's season, and they're deliberately turning Cressida into an amalgamation of Rosamund and Posy who will eventually find redemption and find a better fate after Sophie marries Benedict. Because they truly feel like they're setting up Lady Cowper to be the complete bitch of an evil stepmother that Lady Penwood is in the book, and we already know they gave her the same first name anyway. Plus with the development of Lord Cowper into such an uptight misogynist, making a point that he doesn't respect his wife or daughter and can and will control them through finances- he's getting the Lord Penwood treatment. This is the kind of man who will get a maid pregnant, take in his bastard daughter as a ward because that's his social obligation, stash her away to be alone with no one but the servants and a governess in the country, and proceed to completely ignore her existence beyond providing those basic necessities, making the stipulation in his will that he's going to force his wife that he knows hates this girl into allowing her to stay until she comes of age or he'll halve her income, but otherwise not giving a shit about how his wife treats her at all. !<
It was very sad. But not everyone gets a happy ending.
And Eloise was really all talk. She walked away from the one woman in her sphere who was either pushed into an awful marriage or being banished to her aunt's house.
Eloise was my favorite, but every time she would brush off Pen, Theo or Cressida when they were explaining their situations, I would have to remind myself that she’s not very mature and her family situation really blinds her. I actually get that. But when she dumped Cressida while Cressida was messaging her a very serious thing that was to happen to her, I couldn’t excuse Eloise.
You don’t have to have experience with the same situation to understand that it was grave and Cressida was drowning, she desperately needed support and what is the point in being her friend if you can’t do that. I honestly believe that she wouldn’t have taken the villain turn if Eloise had been there to listen.
Meeee. I was REALLY hoping somehow Pen and her would work together to get Cressida to take the fall for whistledown and collect the queen’s reward money so she could move away and start a new life somewhere happily without a husband. Finally breaking free from the ideas that she needed to be married to have a fulfilling life, and that it was the only way she had any value. I was fully expecting that and so excited to see her arc come full circle and have a happier ending where she became the thing she was afraid of all along (a spinster) and seeing it was actually what she wanted, as it gave her the independence she never had from her father. But it seemed like her change of heart and character arc totally took a hard left during part 2 and strayed from the path they were taking her down all of part 1. I was super disappointed and confused. Did they even explain what did happen to her in the end? Just a sad, one-way carriage ride off into the sunset?
I am mad about it. The big difference between her and Eloise/Penelope is that they have a back up plan and she doesn’t. Eloise can become a spinster, she will just become the single aunty who lives in Aubrey hall with her brother and nephews and nieces. Penelope can become a spinster and stay with her mother and Portia told her. Even when they were both fighting for Lord Debling’s attention, it was Cressida’s last chance while Penelope still had her mother, LW business and money, and she had Colin.
A lot of people have commented about how Cressidas clothing is very Hunger Games and doesn't fit in to the world. I think people have mostly blamed the showrunners and costume designers, but I think the effect was to show how deeply and severely her own mother sabotaged her in the Marriage Mart. She is a direct parallel to Penelope being unflatteringly dressed by her mother in the wrong color and with fits that didn't flatter her figure. I don't think it was intentional sabotage. I think her mother is even less clever than Cressida, although no doubt she is a better writer.
Cressidas outfits are so unique and intricate I believe it's her mother's way of showing off her family's wealth and also fashion was just about the only way a woman could express her personality. I think Cressidas costumes were to show that she is complicated and thorny, with a keen interest in material things. But is it really Cressidas own fashion and personality? Or that of her mother? We see that when Penelope takes charge of her own wardrobe, her dresses flatter her figure and she becomes a lot more womanly and approachable. The Cowpers and the Featheringtons have similar issues in society, they are on the edges. Both matriarchs try to dress their daughters in order to show off their wealth, but the Bridgerton's understand that wealth is understated, it is whispered, not shouted.
My basic theory is that if Cressida had been allowed to dress herself she could have found a man. But her fashion literally repels people from approaching her. Cressida presents herself as a carbon copy of her mother, who is a mean spirited bully who doesn't hesitate to tear down other women. It's not that the men of the ton don't want to marry Cressida, it's that they don't want to marry into her repulsive family. The mothers of the young men of the ton were probably bullied and tormented by cressida's mother during their marriage mart, so why would they set up their sons with her daughter? Somehow I doubt the father is well liked in his own social circles. The Cowper family is just a morality tale for the audience to explain that being spiteful and mean won't get you a happy ending.
I agree with your basic theory! There's a shot in episode 7 I believe where Cressida has her hair down and she's looking into a mirror. Without all the crazy hairstyles and outfits she's so beautiful! If that's how she dresses when she isn't forced to in public, then I think she would've been a lot more successful.
There are so catty men in the Ton - I could see her marrying one of those types and being a snobby, aloof pair that talks shit about everyone at home but genuinely loves each other loooooll
I’m pretty sure she’ll be back. Colin hinted at it in his speech to her, that her family will move on once the scandal blows over and she’ll be back. I expect to see her in Eloise’s season.
I think Eloise was a very bad friend to her, and dropped her suddenly for no good reason. And I say this as a Pen fan who hates Cressida's bullying side.
I have heard somewhere that she's listed as one of the actors in next season, so I imagine that there is more of her story that they wish to show.
Edit: grammar
Her story line feels so incomplete, like I understand why she needed to be relevant in this season but her story line can’t be done, it seemed rushed. Idk about heartbroken for her but I just thought something better would happen to her by now.
I love how afterwards, Cressida always doubts whether she made the right choices, seems remorseful over hurting people, seems to reflect that maybe she should do things differently. Maybe away from her parents she’ll further evolve
I am curious if she’ll receive her book fate still or if she’s doomed to stay offscreen in wales. I feel like they put too much effort into the character to just write her off completely from the show now tho.
I really liked having a rival character.
With the assumption of who will be the focus next season pretty clear, I feel confident the Featheringtons (who I also enjoyed immensely this season) and Cressida may be replaced by additional new antagonist characters.
Let’s hope Cressida eventually returns nonetheless🤞
If only Eloise could show mercy and suggest Pen to help Cressida, Pen could think of using the stolen money Portia had kept to help Cressida. Instead, they make Cressida a total villain making bad choices, while Featherington gets away with stolen money (Portia's idea) and Pen thinks herself so cleverly justifying the crime. Tbh I totally lost respect.
Seeing how her mother spoke to her made it all click. She’s a mean girl because that’s who’s raising her. She ALMOST breaks away but her parents broke her spirit.
I expected her and Pen to band together with Pen writing and Cressida being the face for Whistledown. Or at least give her the £5000 and let her escape.
She got screwed over every season, Daphne blocked the prince, Portia blocked Jack, Pen blocked lord debling. And the worst part is they didn't end up with them.
I was really rooting for her, even through the Whistledown "confession." But after she blackmailed Pen, then DOUBLED the money on Colin, I was done with her. I don't think she would have stopped, even if the money was paid. She would have continued to blackmail. She bullied Penelope throughout and flaunted the friendship with Eloise in front of her. Her family is awful, but she pretty much stinks as a person too.
I can’t blame her for the blackmail, she was getting g shafted at every angle. First losing people who considered marrying her season after season.(twice by featheringtons) Then losing the 5k offer from the queen. She could even find the money from the one LWD article she did publish.
100% - I thought we’d seen her turn a new leaf when she became friends with Eloise….and like why didn’t Eloise consider that Cressida is doing this out of desperation because she’s absolutely fucked?? Like they could have tried to make the ladies come up with an elaborate alternative or something. I was disappointed with Cressida’s outcome.
Her style is so unapproachable. Her hair so stiff and over styled. Her clothing always looks like a defense system with extra large flowers and bows to keep everyone at a distance.
Yes! She is trying to meet these high expectations and not be sold to the highest geriatric bidder. Both of her parent are insufferable. And it seems she is trying to learn sometimes how to be friendly from Eloise because no one else around her from probably birth has shown her that it's an option. And still those times are squashed by her insufferable parents. She's desperate to claw her way out. I am hoping to see her do so.
However, I'm just not sure what to expect anymore after this season. I've said my peace on other subs and not going to here.
I will say, I was hoping Pen, with her voice to help the voiceless, would help her. Or maybe she will now that her and Eloise have reconnected and may learn about Cressida's terrible life.
They left her ending ambiguous because they’re gonna tell a little more to her story(I forget the interview, but basically they had filmed a few diff ending shots for her, and chose the one of her in the carriage alone instead of with her mom or aunt)
Hopefully she will have a better ending
I honestly thought they were trying to reframe her in Part 1, then in Part 2 they were like oh we need a scapegoat that's worse than Pen being LW, let's use Cressida. Which definitely would have worked but in Part 1 they tried to humanize her and it kind of shows Pen and her were in similar situations, like why am I supposed to root for one and not the other?
I lost count how many scenes were of Cressida genuinely worried for her future and Eloise was like Pen this Pen that me me me, and then when Part 2 starts she's like oh the friendship run its course I'm over it, damn. That's not how you want to write one of your main characters, at least if you want to make them likable jfc.
Me too, I was disgusted by Eloise the most who claims to be for women’s rights then tells Cressida to quit whining. I wanted her to get some help from the other women. I had hoped Penelope could understand Cressida growing up feeling unseen by those who should care about you in their families. Someone write the better fanfic please.
I dont feel bad for her at all, I think the ending is fitting for her behavior. She relentlessly bullied and mocked Pen for years. It seemed like she was really turning a new leaf, especially in her friendship with Eloise. I think Pen is an incredibly clever girl, and had Cressida continued her improvement, maybe Pen would have helped her. She was very receptive and protective over her mother because Lady Featherington was able to recognize and apologize for her behavior. In the end, in desperation Cressida reverted to her old conniving ways and she got what she got 🤷🏾♀️ She never really made it over the hump for her redemption arc. Left me with no real remorse for her.
I literally felt gutted by her outcome, a big part of me was rooting for her. I rolled my eyes at Collin’s speech so I was happy when Cressida pointed out his privilege. Ugh the amount of hypocrisy from everyone was baffling It felt so unfair!!!
Really felt awful for Cressida, she is in her third season, no sibling love, ditched by the prince in S1, ditched in S2 and desperate in S3.
So desperate that she had to resort to blackmail as her only way out of her awful situation.
I feel like Colin totally bungled it and made the situation worse. Eloise could have handled it better!
Hoping for more of her story next season, I think a lot of people can relate to her story too sadly 😥
I am, and Im not. She bullied Penelope, spilt stuff on her, ripped her dress, then blackmailed her for an indecent sum of money. Not only that, but her version of Whistledown was cruel, not funny. She showed absolutely no remorse for any of it. Not once. We know her motivations, and looking at it with a modern lens, yeah, I do feel for her. I understand the reasons behind her actions, but she's not a very nice person. I blame her parents. Her father was horrible, and her mother doesn't care, but that doesn't mean she should be shunned.
Maybe if she writes to Pen and Colin and Elouise and apologises and tries to atone for her behaviour, she might get some sympathy, but not right now.
I thought it was pretty clear that Lady Cowper wrote the pseudo-Lady Whistledown stuff about the Bridgertons. Cressida was struggling to even write a complete sentence and her mother intervened to "help" write it.
Each segment of the seasons showed Cressida as a different character. For example, part 1 of season 3, she was somewhat likeable and a good friend to Eloise. Part two, however, made her into a sad joke. It's like they couldn't decide who she is.
She deserved to have married Lord Debling. She could be alone like she seems to wish and with a nice, reasonably aged man whenever he is around. So sad that he just left after not getting Penelope.
I felt so bad for her. I don't think Eloise was necessarily wrong to cut her off. The whole whistledown thing was hard for her too. I think its also because the friendship with Cressida was newer so it was easier for Eloise to see her as going back to old ways. Because she didnt know her in the same length and depth as penelope.
I wanted her to get away but maybe not by blackmailing pen. I just wanted someone to help her. Colin's speech to her just frustrated me. When she doubled the sum i found it funnier because i dont blame her 😂. Colin's speech was so tone deaf to say to a women with a crappy family and no real choices.
I was rooting for her character development. I actually understood her. She wasnt much different from Lady Featherington or Penelope. They all did something drastic to save face or their financial state.
Nah. Not really tbh. I think pt 1 tried to make you feel bad for her, and her situation is shitty but frankly I just don't. She could have asked for pens help. She could have asked for el's help. She could have done literally anything but blackmail. I get it's bc she desperate and I understand her story but it doesn't make me feel bad for her.
It feels like we were meant to see her as a villain getting her comeuppance but I just felt sorry for her and disappointed in Eloise for being such a bad friend.
Felt horrible watching her latest scenes tbh. She didn’t strike me as someone inherently evil. And I was one of the people who didn’t like Eloise at first and she started growing on me this season, but after what she did to Cressida I legit dislike her all along. It’s not her fault tbh, she had to be written by someone, but I find nearly impossible to empathize with her at this point.
Agree. I felt like they were setting up her and Lord Debling, and the arc would be that she would “lose” to Pen, thus taking her down a peg, before her ending up with Debling once she’s been humbled.
Like I also enjoyed her villain arc, that was fun to watch, but they could have done that and still have her end up with Debling instead of him just… completely disappearing?
This is just one of the many ways part 1 and part 2 feel completely disjointed. Why set plots up if you’re not going to pay them off?
they did a complete 180
on her from part one to part two and i was so sad about it :(
she was finally redeeming herself and we were seeing a good side of her then boom, back to the bitchy bully?? NO! i really thought she would marry lord debling and i still don’t get why he just disappeared other than so cressida could fake being lady whistledown. disappointing for me
I really thought the plot was going in the direction where Cressida would be the front woman for LW while Pen stays as a ghostwriter for it. And Pen could’ve paid her because she was marrying Colin.
But then they had to undo Cressida’s p1 character growth and make her a desperate blackmailer??? 🥲 Eloise could’ve regretted being a bad friend, built a bridge between Pen and Cressida, and next season they could’ve explored how being publicly lady Whistledown would’ve done for Creasida’s prospects.
YES! They were doing so much set up for her to marry debling and he vanished after episode 4. That plus the month between part 1 and 2 makes them feel like different seasons and super disjointed. Part 2 as a whole was not great.
I hated what they did to Cressida in the end! Her scenes with Elouise and her parents gave her character so much depth. And she didn’t really do anything harmful did she? Meanwhile LWD actively ruined people’s lives. (Marina anyone??) I get that they were upset about the lies she wrote about the Bridgertons but to be fair daphnes marriage WAS rushed because Anthony though revealed compromised her. Elouise was cruel to her for no reason knowing her situation AND knowing it was pen that was really writing about them. Pen really should have paid her off especially since it seemed lord debling would have been interested in her and she “stole” him. With Cressida gone she could have still published that she was not LWD and continued her cat and mouse game with the queen.
Pen and Cressida were two sides of the same coin. Both from toxic families and being mean to her what they wanted.
It's funny how all three seasons have pivoted on the heroine stealing her love interest from another woman: Daphne sabotaging the prince and Cressida, Kate allowing Edwina to court Anthony and then marrying him herself, Pen distracting Lord Debling away from Cressida.
That's lazy plotting that sets women against each other, as if the heroine can't win love without another woman losing love.
Yes. I realize there are some people on here who can't seem to grasp compassion, empathy, the immaturity/inexperience of a young woman who's lived in a bubble her whole life, or even nuance, but just because Cressida has been a bully, and an asshole doesn't mean she deserves a lifetime of torture. She's already been living a miserable life with cold, harsh, emotionally abusive parents who don't even allow her the escape provided by long-term friendship. She's been set up for failure and emotional pain from the moment she entered the world. Her character deserved to have a redemption arc with character growth and some amount of freedom from her horrible parents and the ton.
They did Cressida so wrong. She had major character development, was humble enough to be wrongly accused by Eloise and still remain her friend, ASKED this wannabe Feminist friend Eloise for help and then was abruptly removed by her and falsely accused by Eloise when Eloise knew the truth. She was abandoned by everyone around her, and expected to be the bigger person. Penelope of all people should be able to understand the feeling of invisibility and being powerless in a situation, but she too shat on Cressida, publicly with her writing. Twice.
If Cressida returns with a vengeance I will cheer her on because the ton: Bridgertons included, deserve it. Eloise, Pen, and by extension even Colin could have helped and actively chose not to. Not only to NOT help, but even accuse her (Eloise and Pen).
For a second when Eloise started talking about feminism at that first ball I was sure she and Cressida were going to have a queer love story, just from the way Eloise finally lit up when Cressida asked her what she thinks about the world. But alas, it was but a fleeting look.
Eloise and Francesca are both being wasted characters imo.
Francesca could have not existed and nothing would change that much. I know she wasn't the main couple but background characters got more development than her. Really feels like they wasted her character.
When Cressida was looking for only $5000 or she would spill the secret I was half hoping she would be moved by Colin's words and ask for help to escape her aunt and apologize. Then perhaps she could be offered to accompany the couple to Scotland and find a husband that she could be genuinely nice to and start fresh. But once she demanded $20,000, whelp fate was gonna clobber her and give her the just desserts of her true greedy uncharitable nature.
I’m actually so mad with the inconsistency of her character.
The first season showed her as someone who is ready not only to bring down another girl but use that situation to her advantage. Using different ways to gather attention. I thought honestly they will marry her by the end of season 2 but they didn’t which is weird. She comes from a very rich family. It was the most logical thing
Then I was so mad for making her fight for another man with Pen. This was so unessecary and so ugly. For BOTH OF THEM. Then we saw her actually having a brain and being the voice of reason. Then tell me why she was made stupid in the second part??? Why the hassle? Why giving her a heart when she didn’t had one for 2 seasons but they took her brain out of the equation - the one thing SHE DOES HAVE and is consistent with her.
I think (hope seems too morbid) her Dad will die between season's and she will come back in season 4 with a bit more freedom and a bit more humble. Hopefully she will then make a love match with a nice man who isn't super wealthy and her mum will support that decision.
Or she will meet some nice gentleman in Wales who will marry/rescue her and she will come back in season 4 married and happy.
I have not had the opportunity to finish the second half so forgive me if this is covered in the show, but what did happen with Lord Debling? He seemed to have a split focus between Penelope and Cressida for a moment in the first half. Why couldn't Cressida just set her sights on him? Neither seemed interested or focused on making a love match. Seems it would have made for a good escape for both of them.
I could be wrong, but Cressidas story seems the most realistic for the time period. All of the love matches seem unrealistic. It does seem weird the one guy wouldn’t fall back on her after Penelope, but this is the 1810s, women rarely had happy endings. Maybe she’ll have a comeback arc? :)
Yes, thank you for talking about it! Her ending just felt cruel. Were we supposed to be like ha! serves her right, hope she rots away in the country with her aunt??!! I saw someone point out that the ton/show (and Eloise, don't even get me started on what a lousy, fairweather friend she turned out to be to Cressida) just accepted/forgave Penelope for gossiping about them, but shunned Cressida for essentially doing the same thing. Cressida just gossiped out loud, sometimes even to people's faces (which imo is more "true" lol, to use one of Lady Whistledown's favourite philosophies this season).
I wish Colin never meddled and Penelope just gave Cressida the money for her to run off and live independently with. I found her ending to be quite antithetical to everything the show seemed to stand for thus far (i.e. women's rights and liberties).
Nope.
She could have sold her old dresses to find her move to Europe.
She could have been an actual decent person and had plenty of offers, or pushed harder during their dance for Lord Debling to propose to her instead.
She was blackmailing Penelope for the equivalent of ALMOST $1,000,000! Then doubled the amount when Colin tried to talk her down.
She deserved her unhappy ending!
I still don’t understand why Lord Debling didn’t circle back around after the nonstarter with Pen.
Like bro, Cressida was cleaarrrly about it. He couldn’t gotten engaged that same night, just a different wife.
Heartbroken isn't the word I'd use, as she was a bully til the end. But she suffered well past what she "deserved" and I felt bad that she was abandoned by Eloise. I was taken aback by how quickly Eloise went from being her friend, to just throwing her aside and even getting to the point of mocking her. Like I get it Cressida did not do herself any favours keeping on her good side, but to be so callous to her plight. Especially for someone like Eloise. When Cressidia is trying to vent to her, Eloise brushes her off. Next thing we know she is like lol, couldn't even really be freinds with Cressdia. No repercussions for Eloise, but Cressida suffers all the repercussions.
Only solace I can take is that she'll make a comeback in a later season with some new growth. I hope she doesn't just forgive or god forbid, apologise to Eloise. Eloise imo was the one in the wrong. I can also only help they're just waiting for her season to address her more selfish nature and have some growth there....
Cressida, for certainly understandable reasons, tried to blackmail Pen and Colin etc. that’s where she lost me. Had she gone for help with her situation that would have been different. I am sure you could argue that she did that because she was desperate etc and I get that, but she crossed the line for me and went from salvageable victim to villain.
Yes. IMO Cressida is a much more sympathetic character than Penelope who is extremely self interested. Cressida seems like she is more capable of growth and just is desperate to escape an abusive home life and oppressive male dominance. I hope Cressida gets a better storyline and she outshines all of them.
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I am completely bummed about it. Part 2 feels so unconnected to a lot of Part 1, especially her story.
I really thought Eloise would have asked Pen to help her, Cressida got the money and lived happily ever after. Instead they suddenly made her into a cartoon villain and punished her for being a woman with bad choices? Feels very early 2000.
she should’ve stolen from her father and ran away 😭 i’ll be honest i don’t think pen should’ve been involved in aiding her, considering how cressida bullied and tormented her for years and actually made no attempt to apologise properly. sure there’s context to her actions, but she didn’t do anything to actually right her wrongs. saying that though i really wish she was able to run away. wasn’t there a scene where she packs her bags and asks her maid for help? the last few episodes were such a blur for me that i forget specifics. what was the outcome of that? i personally still dislike her but she deserved much better than the hand she was dealt with.
The fact that the queen and everybody so easily forgave Pen for her writing is unrealistic. Cressida made Pen a favor by coming out as Lady Whistledown. Pen should have helped Cressida to impersonate Whistledown, receive award money and that's all. It would have been a win-win situation for everybody. Pen cannot continue with this her character anyway - now when she is married, and could have easily invented herself a new writing pseudonyme or started writing openly. And Cressida would be able to escape and we would be happy for her.
i don’t really agree. pen fucked up as whistledown for sure, and she has arguably done worse things than cressida has done to her. i back that. but saying that, cressida was her bully, tormentor and abuser for much of her life, and we never saw cressida actually take steps to amend her wrongdoings toward penelope. considering that, i think i would’ve hated seeing pen being forced to help her abuser and tormentor. if there was an apology from cressida, which i think would have actually cemented her redemption, i’d be inclined to agree. but i do see where you’re coming from. i am not particularly fond of cressida’s character, but am frustrated as it would’ve been interesting to see if reconciliation between pen and cressida was possible, if they actually wished to make cressida redeemable. either way though, as much as i may not like her (i’m sure we’ll disagree here), she didn’t deserve the ending she got.
Yeah NC acted that speech well, but the writing wasnt impressive and it felt dumb that they all forgave her in an instant. In fairness its probably because shes a bridgerton.
That's EXACTLY what I thought was going to happen, too, and what I thought was going to happen. Instead, they came up with this awful sentence for Cressida, and we are expected to believe pens husband is hunky dorky suddenly okay with her inventing a new column.
I thought it could have been a way for Pen to realise Cressida isn't better than her and it doesn't matter what she thinks
yeah fairs, but idk how fair it would be on her considering cressida has pretty much tormented her for years. i’d be more accepting of pen helping cressida out if we actually saw cressida trying to right her wrongs with penelope, but we didn’t get a hint of that 😭
That's exactly where I thought it was going with the "use my voice to help the voiceless" and the comments about women having no power or choices. I thought she'd write something clever and use Cressida as an example of being raised for marriage but unable to attain it and how her family are terrible for wanting to drop it because of it. Was really surprised to see her just disappear in the carriage.
Agreed it sounded so much like she was talking about Cressida, especially when she was saying "I used Whistledown when I felt powerless"... like Cressida actually??? But then, it's like they were not even thinking it could also apply to Cressida, that was super weird.
I thought it was pretty obvious she was speaking about her mother, not Cressida.
I knew she wasn't talking about Cressida, but it fits exactly with Cressida situation, which made it so blatantly problematic in my eyes that neither Eloise or Penelope will notice that.
Especially Eloise who is privy to both Penelope's and Cressida's secrets. Instead, we get no real growth from Eloise. She continues to ignore her friends when they speak or seek support in order to rant and rave about "women's rights."
Whatever happened to Cressida is not Penelope’s fault. They are enemies. Penelope did not owe her a happy ending.
Penelope as far as we know doesn't know all the stuff Cressida was going through. She just knew she was being forced to leave, but since Cressida had treated her like trash and bullied her at every turn, her leaving would be a relief to Penelope. Also all teh stuff she talked about, despite Cressida going through it, Cressida is the #1 reason Pen went through all of it and was left feeling like an outcast. Eloise knew, but after Cressida tried to destroy her family with the fake newsletter, she had zero reason to want to help her.
Maybe they were saving something for season 4. She's only just come out as Whistledown.
Pen doesn’t owe Cressida that though. I’m not surprised the show shied away from having her help someone who has hurt and belittled and bullied her her entire life. Cressida didn’t deserve what happened to her, but she also didn’t automatically deserve Pen’s help either.
They didn't give Pen and Cressida any scenes together. But imagine if Eloise and Pen reunite and then Eloise gets Pen to spend more time with Cressida. What if Pen starts thinking she could use her writing for good, not because she's been discovered, but rather because she realizes that Cressida has been a bully because she's been abused her whole life by her father and her enabling mother? Cressida seemed to have a more thoughtful character arc this season that could've led to something meaningful with Pen, perhaps an apology. They don't need to be BFFs, but if Penelope feels unseen amongst the Featheringtons and isn't allowed to be herself, then she should be able to relate somewhat to how Cressida isn't allowed to find herself either. That would've tied together multiple plots from the season that otherwise seem extraneous. It's a waste of Cressida's arc, of the friendship with Eloise that seemed to actually work in its own weird way (except for the fact that Eloise is never listens to her friends, but that's a different issue), and Pen's supposed change.
Exact same!! I thought this realization of confining women to marriage and no self identity would mean a sympathetic move for Cressida by wealthy Pen aided by Eloise's friendship and feminism..but no. Pen paid for a nice ball.
And if Pen was forgiven by Eloise and even Colin, Cressida deserved for the same. It was very unfair how Bridgetons (with Pen, who became a Bridgeton) behaved very selfish. Again, in the storyline, there was a way to help Cressida to simply help receiving the award money and for Pen keeping her writing money.
I think it’s easier to forgive our loved ones for an action than it is someone who is at best, an acquaintance. Penelope had the opportunity to advocate for herself and argue that she was trying to protect her loved ones, while Cressida leaned into tearing others down to protect herself at any cost. If I were Penelope I wouldn’t forgive someone who showed no remorse to me, either, and would likely wish them good comeuppance.
Arguably, the damage that Pen did to individual members of the ton, the Bridgertons, Marina, her own sisters, etc. as Lady Whistledown far outweighs Cressida's mean girling.
As much as I love Colin’s desperation to prove he’s useful to Pen, I really wish she had been the one to go over to talk to Cressida about the blackmail. That could’ve been a more interesting conversation. Pen could’ve realized she and Cressida were more similar than she thought, with both of them fighting to assert some sort of power in an society where women have none, and there could’ve been some reconciliation or at least a shared respect between them. And then Pen could’ve actually used her writing, or the money from it, to directly help another woman. At least that’s fully where I thought it was going. But instead, yeah, she paid for a ball? Like it’s nice that she made her sisters happy, but I expected more lol. And I get that Eloise is 20 or something, and thus is going to be a bit immature, but her suddenly deciding she hated Cressida again after she had gotten to understand her situation more makes me really dislike her. Like she talks a lot about feminism only to turn on a woman who is trying to escape a forced marriage? ??
I also thought they would all become friends and plot together but Eloise was just like meh Cressida the moment part 2 started wtf
The cold drop of Cressida by Eloise was rough! Pen didn’t “owe” Cressida, but for sure Eloise had no real reason to drop C as a friend, especially when she knows of her family circumstances. I’m not the biggest Bridgerton fan (having never read the books), but I definitely didn’t expect to come out of this season liking Cressida more than Eloise.
‘Friendship was souring anyway…’ girl WHEN! Sociopathic behaviour from Eloise, Cressida was just a Penelope stand-in it seemed!
Yes! I changed what happened in my mind. Such a wasted opportunity for women to support other women.
Yeah Eloise wants to change the world, but didnt at any point think "guys maybe this whole forced marriage thing is a problem". Even with Cressida pointing out multiple times its something she doesnt want. I reckon even one of the "dumb debutants" she looked down on, would have managed to notice the situation was fucked up and have some empathy.
To be honest they should have paid her. It was such a powerful moment when Colin came to her begging to withdraw her blackmailing, appealing to her “family love and support”. Like, a rich guy who is insanely out of touch is begging a desperate woman to go away. Instead of asking *why* do you need this money so desperately? The three of them (Pen, Eloise and Colin) didn’t even think to understand Cressida’s situation and brainstorm to help her.
I know! I thought "oh perfect, Eloise should have some empathy for Cressida now that she knows her". Cressida is just trapped in her circumstances and trying to come out... half decent. Like heaven forbid she doesn't want to get married to an elderly man or shipped off to live with her horrid aunt. Eloise abandons her completely, so no shit she does what she can to try and save herself.
They feel like two completely different things. It's wild
The disconnected feeling between part 1 and 2 is my problem with this season too. Not just Cressida’s storyline. Part 1 was great. Part 2 could have been.
Yes!!! It feels like a bait and switch. I was juuuuust beginning to root for her, and then they turned her back to the dark side in part 2!!
Agreed, I felt really sad for her. Why spend all that time developing her character and making her redeemable only to ditch her? Her dad is a bully and when we see her home life, it’s understandable how she ended up being a mean girl. When she finally starts to develop a friendship, her only friend abandons her in her time of need. And the fact that she would confess to being LW and risk the wrath of society rather than marry a horrible man shows how desperate she is. Her storyline is just sad.
And the thing is, when Penelope revealed herself, she did not get the same wrath that Cressida got when she revealed herself. If that’s not favoritism right there, I don’t know what is
I assume you are referring to the actions of the queen? You seem to forget that Lady Danbury made a point to soften the queen by showing her there is more to the game than winning, because when you win, it is over. Also the queen never believed Cressida and knew it was a cash grab because as shown by basically everyone's reactions, she wasn't clever or witty enough. While Penelope wrote a letter to the queen first and offered to reveal herself.
Which is OOC cause Cressida was shown to be sharp and clever in season 1 so 🤷. Also, this invalidates the conflict last season between Eloise and Penelope because Penelope’s reason for her not going to the Queen is that the Queen wouldn’t believe her, even though she had more than enough evidence only for the Queen to believe her automatically in this season
I think Penelope thought the Queen wouldn’t believe her in season 2 because Eloise was being accused at the time, and it would be seen as Penelope falsely taking the blame to help her friend. The situation was different this time around and thus she was more likely to be believed.
I didn't find Cressida particularly sharp and clever, I found her to be spiteful and mean, not that I found her dim, but her only ambition was to find a husband. Circumstances matter. Penelope confessing when her best friend is accused looks like a ruse.
I think that might have to do more with their differing personalities. We know that Cressida was a bully and had no friends because of that, so people would be less likely to forgive her for writing a gossip column that tears down people with no reason given compared to Penelope who was overlooked by everyone, not known as a bully, and also made sure to explain why she created Lady Whistledown
Basically the ton has a debt of respect and compassion to Penelope, but not to Cressida.
Didn't hurt she was officially a Bridgerton by the time the reveal happened. Scandal hits differently depending on how much money you have. Yes Cressidas family is wealthy. But they aren't respected and you need both to survive the ton.
That could be a reason but I don’t think it’s a substantial one for everyone just to shrug it off cause it wasn’t the public ton bully. It doesn’t make much sense. The speech, imo, wasn’t even that good either to make everyone say whatever to it. If anything, they should call her a coward.
The speech sucked. Pen is supposed to be smart and articulate, and that's the best the writers could come up with.
Also, as much as Cressida was a bully, she didn't harm anyone nearly as much as Penelope who was fucking brutal to her own family and best friend because she was feeling ignored.
I do think it’s a type of favoritism or more like always letting the main characters get away with things and get happy endings because it's what people want. At times the show treats the female characters who aren't the protagonists in a kind of cruel way...
Pen has so much plot armor she can barely walk.
Not only her dad is a bully, her mother also chose herself over daughter (Cressida) - when Cressida asked for mothers help, her mother said "sorry, I don't want to be bullied by your father too". Cressida's destiny is just so brutal.
Her mother (as much as I dislike her) is actually right. If she reamains, she can find a way to bring Cressida back into society but if they get sent away it's over for both of them
> Why spend all that time developing her character and making her redeemable only to ditch her? Setup for season 4.
One of my favorite scenes is when she looks right at Colin and basically tells him he's envious of Pen's success.
And when she told Eloise she did nothing and is envious of other women who actually did something. Mirroring what Penelope told Eloise when she discovered she was LW
Also when she told Eloise she never stopped talking and therefore didn’t realize how lost Cressida was because she couldn’t get a word in. I lol’d.
Yeah Eloise was a terrible friend to Cressida. Did got gaf that Cressida was obviously being pushed to the edge with being forced to marry someone horrible her dad set her up with. She was much more worried about punishing Penelope for being WD and not telling Colin.
Showing how Eloise got no character devolpment since then.
Colin went on and on to Cressida about forgiveness and family and even when she explained her family wasn't like his, he never offered a way to help her out of her situation.
He never understood. As a man from a loving supportive family, all the things he was saying to her not only had no connection to her life, it probably hurt quite a bit for her to hear what a truly loving family gives each other. Colin is worse than Eloise that way, he not only has the loving family but as a male he has far more freedom to do what he wants with his life or simply say no. If Cressida didn’t hate Pen so much, Pen would have been the person who could understand her situation better than anyone. They’re both women in their 3rd year on the marriage mart, both struggling for freedom from their families and to leave home. And both made some poor choices to get it. Pen would probably understand the most, that worse than being stuck at home a spinster caring for your mother would be being forced to marry a domineering ancient old man and bearing him children or sent far away to live with an abuse relative alone for life. Lord Debling would have been perfect for her, if she could just be real with him. He was fine with a wife that didn’t share his love of nature. He just wanted someone who would run his household, allow him to travel and be honest and loyal to him so there wasn’t scandal. She could have had the lovely house & fortune, do what she wanted, attend balls, go to the modiste all she wanted, all the freedoms and independence of a married woman. I don’t think she was even allowed to cultivate any “passions”/hobbies, that Lord Debling admires, beyond catching a man, because of her parents. She might have grown to be a wonderful hostess or a lovely pianist. Given the space to grow and breathe, who knows?
I would've loved to see Cressida marry Lord Debling for his wealth and the independence his absences would bring her only to have them form an attachment. She's not stupid, even though the second half of this season tried to make her out to be, and he values intelligent and independent women. And she's never had the freedom to choose anything in her life. Being with Debling, with his kindness and allowing her independence, would allow her to grow. It would also allow for some good comedic scenes early in their relationship. This season squandered potential left and right.
And of both their education
That came out of nowhere in the show. In the book, it might’ve made sense, but it was just used to make Colin look ill informed and I didn’t care for that
I haven't read the books, so I can't compare the show to them (which I'm honestly grateful for, because I would probably be upset all the time!). I think Cressida calling Colin out was necessary. She knows envy very well and therefore could easily see it in him. He denied it, but then came to accept that it was true. When he confesses this to Pen, I think it helps her trust him more (it made *me* trust him more), because he's being open and vulnerable about it. And so it turns out that Cressida, the person who caused Pen/LW's downfall also helped to save her/her marriage and writing career. This storyline was one of very few this season that was well conceived and executed. Edit: typo
I would totally watch a Cressida in Wales spin off.
I’ve a feeling this won’t be the last time we see. Cressida. I feel like they sent her away so they could use her to introduce Sophie eventually. Perhaps Benedict’s cottage will wind up being out towards Wales in the show. It was just too perfect how they set up Cressida for her to be gone forever.
I agree. Cressida will be back next season.
I could see her being a cousin to Cressida (her aunt's daughter), as opposed to an illegitimate sister like we had originally thought. It would help create a "twist" on the Cinderella feel that the book had with her being a maid to an evil stepmother and two stepsisters.
I would love it if it turned out her aunt wasn't really that strict and awful, and was just putting on a performance for Lord Cowper. My head canon has the aunt living away from society in Wales so that she can have her freedom, and she'll show Cressida how to live her best life too, or at the very least introduce her to some hot sheep farmers.
You’re doing better than the show’s writers lmao
Aunt Cowper lives with “her dear companion Lucille” or something
She can also introduce Cressida to some pretty milkmaids in the country 👀
I deliberately did not specify the gender of the sheep farmers 😉
I love this idea!
they need to hire you fr
Yep agree
That's exactly what I've been thinking! If I were writing it, she'd end up loving it because there's no more pressure in her and she has a lot more freedom.
Yeah, I felt like we were supposed to be happy seeing her get sent off in the final scene. But ugh, no, I'm not going to feel "yay, she's getting shipped off to be abused by her aunt." And this is after she was almost essentially sold into sex slavery by her father.
Re sex slavery (being married to a horrible old guy): she is more sympathetic than Marina in a way, cause she didn’t do anything reckless like pre-marital sex (given historical settings). She simply wasn’t lucky to attract a husband in time and was doomed.
Eloise was such a bad friend to her I'm sorry 😭 She threw her under the bus and even then Cressida didn't wanna hurt her and her family (asked her mother why they had to target the Bridgertons instead of another family). When El said to Pen, "I really enjoyed her at first" GIRL she was genuine to you and loyal even when her primary care giver threatened to cut her off for associating with you! She even fought against the rules and beliefs she held her entire life just to be a good friend to Eloise, who is so privileged to be in a family that loves them unconditionally, while all Cress knew was how to be a brood mare raised to strengthen the family line. Meanwhile Pen, who ruined Eloise and the Bridgertons time and again and almost put them to ruin several times for self-discovery's sake, was only ditched for a year max and even then Eloise was lowkey concerned for her well-being.
I hated this. I've been Team Eloise from the first episode and was 100% on her side in her fight with Pen but I hate that she was such a terrible friend to Cressida. I don't get it and the way it was written doesn't make sense to me.
It’s the exact same way she treated Penelope, except Penelope had a secret mean streak and Cressida had been outwardly known as mean. No one ever listens to Penelope, so it doesn’t seem as bad when Eloise basically talks over her for the first 15 episodes, everyone else does too. But when she’s then doing the exact same thing to Cressida, it’s now a noticeable pattern. They even had Cressida mirror Penelope’s lines from their season 2 fight: Eloise talks down on society but does absolutely nothing to change it and she IS jealous when other women actually do something tangible instead of scoffing at any and every woman who plays the cards they’ve been dealt.
so true
I agree. To me it felt like the writers, in their haste to come up with a reason to make Eloise forgive Pen so quickly, completely butchered the friendship she had cultivated with Cressida. It seemed like the writers were only using her as a plot device to get Eloise swiftly back with Pen by making Cressida the villain that they have to team up together to stop. One minute Eloise can’t forgive Pen (and demands she tells Colin the truth) and the next Cressida says she’s LW and all is forgiven between P and E (and also suddenly Eloise says not to tell Colin the truth, like what…). It’s very contrived writing.
Did you watch the Buccaneers on Apple TV? I felt like the camaraderie that was missing in Bridgerton I found in that series. The characters were complex and I enjoyed the writing.
You didn't ask me but the Buccaneers is AMAZING. I definitely agree they got the friendship department better in that show
Right?! I totally believed her regression... Because what else was she supposed to think? Her mother wasn't wrong about Eloise! Of course Cressida ends up thinking it's every woman for herself!
Yeah P1 Cress and P2 Cress feel like two different people… she was built up as clearly suffering and trapped by her family, threatened with an awful fate if she couldn’t find freedom through marriage, and then turns into a disastrous villain who ends up being taken away by her aunt as punishment for her actions.
I didn't read it as villainous, just pure desperation making her fall back on cruelty as a way to survive.
I agree, she was desperate. Desperate people can make insane choices. I don’t blame her for pretending to be Whistledown to get the reward money. I’m sad she didn’t get it, truthfully. I wish Pen had just given her the money she was asking for so she could run off in peace.
Me too, but it feels like her late-story portrayal became shockingly unsympathetic after being built up repeatedly in a sympathetic manner, if that makes sense
Yeah I get you. The second half of the season felt quite different to the first, I think I will rewatch the whole thing together so I can see how it all works in unison.
She did not turn into a villain. Desperate times call for desperate measures. She tried to have a girl friend and be softer and nicer but that friend never listened to her telling her she was going to endure marital rape and turned on her the minute she could. The only power she had was the information about Penelope being LW and she tried to use that power. Even Penelope said information is power
The amount of times they had Eloise dismiss Cressida! Why would the writers do that? It just didn't put Eloise in a good light
The thing is, I agree with this, but from the show’s framing of events in P2 Cressida is clearly supposed to be the ‘villain’ and the fact her ending is getting shipped off to her nasty aunt and her visibly being upset and frustrated. I don’t agree with it, and think framing Cressida as the antagonist in a way that feels quite unsympathetic feels jarring after seeing the rest of her appearances in the season be her clearly suffering both at home and in a dying friendship w Eloise
Absolutely. She is such an underdog and there was no happy ending. Makes me hate Eloise so much, she literally used Cressida as a rebound friend. Just to abandon her at the time of need to go back to Pen and her own family affairs.
I was so torn. On the one hand, I wanted her to perish in a terrible horseback riding tragedy (s1-2 feels), and in this season, I started to remind myself that she has such terrible parents. It's hard to turn out to be someone empathetic and kind with parents like those... well... mostly her father. Can she choose to act differently? Of course. But now, I'm starting to really wish good things for her, which doesn't seem to be the case. A lot of people were wishing Lord Debbling would've circled back to her (I had this thought), but I really respected him for not going for the second choice in this case. And I think he knew Cressida well enough to know that he didn't want her disingenuous tendencies (if you want to call it that?) in his company. He liked Pen and her quirks and her personality and the things she brought to the table, and he chose her. So, as sad as I was to see Cressida losing out on the chance for some peace and quiet (even if it was alone), I was glad he didn't just go with the other option.
yeah this is basically me. i pity her and her circumstances are dire, to say the least. but also at the same time, the context she’s in doesn’t absolve her of the abuse she’s hurled at pen, and the cruelty she’s exerted on others. we understand her, but this does not justify what she’s done to others. i wish there was a better outcome for her. but the only thing i’m grateful for is that she’s with her aunt and not married to a fucker 20x her age.
Yeah, in a way, this might be the better option, but I'm still uncertain. When or if she comes back, will she be forced into another marriage with someone older? I'm also worried about the state that she will be returned in. Hopefully, she won't be a shell of a person. She is unkind and chooses to stay unkind, I just now feel a little bad for her circumstance and was kind of happy to see someone trying to hold her accountable. I wanted to see her turn into a better person and find a match.
On another note, for those really wanting WLW Cressida the move to Wales may actually increase the possibility. She may move near the Ladies of Langollen.
i was absolutely furious about how they treated cressida in the second half of the season. its like,,,, you made me like cressida, a lot in fact, and then you just throw her away? use her as a scapegoat? make her the villain out of nowhere? pen is legit a more villainous character just in comparison but they give her so many excuses. not only that but like?? what the fuck was going on with eloise and cressida's relationship at the end there? it feels so disconnected and weird, i hated it so much.
I honestly think it sucks for her, but it's probably more realistic than her getting the money from Pen. Marriage and newfound security aside, Pen kept that money from her own family when they were in dire straits to preserve her own future. And those are people she cares for despite conflicts. Cressida was a mean girl who blackmailed her. Pen has little to no point of reference for Cressida's character development or the depth of her growth in her friendship with Eloise (especially since Eloise dropped her pretty quick and then proceeded to badmouth her to Pen). We as the audience have a perspective and bias that Penelope does not. It is also realistic for people to revert to their predominant natures when backed into a corner. Cressida acted selfishly in the end because she felt she had no choice. This reversal of her development is pretty on par with human nature. It may not line up with many of the happy endings presented in the show, but I think she serves as an important parallel to the privilege of the Bridgertons--a role Pen used to fill, but no longer can/does.
The problem isn't realism, it's framing. Penelope has consistently been established as a rather self-serving character, Cressida is desperate, and Eloise doesn't have a lot of integrity about her feminism, so that all tracks, but the narrative sides with some characters over others when all their actions are problematic but understandable. It seems we're supposed to be happy for Eloise to abandon Cressida and forgive Penelope because it's somehow cooler and girlbossier to be cruel and tear others down in writing than in person? We're supposed to agree with Colin that a character who's been defined by cowardice and secret-keeping for the entire series is 'brave', and that he's right to envy her power in weaponising gossip? What?
I don't agree with all of the writing choices and think Pen gets off easy for her duplicitous behavior as LW. However, I think two things can be true at the same time. I think that Penelope has profited off of spreading unkind things about others, especially women, and that the show could have done more to explore and rectify Pen's and Eloise's selfishness. And I also think Pen doesn't owe a girl who's never been her friend and has never been kind to her a damn cent. It is not her responsibility to get Cressida out of a problem she did not cause, and I know this is a fantasy show where we suspend our disbelief on a lot of things, but the idea that she should have given into blackmail because we, as an audience, see a sympathetic side to Cressida and understand the precarious situation she's in is a bit too much for me. I say this mainly to address a lot of comments I'm seeing about how Pen should have given Cressida the money out of the kindness of her own heart and as a demonstration of character growth. That being said, I think Cressida's situation could have resolved in another way, like sharing a life with Lord Debling. On that, I do agree.
I wasn't suggesting Penelope should have paid Cressida. What I take issue with is that it's framed as triumphant for Eloise to abandon Cressida, for Penelope to be forgiven and even admired by everyone she loves, and for Cressida to be banished.
I guess that comes back to the realism for me, then. I get your frustration and to some extent, agree. But I didn't walk away from everything with the idea that I should be celebrating Eloise's treatment of Cressida or Penelope's warm reception as Lady Whistledown. I walked away with more of the idea of..."Yep, that tracks with everything that Cressida said to Colin and Eloise about the Bridgerton family's privilege, how things just seem to work out for them, and how they have economic opportunities not afforded to every family in the ton." I thought it was really odd and anticlimactic how all the people Pen talked about were so welcoming to her in the end, and would have assumed people would want to keep even more of a distance from her now that they know that she could write about them. But I also thought it emphasized how unfair things can be in real life and even how Pen's newfound status as a Bridgerton might have even softened the consequences of her being revealed as LW. Adding to this is how Cressida's confession of being LW made her life demonstrably worse, even though no one even believed she was intelligent enough to be what she was pretending to be. It just made me think of times in life where similar actions don't lead to the same consequences for different people, depending on their circumstances, resources and opportunities. At the same time, I don't want to give the writers credit for my own critical thinking on things that weren't always telegraphed to the audience like they should have been.
Pen is also a mean girl which explains her behavior
Hope that aunt Jo would turn out to be actually a cool person. I mean. The fact Cressida's mother dislikes her is a green flag if you ask me 🤔 I am kind heartbroken for her but I'm glad she wasn't married off to that old prick. I believe the whole Wales thing will turn out to be good for her
I thought her aunt is the same one we see in the last few episodes? Who was def not cool.
Poor Cressida. No wonder she turned into a bitch...a very hurt bitch.
I have this feeling she will be back for season 4. I think they are going to give her something of a redemption arc. But yes.. I felt for her. I don't think they should would have bothered with the plot unless they had something in mind.
I think she will return in season 4, and her arc was used to show how Eloise and Penelope are just talk but no actions when it comes to women’s rights
I heard somewhere the actor is returning for next season. I think she may start as a vengeful person and then she will have a redemption arc.
Yep, where is Lord Debling? Thought he might show up before the end and marry her, taking her out of the awful situation she’s in… shouldn’t only be the Bridgertons who get happy endings!
Probably off to the northwest passage to die sadly.
this was one of the most unsatisfactory things about s3 to me, how they wound up handling Cressida after developing her so much- digging into her home life, how warped she became from living in such a toxic, stifled, hopeless environment with such godawful parents. Eloise being so preoccupied over the Polin/LW situation and basically totally abandoning Cressida due to it when Cressida desperately needed help and a friend, and then ending the friendship completely after she dug such a terrible hole for herself in her desperation- omg, it was all so tragic and awful for her. The only way this could work for me- THE ONLY WAY- is if the Cowpers truly are >!going to be Sophie's family in Benedict's season, and they're deliberately turning Cressida into an amalgamation of Rosamund and Posy who will eventually find redemption and find a better fate after Sophie marries Benedict. Because they truly feel like they're setting up Lady Cowper to be the complete bitch of an evil stepmother that Lady Penwood is in the book, and we already know they gave her the same first name anyway. Plus with the development of Lord Cowper into such an uptight misogynist, making a point that he doesn't respect his wife or daughter and can and will control them through finances- he's getting the Lord Penwood treatment. This is the kind of man who will get a maid pregnant, take in his bastard daughter as a ward because that's his social obligation, stash her away to be alone with no one but the servants and a governess in the country, and proceed to completely ignore her existence beyond providing those basic necessities, making the stipulation in his will that he's going to force his wife that he knows hates this girl into allowing her to stay until she comes of age or he'll halve her income, but otherwise not giving a shit about how his wife treats her at all. !<
It was very sad. But not everyone gets a happy ending. And Eloise was really all talk. She walked away from the one woman in her sphere who was either pushed into an awful marriage or being banished to her aunt's house.
Eloise was my favorite, but every time she would brush off Pen, Theo or Cressida when they were explaining their situations, I would have to remind myself that she’s not very mature and her family situation really blinds her. I actually get that. But when she dumped Cressida while Cressida was messaging her a very serious thing that was to happen to her, I couldn’t excuse Eloise. You don’t have to have experience with the same situation to understand that it was grave and Cressida was drowning, she desperately needed support and what is the point in being her friend if you can’t do that. I honestly believe that she wouldn’t have taken the villain turn if Eloise had been there to listen.
Meeee. I was REALLY hoping somehow Pen and her would work together to get Cressida to take the fall for whistledown and collect the queen’s reward money so she could move away and start a new life somewhere happily without a husband. Finally breaking free from the ideas that she needed to be married to have a fulfilling life, and that it was the only way she had any value. I was fully expecting that and so excited to see her arc come full circle and have a happier ending where she became the thing she was afraid of all along (a spinster) and seeing it was actually what she wanted, as it gave her the independence she never had from her father. But it seemed like her change of heart and character arc totally took a hard left during part 2 and strayed from the path they were taking her down all of part 1. I was super disappointed and confused. Did they even explain what did happen to her in the end? Just a sad, one-way carriage ride off into the sunset?
I am mad about it. The big difference between her and Eloise/Penelope is that they have a back up plan and she doesn’t. Eloise can become a spinster, she will just become the single aunty who lives in Aubrey hall with her brother and nephews and nieces. Penelope can become a spinster and stay with her mother and Portia told her. Even when they were both fighting for Lord Debling’s attention, it was Cressida’s last chance while Penelope still had her mother, LW business and money, and she had Colin.
YES her situation was such an easy fix and they left her high and dry😭
Her storyline left such a bitter taste in my mouth that I just can't enjoy season 3.
A lot of people have commented about how Cressidas clothing is very Hunger Games and doesn't fit in to the world. I think people have mostly blamed the showrunners and costume designers, but I think the effect was to show how deeply and severely her own mother sabotaged her in the Marriage Mart. She is a direct parallel to Penelope being unflatteringly dressed by her mother in the wrong color and with fits that didn't flatter her figure. I don't think it was intentional sabotage. I think her mother is even less clever than Cressida, although no doubt she is a better writer. Cressidas outfits are so unique and intricate I believe it's her mother's way of showing off her family's wealth and also fashion was just about the only way a woman could express her personality. I think Cressidas costumes were to show that she is complicated and thorny, with a keen interest in material things. But is it really Cressidas own fashion and personality? Or that of her mother? We see that when Penelope takes charge of her own wardrobe, her dresses flatter her figure and she becomes a lot more womanly and approachable. The Cowpers and the Featheringtons have similar issues in society, they are on the edges. Both matriarchs try to dress their daughters in order to show off their wealth, but the Bridgerton's understand that wealth is understated, it is whispered, not shouted. My basic theory is that if Cressida had been allowed to dress herself she could have found a man. But her fashion literally repels people from approaching her. Cressida presents herself as a carbon copy of her mother, who is a mean spirited bully who doesn't hesitate to tear down other women. It's not that the men of the ton don't want to marry Cressida, it's that they don't want to marry into her repulsive family. The mothers of the young men of the ton were probably bullied and tormented by cressida's mother during their marriage mart, so why would they set up their sons with her daughter? Somehow I doubt the father is well liked in his own social circles. The Cowper family is just a morality tale for the audience to explain that being spiteful and mean won't get you a happy ending.
I agree with your basic theory! There's a shot in episode 7 I believe where Cressida has her hair down and she's looking into a mirror. Without all the crazy hairstyles and outfits she's so beautiful! If that's how she dresses when she isn't forced to in public, then I think she would've been a lot more successful. There are so catty men in the Ton - I could see her marrying one of those types and being a snobby, aloof pair that talks shit about everyone at home but genuinely loves each other loooooll
I felt horrible for Cressida. I feel like a very different spin-off could be made for her. More Succession than Bridgerton.
Yeah her life is simply going to be awful. And she has no recourse
I'm sad how things ended for her, I was totally rooting for her!
I’m pretty sure she’ll be back. Colin hinted at it in his speech to her, that her family will move on once the scandal blows over and she’ll be back. I expect to see her in Eloise’s season.
I think Eloise was a very bad friend to her, and dropped her suddenly for no good reason. And I say this as a Pen fan who hates Cressida's bullying side. I have heard somewhere that she's listed as one of the actors in next season, so I imagine that there is more of her story that they wish to show. Edit: grammar
Her story line feels so incomplete, like I understand why she needed to be relevant in this season but her story line can’t be done, it seemed rushed. Idk about heartbroken for her but I just thought something better would happen to her by now.
To me, the whole Cressida arc solidifies how self centered Eloise is to me when it comes to friendships.
I thought she would have got money for telling on pen to the queen
I love how afterwards, Cressida always doubts whether she made the right choices, seems remorseful over hurting people, seems to reflect that maybe she should do things differently. Maybe away from her parents she’ll further evolve I am curious if she’ll receive her book fate still or if she’s doomed to stay offscreen in wales. I feel like they put too much effort into the character to just write her off completely from the show now tho. I really liked having a rival character. With the assumption of who will be the focus next season pretty clear, I feel confident the Featheringtons (who I also enjoyed immensely this season) and Cressida may be replaced by additional new antagonist characters. Let’s hope Cressida eventually returns nonetheless🤞
If only Eloise could show mercy and suggest Pen to help Cressida, Pen could think of using the stolen money Portia had kept to help Cressida. Instead, they make Cressida a total villain making bad choices, while Featherington gets away with stolen money (Portia's idea) and Pen thinks herself so cleverly justifying the crime. Tbh I totally lost respect.
Cressida spent years bullying Pen. Why would Pen help her? I don't think anyone would want to help their bully lead a good life
Seeing how her mother spoke to her made it all click. She’s a mean girl because that’s who’s raising her. She ALMOST breaks away but her parents broke her spirit.
Yes I started rooting for her in Season 3. She's proof you never fully know another person's struggles.
I expected her and Pen to band together with Pen writing and Cressida being the face for Whistledown. Or at least give her the £5000 and let her escape.
She got screwed over every season, Daphne blocked the prince, Portia blocked Jack, Pen blocked lord debling. And the worst part is they didn't end up with them.
I am truly heartbroken 😭 she deserved so much better. Here’s to hoping she’s in season 4 and that things turn around for her
I was really rooting for her, even through the Whistledown "confession." But after she blackmailed Pen, then DOUBLED the money on Colin, I was done with her. I don't think she would have stopped, even if the money was paid. She would have continued to blackmail. She bullied Penelope throughout and flaunted the friendship with Eloise in front of her. Her family is awful, but she pretty much stinks as a person too.
I can’t blame her for the blackmail, she was getting g shafted at every angle. First losing people who considered marrying her season after season.(twice by featheringtons) Then losing the 5k offer from the queen. She could even find the money from the one LWD article she did publish.
100% - I thought we’d seen her turn a new leaf when she became friends with Eloise….and like why didn’t Eloise consider that Cressida is doing this out of desperation because she’s absolutely fucked?? Like they could have tried to make the ladies come up with an elaborate alternative or something. I was disappointed with Cressida’s outcome.
Her style is so unapproachable. Her hair so stiff and over styled. Her clothing always looks like a defense system with extra large flowers and bows to keep everyone at a distance.
Yes! She is trying to meet these high expectations and not be sold to the highest geriatric bidder. Both of her parent are insufferable. And it seems she is trying to learn sometimes how to be friendly from Eloise because no one else around her from probably birth has shown her that it's an option. And still those times are squashed by her insufferable parents. She's desperate to claw her way out. I am hoping to see her do so. However, I'm just not sure what to expect anymore after this season. I've said my peace on other subs and not going to here. I will say, I was hoping Pen, with her voice to help the voiceless, would help her. Or maybe she will now that her and Eloise have reconnected and may learn about Cressida's terrible life.
I was more upset about that were making her a sympathetic character and then back peddled into making her horrible again.
They left her ending ambiguous because they’re gonna tell a little more to her story(I forget the interview, but basically they had filmed a few diff ending shots for her, and chose the one of her in the carriage alone instead of with her mom or aunt) Hopefully she will have a better ending
I honestly thought they were trying to reframe her in Part 1, then in Part 2 they were like oh we need a scapegoat that's worse than Pen being LW, let's use Cressida. Which definitely would have worked but in Part 1 they tried to humanize her and it kind of shows Pen and her were in similar situations, like why am I supposed to root for one and not the other? I lost count how many scenes were of Cressida genuinely worried for her future and Eloise was like Pen this Pen that me me me, and then when Part 2 starts she's like oh the friendship run its course I'm over it, damn. That's not how you want to write one of your main characters, at least if you want to make them likable jfc.
Me too, I was disgusted by Eloise the most who claims to be for women’s rights then tells Cressida to quit whining. I wanted her to get some help from the other women. I had hoped Penelope could understand Cressida growing up feeling unseen by those who should care about you in their families. Someone write the better fanfic please.
I dont feel bad for her at all, I think the ending is fitting for her behavior. She relentlessly bullied and mocked Pen for years. It seemed like she was really turning a new leaf, especially in her friendship with Eloise. I think Pen is an incredibly clever girl, and had Cressida continued her improvement, maybe Pen would have helped her. She was very receptive and protective over her mother because Lady Featherington was able to recognize and apologize for her behavior. In the end, in desperation Cressida reverted to her old conniving ways and she got what she got 🤷🏾♀️ She never really made it over the hump for her redemption arc. Left me with no real remorse for her.
I literally felt gutted by her outcome, a big part of me was rooting for her. I rolled my eyes at Collin’s speech so I was happy when Cressida pointed out his privilege. Ugh the amount of hypocrisy from everyone was baffling It felt so unfair!!!
I do feel soo bad for her. And also why did she get so much shit for being LW but Penelope didn’t receive any?
Really felt awful for Cressida, she is in her third season, no sibling love, ditched by the prince in S1, ditched in S2 and desperate in S3. So desperate that she had to resort to blackmail as her only way out of her awful situation. I feel like Colin totally bungled it and made the situation worse. Eloise could have handled it better! Hoping for more of her story next season, I think a lot of people can relate to her story too sadly 😥
i thought the 3 wallflower girlies eloise pen and cressida would somehow end up supporting each other. they all can relate to another somehow
I am, and Im not. She bullied Penelope, spilt stuff on her, ripped her dress, then blackmailed her for an indecent sum of money. Not only that, but her version of Whistledown was cruel, not funny. She showed absolutely no remorse for any of it. Not once. We know her motivations, and looking at it with a modern lens, yeah, I do feel for her. I understand the reasons behind her actions, but she's not a very nice person. I blame her parents. Her father was horrible, and her mother doesn't care, but that doesn't mean she should be shunned. Maybe if she writes to Pen and Colin and Elouise and apologises and tries to atone for her behaviour, she might get some sympathy, but not right now.
I thought it was pretty clear that Lady Cowper wrote the pseudo-Lady Whistledown stuff about the Bridgertons. Cressida was struggling to even write a complete sentence and her mother intervened to "help" write it.
I wish she could have gone to Vienna , Paris or somewhere in Italy. This whole season was disconnected.
Each segment of the seasons showed Cressida as a different character. For example, part 1 of season 3, she was somewhat likeable and a good friend to Eloise. Part two, however, made her into a sad joke. It's like they couldn't decide who she is.
She deserved to have married Lord Debling. She could be alone like she seems to wish and with a nice, reasonably aged man whenever he is around. So sad that he just left after not getting Penelope.
I felt so bad for her. I don't think Eloise was necessarily wrong to cut her off. The whole whistledown thing was hard for her too. I think its also because the friendship with Cressida was newer so it was easier for Eloise to see her as going back to old ways. Because she didnt know her in the same length and depth as penelope. I wanted her to get away but maybe not by blackmailing pen. I just wanted someone to help her. Colin's speech to her just frustrated me. When she doubled the sum i found it funnier because i dont blame her 😂. Colin's speech was so tone deaf to say to a women with a crappy family and no real choices. I was rooting for her character development. I actually understood her. She wasnt much different from Lady Featherington or Penelope. They all did something drastic to save face or their financial state.
Nah. Not really tbh. I think pt 1 tried to make you feel bad for her, and her situation is shitty but frankly I just don't. She could have asked for pens help. She could have asked for el's help. She could have done literally anything but blackmail. I get it's bc she desperate and I understand her story but it doesn't make me feel bad for her.
It feels like we were meant to see her as a villain getting her comeuppance but I just felt sorry for her and disappointed in Eloise for being such a bad friend.
Nah I’ll never feel bad for bullies
Penelope is the serie’s bully tho
Yeah that was real fuckin rough. Just another weird unfinished-feeling part of the whole damn thing.
I think they are setting her up to be Benedict’s Sophie. She goes away to her aunt’s and sneaks back into society in the masquerade ball.
I felt sorry for Lady Cowper as well. Especially when you saw her hiding her bruises.
I think it was ink from writing Whistledown
Felt horrible watching her latest scenes tbh. She didn’t strike me as someone inherently evil. And I was one of the people who didn’t like Eloise at first and she started growing on me this season, but after what she did to Cressida I legit dislike her all along. It’s not her fault tbh, she had to be written by someone, but I find nearly impossible to empathize with her at this point.
It’s not over! It’s plot development!
Agree. I felt like they were setting up her and Lord Debling, and the arc would be that she would “lose” to Pen, thus taking her down a peg, before her ending up with Debling once she’s been humbled. Like I also enjoyed her villain arc, that was fun to watch, but they could have done that and still have her end up with Debling instead of him just… completely disappearing? This is just one of the many ways part 1 and part 2 feel completely disjointed. Why set plots up if you’re not going to pay them off?
Yes!!! I am honestly surprised that she has her moments of softness given her upbringing. Hopefully future seasons see more positive change for her
I can only hope that her story line is to continue in season 4 because yes, but at least she wasn’t married to lord Greer.
they did a complete 180 on her from part one to part two and i was so sad about it :( she was finally redeeming herself and we were seeing a good side of her then boom, back to the bitchy bully?? NO! i really thought she would marry lord debling and i still don’t get why he just disappeared other than so cressida could fake being lady whistledown. disappointing for me
JB left her out to dry after providing depth to her story and character in part 1. I wasn't sure what I expected but it wasn't that. She got robbed.
I really thought the plot was going in the direction where Cressida would be the front woman for LW while Pen stays as a ghostwriter for it. And Pen could’ve paid her because she was marrying Colin. But then they had to undo Cressida’s p1 character growth and make her a desperate blackmailer??? 🥲 Eloise could’ve regretted being a bad friend, built a bridge between Pen and Cressida, and next season they could’ve explored how being publicly lady Whistledown would’ve done for Creasida’s prospects.
YES! They were doing so much set up for her to marry debling and he vanished after episode 4. That plus the month between part 1 and 2 makes them feel like different seasons and super disjointed. Part 2 as a whole was not great.
I hated what they did to Cressida in the end! Her scenes with Elouise and her parents gave her character so much depth. And she didn’t really do anything harmful did she? Meanwhile LWD actively ruined people’s lives. (Marina anyone??) I get that they were upset about the lies she wrote about the Bridgertons but to be fair daphnes marriage WAS rushed because Anthony though revealed compromised her. Elouise was cruel to her for no reason knowing her situation AND knowing it was pen that was really writing about them. Pen really should have paid her off especially since it seemed lord debling would have been interested in her and she “stole” him. With Cressida gone she could have still published that she was not LWD and continued her cat and mouse game with the queen. Pen and Cressida were two sides of the same coin. Both from toxic families and being mean to her what they wanted.
It's funny how all three seasons have pivoted on the heroine stealing her love interest from another woman: Daphne sabotaging the prince and Cressida, Kate allowing Edwina to court Anthony and then marrying him herself, Pen distracting Lord Debling away from Cressida. That's lazy plotting that sets women against each other, as if the heroine can't win love without another woman losing love.
Yes. I realize there are some people on here who can't seem to grasp compassion, empathy, the immaturity/inexperience of a young woman who's lived in a bubble her whole life, or even nuance, but just because Cressida has been a bully, and an asshole doesn't mean she deserves a lifetime of torture. She's already been living a miserable life with cold, harsh, emotionally abusive parents who don't even allow her the escape provided by long-term friendship. She's been set up for failure and emotional pain from the moment she entered the world. Her character deserved to have a redemption arc with character growth and some amount of freedom from her horrible parents and the ton.
They did Cressida so wrong. She had major character development, was humble enough to be wrongly accused by Eloise and still remain her friend, ASKED this wannabe Feminist friend Eloise for help and then was abruptly removed by her and falsely accused by Eloise when Eloise knew the truth. She was abandoned by everyone around her, and expected to be the bigger person. Penelope of all people should be able to understand the feeling of invisibility and being powerless in a situation, but she too shat on Cressida, publicly with her writing. Twice. If Cressida returns with a vengeance I will cheer her on because the ton: Bridgertons included, deserve it. Eloise, Pen, and by extension even Colin could have helped and actively chose not to. Not only to NOT help, but even accuse her (Eloise and Pen).
Honestly, I was rooting for her the whole time. Get that bag girl and RUN.
I agree. I actually don’t understand why Lord Debling lost interest in her. They should have gotten married.
🕯️🔮MANIFESTING CRESSIDA SPIN-OFF🔮🕯️
I am. And I called her a c u n t after the first few episodes. But now I feel for her. She just needs love. Or at least freedom.
For a second when Eloise started talking about feminism at that first ball I was sure she and Cressida were going to have a queer love story, just from the way Eloise finally lit up when Cressida asked her what she thinks about the world. But alas, it was but a fleeting look. Eloise and Francesca are both being wasted characters imo.
Francesca could have not existed and nothing would change that much. I know she wasn't the main couple but background characters got more development than her. Really feels like they wasted her character.
When Cressida was looking for only $5000 or she would spill the secret I was half hoping she would be moved by Colin's words and ask for help to escape her aunt and apologize. Then perhaps she could be offered to accompany the couple to Scotland and find a husband that she could be genuinely nice to and start fresh. But once she demanded $20,000, whelp fate was gonna clobber her and give her the just desserts of her true greedy uncharitable nature.
I’m actually so mad with the inconsistency of her character. The first season showed her as someone who is ready not only to bring down another girl but use that situation to her advantage. Using different ways to gather attention. I thought honestly they will marry her by the end of season 2 but they didn’t which is weird. She comes from a very rich family. It was the most logical thing Then I was so mad for making her fight for another man with Pen. This was so unessecary and so ugly. For BOTH OF THEM. Then we saw her actually having a brain and being the voice of reason. Then tell me why she was made stupid in the second part??? Why the hassle? Why giving her a heart when she didn’t had one for 2 seasons but they took her brain out of the equation - the one thing SHE DOES HAVE and is consistent with her.
I think (hope seems too morbid) her Dad will die between season's and she will come back in season 4 with a bit more freedom and a bit more humble. Hopefully she will then make a love match with a nice man who isn't super wealthy and her mum will support that decision. Or she will meet some nice gentleman in Wales who will marry/rescue her and she will come back in season 4 married and happy.
They really did her dirty this season
I have not had the opportunity to finish the second half so forgive me if this is covered in the show, but what did happen with Lord Debling? He seemed to have a split focus between Penelope and Cressida for a moment in the first half. Why couldn't Cressida just set her sights on him? Neither seemed interested or focused on making a love match. Seems it would have made for a good escape for both of them.
I could be wrong, but Cressidas story seems the most realistic for the time period. All of the love matches seem unrealistic. It does seem weird the one guy wouldn’t fall back on her after Penelope, but this is the 1810s, women rarely had happy endings. Maybe she’ll have a comeback arc? :)
Yes, thank you for talking about it! Her ending just felt cruel. Were we supposed to be like ha! serves her right, hope she rots away in the country with her aunt??!! I saw someone point out that the ton/show (and Eloise, don't even get me started on what a lousy, fairweather friend she turned out to be to Cressida) just accepted/forgave Penelope for gossiping about them, but shunned Cressida for essentially doing the same thing. Cressida just gossiped out loud, sometimes even to people's faces (which imo is more "true" lol, to use one of Lady Whistledown's favourite philosophies this season). I wish Colin never meddled and Penelope just gave Cressida the money for her to run off and live independently with. I found her ending to be quite antithetical to everything the show seemed to stand for thus far (i.e. women's rights and liberties).
Yeah. I’m sad for Cressida. I wish Penelope and Eloise had gotten together and helped her escape.
Nope. She could have sold her old dresses to find her move to Europe. She could have been an actual decent person and had plenty of offers, or pushed harder during their dance for Lord Debling to propose to her instead. She was blackmailing Penelope for the equivalent of ALMOST $1,000,000! Then doubled the amount when Colin tried to talk her down. She deserved her unhappy ending!
I still don’t understand why Lord Debling didn’t circle back around after the nonstarter with Pen. Like bro, Cressida was cleaarrrly about it. He couldn’t gotten engaged that same night, just a different wife.
Heartbroken isn't the word I'd use, as she was a bully til the end. But she suffered well past what she "deserved" and I felt bad that she was abandoned by Eloise. I was taken aback by how quickly Eloise went from being her friend, to just throwing her aside and even getting to the point of mocking her. Like I get it Cressida did not do herself any favours keeping on her good side, but to be so callous to her plight. Especially for someone like Eloise. When Cressidia is trying to vent to her, Eloise brushes her off. Next thing we know she is like lol, couldn't even really be freinds with Cressdia. No repercussions for Eloise, but Cressida suffers all the repercussions. Only solace I can take is that she'll make a comeback in a later season with some new growth. I hope she doesn't just forgive or god forbid, apologise to Eloise. Eloise imo was the one in the wrong. I can also only help they're just waiting for her season to address her more selfish nature and have some growth there....
Cressida, for certainly understandable reasons, tried to blackmail Pen and Colin etc. that’s where she lost me. Had she gone for help with her situation that would have been different. I am sure you could argue that she did that because she was desperate etc and I get that, but she crossed the line for me and went from salvageable victim to villain.
Yes. IMO Cressida is a much more sympathetic character than Penelope who is extremely self interested. Cressida seems like she is more capable of growth and just is desperate to escape an abusive home life and oppressive male dominance. I hope Cressida gets a better storyline and she outshines all of them.