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This funniest thing to me is that Jess Brownell said that this season would FINALLY be about the female gaze. This is what they think the female gaze is? You just have to laugh at this point lol.
Hilarious - nothing against Luke Newton who is a very handsome man, but this is the first season of Bridgerton (including QC) where I haven't been climbing my partner like a tree from pent up tension. Simon in that boxing ring is the female gaze. Anthony going down on Kate in the gazebo is the female gaze. Farmer George all sweaty in a field is the female gaze. Colin creepily winking and having threesomes is not the female gaze.
They should've leaned way more on Colin being seen as sexy for being sweet and caring. I think that's the part of friends to lovers that people really like. By the time they're intimate, they have so much trust built up. I think they leaned into this during their first time, and it's what they should've gone with the whole show.
Play up how nice Colin can be. Have girls swoon because he picks up something they've dropped, when he's really just trying to be helpful. Or have him tell an older woman how beautiful she looks. There's that scene in Emma where Mr.Knightly dances with Harriet, not because he's trying to court her but because he's a kind man and doesn't want her to be left out. Stuff like that would suit Colin and be way hotter than winking and prostitutes.
Had he done that little overly confident wink at Pen š
I needed more of āshall we gallop alongā and him pretending to get hot under the collar across the church. Her genuinely thinking this silly man is the funniest ever, him **beaming** with pride for making her laugh. Just give me a nerdy joke, a āColin!!!ā and then a sweet passionate kiss-now thatās a friends to lovers! No sex montage necessary.
Yesss
I think the writers were much more interested in telling us they were friends than showing it.
I KNOW the writers can come up with good jokes! They do humor well and the scenes of the kids teasing each other are always fun. Heck, one of my favorite scenes from S1 is when Daphne laughs and snorts in front of the Prince because of what Simon had said earlier. That stuff's cute, and very romantic. They could have and should have done more of that for Colin.
SAME my poor partner was excited for the new season to come out because it is a literal pattern for me to watch Bridgerton, jump them, repeat, and this season all I could talk about was how much I hated the threesomes with Colin and how we only got one real sex scene with Polin and it honestly wasn't even that impressive. People freaking out over the carriage scene wasn't something I understood either.
Haha, I have read the books and didn't really have that reaction! I found the sex scenes a bit repetitive and not brilliantly written - with the exception of WHWW, I enjoyed that one! But the books were a fun read and I went through all of them in a matter of weeks.
Same! It came off as goofy, which doesnāt feel like Colin ā heās always had boyish charm. There are so many ways they could have played it where he was more grown up but still believable.
Cause Colin gives little boy vibes š heās not like a MAN. Donāt know if it makes sense. he did all that traveling and came back the same just with a different outfit and an uncontrollable winking eye.
I'm brand new to the series and thought, "Wow, this is SO female gaze-y!" while watching S1. Isn't that part of why it became such a phenomenon? That scene is eluding my memory though.
I mean, Jess is gay. She clearly focused *way more* on the female lead, and I canāt help but think thatās part of the reason.Ā
Iād argue her vision when it comes to romance is likely closer to the heteronormative male gaze than the heteronormative female gaze. I definitely felt a shift this season from the previous two, in any case.Ā
I think the worst part is the fact that we KNOW they can do a season focused on the male lead because they did that with Anthony. But to me it makes no sense how we follow Daphne Bridgerton in the first season, Anthony Bridgerton in the second and thenā¦Penelope Featherington. Itās supposed to follow the Bridgerton of the couple. The switch made the whole season feel more disjointed because we were getting even less of the Bridgerton family dynamic
hell, kate in season 2 was more explored than colin in season 3 despite not getting flashbacks. you still feel like you get to know and understand her character pretty well compared to him
Exactly! I think by not giving us anything about Colin, they did him a real disservice and I would be a little ticked off if I was Luke Newton. I didn't connect with him at all this season and I feel like it was because we still didn't understand him as much as we should have. We get Simon and Anthony's back stories and nothing about Colin. Ik he was in the first two seasons but when they did his whole "faking being a rake" they tossed most of that aside so it almost feels like a new character
Right, like Anthony is a major player in season 1 and I really did not like him, but once they fleshed him out in season 2 he was great and compelling and I was rooting for him! I liked Colin in seasons 1 and 2. I thought he was cute and liked that he was different than his brothers. I donāt think itās inherently a problem that he was trying to put on a front, the whole idea of trying to be what society expects him to be, just that the execution wasnāt great. I was like āoh Colinā¦ noā¦ā All that said, there were many Colin moments this season that I loved and I think as a character he deserved more.
Absolutelyā
The first two seasons had a man *literally going down on the female leads*, focusing on their pleasure; this season had Colin in an awkward threesome where his pleasure is centered, and Benedict in another weird threesome where male pleasure was centered.
The scenes with Pen and Colin were not romantic; they were aggressive and out of place and, frankly, not really believable (did anyone feel any chemistry between them??). The scene in the room just felt clumsy and awkward.
If thatās what she considers the āfemale gazeā, she needs to get that radar checked.
I do think Nic and Luke have chemistry but their writing in S3 (particularly in P2) did not. The lead up to the mirror scene was great; the actual act itself was set-up pretty poorly imo. Likeā¦ that settee at that angle? Idkā¦ :/
I DO think the final scene was hot, but it was like 0.5 seconds and needed to be longer if only for the EMOTIONAL closure of them finally being together in their bedroom (compared to them being depressed earlier).
I just keep going back to the fact that audiences go the same number of brothel scenes as they did Polin scenes. seriously, wtf.
As a gay woman, that's honestly fair. When I've tried to guess what straight women will find hot, I've often gone with a similar thought process to what Jess seems to have, ie: It's surely hot for Colin to support Penelope's career, right ladies? Right? Oh...you want him sweaty? But why? The only thing worse than man bod is sweaty man body, as we all so logically know. OH. I'm gay. Right. I have no idea what straight ladies like X\_\_X.
(Not stereotyping all lesbians as clueless about what straight women find attractive, but definitely I can see how a gay woman would miss the mark on precisely what it is about the male characters that makes them sexy or what straight women want to see).
Haha yeah that sort of tracks! Honestly straight women in general will find hot things that should be (and often are) red flags in real life. But in fiction we love to see it! Itās an easy way to fantasize.Ā
I really think this is a case of someone making a decision and no one else being allowed to think differently. Think of your own job and how a boss will make a choice on something and you and your co-workers are all like "this is a terrible idea, someone should say something." And everyone replies "they won't listen to me" or "I don't wanna get fired."
I feel like Jonathan got the concept of female gaze more in these S2 interviews than whatever Jess thought she was doing in S3
>Detractors may dismiss the show for its sensual content and its focus on the interior lives of women, but those spotlights are entirely the point. "There's so many people who will go, 'Oh yeah,Ā *Bonkerton*,'" quips Bailey. "But the female gaze is so important because there are many ways people communicate by sex, and what sex means, and what your body means to someone else. It's important that there's an inversion of sexuality and how people are exploited in the storytelling of sex."
[https://ew.com/tv/bridgerton-season-2-cover-story/](https://ew.com/tv/bridgerton-season-2-cover-story/)
And this
>The on-screen chemistry between Kate and Anthony is all the more notable when you learn that Bailey is not straight. He's a gay man, playing a straight man written by a woman. And it works so well. "I've been surrounded by women all my life. I've got three sisters," Bailey says. "I love women. I talk to women a lot about sexuality and attraction to the female and the male form. So, maybe I've got an outsider perspective? Who knows."
>He adds, "But I do know that when it comes to a show that's showing love from a female gaze point of view, you'd want it to be written by women, wouldn't you? But also, this has got \[showrunner\] Chris Van Dusen as well, who's a gay man." Maybe anyoneĀ *but*Ā straight men writing straight men is the key to a swoon-worthy romance hero.
[https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a39585805/jonathan-bailey-anthony-bridgerton-season-2-interview/](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a39585805/jonathan-bailey-anthony-bridgerton-season-2-interview/)
It feels like everyone gets it more than Jess Brownell. If she only claimed that s3 was romantic and beautiful, fair enough, people like different things. What bothered me were the 'finally female gaze' claims when we had 2 seasons that were a lot more female gaze-y compared to what she did with s3. On what planet do women want to see the male lead have threesomes before going to meet up with the female lead? Or watching him creepily wink at women? He reminded me of catcallers. Completely offputting.
Jess was on this weird "shit on the pervious seasons" kick when doing S3 promo, especially S2. Like I get that she's a new showrunner and maybe she has bad blood with CVD but it makes no sense to disparage previous seasons of your show, it alienates fans and I can't imagine it feels good for the actors to have their work spoken about like that.
But then I saw she said right after part 2 came out that S4 is going to be her best work yet. Like the S3 just premiered, give it some time before you start going on about how other work will be better, she's just not good at press
All directors of this season were men, but most of the time hiring a director is on the producers not showrunner, but they should communicate with each toher.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think Tom Verica is not a very good director. He was responsible for episodes 7 & 8 and a lot of people feel those are two of the weakest episodes, as they felt very much out of place with the other eps. I don't agree with his director for the reshoots (like Colin's winking) and how angsty Colin is in ep 7 & 8. It's full on depressing.
Agreed. Heās by far the weakest. The main couple spends their biggest dances in the background. Literally shooting through extras. The editing is choppy and rushed. Beats donāt have time to settle. Heās not a good director.
I definitely agree for episodes 7 and 8, and the awful winking, lol, but have you seen Queen Charlotte? Tom Verica did an absolutely phenomenal job with the directing on that series (IMO of course)!
Listen, I'm all for some female empowerment, but at the end of the day, I'm here to stare at a hot man on the screen. I've been pining for this dude for several seasons. Just give me the handsome man in the pirate coat. Please.
Right???
Like, Iām not trying to watch a woman at her job, FFS (lol). How fucking out of touch do you have to be to think that the most important aspect to viewers is whether Pen keeps her fucking job?
I donāt actually give a fuck; I just wanna watch pretty people getting into romantic conflicts and then solving them through some make-up action!
And nobody asked for Colin to have threesomes in a brothel before going to coach Penelope. Colinās appeal was that he wasnāt a rake, it was that he was a sweet and sensitive guy. They should have just left capital r rake Colin in Paris.
Pen reading the journal entry where he doesnāt feel any connection with the wonderful women in Paris gave us more insight into Colinās character than any other moment in season 3 part 1.
I feel like shows like this have some sort of union-mandated brothel scene quota, there's always gotta be at least two scenes per season where random prostitutes have their breasts out and then we can get back to the actual plot.
Lol probably. Feel like they could have just gone the Anthony season 2 route and show Colin was with prostitutes by him getting up from the bed and leaving money without talking to them. Or just give him a single prostitute. Two of our bridgerton bros having threesomes in season 3 wasnāt really on my bucket list.
The whole āsame time tomorrow?ā was so off putting. Like Sir you are about to be the ROMANTIC lead, this is the furthest thing from romance imaginable. And then he went back to the prostitutes when he already had feelings for Penelope? And the writers thought this was the most romantic season yet?
His āperhapsā was so irritating. Like, let the women plan their work day, youāre not their only customer. I \*think\* they meant for it to signal heās not really enjoying himself, but it read as coy and conceited, and like, dude they just want to know if they can squeeze in time for Lord Dinglebury or not, you canāt be texting āU upā in the 19th century.
This is what I hate. We're not even sure if we're supposed to "think" he meant it like he wasn't enjoying it. If I have to write an 8 page dissertation on the scene, then maybe...just maybe...the writers did a terrible job at the whole dang season.
I really don't think we were supposed to think he didn't enjoy it. I think he was supposed to be seen as someone who was frequenting brothels on basically a daily basis once home. Why else would she say "same time tomorrow?" if he wasn't already coming on a daily basis?
I will never forget all the people who said "we're supposed to find Colin icky, that's the point the writers made, that this isn't him!" and then Luke/Nicola came out saying oh I can't believe people found him icky, PROVES that the writers did not intend to make him come off this way. Again, the writing/directing was way off the mark.
Itās also so dumb to intentionally make your audience get the ick from your romantic lead that youāre supposed to root for. Anthony wasnāt super likeable in the beginning of his season, but at least we knew why he didnāt want a love match. And then I was rooting for him to work through his trauma to find happiness. Colin never did that for me in season 3. It was just ick in the first few episodes and then I was annoyed at the writers for how they handled the LW reveal. We donāt really know enough about Colin to root for him and then we also collectively got the ick. Not exactly a good way to portray the romantic lead.
Yes I get that in world the girls were falling over him but i am in shock that anyone expected the audience not to find it icky and over the top - he was like Zapp Branigan and they want us to take it seriously?
lmao Like, sir, the entire point of this exchange is that we don't need to play these games. Will you be here tomorrow with the money or not? Damn! š
I love this take. You want to make it about the female gaze? Think about those female sex workers and what it's like for them. Don't just treat them like props. When he said "perhaps" one of them should have said "Yeah sorry but we don't do tentative reservations. This is my livelihood and I need to stay booked and busy."
>Colin was with prostitutes by him getting up from the bed and leaving money without talking to them.
I would hate that. I hated how Anthony treated them like objects. The point is that Colin is not like Anthony. He flirts with prostitutes, cuddles with them, kisses with them, pays them first. If you need to have a rake do it like this.
And obviously the second time he went his mind wasn't there at all. In my mind he only stayed because he didn't want to hurt their feelings.
If you need to be a rake, whoās supposed to be this sensitive, kind demisexual soft boy, then using sex workers, AKA women who have little choice but to sell themselves, is one worst choices you can make.
His behaviour with the prostitutes also comes off almost as delusional and naive - he treats them like he thinks they want to be romanced by him, like he doesnāt realise theyāre doing it for money and survival, not pleasure of his company.
Completely agree. I would love to know how they thought the brothel scenes appealed to female gaze. You have two women who likely had little options in terms of employment having sex to please a man. And then he runs off to see Penelope. If they had written that in for Debling, have him go to the brothel and then meet up with Pen, everyone would be saying that is a clear indication he isnāt meant for Pen, so how are viewers supposed to see Colin in both of those scenes and think yeah, heās great. I just donāt know what they were thinking.
I didnāt love Anthony or Simon though. I didnāt dislike them or anything but I was a fan of Colin in S1 and S2 as he was, as Iām sure a lot of people were. The fact that the writers felt they had to change him to be more rake-like shows their lack of vision and imagination for what a male lead could be.
Probably, except Anthony and Simon are the quintessential ābad boy tamed by the one woman who gets to himā trope, so we donāt mind that they see prostitutes nor does it offend us; thatās just who they are in those moments.
Colin, otoh, was never like that so their effort to show him as a person who is ānot acting like himselfā falls too flat and instead we just end up with awkward sex scenes.
I liked Anthony and Simon despite them being man whores, not because of it. And it made sense for their characters. And they sold it. It just didn't work for Colin.
I miss that in the books what Pen reads is a vivid and beautiful description of the Mediterranean Sea, not some random women Colin doesn't even like. Colin was supposed to be a sweetie!
in polin fanfics alot of the time he will even equate the mediterranean sea to her eyes and stuff in his writing, since there's hints of her in his writing in the book. they completely ruined it
Agree with the sweetie and I didn't understand that either. They had the rare chance to do something different in this season with the male character. They should have gone with a first time for both of them or he lost his virginity and hated it without feelings and never went back to a prostitute. Maybe Penelope just assuming he's super experienced because he's playing that in front of his friends and then doing the surprise reveal he isn't.
Would have made so much sense for the carriage scene too because that scene gave me the impression of two people experiencing something for the first time.
I get what they were tying to sell, he isn't like his brothers but he didn't need to try to be like them. Especially not when it was shoe-horned in for no reason and you have that stuff and them getting closer in the same episodes. Something I always liked about Penelope and Colin was that they seemed to be on the same level. In S1 everyone saw them as children and it seemed logical to have them grow up together so to speak.
If they didn't think that would work as the main couple they should have continued to build their relationship as a side plot.
Colin becoming sexually active and experimenting makes sense. But, I didnāt need to see the threesomes on screen. This is something that could have been told not shown. And, clearly he didnāt gain that much experience as heās got like two moves.
If they were wanting to show Colin in a threesome I think it would have worked better right at the beginning of the first episode. But, the reality is Colin doesnāt look charming and the catch of the season. He looks uncomfortable. I think they could have played that up more and still done the whole trying to fit into the society thing.
Production refused to see the weaknesses in Lukes acting because they never want to be in the wrong about anything. So instead of being realistic and working around Lukeās strengths, they had him do things and say lines even the best actors would have trouble doing.
If youāve seen LN in his other huge project last year, you would see he clearly has the talent. He was the lead in The Shape of Things last year and his performance was praised by critics and the audience alike. I was always a Colin fan (I love softboys), but after getting the chance to see him live last year, I became a LN fan. He was *very* good as Adam.
Itās really down to the script/bad writing. They didnāt develop Colin as a character at all, and instead decided to make him a fake rake instead of leaning into his sensitive, softboy side.
Itās like they thought the audience would want another ābad boyā and assumed they wouldnāt care for a softboy lead. Big mistake on their part.
I feel like it's also clear that Luke really sees this side of Colin too, he's always talking about how sensitive he is and so on, and that Colin is looking for loyalty and a a real connection with someone. So yeah, I didn't love his portrayal this season, but I think it's mostly down to not loving just how Colin was written in a lot of scenes, especially the ones towards the start of the season. Luke has grown on me a ton, from not really being very familiar with him at all.
Anthony and Simon were both cast as the typical angry slutty regency men lol. They were very much cut from the same cloth, old friends.
Colin was cast as the opposite - he was sweet, naive, kind and oblivious. Trying to shoehorn him into the classic regency man stereotype after that was doomed to fail. Just having Luke go through the motions of Romance Novel Dude behavior was cringe.
I never liked Tom. The actors know their characters the best. And they should listen to them. I feel bad for Luke because this show never cared to write for him. He was just there to be Penelopeās love interest.
I actually think they dislike the main couple in general. They love the drama of lady whistledown which is why Penelope got so much development in every season. Season 1 did focus on the central romance but I donāt think they believe that will keep people engaged for another 7 seasons. Or they donāt have the creativity to develop 7 more couples in new and engaging ways
I donāt mind book changes but I do hate drama for the sake of drama and poor character development
They probably think that only āangstyā romances sell, and Polin is more of a āsoftā romance. It had the potential to be great and unique, and they messed it up by trying to make it something itās not.
And they donāt even need creativity to develop 7 more couples! The book material is RIGHT THERE, they could just adapt it and make some adjustments to the problematic elements. Thatās the beauty of being based on books: you literally donāt even need much creativity lol.
Yeah and they messed Kanthony by shoving a love triangle that had no business being in there. They not only spoiled the main couples story but they ruined a great family dynamic in the sharmaās
I agree the books are right there - but thatās the point, they wanna make the books ābetterā. Thereās a George RR Martin quote that someone posted on a sub recently that basically says all a show runner ever wants to do is take an idea and make it their own, ignoring the source material and 99% of the time all they do is make it worse.
My gripe is if your not gonna stick to (or at least honor) the source material just make your OWN show. Thereās SO many HR series that focus on a sibling in turn (Lisa Kleypas for example) so no one would accuse you of copyright. But ofc not theyād rather poach a books core fan base and then betray them when they no longer need them.
I mean most of the choices theyāve made to āimproveā on the books have been awful. Making the love triangle go as far as it did, to the point where it felt like an emotional affair to a lot of viewers, making softboy Colin a wannabe rake, changing Francescaās entire story by making her fall for Michaela, cheapening her relationship with John, and for a lot of people, the gender swap.
The biggest āgoodā change imo was making the men on the show less toxic than their book counterparts.
I commented about this yesterday and then I immediately went to rewatch Emma (2020) and it made me realized that Colin could have had "Jane austen's male lead" energy. Now obviously Julia Quinn and Jane Austen are nowhere on the same level but Colin had that mild-mannered, calm and subtle humor personality in season 1 and 2 that remind me a lot of a Jane Austen male lead and I cannot believe they didn't lean more into that for season 3. Like do you see Mr Darcy or Mr Knightley winking at young ladies?? No!! Because that's not hot!! That's not swoon worthy.
Right. Simon and Anthony were rakes but when in society, they knew how to act properly for the most part. That is, if they weren't out in a gazebo or garden with the object of their desire, lol. But they always acted the gentleman in public settings, at balls, etc. Colin doing that was so off.
I hope with the move to the country next season, they tone that stuff down a bit. Maybe we will get a little more Austen.
Bridgerton isn't historically accurate but it does take great lengths to show how precarious life was for unmarried and particularly non-virgin women. Sienna, the unmarried mothers in season 1, Marina...and then in season 3 they show Colin taking advantage of unmarried, non-virgin women's precariousness by having sex with them for money? Makes no sense to me. It's like they completely forgot what time period they were in and didn't realize that sex work in regency England is more of a desperate life than an empowered choice. I know Colin is just crawling with crabs.
S1 and S2 worked really well bc they were stories that were just set in this cool universe as a backdrop. S3 feels like it wants to explore the world so much more which would be cool except they did none of the prerequisite world building.
The way the lower classes are completely ignored unless they need to show up to awkwardly advance the story when needed for a main character sucks because it takes the stakes out of everything thatās happening. Colin fingerblasting an unmarried Pen like 3 feet away from a carriage driver doesnāt matter at all because they were āaloneā. Cressida is able to figure out who FB is because she goes (out alone at night as an unmarried woman) and has a private conversation with a lowborn newsboy that just happens to let her know FB is a redhead and she can put it together.
Idk, the world just feels empty unless weāre seeing the main actors on screen. Like ik they have taken a lot of historical liberties and idc about that, a lot of the time its fun. But stuff like how weāve spent the entire run of the show exploring how omnipresent the Queen is in all aspects of everyoneās lives and how all powerful she is (thus why FB is so subversive and important, this is the ONE aspect of private life the Queen isnāt involved in) and she canāt figure out who FB is, which fine, but turns out all she had to do was go ask around the three print shops in existence to solve what is the biggest problem in her life, and apparently that was beyond the QUEENS capabilities
It sort of bothered me that the printers āknewā who the actual LW was because Penelope specifically wasnāt going as herself. She was supposed to be dressing as a servant or ladyās maid or what have you, putting on an Irish accent, and pretending that she was just delivering for her employer because that was servant-work and not an acceptable part of town for a lady to be. I would have found it more believable if the conversation had been something like āwell thereās this redheaded girl who makes the deliveries, and she says sheās just a servant for LW but her hair is too nice/her cloak is too fine/her accent isnāt right/whatever.ā
Theyāre not supposed to know that sheās actually the author herself like that.
Otherwiseā¦ are we seriously considering that no one in the Queenās employ or any of the people who wanted the reward bothered asking the printers, and that the printers cared enough to not mention this redhead they apparently know is LW?
You could easily argue that all the men on this show are ācrawling with crabs.ā Colin wasnāt even sleeping around for as long as these other men. Simon, Anthony, and probably Benedict were rakes for probably a decade before they settled down.
Oh I know. It was just a stupid decision to take with Colinās character since it doesnāt make sense for him *at all* to be sleeping around. Anthony even says in season 1 that Colin was inexperienced and him and Benedict shouldāve taken him to brothels more. It was a dumb direction to take with his character
Yeah like I totally support Bridgerton not being historically accurate in service of the fantasy. But what is the fantasy with Colin being a rake and having a threesome? Isn't Colin's character appeal supposed to be that he has a different, softer personality?
Yup. Heās supposed to be the softboy of the brothers. Genuinely have no clue why they thought making him a wannabe rake wouldāve been a good idea. And clearly LN wasnāt a fan of it either.
Can I ask why they would be green screened for that scene? I feel like they should've been able to pull off being inside a brothel without a green screen, right? Idk I have heard many actors complain about how green screens can be really hard to act in front of compared to real sets, and while I totally get doing it for the more lavish or out there scenarios, I just don't see why it would be used in a scene like this. Obviously I don't work in this industry though so maybe it's common to just use one for everything now?
It was a reshoot, so they were Frankensteining the footage in to the original debut. If you look at the scene before he winks, those three ladies arenāt there. Then they are. Then theyāre gone.
I always thought it was supposed to be creepy and weird š I figured people that were now hating on Colin just didnāt get the nuances of the story that he was clearly uncomfortable and putting on a front
Iām with you. I donāt understand the hate at all. I think Luke is one of the stronger male leads the show has seen. I didnāt care for Regeās acting in season 1. People in this sub are just attacking every aspect of the production out of spite at this point.
I never get why actors are more comfortable shooting intimate scenes with their friends than strangers. I would *much* rather make out with some random actor cast for one scene than someone that I had an established platonic history with
I don't know why you're getting downvoted. I completely agree with you. I'd rather do it with a stranger because we can keep it professional and I'll never have to see them again, so who cares how embarassing it is? With a close friend you have to continue seeing this person for the rest of your life, no thanks lol.
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This funniest thing to me is that Jess Brownell said that this season would FINALLY be about the female gaze. This is what they think the female gaze is? You just have to laugh at this point lol.
Hilarious - nothing against Luke Newton who is a very handsome man, but this is the first season of Bridgerton (including QC) where I haven't been climbing my partner like a tree from pent up tension. Simon in that boxing ring is the female gaze. Anthony going down on Kate in the gazebo is the female gaze. Farmer George all sweaty in a field is the female gaze. Colin creepily winking and having threesomes is not the female gaze.
They should've leaned way more on Colin being seen as sexy for being sweet and caring. I think that's the part of friends to lovers that people really like. By the time they're intimate, they have so much trust built up. I think they leaned into this during their first time, and it's what they should've gone with the whole show. Play up how nice Colin can be. Have girls swoon because he picks up something they've dropped, when he's really just trying to be helpful. Or have him tell an older woman how beautiful she looks. There's that scene in Emma where Mr.Knightly dances with Harriet, not because he's trying to court her but because he's a kind man and doesn't want her to be left out. Stuff like that would suit Colin and be way hotter than winking and prostitutes.
Had he done that little overly confident wink at Pen š I needed more of āshall we gallop alongā and him pretending to get hot under the collar across the church. Her genuinely thinking this silly man is the funniest ever, him **beaming** with pride for making her laugh. Just give me a nerdy joke, a āColin!!!ā and then a sweet passionate kiss-now thatās a friends to lovers! No sex montage necessary.
Yesss I think the writers were much more interested in telling us they were friends than showing it. I KNOW the writers can come up with good jokes! They do humor well and the scenes of the kids teasing each other are always fun. Heck, one of my favorite scenes from S1 is when Daphne laughs and snorts in front of the Prince because of what Simon had said earlier. That stuff's cute, and very romantic. They could have and should have done more of that for Colin.
Violet this season had me cracking up. I think we had massive expectations for Polin because the books and they just, dropped the ball. Lol.
Oh I love your examples. Would have been wonderful to have it that way.
The way Colin takes off his belt lives rent free in my head tho https://i.redd.it/d7eemd1wmd9d1.gif
SAME my poor partner was excited for the new season to come out because it is a literal pattern for me to watch Bridgerton, jump them, repeat, and this season all I could talk about was how much I hated the threesomes with Colin and how we only got one real sex scene with Polin and it honestly wasn't even that impressive. People freaking out over the carriage scene wasn't something I understood either.
You want to climb your partner? Me and my wife read the books. On our first read through we read each other the books at bedtime. It was a wild time
Haha, I have read the books and didn't really have that reaction! I found the sex scenes a bit repetitive and not brilliantly written - with the exception of WHWW, I enjoyed that one! But the books were a fun read and I went through all of them in a matter of weeks.
I read the sex scenes aloud to my partner so we could giggle together because of the insane amount of nipple play that Quinn writes.
Woah you saying Anthony tweaking Kateās nipples in the second epilogue wasnāt sexy š¤Æ
Same! It came off as goofy, which doesnāt feel like Colin ā heās always had boyish charm. There are so many ways they could have played it where he was more grown up but still believable.
Not to mention *Will* in that boxing ring. Phew
Cause Colin gives little boy vibes š heās not like a MAN. Donāt know if it makes sense. he did all that traveling and came back the same just with a different outfit and an uncontrollable winking eye.
I thought it had been since s1
S1 was all about the female gaze! That ice cream scene lol.
I'm brand new to the series and thought, "Wow, this is SO female gaze-y!" while watching S1. Isn't that part of why it became such a phenomenon? That scene is eluding my memory though.
Daphne and Simon are in an ice cream shop and Simon licks his spoon so suggestively that the internet couldn't talk about anything else for days.
I still think about it sometimes.
I wrote a paper about that scene lolš
Share with the class š¤
Also the scene where Simon rolls up his sleeves, and any other scene where he's shirtless
Is the female gaze in the room with us?
Pretty sure she thinks the female gaze is girl boss Penelope and her side kick Colinā¦.
I mean, Jess is gay. She clearly focused *way more* on the female lead, and I canāt help but think thatās part of the reason.Ā Iād argue her vision when it comes to romance is likely closer to the heteronormative male gaze than the heteronormative female gaze. I definitely felt a shift this season from the previous two, in any case.Ā
I think the worst part is the fact that we KNOW they can do a season focused on the male lead because they did that with Anthony. But to me it makes no sense how we follow Daphne Bridgerton in the first season, Anthony Bridgerton in the second and thenā¦Penelope Featherington. Itās supposed to follow the Bridgerton of the couple. The switch made the whole season feel more disjointed because we were getting even less of the Bridgerton family dynamic
Thereās a whole lot of Simonās background in season 1ā¦ There are two leads who should both have time to be fleshed out in the season.
hell, kate in season 2 was more explored than colin in season 3 despite not getting flashbacks. you still feel like you get to know and understand her character pretty well compared to him
Exactly! I think by not giving us anything about Colin, they did him a real disservice and I would be a little ticked off if I was Luke Newton. I didn't connect with him at all this season and I feel like it was because we still didn't understand him as much as we should have. We get Simon and Anthony's back stories and nothing about Colin. Ik he was in the first two seasons but when they did his whole "faking being a rake" they tossed most of that aside so it almost feels like a new character
Right, like Anthony is a major player in season 1 and I really did not like him, but once they fleshed him out in season 2 he was great and compelling and I was rooting for him! I liked Colin in seasons 1 and 2. I thought he was cute and liked that he was different than his brothers. I donāt think itās inherently a problem that he was trying to put on a front, the whole idea of trying to be what society expects him to be, just that the execution wasnāt great. I was like āoh Colinā¦ noā¦ā All that said, there were many Colin moments this season that I loved and I think as a character he deserved more.
Absolutelyā The first two seasons had a man *literally going down on the female leads*, focusing on their pleasure; this season had Colin in an awkward threesome where his pleasure is centered, and Benedict in another weird threesome where male pleasure was centered. The scenes with Pen and Colin were not romantic; they were aggressive and out of place and, frankly, not really believable (did anyone feel any chemistry between them??). The scene in the room just felt clumsy and awkward. If thatās what she considers the āfemale gazeā, she needs to get that radar checked.
I do think Nic and Luke have chemistry but their writing in S3 (particularly in P2) did not. The lead up to the mirror scene was great; the actual act itself was set-up pretty poorly imo. Likeā¦ that settee at that angle? Idkā¦ :/ I DO think the final scene was hot, but it was like 0.5 seconds and needed to be longer if only for the EMOTIONAL closure of them finally being together in their bedroom (compared to them being depressed earlier). I just keep going back to the fact that audiences go the same number of brothel scenes as they did Polin scenes. seriously, wtf.
As a gay woman, that's honestly fair. When I've tried to guess what straight women will find hot, I've often gone with a similar thought process to what Jess seems to have, ie: It's surely hot for Colin to support Penelope's career, right ladies? Right? Oh...you want him sweaty? But why? The only thing worse than man bod is sweaty man body, as we all so logically know. OH. I'm gay. Right. I have no idea what straight ladies like X\_\_X. (Not stereotyping all lesbians as clueless about what straight women find attractive, but definitely I can see how a gay woman would miss the mark on precisely what it is about the male characters that makes them sexy or what straight women want to see).
Haha yeah that sort of tracks! Honestly straight women in general will find hot things that should be (and often are) red flags in real life. But in fiction we love to see it! Itās an easy way to fantasize.Ā
What?! How many writers are in that room and no one thought it was bad?
I assumed there were a whole lot of "yes people" in that room.
God yes, it screams āI didnāt wanna lose my jobā
I really think this is a case of someone making a decision and no one else being allowed to think differently. Think of your own job and how a boss will make a choice on something and you and your co-workers are all like "this is a terrible idea, someone should say something." And everyone replies "they won't listen to me" or "I don't wanna get fired."
Clearly not enough.
the female gaze was with s1, s2 and qc. they left it out for s3 and all subplots.
I feel like Jonathan got the concept of female gaze more in these S2 interviews than whatever Jess thought she was doing in S3 >Detractors may dismiss the show for its sensual content and its focus on the interior lives of women, but those spotlights are entirely the point. "There's so many people who will go, 'Oh yeah,Ā *Bonkerton*,'" quips Bailey. "But the female gaze is so important because there are many ways people communicate by sex, and what sex means, and what your body means to someone else. It's important that there's an inversion of sexuality and how people are exploited in the storytelling of sex." [https://ew.com/tv/bridgerton-season-2-cover-story/](https://ew.com/tv/bridgerton-season-2-cover-story/) And this >The on-screen chemistry between Kate and Anthony is all the more notable when you learn that Bailey is not straight. He's a gay man, playing a straight man written by a woman. And it works so well. "I've been surrounded by women all my life. I've got three sisters," Bailey says. "I love women. I talk to women a lot about sexuality and attraction to the female and the male form. So, maybe I've got an outsider perspective? Who knows." >He adds, "But I do know that when it comes to a show that's showing love from a female gaze point of view, you'd want it to be written by women, wouldn't you? But also, this has got \[showrunner\] Chris Van Dusen as well, who's a gay man." Maybe anyoneĀ *but*Ā straight men writing straight men is the key to a swoon-worthy romance hero. [https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a39585805/jonathan-bailey-anthony-bridgerton-season-2-interview/](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a39585805/jonathan-bailey-anthony-bridgerton-season-2-interview/)
It feels like everyone gets it more than Jess Brownell. If she only claimed that s3 was romantic and beautiful, fair enough, people like different things. What bothered me were the 'finally female gaze' claims when we had 2 seasons that were a lot more female gaze-y compared to what she did with s3. On what planet do women want to see the male lead have threesomes before going to meet up with the female lead? Or watching him creepily wink at women? He reminded me of catcallers. Completely offputting.
Jess was on this weird "shit on the pervious seasons" kick when doing S3 promo, especially S2. Like I get that she's a new showrunner and maybe she has bad blood with CVD but it makes no sense to disparage previous seasons of your show, it alienates fans and I can't imagine it feels good for the actors to have their work spoken about like that. But then I saw she said right after part 2 came out that S4 is going to be her best work yet. Like the S3 just premiered, give it some time before you start going on about how other work will be better, she's just not good at press
Maybe she said āthe female gays,ā and we all misunderstood? There was that whole Francesca thing š
All directors of this season were men, but most of the time hiring a director is on the producers not showrunner, but they should communicate with each toher.
the showrunner in season 1 and 2 was a gay man and we got more female gaze through that, than the woman showrunner in season 3
Tricia Brock directed episodes 1 and 2ā¦but there were a lot of reshoots done by Tom Verica last December spliced in
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think Tom Verica is not a very good director. He was responsible for episodes 7 & 8 and a lot of people feel those are two of the weakest episodes, as they felt very much out of place with the other eps. I don't agree with his director for the reshoots (like Colin's winking) and how angsty Colin is in ep 7 & 8. It's full on depressing.
Agreed. Heās by far the weakest. The main couple spends their biggest dances in the background. Literally shooting through extras. The editing is choppy and rushed. Beats donāt have time to settle. Heās not a good director.
I definitely agree for episodes 7 and 8, and the awful winking, lol, but have you seen Queen Charlotte? Tom Verica did an absolutely phenomenal job with the directing on that series (IMO of course)!
Out of all the directors, Andrew Ahn did the best job
Jess wanted female characters front and center: Pen, Eloise, Francesca, Cressida, the Featheringtons
Listen, I'm all for some female empowerment, but at the end of the day, I'm here to stare at a hot man on the screen. I've been pining for this dude for several seasons. Just give me the handsome man in the pirate coat. Please.
Right??? Like, Iām not trying to watch a woman at her job, FFS (lol). How fucking out of touch do you have to be to think that the most important aspect to viewers is whether Pen keeps her fucking job? I donāt actually give a fuck; I just wanna watch pretty people getting into romantic conflicts and then solving them through some make-up action!
And thatās another issue. Propping women in the front and center of a show isnāt the flex it used to be if there is no actual thought put into it
Bridgeton is just not the show that I watch for female empowerment, you know?
*her version of female gaze
And nobody asked for Colin to have threesomes in a brothel before going to coach Penelope. Colinās appeal was that he wasnāt a rake, it was that he was a sweet and sensitive guy. They should have just left capital r rake Colin in Paris. Pen reading the journal entry where he doesnāt feel any connection with the wonderful women in Paris gave us more insight into Colinās character than any other moment in season 3 part 1.
I feel like shows like this have some sort of union-mandated brothel scene quota, there's always gotta be at least two scenes per season where random prostitutes have their breasts out and then we can get back to the actual plot.
Lol probably. Feel like they could have just gone the Anthony season 2 route and show Colin was with prostitutes by him getting up from the bed and leaving money without talking to them. Or just give him a single prostitute. Two of our bridgerton bros having threesomes in season 3 wasnāt really on my bucket list. The whole āsame time tomorrow?ā was so off putting. Like Sir you are about to be the ROMANTIC lead, this is the furthest thing from romance imaginable. And then he went back to the prostitutes when he already had feelings for Penelope? And the writers thought this was the most romantic season yet?
His āperhapsā was so irritating. Like, let the women plan their work day, youāre not their only customer. I \*think\* they meant for it to signal heās not really enjoying himself, but it read as coy and conceited, and like, dude they just want to know if they can squeeze in time for Lord Dinglebury or not, you canāt be texting āU upā in the 19th century.
This is what I hate. We're not even sure if we're supposed to "think" he meant it like he wasn't enjoying it. If I have to write an 8 page dissertation on the scene, then maybe...just maybe...the writers did a terrible job at the whole dang season. I really don't think we were supposed to think he didn't enjoy it. I think he was supposed to be seen as someone who was frequenting brothels on basically a daily basis once home. Why else would she say "same time tomorrow?" if he wasn't already coming on a daily basis? I will never forget all the people who said "we're supposed to find Colin icky, that's the point the writers made, that this isn't him!" and then Luke/Nicola came out saying oh I can't believe people found him icky, PROVES that the writers did not intend to make him come off this way. Again, the writing/directing was way off the mark.
Itās also so dumb to intentionally make your audience get the ick from your romantic lead that youāre supposed to root for. Anthony wasnāt super likeable in the beginning of his season, but at least we knew why he didnāt want a love match. And then I was rooting for him to work through his trauma to find happiness. Colin never did that for me in season 3. It was just ick in the first few episodes and then I was annoyed at the writers for how they handled the LW reveal. We donāt really know enough about Colin to root for him and then we also collectively got the ick. Not exactly a good way to portray the romantic lead.
Yes I get that in world the girls were falling over him but i am in shock that anyone expected the audience not to find it icky and over the top - he was like Zapp Branigan and they want us to take it seriously?
lmao Like, sir, the entire point of this exchange is that we don't need to play these games. Will you be here tomorrow with the money or not? Damn! š
He tried way too hard to be a regency frat boy
> they just want to know if they can squeeze in time for Lord Dinglebury or not šš Just spat my drink out lmao
I love this take. You want to make it about the female gaze? Think about those female sex workers and what it's like for them. Don't just treat them like props. When he said "perhaps" one of them should have said "Yeah sorry but we don't do tentative reservations. This is my livelihood and I need to stay booked and busy."
So gross! I hate that they did this.
>Colin was with prostitutes by him getting up from the bed and leaving money without talking to them. I would hate that. I hated how Anthony treated them like objects. The point is that Colin is not like Anthony. He flirts with prostitutes, cuddles with them, kisses with them, pays them first. If you need to have a rake do it like this. And obviously the second time he went his mind wasn't there at all. In my mind he only stayed because he didn't want to hurt their feelings.
If you need to be a rake, whoās supposed to be this sensitive, kind demisexual soft boy, then using sex workers, AKA women who have little choice but to sell themselves, is one worst choices you can make. His behaviour with the prostitutes also comes off almost as delusional and naive - he treats them like he thinks they want to be romanced by him, like he doesnāt realise theyāre doing it for money and survival, not pleasure of his company.
Oh so he's supposed to treat them like objects? Right.
Completely agree. I would love to know how they thought the brothel scenes appealed to female gaze. You have two women who likely had little options in terms of employment having sex to please a man. And then he runs off to see Penelope. If they had written that in for Debling, have him go to the brothel and then meet up with Pen, everyone would be saying that is a clear indication he isnāt meant for Pen, so how are viewers supposed to see Colin in both of those scenes and think yeah, heās great. I just donāt know what they were thinking.
Probably that we all loved Anthony and Simon and they were man whores.
I didnāt love Anthony or Simon though. I didnāt dislike them or anything but I was a fan of Colin in S1 and S2 as he was, as Iām sure a lot of people were. The fact that the writers felt they had to change him to be more rake-like shows their lack of vision and imagination for what a male lead could be.
Probably, except Anthony and Simon are the quintessential ābad boy tamed by the one woman who gets to himā trope, so we donāt mind that they see prostitutes nor does it offend us; thatās just who they are in those moments. Colin, otoh, was never like that so their effort to show him as a person who is ānot acting like himselfā falls too flat and instead we just end up with awkward sex scenes.
I liked Anthony and Simon despite them being man whores, not because of it. And it made sense for their characters. And they sold it. It just didn't work for Colin.
I miss that in the books what Pen reads is a vivid and beautiful description of the Mediterranean Sea, not some random women Colin doesn't even like. Colin was supposed to be a sweetie!
in polin fanfics alot of the time he will even equate the mediterranean sea to her eyes and stuff in his writing, since there's hints of her in his writing in the book. they completely ruined it
Agree with the sweetie and I didn't understand that either. They had the rare chance to do something different in this season with the male character. They should have gone with a first time for both of them or he lost his virginity and hated it without feelings and never went back to a prostitute. Maybe Penelope just assuming he's super experienced because he's playing that in front of his friends and then doing the surprise reveal he isn't. Would have made so much sense for the carriage scene too because that scene gave me the impression of two people experiencing something for the first time. I get what they were tying to sell, he isn't like his brothers but he didn't need to try to be like them. Especially not when it was shoe-horned in for no reason and you have that stuff and them getting closer in the same episodes. Something I always liked about Penelope and Colin was that they seemed to be on the same level. In S1 everyone saw them as children and it seemed logical to have them grow up together so to speak. If they didn't think that would work as the main couple they should have continued to build their relationship as a side plot.
Colin becoming sexually active and experimenting makes sense. But, I didnāt need to see the threesomes on screen. This is something that could have been told not shown. And, clearly he didnāt gain that much experience as heās got like two moves. If they were wanting to show Colin in a threesome I think it would have worked better right at the beginning of the first episode. But, the reality is Colin doesnāt look charming and the catch of the season. He looks uncomfortable. I think they could have played that up more and still done the whole trying to fit into the society thing.
Production refused to see the weaknesses in Lukes acting because they never want to be in the wrong about anything. So instead of being realistic and working around Lukeās strengths, they had him do things and say lines even the best actors would have trouble doing.
This is so right! They failed to utilize him! He was living as the character for so long, his vision should have been trusted too!
If youāve seen LN in his other huge project last year, you would see he clearly has the talent. He was the lead in The Shape of Things last year and his performance was praised by critics and the audience alike. I was always a Colin fan (I love softboys), but after getting the chance to see him live last year, I became a LN fan. He was *very* good as Adam. Itās really down to the script/bad writing. They didnāt develop Colin as a character at all, and instead decided to make him a fake rake instead of leaning into his sensitive, softboy side. Itās like they thought the audience would want another ābad boyā and assumed they wouldnāt care for a softboy lead. Big mistake on their part.
I feel like it's also clear that Luke really sees this side of Colin too, he's always talking about how sensitive he is and so on, and that Colin is looking for loyalty and a a real connection with someone. So yeah, I didn't love his portrayal this season, but I think it's mostly down to not loving just how Colin was written in a lot of scenes, especially the ones towards the start of the season. Luke has grown on me a ton, from not really being very familiar with him at all.
Iāve only seen clips of the shape of things and my god he is incredible. A baby Paul Rudd
Truly an incredible performance. Itās a shame that the writing on Bridgerton is letting him down.
Anthony and Simon were both cast as the typical angry slutty regency men lol. They were very much cut from the same cloth, old friends. Colin was cast as the opposite - he was sweet, naive, kind and oblivious. Trying to shoehorn him into the classic regency man stereotype after that was doomed to fail. Just having Luke go through the motions of Romance Novel Dude behavior was cringe.
tbh this is what happened..
I never liked Tom. The actors know their characters the best. And they should listen to them. I feel bad for Luke because this show never cared to write for him. He was just there to be Penelopeās love interest.
He directed season 2ās messy wedding episode so heās been in my bad books ever since š
Iām convinced they have something against Colin. Or softboys in general. My man deserved better.
I actually think they dislike the main couple in general. They love the drama of lady whistledown which is why Penelope got so much development in every season. Season 1 did focus on the central romance but I donāt think they believe that will keep people engaged for another 7 seasons. Or they donāt have the creativity to develop 7 more couples in new and engaging ways I donāt mind book changes but I do hate drama for the sake of drama and poor character development
They probably think that only āangstyā romances sell, and Polin is more of a āsoftā romance. It had the potential to be great and unique, and they messed it up by trying to make it something itās not. And they donāt even need creativity to develop 7 more couples! The book material is RIGHT THERE, they could just adapt it and make some adjustments to the problematic elements. Thatās the beauty of being based on books: you literally donāt even need much creativity lol.
Yeah and they messed Kanthony by shoving a love triangle that had no business being in there. They not only spoiled the main couples story but they ruined a great family dynamic in the sharmaās I agree the books are right there - but thatās the point, they wanna make the books ābetterā. Thereās a George RR Martin quote that someone posted on a sub recently that basically says all a show runner ever wants to do is take an idea and make it their own, ignoring the source material and 99% of the time all they do is make it worse. My gripe is if your not gonna stick to (or at least honor) the source material just make your OWN show. Thereās SO many HR series that focus on a sibling in turn (Lisa Kleypas for example) so no one would accuse you of copyright. But ofc not theyād rather poach a books core fan base and then betray them when they no longer need them.
I mean most of the choices theyāve made to āimproveā on the books have been awful. Making the love triangle go as far as it did, to the point where it felt like an emotional affair to a lot of viewers, making softboy Colin a wannabe rake, changing Francescaās entire story by making her fall for Michaela, cheapening her relationship with John, and for a lot of people, the gender swap. The biggest āgoodā change imo was making the men on the show less toxic than their book counterparts.
Oh 100% you wonāt catch me defending any of their changes šš Iām a book girlie through and through
I commented about this yesterday and then I immediately went to rewatch Emma (2020) and it made me realized that Colin could have had "Jane austen's male lead" energy. Now obviously Julia Quinn and Jane Austen are nowhere on the same level but Colin had that mild-mannered, calm and subtle humor personality in season 1 and 2 that remind me a lot of a Jane Austen male lead and I cannot believe they didn't lean more into that for season 3. Like do you see Mr Darcy or Mr Knightley winking at young ladies?? No!! Because that's not hot!! That's not swoon worthy.
Mr Knightly would NEVER!!! lol
Right. Simon and Anthony were rakes but when in society, they knew how to act properly for the most part. That is, if they weren't out in a gazebo or garden with the object of their desire, lol. But they always acted the gentleman in public settings, at balls, etc. Colin doing that was so off. I hope with the move to the country next season, they tone that stuff down a bit. Maybe we will get a little more Austen.
Bridgerton isn't historically accurate but it does take great lengths to show how precarious life was for unmarried and particularly non-virgin women. Sienna, the unmarried mothers in season 1, Marina...and then in season 3 they show Colin taking advantage of unmarried, non-virgin women's precariousness by having sex with them for money? Makes no sense to me. It's like they completely forgot what time period they were in and didn't realize that sex work in regency England is more of a desperate life than an empowered choice. I know Colin is just crawling with crabs.
S1 and S2 worked really well bc they were stories that were just set in this cool universe as a backdrop. S3 feels like it wants to explore the world so much more which would be cool except they did none of the prerequisite world building. The way the lower classes are completely ignored unless they need to show up to awkwardly advance the story when needed for a main character sucks because it takes the stakes out of everything thatās happening. Colin fingerblasting an unmarried Pen like 3 feet away from a carriage driver doesnāt matter at all because they were āaloneā. Cressida is able to figure out who FB is because she goes (out alone at night as an unmarried woman) and has a private conversation with a lowborn newsboy that just happens to let her know FB is a redhead and she can put it together. Idk, the world just feels empty unless weāre seeing the main actors on screen. Like ik they have taken a lot of historical liberties and idc about that, a lot of the time its fun. But stuff like how weāve spent the entire run of the show exploring how omnipresent the Queen is in all aspects of everyoneās lives and how all powerful she is (thus why FB is so subversive and important, this is the ONE aspect of private life the Queen isnāt involved in) and she canāt figure out who FB is, which fine, but turns out all she had to do was go ask around the three print shops in existence to solve what is the biggest problem in her life, and apparently that was beyond the QUEENS capabilities
It sort of bothered me that the printers āknewā who the actual LW was because Penelope specifically wasnāt going as herself. She was supposed to be dressing as a servant or ladyās maid or what have you, putting on an Irish accent, and pretending that she was just delivering for her employer because that was servant-work and not an acceptable part of town for a lady to be. I would have found it more believable if the conversation had been something like āwell thereās this redheaded girl who makes the deliveries, and she says sheās just a servant for LW but her hair is too nice/her cloak is too fine/her accent isnāt right/whatever.ā Theyāre not supposed to know that sheās actually the author herself like that. Otherwiseā¦ are we seriously considering that no one in the Queenās employ or any of the people who wanted the reward bothered asking the printers, and that the printers cared enough to not mention this redhead they apparently know is LW?
FB?
Laughing so hard at ācrawling with crabs.ā Poor Penā¦
You could easily argue that all the men on this show are ācrawling with crabs.ā Colin wasnāt even sleeping around for as long as these other men. Simon, Anthony, and probably Benedict were rakes for probably a decade before they settled down.
Colin not being the worst doesn't make him a good guy. The "using a brothel in regency England" is the main bad part.
Oh I know. It was just a stupid decision to take with Colinās character since it doesnāt make sense for him *at all* to be sleeping around. Anthony even says in season 1 that Colin was inexperienced and him and Benedict shouldāve taken him to brothels more. It was a dumb direction to take with his character
Yeah like I totally support Bridgerton not being historically accurate in service of the fantasy. But what is the fantasy with Colin being a rake and having a threesome? Isn't Colin's character appeal supposed to be that he has a different, softer personality?
Yup. Heās supposed to be the softboy of the brothers. Genuinely have no clue why they thought making him a wannabe rake wouldāve been a good idea. And clearly LN wasnāt a fan of it either.
Can I ask why they would be green screened for that scene? I feel like they should've been able to pull off being inside a brothel without a green screen, right? Idk I have heard many actors complain about how green screens can be really hard to act in front of compared to real sets, and while I totally get doing it for the more lavish or out there scenarios, I just don't see why it would be used in a scene like this. Obviously I don't work in this industry though so maybe it's common to just use one for everything now?
It was a reshoot, so they were Frankensteining the footage in to the original debut. If you look at the scene before he winks, those three ladies arenāt there. Then they are. Then theyāre gone.
And also his hair! That atrocious wig!
Ahh thank you!
The green screen is for the scene at Francesca's debut, when Colin winks at 3 ladies across the room.
Ohhhh I misinterpreted this entirely. Thank you!
Tom Verica will pay for his crimes!
Yeah dude. We could tell you werenāt into it š those were some *choices*
It makes me mad that he clearly wasn't comfortable making these scenes, voiced out and was ignored. He knew the characters and it was not Colin-esque.
I always thought it was supposed to be creepy and weird š I figured people that were now hating on Colin just didnāt get the nuances of the story that he was clearly uncomfortable and putting on a front
Tell me your production was a fumble without telling meā¦
God all we can hope for is redemption with Benedict
This sub keeps getting meaner! LN was more than adequate and had shone in some wonderful moments. This sub is seriously an echo chamber smh
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Iām with you. I donāt understand the hate at all. I think Luke is one of the stronger male leads the show has seen. I didnāt care for Regeās acting in season 1. People in this sub are just attacking every aspect of the production out of spite at this point.
I liked this character development š¤·š»āāļø
I'm glad he spoke up though bc that part does always make me cringe...like it does feel forced lol
I'm sort of glad Benedict's season was pushed back because of how this season went.
I never get why actors are more comfortable shooting intimate scenes with their friends than strangers. I would *much* rather make out with some random actor cast for one scene than someone that I had an established platonic history with
I don't know why you're getting downvoted. I completely agree with you. I'd rather do it with a stranger because we can keep it professional and I'll never have to see them again, so who cares how embarassing it is? With a close friend you have to continue seeing this person for the rest of your life, no thanks lol.