Bridgerton Season 3, Pt. 1 with Devon Hamilton

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Susan and Whittney unpack the Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 drop with Devon Hamilton. 

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Episode Transcript

Susan (00:07):
Hello, and welcome to The Conversation with Susan and
Whitney, the podcast where twofriends from college discuss
shared interests, insights, andhow we're navigating our lives
today.

Whittney (00:16):
This is an ongoing conversation about how we're
surviving and thriving.
We discuss the important

Susan (00:22):
and the trivial

Whittney (00:22):
and other fun topics in between.

Susan (00:25):
I'm Susan Field, a writer and teacher in Philadelphia,

Whittney (00:27):
and I'm Whitney Gould, a writer and marketing director
in New Hampshire.

Susan (00:33):
Whitney, you're the kind of friend who introduced me to
the wonderful world ofBridgerton and you continue to
enlighten me on the parallelsbetween the book series and the
show.
So thank you for always being mysource material

Whittney (00:45):
Aw, Suze.
I'll always be your sourcematerial expert for things like
Bridgerton.
And, Suze, you're the kind offriend who always embraces the
things that I like, to the pointwhere you start to become a fan
of them yourself, so then wehave even more things to talk
about.
I've so many examples of this,and Bridgerton is just one of
them.
So, thank you for that, Suze.

Susan (01:08):
Yes, Whitney.
It's in some ways you've made mewho I am.
It's true.
You've introduced me to so manythings and thank you.
And on today's show, we aregoing to review the first four
episodes of the much anticipatedBridgerton season three, which
explores the love story of ColinBridgerton and Penelope
Featherington, otherwise knownaffectionately as Pollen.

Whittney (01:29):
And as an avid historical romance reader, I was
so excited for this season.
The two of you know I've alreadyread all of the Bridgerton
series back in 2020, but thisbook, Romancing Mr.
Bridgerton, was my favorite andI could not wait to see it
adapted on screen.

Susan (01:47):
Awesome.
Well, I can't wait to get intoit.
And we're also joined today byour special guest who's becoming
quite the regular around here.
My sister and resident literaryand film critic, Devin Hamilton.

Devon (01:59):
Thanks for having me back.
I've been really anxious to havea conversation with you looking
forward to it for the pastcouple of days since the season
dropped.

Whittney (02:08):
Yay, we're so excited to have you back, Dev.
We always love chatting with youabout these things.
So, girls, after watching thefirst four episodes let's do a
temperature check.
How are we feeling about thefirst four episodes of season
three of Bridgerton?

Susan (02:23):
All right.
So first impressions, everythingstands out to me, the way it's
presented.
Everything's vibrant.
It's very lush decadent.
Sometimes it does feelrepetitive with, Ball after ball
after ball.
However, what keeps me compelledis the character development.
And I've also really beenenjoying the continuation of
diversity and representation onthe screen.
For example, this season I'venoticed more Asian American and

(02:46):
Pacific Islander descent,actors.
And I've also noticed acharacter in the wheelchair in
episode two, which that was goodto see.
I don't think we've ever seen acharacter that a disability.
I've been enjoying the comedicrelief that some of the
characters provide, like theFeatherington sisters.
Is it the best piece oftelevision I've ever seen?

(03:07):
No, but is it a fun, steamy rompand the horse drawn carriage?
Absolutely.

Whittney (03:12):
I will always, I think, love the book best, but
this, so far I have really likedsome of the same things, Suze,
that you have said.
Including the character in thewheelchair.
Which was Lord Remington.
I, I really liked therepresentation there and, we can
talk about this maybe a littlebit later, but I think that

(03:33):
there are some neurodivergentcharacters in this season so
that was a, something that Ithought was a great
representation as well.
Dev, do you have other thoughts?

Devon (03:45):
I was very much looking forward to this.
because I enjoyed season one andseason two so much and so
expectations were high.
It took me a little while towarm up to the first episode.
I just felt like it was tryingto find its footing again after
being away for so long.
always wants to try to capturethat magic again than it did

(04:06):
with the first two seasons.
But I think it did settle inafter a while and it's left me
wanting more.
It seemed to be trying to take adifferent approach.
A lot more scenes seem to befilmed, out in the open air as
opposed to all being interiorshots.
It felt different than theprevious seasons.

(04:28):
And there seemed to be morehandheld camera work, which gave
it a little bit of a differentfeel.
But I definitely enjoyed it andlook forward to hearing more
opinions on the plot points thatunfolded us over these last
couple episodes.

Whittney (04:41):
I was thinking about this a little bit because Susan
and I were talking about thisearlier, but.
You know, the London season isliterally just all balls and
everyone in a certain echelon ofsociety, just gathering in, in
certain places.
But it was nice that they didkind of try to mix up the
settings a little bit thisseason.
in future books, a lot of theplot doesn't take place at all

(05:04):
in London or around othersocieties.
So I'm interested to see whatthey do with those seasons
coming up.
If it's cool, I thought maybe Icould give you some major
differences between Colin andPenelope's history in the books
and their relationship on theshow, because I think it could
make a huge difference as we'retrying to understand their

(05:26):
story, because I feel like thisis just a shallow dip into their
story.
Whereas, in the books, it's abit more of a history, if you
will.

Susan (05:38):
love to hear that actually, because I love that
you can add another layer to theconversation that we can't
because we have not read thesource material.
So I'm very excited for you totell us about the backstory with
Colin and Penelope, and I'mreally interested to hear how
that differs from on screen.

Devon (05:55):
I definitely agree that the whole series, especially
this season, seems a verysurface level dip into Colin and
Penelope's story, but also justthe stories of all the family
members.
I'm just curious about whatwe're missing and why there
isn't more in the screenadaptation that there must be in

(06:16):
the books in order for there tobe a full fledged novel.

Whittney (06:18):
So, Colin and Penelope actually met each other before
she knew any of the otherBridgertons and she was 16 at
the time.
And, they had kind of a meetcute and he references it in
season three, episode two, whenthey're at the market and
they're talking about theirlessons.
But if you haven't read thebooks, it wouldn't trigger for
you as like, Oh, they're talkingabout their first meeting.

(06:41):
So, they're both in the park andhe is riding on horseback.
He's like racing his friend onhorseback through the park.
And she's wearing this likebright yellow bonnet.
And she hates it because her mompicked it out.
Cause her mom makes her wear allthese like citrus fruit colors.
And she kind of has like a smallact of rebellion where she
doesn't tie it as tight as she'ssupposed to and it's windy and

(07:02):
so her bright yellow bonnetflies off her head and it hits
him in the face as he's racinghis friend on horseback so he
like falls off his horse into abig mud puddle and like, of
course her family is mortifiedand she runs over, but that's,
that's the first time she meetsColin is she's like.
Oh my gosh, my hat flew intoyour face, caused you to crash

(07:25):
your horse basically, and you'recovered in mud now, and that's
when she like, has this momentwhere she's like, oh my gosh,
you know, Colin Bridgerton.
So she meets Colin before sheeven meets Eloise.
She meets Eloise as a result ofthat interaction, and her family
apologizing to Colin's familyfor what happened.

(07:45):
So that was when she was 16 inthe books.
He was 21.
She was 16.
They're five years apart in the,uh, the book about their story.
She's 28 and he's 33.
So this is.
How many years later, right?
Like this is, this is not likethree seasons.
She's been on the, she's been, Ithink she was out either when

(08:10):
she was 16 or no, when she was16, they presented her when she
was 16, the first season.
So she's been out on themarriage Mart that many years.
So it's not just three seasons.
Like she's literally on theshelf basically.
And she's known him for thatentire period of time.
And, um, so that was, that was aone thing that I think is
important here.

(08:30):
Secondly, um, so the commentthat he hears her make at her
mama's ball about not wanting tocourt her actually happened in
front of her in the books.
Um, she's coming around thecorner and it's Anthony Benedict
and Colin talking.
And he makes the comment and shebasically confronts him and

(08:51):
says, I heard what you said andit's not a big deal.
Like, why are you apologizing?
Like, she's trying to play itoff like it doesn't hurt her.
And then when Anthony walks heraround the corner to her house,
cause he feels terrible that sheheard Colin say that, um, she
suggests that he travel.
Maybe he needs to go traveling.
And, um, When he travels, youknow, he writes letters to

(09:15):
people and she's one of the onlypeople who always writes him
back when he travels.
Like, his own family stopsresponding to his, like, travel
correspondence.
And so for years they're, like,letter writing friends, right?
Which I think is kind of a bigdeal.
And then there's also one otherpiece that I think should not
go, like, Um, not talked about.

(09:38):
Every single ball he goes to,and she's there, he dances with
her.
Because Violet has alwaysexpressed to him the importance
of Penelope and other girls likePenelope, like having some
money, like, offered to dancewith them at balls.
And so he does this for like,ten plus years.
He dances with her at least onceevery ball.

(10:00):
So I think that, like, Stufflike that makes it a little bit
easier to understand how theycould be in this position.

Susan (10:11):
Yes, Whitney.
Thank you for that thoroughbackstory.
That really does help.
I think and I spoke earlierabout how you really can get to
know someone throughcorrespondence in a deeper way.
Um, and it may be anonjudgmental way to, um, you
get to learn different aspectsabout somebody so I could see
where they, you Could haveformed a deep relationship that
way.

(10:31):
especially when you'retraveling, you sort of cling to
those lifelines of your homelife.
So maybe, you know, she becamesort of an important touchstone
for him.
Uh, you know, haven't read thebooks, but I could imagine where
that could develop.
and so I thought that wasinteresting too, how in the book
she confronted Colin, whereashere, it sounds like so much
time has gone by since.
overhearing that comment.

(10:53):
Um, and we've yet to see thatbeing confronted.
It's going to happen, but notwhen the season starts.

Whittney (11:00):
Yeah, it is, it makes a huge difference that she holds
this to the beginning of theseason rather than just like
addressing it on the spot likeshe did in the books.

Susan (11:10):
Yeah, absolutely.
Wouldn't that have been thenbasically a whole year since
she's heard Colin say thesecomments?
It definitely sets up for thistension between the two
characters we start out.
In the first episode.
So to fill everybody in on whathappened here in episode one,
it's called out of the shadows.
The setup is that a newdebutante season is beginning.

(11:32):
The latest society pages fromlady whistle down are
circulating, introducing thelatest debutante prospects.
Um, the scene then cuts to theBridgerton house.
where the family is anxiouslywaiting outside Francesca's
bedroom door.
They've been waiting there likeall morning.
Turns out she's not even in theroom.
She had gotten up early and, youknow, was already going about

(11:54):
her day.
And she was playing the piano,Mozart's Funeral March.
So if that's any indicationabout how she feels about it
being presented to society.
And then we're also presentedwith Colin just returning from
another trip abroad.
In my opinion, he's lookingfine.
had this major Ralph Laurenmodel glow up.

(12:14):
Uh, what did you guys thinkabout the way Colin looked?

Whittney (12:19):
He's much more

Devon (12:20):
Yes, he's more tan, he's more chiseled, it's the male
transformation that isdefinitely the most noticeable
in the beginning before we getthe female makeover that we
always get in traditionalromances.
I've seen online, people arereferring to him as a dashing
pirate he's trying to capturehis older brother, Antony's

(12:42):
brooding look.
And, those dark eyes and he'strying to embrace this man of
confidence and this worldtraveler.
And he's pulling it off prettywell.
You can tell he's not completelycomfortable with this new
person, and he's really tryingto himself as, an evolved,
mature debonair Colin.

Susan (13:03):
with that, all the girls are fawning over him, except
Penelope, who's still upsetabout the mean things that were
said about her during the lastwe're also presented with
Penelope and Eloise are still onthe outs.
This is really being set up asPenelope is such an outcast.
She's so undesirable.
According to everyone aroundher, it seems even her own
mother.
Think she has no prospects.

(13:24):
So I actually felt reallyuncomfortable watching this.
I felt bad for her because tome, I see that, you know, she's
quite lovely.
She's one of the mostmultifaceted characters,
definitely the most real whoisn't afraid to show who she is.
I don't understand what I lookat her and see who she is.
I don't understand why she wouldbe such an undesirable outcast.

(13:46):
So I don't know if Whitney, youhave some more light to shed on
that.

Whittney (13:50):
In the books, whenever she comes out in her first
season, she, there, there islike a weight storyline that
they have, thankfully notportrayed on the show where she,
loses weight after her firstseason.
And then Is hopeful that thatwill change.
but I do think her mother'sinsistence on dressing her in
what she calls happy colors,which are basically yellows and

(14:11):
like bright oranges and brightgreens that are like, not really
flattering on anyone.
because, Portia says happycolors, make you look like a
happy girl.
And that will help you find ahusband.
That's kind of her, thoughtprocess on that.
So I think in general, Penelopehas been forced to wear a lot of
really garish clothing and thatpotentially is not allowing her

(14:36):
to shine like visually, youknow, when she's going to these
events, she's dressed prettyhorribly, against her will.
So I think that that's, that's apiece of it, right?
that she has no control overthat and that her mother is
doing her zero favors.
And, her, the best features ofher, I think are her intellect

(14:57):
and her wit and her humor andobviously her writing, but her
writing, is not known to be herwriting publicly.
So it's not like that's helpingher gain any friends or,
influence.
I mean, it is, but people don'tassociate it with her.

Devon (15:14):
They seem to be emphasizing the fact that she
seems to be one of the only fewwomen that has any type of
intellectual pursuits orintellectual interests, and
because she reads and she likesto have privacy and personal
time, those are all supposed tobe weaknesses.
It's hard for us to understandbecause those are the things.

(15:34):
That make her interesting, thatshe's above all this vapid.
Chatter and mindless nonactivity that everyone else
seems to be involved in.
I think that makes her the mostappealing.

Whittney (15:44):
What society valued in this time period is far, removed
from what we value now.
And I think that that's a hugepiece of it.
That's why Julia Quinn couldwrite characters like Penelope
and even Eloise, right?
And have them be standoutcharacters because they don't
blend in with society in thoseways.

Susan (16:04):
That's very true.
It was just a different time.
And in response to all thenegativity surrounding her,
Penelope decides she's like, no,I'm going to get a makeover.
has sort of this Parisian stylemakeover, a new color palette, a
more mature, modern hairstyle.
And I have to say that when Isaw her standing at the top of
the stairs and that Emeralddress at the ball, she looks
stunning.
And I literally gasped.

(16:25):
I was like, Oh, She's likePenelope.
She just looks so amazing.
what did you think?

Whittney (16:31):
Yeah, in the books, whenever she's bemoaning the
citrus fruit color she has towear and there's a comment she
makes about like havingrequested green in the past and
been denied or like a flatteringshade of green.
So, in general, when she iswearing green this season, it
makes me think of that in thebooks when she's basically

(16:52):
begging for greens and then shegave herself every shade of
green, but what a green to startwith, right?

Devon (16:58):
The actress, Coughlin, has such a glow about her.
I think she's one of the mostvisually stunning and
interesting people to look at onthe screen.
And she conveys a lot with hereyes.
She conveys a lot of sensitivitywith her face and I love her.
And I, love the fact that she'sbeen able to shine with this
makeover and just her lovelyhair and her beautiful skin.

(17:21):
And these colors really docompliment her.
And I think the costumedepartment should be applauded.
They really brought out someterrific designs this season.
I've really enjoyed that aspectof it.

Whittney (17:32):
Yeah, Susie, you and I were even talking about not just
Penelope's, Parisian makeover,but even, like, Cressida's
styling this season has justbeen, you know, it's been great
all the other seasons, but, thisseason, the bar has been even
raised, I think, on, on previousseasons about how they're
styling certain folks on theshow.

Susan (17:51):
outfits were so visually appealing a couple of times.
I was literally like, I need topause this to look at her hair.
And the one time she had theseballoon sleeves, Cresta looked,
intriguing.
And I even noticed that, Eloiseis wearing some ruffles this
season as well.

Devon (18:06):
They've added the hair ribbons for Eloise and she's
trying to make a little bit moreeffort with her appearance and I
agree.
Cressida's costumes alone couldwarrant her own episode,
analyzing those.
I was reading something todaythat was saying the costume
designers really wanted to getinto her character a little bit
more and give her some moredevelopment and show that she's

(18:28):
like this caged bird.
So like she has a lot of thesefeathers and this elaborate hair
and she's sort of someone thatneeds to be released, that she's
feeling more and more trappedeach season.
And the costume designers aregoing all in on as much
symbolism as they can in thewardrobe with their color
choices the hairstyles, theribbons, the accessories,

(18:49):
they're trying to tell the storyin a visual mode as opposed to
giving them more extensivedialogue.

Whittney (18:55):
I even the Some of the Bridgerton girls, their, gowns,
I'm like, I, if that were in thestore, I would totally want to
wear that.
some of the fashions, eventhough they're period fashions
have been very appealing andbeautiful to me, even in this
modern day sense.
I was telling Suze earlierabout, Claudia Jesse, who plays

(19:15):
Eloise was on Stephen Colbertand she was telling them about I
think she had hurt her arm orsomething and she had a cast.
so they had to do a summer muff

Devon (19:26):
I

Whittney (19:27):
they,

Devon (19:27):
this.

Whittney (19:27):
and then,

Devon (19:28):
hilarious telling about this.
She was cracking Stephen Colbertup.
She had so much personality.
That was just the best story.

Susan (19:35):
And Whitney, after you told me that when I was
rewatching some of the episodesthis afternoon, I noticed when
she had her In that muff, and Ihad to laugh because I'm like,
Oh, that's the, that's the castinside

Devon (19:45):
The summer muff.
It was so perfect.
And I don't think it would havebeen brought to my attention if
I hadn't caught that interviewbecause they always have all
these crazy accessories.
You don't really blink anymorewhen you see something a little
off, but that was a reallycreative way to cover her,

Whittney (20:02):
that was So they even created just like, new fashions,
right?
So at the ball, Penelopeunsuccessfully tries to talk to
men, and then Cressida steps onthe back of her gorgeous emerald
gown and rips it.
Then Penelope rushes home andwrites a scathing Lady
Whistledown column in which sheaccuses Colin of having an

(20:25):
attention seeking identitycrisis, right?
But then the next day he comesover to make amends and offers
to help her find a husband, butshe can't take back what she's
written in Whistledown.

Susan (20:37):
Right.
So now we're at the end ofepisode one here, Colin reads
the latest society pages.
He's not so bothered aboutwhat's said about him, but after
what Lady Whistledown did, Didin previous seasons, how she
nearly ruined Marina and thenEloise last season, he declares
he will never forgive her.
Eloise asked him, do you haveany idea who she might be?
And he says, no, but trust me,if I ever find out, I will make

(21:00):
sure her life is ruined.

Devon (21:02):
dun, dun.
They're trying so hard raise thestakes.

Susan (21:07):
Yes, the stage has now been set for this parallel
storyline of the potential loveinterest that we know is going
to blossom between these two,but also underneath that
potential their enemies,basically, he just said he was
going to destroy her not knowingit's Penelope.
I thought that was a pretty goodending for episode one.
And then we're into episode twoalready.

Whittney (21:27):
Yeah, so in episode two, How Bright the Moon, we see
Colin giving Penelope flirtinglessons.
Which I will say was not of thebook, but plot of the show.
So let's talk about it.
Yeah,

Susan (21:39):
have that in the book?

Whittney (21:41):
no,

Susan (21:42):
Ah, so interesting, because when, uh, they started
these flirting lessons, itreminded me so much of season
one, where Simon was helpingDaphne, or they were helping
each other really, but you know,they like create this agreement
and that's kind of what thisreminded me of.
And I was like, Oh, that's atypical, trope here for them to
fall in love while helping eachother.

(22:02):
But, I will say, I enjoyedColin's, suggestions.
He said, in his travels, he'slearned that you can teach
charm.
You can teach charm.
And, he also just encouraged herto be herself.
He said, men are quite simplebeings.
And I feel like a truer wordshave never been,

Whittney (22:20):
right?
I mean, come on, but this timeit was said by a man, right?
So,

Susan (22:27):
That's right.
Yes.
Very

Devon (22:29):
Especially the male beings presented in this show.

Whittney (22:33):
right?

Devon (22:34):
into that category.

Susan (22:35):
right.
Like the Featherington husbands,which we will, well, their,
their last name is notFeatherington, but the husbands
of the Featherington sisters.
And we will touch on that forsure.

Whittney (22:44):
What we see next is a funny scene at the Featherington
house with Portia talking withher daughters about what is
necessary to conceive an heir.
So, Dev, do you want to tell ushow you felt about these?
Cause, uh, I think you likedsome of these scenes.

Devon (22:59):
The writers, know that they've got four people with
comedic gold between the sisterson their faces and the two men
who seem be head over heels inlove for these women and
clueless in their own way.
They are amazing and thesecharacters are so underutilized.
They barely get more than a lineor two.
They slay those lines.

(23:21):
I really think they should leanin on these characters.
There's such a strong asset andthere's a nice change from the
other melodrama going on.
And I'd like to see more of allfour of them.

Susan (23:33):
Oh my gosh, they were hilarious.
And the scene, the scene inparticular where Portia was
talking to her daughters aboutthe importance of conceiving an
heir.
she said, have you been engagingin the, uh, necessary activities
and both the sisters are like,what activities?
And the one's like, well, I wasat the market this morning or
whatever.
I don't understand what she'stalking about, Prudence admits

(23:55):
she's been with her husband onceon their wedding night, but
hasn't since because laying onher back flattens her hair.
Then the scene goes right intoColin in bed with two
prostitutes at the brothel.
And I thought this contrast wasreally fascinating between, um,
The difference in sex educationbetween the male and the females
in this time period, like thewomen are completely clueless,

(24:16):
including Daphne in season one,who I remember had to ask, I
think her housemaid to fill herin on how babies are conceived.
Whereas here we see Colin,obviously very experienced with
not only one, but two women atonce.
Whitney, I thought maybe youcould enlighten us a little bit
on Why was this the norm for theday?
Why is it acceptable thatColin's in the brothel with two

(24:37):
women right now and the womenknow nothing?

Whittney (24:41):
Well, it kind of boils down to at this time, men had
the choice and the freedom andwomen did not.
So like, especially marriageablewomen were supposed to be, very
chaste, very virginal, very,inexperienced because their
husbands were to take the leadin that department.
And so, obviously, we see,Philippa and Mr.

(25:03):
Finch, and I can't remember thename of the person that,
Prudence married in this, see,this show, because, fun fact, in
the book, she marries NigelBurbrook, and that would not
have the same effect as, thecomedic, you know, and I'll
Silly, husband she has in theshow, but, there would be no
heirs conceived, right.
If somebody didn't understandwhat was happening.

(25:25):
So it was very common for,especially like, you know, well
to do gentlemen to frequentbrothels.
And it served the purpose of,they had money to spend, right.
And they had the freedom to dothese things and society would
not look down upon them.
But then also the, on the otherside, it was an education in how
to produce an heir basically,right?

(25:46):
Because the Featheringtonhusbands, as we're going to call
them, I guess, uh, don't knowwhat they're doing in that
department, right?
So that's what happens if youdon't have some sort of
education on that side back inthis time period.

Devon (26:03):
And I agree with you, Susan.
This is very much a mirroring ofwhat we see in the first season.
With Colin being with the twowomen and, Penelope being
guarded, but also in the firstseason, Daphne, was clueless,
she's trying to hint to her momthat she needs some guidance,
and the mother's sort of justlike, oh, you'll see.

(26:23):
Find out on your wedding night.
And meanwhile, her brother Antonis visiting his mistress, for
rigorous practice sessions everyday.
It was definitely calling backto that first season and in the
same boat.
The girls are clueless, the menare promiscuous, and, it's quite
a disparity between the two andtheir experiences.
And I would imagine that sets upfor some awkwardness.

(26:46):
on their wedding nights.

Susan (26:49):
Well, as the episode continues, the flirting lessons
that Colin is giving Penncontinue.
I feel like their fire startingto kindle a little bit when
Colin and Penelope are roleplaying at the Bridgerton
household.
he said pretend I'm at a balland you're coming up to flirt
with me.
And she says something to himand he's kind of like
dumbfounded.
Damn, that's pretty good, andthen at another point right

(27:11):
after that, Colin, he leavesPenelope alone for a couple
minutes in his study and shestarts to read his diary in
which he's really going intodetail about, the women he
encountered on his travels.
he comes in and they argue aboutwhy she was reading his diary.
He knocks over a lamp and cutshis hand and they're on the
ground.
She's caressing his hand, tryingto bandage it.

(27:32):
And you can just feel theelectricity between them.
It's this palpable surge.
and then, right after that, wealso get another hilarious scene
between Portia and her sexuallyclueless daughters.
Portia actually has to explainto Philip, uh, how the anatomy
works and no, her husband'sbreaches should not remain on.

Whittney (27:50):
That was a really funny scene.

Devon (27:53):
Featherington really gets some of the best lines in the
whole show and that actress isfabulous.
really love her and I hope weget to see something a little
more interesting in terms of hermaterial that she can do
something other than roll hereyes at Penelope and sigh about
secret money issues that she'salways hiding.
I really would like to see.
different for her, and I wouldsay I would like to see

(28:16):
something different for all thecharacters, really.
There's a lot of repetition, I'dlike the writers to push these
characters a little more.
They're being paid to write goodstories.
Let's give us a little bit moredepth on screen.
The actors can handle it.
You clearly have a fantasticcast.
Give them something to do.
That's one of my majorcomplaints with the show.
I enjoy it, it's fluffy, it'slight, but I want them to just

(28:38):
do something.
Give me more.

Susan (28:40):
Portia had a bit more of a storyline with teeth in season
two with the cousin that wastrying to swindle them out of
money.
I'm a little fuzzy on thedetails because it's been two
years since I've seen it, but Ifeel like there was a little bit
more of a juicy storyline givento her there.
but you're right.
She is fantastic.
And I would love to see morefrom her than just, um, Telling

(29:01):
Penelope that she's pathetic orteaching her daughters how to,
be with their husbands.

Devon (29:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
I agree.
She had a little bit more of astoryline in season two and that
shows us how capable she is andhow entertaining that can be.
So when they give herpractically nothing to do, that
much more noticeable because weknow what she can do when she
has a little bit of a heftierstoryline.

Whittney (29:22):
Unfortunately, the source material, she's pretty
much the domineering mother inall of the books.
So they're fleshing her out abit more than Julia Quinn did.
Obviously in the book series,there is a deep dive on two
characters in each book, right?
And so the minor charactersdon't get as flushed out.

(29:43):
I think what the Raiders havedone with Cressida this season
in particular is like way deeperthan Julia Quinn got with her
because she is basically just amean girl throughout the series.
She has no other role.
She does play a, a role inPenelope's story that I had
forgotten about until I wastalking to Suze this morning
and, I'll get into that a littlebit later, but, um, yeah, some

(30:08):
of the, the minor characters aremuch more one dimensional just
because their story isn'texplored, right?
This, the focus of the book is aromance between two people who
aren't Portia Featherington, or,you know, Cressida.

Susan (30:23):
Two comments here.
One, um, the actress who playsPortia, her name is Polly, Polly
Walker.
Um, She's wonderful.
So just wanted to shout out herreal name.
and second, I, I really likedthe way that Cressida has been
utilized this season.
I didn't think I was going tolike her, especially after the
first episode where she rippedPenelope's dress.
That was just ruthless.
But I think since then we'veseen a little more depth to her.

(30:45):
And, um, course, they have tohave her in there as a friend
for Eloise, since the way theshow's written, Eloise and
Penelope are on the outs, so,you know, Eloise needs a friend,
I guess.
But I have liked the way they'vedeveloped Cressida.
And again, we'll kind of getinto that more as she appears in
the plot points.

Whittney (31:03):
Yeah.
So, in the, back in the season,uh, eventually word gets out
that Penelope has enlistedColin, who is one of the
season's most eligiblebachelors, to help her find a
husband.
Her mother scolds her for eventhinking she ever had a chance
at marriage.
Stating, single life is not sobad.
This is a recurring theme, forPortia in the book, too.

(31:24):
Where she's always trying totell her, like,, Single life is
not so bad.
And Portia is actually startingto, picture a future where
Penelope will be the spinsterwho takes care of her in her old
age.
So, Later Penelope staresdejectedly out the window
through nightfall, when suddenlyColin, looking dashing in the
moonlight, shows up to see her,and this was a huge surprise,

(31:46):
right?
And one of my favorite quoteswas when Lady Whistledown's
narrator, Julie Andrews, theamazing Julie Andrews, Dame
Julie Andrews, says, And oncehope is lost, a lady may become
reckless.
Because, I feel like that's thetheme of this season.
Once hope is lost, the ladybecomes reckless, right?

Susan (32:07):
Segue into Penelope asking Colin to kiss her.
She's desperate in case she diestomorrow and she's never been
kissed.
there's been two seasonsbuilding up to this moment.
this is when I crack the windowsopen in my apartment
anticipation of what was tocome.
So they have their kiss.
what did you all think of that?

Devon (32:26):
It was a great kiss.
They were really trying to ampup the drama and give it a
little bit of a dreamy qualityAnd I do think it worked.
It was effective.
These two characters are notKate and Antony.
They are not Daphne and theDuke.
So I have to keep in mind thatthey're their own individual
characters with differentpersonalities and that they are.

(32:46):
They're going to have differentlevels of sultriness to them.
But I think it was a great kissand it did get me excited to see
something going between them.
They took some time to sort offind their footing.
And it was very meaningful andit was effective and it helped
wet the palate for more to come.

Susan (33:05):
you crack your windows?

Devon (33:07):
The were, were not cracked.
Not much got me going until weget to the last episode where
you finally feel some heat.
I felt like the steam factor onthe first couple episodes here
was very restrained It was alittle awkward.
They were really trying to pushit, but it just wasn't it for
me.
But, this, this first kiss was aspecial moment and then the

(33:28):
follow up dream that we getafterwards is even more
effective.
The train is starting to getsteaming down the track, but
it's not quite at the level ofthe first two seasons yet for
me, but I have high hopes.

Whittney (33:39):
It's definitely a slower pace that they're kind of
tiptoeing into this, but the, Ithought the kiss was sweet and,
as Dev has already referenced,the next part, I thought that
was a refreshing, a way to showthat, Colin's still thinking
about it, right?
He, it's not just the girlwaking up, you know?
About it the next day.

Devon (34:01):
That was a good twist.

Whittney (34:03):
So, as we're referencing, episode three,
forces of nature starts withColin kissing Penn up against
the doorway.
And it's this very steamy scene.
And he's saying things like, Icouldn't stop thinking about you
since our kiss.
And she's like, neither could I,you've occupied all my thoughts.
And then suddenly he wakes upwith a start in his bed to learn
that it had all been a dream.

Susan (34:25):
And as Colin himself said, men are simple beings.
Once he's had this little tasteof Penelope and what their love
could be like, he can't composehimself.
And I love the next scene wherehe was at breakfast with the
family and he was all hot andbothered.
He was so distracted and likefumbling his words, fumbling
with his morning tea.
And his brother's like, what'sup with you?
And I thought that was, it wasreally effective and funny.

Whittney (34:47):
Especially because one side of his, collar was sticking
up still and noticed yet.

Susan (34:52):
I didn't notice that, but Whitney has now watched three
times, so I can understand whyyou four times.
I can understand

Whittney (34:58):
Yeah.

Devon (34:58):
when?
It just came out on

Susan (35:01):
of a Whitney

Whittney (35:01):
I mean, I multitasked through two of the watches,
also, my house is very openconcept, so I can be in any of
my main room areas, and I canstill, see and hear my TV if I
want to, which good and bad.
It was good in this instance,because I could watch Bridgerton
on repeat, basically.

(35:22):
So, also in this episode, we getto see more of the character of
Lord Debling, a naturalist andvegetarian who Penelope had
previously met at a ball.
There's a bit of a love triangleforming between Debling,
Penelope, and Cressida, who ishot on his trail.
so, Lord Debling is interestingbecause, I think he's a very

(35:43):
Deep and, and I would saypeculiar in a great way
character because I think that'show he describes himself later
in the episode to Penelope.
but he is not in the book.
So this is all what we see onscreen is all I, all I know
about him.
So I know about him just as muchas you do at this point.
But what do we think?

(36:03):
What do we think about Debling?

Susan (36:05):
So, I really liked him, because he seemed very genuine.
Also, I like that he also hasinterests.
We were talking about no one hasanything to do, it seems.
And he goes on these natureexpeditions.
they don't really go toospecifically into what he does.
There's just a lot of generaltalk about his trips and, you
know, I think he's trying toprotect, uh, What the great arc

(36:26):
from becoming extinct orsomething that, seems
interesting.
And he's genuine in hisconversations with Penelope.
He seems to really see her andappreciate her for who she is.
and I, I have to say, I enjoyedthe scene at the Hawkins
balloon.
Festival in which Cressida hadbeen reading up about the Great
Auk to try to make small talkwith him.

(36:46):
And Penelope was trying to chimein and all she came up with was,
I like birds and I like grass.
Thought that was a reallyhumorous scene.

Whittney (36:55):
Yeah, I Like Grass will go down as of the, one of
the, uh,

Susan (37:01):
And don't overlook the sparrow!

Devon (37:04):
I think visually they're trying to make this contrast
between him and Colin.
Colin's got this thick head ofdark hair and these dark eyes
and thick eyebrows and thischiseled tan jaw line.
And then Lord Dublin is veryblonde.
He's got this very bright,blonde hair, his face and his
hair sort of all in together.

(37:24):
They've, they've created thiscontrast of.
What does Penelope like?
Does she, is she going to go forthe blonde or is she going to go
for the brunette?
He's an interesting guy and I dolike the fact, Susan, as you
said, that he seems to be one ofthe very few men who has any
type of passion in his life, anytype of hobby or interest in
something other than this socialscene.

(37:45):
So that was definitely a breathof fresh air.

Susan (37:49):
So at this Hawkins Balloon Festival, we have a
conversation between theMondridge's their story arc has
been unfolding since episodeone.
they received news that Mrs.
Mondridge's aunt has passedaway, leaving an estate and a
title to their oldest son.
And so what we've been seeing inthe last few episodes have been
this family transitioning fromtheir working class life to

(38:11):
higher society, with mixedsuccess, right?
Mr.
Mondridge, who runs the bar, theclub, the gentlemen's club, Mrs.
Mondridge's.
Mrs.
Doing that.
He misses his work and Mrs.
Mondridge said, actually withall these balls, she misses
being at home.
so I thought it was reallyinteresting to see their
transition to higher society.

(38:32):
have that include them feelingthis kind of loss of
satisfaction that came with thelife that they had built for
themselves through their hardwork and the pursuit of their
own interests, you know, workinghard to achieve something versus
living in this pretentious worldwhere there isn't much to do.,
What's personally gratifyingabout high society.
You're not really doinganything.

(38:54):
Right.
So I can imagine it, maybe itfeels empty and unfulfilling.
And I thought that they were,interesting characters to
explore.

Devon (39:03):
Yes, I'm interested to hear from you, Whitney.
Do they develop these charactersmore in the book or is this a
creation of the show?

Whittney (39:09):
They don't exist in the novels.
This is entirely a show createdcouple and family.

Devon (39:15):
Interesting.
Okay.
I was wondering about that.

Susan (39:19):
them.
I like both of them.
I feel like they, they addsomething.
And again, I guess they reallydon't have too much of a role,
just the whole conversation ofthem making the transition to
higher society and the contrastbetween that is an interesting,
portrayal.

Whittney (39:35):
yeah,

Devon (39:36):
They give us something different to look at.
Just different faces on screen.
They're very likable.
They're very attractive.
They've got a great way aboutthem as a couple.
I wish they would give them morescreen time and develop their
story more.
Shonda Rhimes is known forhaving great writers on her
shows and that's just somethingthat's not being utilized

(39:58):
Bridgerton.
I want some more characterdevelopment.
I want them to get a little bitmore creative with how they show
depth with their characters.
We have 54 minutes of eachepisode.
Give us something to latch onto.
it feels a little repetitive.
It feels very shallow.
I want the writers to stretchtheir wings and give us
something more.

Susan (40:17):
There's so many characters.
That's probably one of thechallenges of an ensemble cast.
It's almost like, how can you gosuper deep with?

Whittney (40:26):
yeah.

Susan (40:26):
them.
So I mean, maybe they need toalmost pare down the cast a bit.
Um, I think they do a good jobwith trying to manage all the
characters that they do andwe're getting enough to make it
compelling.
I know what you're saying aboutmaybe making it a little deeper,
but I'm almost wondering, like,maybe is it just truthful to the
way the time was like, maybethere really just isn't more to
do.

(40:47):
There's gotta be more of abackstory, I guess,

Whittney (40:49):
I mean, the, the lives of people in high society during
this day was very cyclical,right?
the spring, you came to Londonfor the season, you tried to
marry off your eligible familymembers, and then, like, it's,
you know, summer, from summerto, like, through winter, you
went to your country estate, andyou did even less out there, and

(41:10):
you had fewer people to interactwith unless somebody literally
came to stay at your house,right?
I think the reason maybe we'regetting so many characters in
the beginning of this season isthat as we, as each of the
Bridgertons have their lovestory, well, they'll kind of
fade into the background.
So I'm wondering if theMondridges are going to have a
bigger storyline in the future,because I think there's a lot of

(41:33):
interesting things they could dohere.
And, uh, one of them that I wastelling Suze about is like, What
if the crown made a mistake?
What if Mr.
Dundas made a mistake?
And there is actually a maleheir that was overlooked, but,
that one of her cousins had, andthey lose all of this, right?
What if they give up the cluband everything they've worked

(41:53):
for, and then they have nothing.
And then Will Mondrich is like,I should have kept the business,
right?
Cause I think we're leaningtowards, Mrs.
Mondrich is trying to convincehim to like give up.
The club, right?
Because all the lords are, like,taking their memberships away,
and the queen will not lookfavorably on a working man and

(42:14):
high society and, you know, allof these cues, but, like, what
if it were gone tomorrow?
They're not in a position wherethis can't be taken back from
them, because if this was, ifthe crown decides that this was
given to them, unnecessarily,they will give it to whoever
deserves it, right?
And then they'll be back wherethey started, potentially

(42:35):
without the business that theyhad, built up, right?
I wonder what, I wonder what isin store for them, and I wonder
if that will be one of theLondon season storylines that is
happening when some of the otherBridgerton stories take place
elsewhere, because a lot of themaren't set in London during the
season, so.

Susan (42:55):
Point, Whitney.
I think you're right that maybethey're being set up for
something more, but also we haveto remember there's only been
four episodes of this seasondropped so far.
So there's still four more inwhich more things can be
developed.
So maybe, it's still kind ofpremature in their story to see
where it's going to go or foranybody at this point, we still
have four more episodes.
So let's see what happens.

(43:17):
But speaking of other storylinesand expanding the cast, once
again, I feel like there's justbeen like this, onslaught of new
characters this season.
Um, in this episode at thequeen's ball, we meet lady
Danbury's brother.
We didn't even know she had abrother.
Lord Marcus Anderson, whoappears to be positioned as a
potential love interest forViolet, she drops her glove and

(43:40):
he picks it up for her, and theyhave this conversation at the
ball, and I feel like they havechemistry.
your thoughts on this potential?
I don't know, love match orsomething between them,

Devon (43:50):
Marcus Anderson seems like a lovely man.
He has a strong visual presence.
He's definitely a good lookingguy.
He talks about his children andthe empty nest and the happy
life that he had with his wifeafter they settled into their
non love match and then it grewinto something more and he seems
like a really likable guy and,and Violet seems to let her

(44:11):
guard down with him right away.
She seems very comfortable andshe's not always a completely
comfortable character.
So I think she's been trying tofind her place in society.
Ever since she lost her husband.

Whittney (44:22):
Alright, so I have very strong thoughts on this,
and I do not want Violet to haveany, second marriage.
And I feel like they're kind ofpointing her in that direction.
And I think the books are a bigreason why I'm so set on her,
keeping on with her existinglife.
I don't want to sound mean thatshe can't have happiness or

(44:43):
anything, but they paint herstory with Edmund as such a love
story that she grieved for, Somany years of her children's
childhood, and, it is theinspiration for why she insists
all of her children have lovematches, and it's like the
central piece of her characterin the books, and so it feels

(45:03):
like she's betraying that alittle bit, if she's, developing
a second love story, I guess,in, in my mind.
In my heart, but you know, ifshe has a little fling,
whatever, it's just, you know,in the, in the book, she doesn't
ever remarry.
She's never interested in that.
If that happens at all, it isnot covered in the book.
Like if she's having her littleflings on the side, which she

(45:23):
could do, technically, it wasacceptable for married women to
do that as we see with Benedictand Lady Tilly, this, season,
but, Yeah, so I'm just not intoit.
And another thing that I don'tlike is that Lady Danbury
doesn't seem to be excited abouther brother being there, so I
know he's done somethingterrible in the past that we
don't know about yet.

Devon (45:44):
She seems to be implying that he's some sort of, what you
call him a rake and how he seemsto just be so desperate to find
a love match she's implying thathe's a womanizer.
Dunno, Talking to another friendwho read and loved the
Bridgerton novels my friend toldme that she sees the books and
the show as completely separateentities and they each have to
have their own life becausethey're so different and so

(46:05):
maybe the show violet it wouldwork for her to have a new
relationship But the novelviolet had that great romance
that was written for her.
she'll stay single, but maybethat will just be one of those
cases where it's gonna strayfrom the plot completely because
they're just their own separatethings and in a way, their own
separate characters.

Whittney (46:25):
I think that's a great way to actually look at this, is
that they are two separatethings, I know we'll talk about
Cressida a little bit later, butthe Cressida Eloise storyline.
Not a thing.
Penelope and Eloise didn't havea falling out in this book.
There's so many, in so manyways, the season has made huge
departures from, from where thebook is going.

(46:47):
So your friend is probably smartto say that they're two separate
entities.
So, in this episode, we alsomeet John Sterling, Earl of
Kilmartin, who is introduced asa potential love interest for
Francesca.
The two have a different kind ofcute, where they stand next to
each other in comfortablesilence.
and I love this, because I amquite sure that one or both of

(47:10):
them is neurodivergent becausethe traits that they display to
each other when they are mostbeing themselves, to me just
feel very neurodivergent.
And, I thought this wasadorable.
Also, I love that we're seeingFrancesca's story because
Francesca, I don't want to givespoilers, but John Sterling is

(47:33):
very important in Francesca'sstory, but that is not going to
be her love story.
That's the biggest spoiler I'llput there because I'm wondering
if they're going to do her storyeither next or almost next, like
right after the next one.
and so I think it's really nicethat we, we're seeing the
beginning of this because in thebooks we get none of her, we, we

(47:55):
don't know anything about herand John Sterling really.

Susan (47:58):
I find the introduction of John Sterling to be really
intriguing because we don'treally know anything about him.
We just see them standing nextto each other, but obviously
they have this comfortablesilence and immediate
connection.
I'm so curious to learn moreabout him and how the two of
them are going to interact.

Devon (48:14):
I Francesca's behavior more as she's just shy.
And this other character is alsoshy.
So just sort of showingintroverts as opposed to,
several of the other charactersthat are clearly much more
comfortable in society.
We have two people that haveother passions and a lot more
interest in their own personal,quiet time.

(48:35):
And so they just seem like twopeas in a pod in terms of their
introvert style.

Whittney (48:40):
I there are also signs that they're both, easily
overstimulated, which is.
My flag for neurodivergencebecause I live that life.
and the, the silence thing,plays into that also, their
communication style is much moredirect.
Then people of their timeperiod, which, could indicate,

(49:01):
an impatience for, an extraamount of words, clear
communication, which can be aneurodivergent tree as well.
Also, whenever he's on thestreet and she approaches him.
He's looking, I don't know ifyou all have noticed this, but
I've watched times, so I'm verywell versed.
he's actually looking at a shopwindow when she approaches him.

(49:24):
And then she has theconversation, and he said,
That's helpful, if you'll excuseAnd then he leaves.
I am convinced he was trying tofind something, like some token
of something to get for her, andhe's, completely lost because
he's, looking shop storefrontand he can't figure it out, and
then she mentions the music andhe has the idea, and so he's

(49:45):
like, I need to, I need to do itnow, So that, me, was a very
neurodivergent interaction.

Devon (49:51):
That's true.
That's a good point.

Susan (49:53):
That's so interesting.
Well, I can't wait to see wherethat goes.
also in this episode, we have,the connections continuing to
build between Penelope and LordDebling.
we also have a conversation withColin and his mother in which he
asked her about her relationshipwith his father and, they
started out as friends.
How were they able to make thattransition from friends to more?
And the mother says, well, hehad the courage to say

(50:15):
something.
so Colin's realizing he needs tosay something to Penelope before
it's too late because LordDebling's closing in on this
deal.
Right.
So that's basically whereepisode three ends and now we're
already into episode four.

Whittney (50:31):
In episode four, Old Friends, we see Lord Debling
pursue Penelope by bringing hera plant to get her to enjoy,
nature from her favorite windowperch.
Violet tries to get Colin toopen up about how he's feeling.
To, you know, limited success.
And then John Sterling stops byto visit Francesca in silence.

(50:51):
So we just talked about theseinteractions between Francesca
and John Sterling.
So, let's see how the familyreacts, I guess.
Right.

Susan (51:00):
Yes.
And this scene was so funny howJohn Sterling and Francesca sit
down on the couch and then just,you know, forward and don't
communicate.
And the family is like, what isgoing on?

Devon (51:14):
Mm hmm.

Susan (51:15):
always has my favorite comedic moments.
She was like, I'm in awe.
I thought one had to use wit orbanter to dissuade a suitor, but
simple silence is radically moreeffective, which was so funny.
Oh my gosh, she is wonderfulwith her comedic timing.
I love everything she says.
A few scenes later, we learnthat Lord Debling actually wants

(51:36):
to propose to Penelope.
Her mother shares thisinformation with her, but
Penelope's a little bithesitant.
And Portia says, Oh, don't tellme that you're holding out for
love.
That is the very reason Idiscouraged you from reading.
I thought that was funnybecause, at this time having
more education and getting theseradical ideas is going to, turn

(51:57):
you against the conformity ofsociety.
So, I think it just shows howPenelope is different from some
other women.
She actually has a mind of herown and wants to do something
different than what society istelling her.
And I, for one, I'm glad thatshe reads.

Whittney (52:12):
Yes.
Also, if she were a Bridgerton,her mother would encourage you
holding out for love, which, youknow, what a difference being
across the square in a differenthouse could make.
Right.

Susan (52:21):
Good

Whittney (52:22):
at that evening's ball.
Instead of telling Penn how hefeels, Colin tries to dissuade
her from marrying Lord Dublin.
As, you know, men will often do,right?
Avoid sharing their ownfeelings, but telling you why
you should do something for adifferent reason.
Dublin sees the undeniableconnection between Colin and
Penelope and decides to chooseanother direction.

(52:45):
And so this is, of course, forPenelope, a very sad ending,
right?
That Dublin is just like, Ican't.
I think he says something like,I can't, go do my research for
three years and have you, beinginvolved with somebody while I'm
away, which I thought wasinteresting, right?
Because, yeah, three years is along time.

Susan (53:06):
Right.
And he makes the connectionbetween why she loves to sit in
that window.
So there's a few reasons as youpointed out to me, Whitney,
obviously she's Lady Whistledownand she's observing what's going
on in society from her windowand writing and everything.
but also, she's really lookingacross the street at the
Bridgertons at Colin.
She's able to have this.
Bird's eye view of what they'redoing.

(53:27):
And I think Lord Dublin reallyput two and two together for the
connection between she and Colinand why she enjoys to stare at
the Bridgerton household.
so I was a little sad to see himgo, even though obviously I want
Colin with Penelope, but now I'mcurious to see if Cressida is
going to have a chance with LordDublin.
So we'll have to see.
How that plays out.

(53:47):
At this point, Penelope feelsreally sad because her only
realistic marriage prospect hasjust ended given that in her
mind, Colin Bridgerton, havingfeelings for her is not
possible.
She rushes into her carriageonly to be chased by some Ralph
Lauren model.
Oh, Colin.
Lady whistled down narrates whenone chooses the heart over the

(54:10):
head, often all reason goes outthe window, which leads us to.
Drum roll, please.
The carriage scene,

Whittney (54:18):
The character.

Susan (54:20):
So what are our thoughts about the carriage scene?

Devon (54:24):
I was so glad that we finally got some real steam.
I felt like there was realconnection between and Penelope,
some real sexual attraction.
They've been sort of playing itoff, but I haven't really been
convinced in the earlierepisodes.
So finally, Colin startsapproaching her.
He's pulling down her, Sleeve onher shoulder and I'm like you're

(54:44):
gonna have to give me morebecause this is just not Living
up to seasons one and seasontwo.
I wanted these characters tohave the same type of
personality intensity that thewriters wrote for the characters
in the previous seasons.
So, when Colin started going upher skirt, we're finally getting
what we tuned in for, forBridgerton.
And, well, we wanted seePenelope finally have a passion,

(55:08):
that she deserves a passion justlike everybody else.
She hasn't been getting thatsame type of story development.
But finally, We see some realaction and I, I think it's a
really strong scene.

Susan (55:20):
About your requirements for spice factor.
It's about you wanting to seePenelope have her moment.
I, loved when you screamed that,it's all about, we want Penelope
to have that.
And also we didn't mention thisbefore, but when Colin kissed
her for the first time, that washer first kiss ever.
And this is her first anythingever.
So, it's extra charged and extraspecial and important.

(55:42):
I thought it lived up to theexpectations that I had.

Whittney (55:46):
I have a lot of thoughts because obviously I've
read the one in the book andit's a lot different and also a
little different, but therewere, some parts of this that
they did keep faithful.
Suze, did you want to talkabout, some things you liked in
the scene before I get to thatpoint?

Susan (56:01):
sure.
I actually really liked how inthis point, Penelope took the
driver's seat because shementioned something to Colin,
like, Oh, but we're justfriends.
And he was like, Oh, you know,I'm sorry.
He kind of backed away for aminute to be like, Oh yeah,
you're right.
And, um, And then she was like,but I very much like to be more
than friends.
And that's really what sparkedthe fire.
So I liked that the initiativeand made sure that he knew what

(56:22):
she wanted.
And then, Whitney, I had said toyou earlier that I felt like the
soundtrack wasn't quite aspowerful as it was in say season
two.
And you said, you're like, well,in the carriage, they did give
us, Pitbull song, give meeverything stripped down, which
I went back and watched again.
And I was like, Ooh, that was areally good song choice.
And.
The moment they both likecollided together and passion

(56:44):
was right when the song started.
So I thought that was reallyeffective.
so I liked the way that allplayed out.
And, I think to Devin's point,maybe we didn't get as much
spice we wanted for Penelopebecause they are in a carriage,
maybe there's not enough space Idon't know.
Whitney, you tell us.

Devon (57:03):
When I was talking about Not Enough Spice, I just meant
thinking about the developmentof the other characters love
stories in the previous twoseasons.
Antony and Kate.
Cantoney.
They had a lot of highly chargedmoments leading up to this.
And in the first season, Dukeand Daphne had a lot of highly
charged moments.
And I feel like those weremissing in this season.

(57:24):
And of it could just be the waythat they've laid out the season
and broken it up into these twoparts.
So we're not getting the fullmomentum and build of the
previous seasons.
But, this moment in thecarriage.
Penelope saying, I want more andclearly giving her consent.
She even nods to Colin at onepoint, like, go ahead.
I want you to do this.

(57:44):
And so they were making it clearthat they both were very much
aware of what the other personwanted.
But, their relationship hasdeveloped in a different way
than the previous two seasons.

Whittney (57:57):
I think part of that is because the plot has changed
enough that they had torearrange some events.
So, this takes place about thesame point in the book, as it is
during the season.
But, there's a major plot pointthat I think will change the
next four episodes.
Thank you.
So this carriage scene was kindof inspired by, Colin thinking

(58:22):
that, Penelope was going tomarry Lord Dublin, and he was
quite jealous, right?
In the book, the carriage sceneunfolds because, uh, He
discovers she is LadyWhistledown, and is angry at
her, and they are arguing in thecarriage, which starts the
passion, and then the passionturns from arguing about her

(58:43):
being Lady Whistledown intosomething else, and it is a more
charged and, more steamy scene,and, she is in much more of a
state of undress when the, thecarriage finally arrives at its
destination.
I think, you know, if you readthe book, you'll get more steam
from the carriage scene there.
But the carriage scene in thebook, Colin sees Penelope taking

(59:05):
a hired cab, late at night, andhe's like, what is she doing?
She's by herself, she's goingsomewhere, he wants to go stop
her, but he follows her, in hisown carriage, and then,
discovers she's dropping off amissive for Lady Whistledown.
She's dropping off a missive forLady Whistledown because she has
stopped writing as LadyWhistledown at this point in the

(59:26):
story.
But then, because there's alapse in Lady Whistledown,
Cressida Cowper says she's LadyWhistledown.
At this point, she's actuallymarried, so she's Cressida
Twombly.
And so she's kind of likeblackmailing Penelope.
She's like kind of playingchicken with her.
Like, you say you're LadyWhistledown.
And then the identity isrevealed.

(59:46):
And in the meantime, I'm goingto take credit for Lady
Whistledown.
So Penelope goes to, to drop amissive that she's saying, no,
Cressida is not me.
I, you know, I'm still here andI'm not Cressida.
Right.
So she's going to drop that offwhen Colin follows her.
And he can, he goes in to theplace where she's dropping it

(01:00:07):
off.
He confronts her about it.
And then her, her cab left.
Cause they were in there arguingabout Lady Whistledown long
enough that she has to go homein his carriage and he is mad at
her.
And he's kind of like workingout why he's mad at her.
And he's mostly mad at herbecause of the danger she's put
herself in both.
Societally, and, influence wise,and her prospects and also then

(01:00:32):
You know, danger wise, she didjust hire this cab in the middle
of the night.
And that all collides.
And then we have the carriagescene in the book.
So The end of the carriage scenein the book and the end of the
carriage scene in the show arethe same.

Susan (01:00:46):
Okay.
to say, speaking of that, andthen I'll comment on what you
said.
I love the part at the end whenthe carriage stops at the
Bridgerton house, cause that wasthe first stop before going to
Penn's house and column waslike, Oh God, could the carriage
driver not keep driving?
I thought that was really Andthen they both laughed and I
really love that.
They always do have this lightbanter between them.

(01:01:08):
They have jokes.
It can laugh and be real witheach other.
And I thought that was reallysweet.
So after this moment of passion,then they're giggling in the
carriage, and I really lovethat.
And then we get the ending.
So Whitney, tell us what happenshere.
And then you said it's the sameas in the novel.

Whittney (01:01:27):
Yes.
Although I want to say in thenovel, they don't go to
Bridgerton house because Colindoesn't live in Bridgerton
house.
He lives in his own lodgings, hehas a bachelor pad.
And so I think they were goingto Penelope's house, so he was
trying to take Penelope home,right?
I need to read it again, but Iwant to say he wants to go in
and tell her family.

(01:01:48):
Like he wants to do all of that.

Susan (01:01:51):
That

Devon (01:01:52):
in the Penelope specifically says, before the
carriage gets rolling, she saysto the driver, if she calls out
the window, we're stopping atBridgeton house, or we're
dropping Colin off first.
So they're clearly changing thedestination book.

Susan (01:02:10):
You had mentioned about Cressida having a role in the
way the plot was in the book.
It looks like in the previewsthat we saw, she's going to also
have some kind of a role in thefiguring out of Lady
Whistledown.
It sounds like there's going tobe a reward for, bringing forth
evidence to the palace.
It looks like Cressida isinvolved in that pretty highly.
So again, it looks like she'sgoing to have More of a role in

(01:02:30):
the next few episodes, but, theywere utilizing her very nicely.
what you were saying about thesteaminess and the carriage, you
said there was more steam fromthe carriage.
So I just want to quote that,that we always want more steam
from the carriage.
Remember that.

Whittney (01:02:46):
Yes.

Devon (01:02:47):
Yes.

Whittney (01:02:48):
Nate made the comment, from the back of a carriage and
I was like, um, The back of thecarriage, what are you talking
about?
let's think of the anatomy ofthe carriage here.
If you're on the back of thecarriage, you're like, a footman
or something, right?
To open the not, there's noaction back there.
It's kind of hard to have actionback there.
The action is inside thecarriage, okay?

(01:03:09):
Inside.
The call came from inside thecarriage, yes.

Susan (01:03:15):
steam came from inside the carriage.
It's kind of like in Titanic,they're inside the car, and the
windows get steamy.
I wanted a moment like that, Wewanted the Titanic steamy car
moment.
Maybe we'll get

Devon (01:03:25):
They kept it very short considering we got more extended
love scenes or extended kissingscenes in the first couple
seasons.
I feel like these characters arebeing shortchanged.
I don't know why.

Whittney (01:03:35):
Thoughts

Susan (01:03:36):
That Nicola gave with, Luke Newton and they said they
actually broke furniture intheir love scenes and we haven't
seen that yet.
So, you know, to come.

Whittney (01:03:46):
Yes, I think that that is a piece of it.
And then two, a carriage is asmall place and filming a love
scene in a carriage.
I can't imagine that was easyfor the camera folks to, to
figure out those angles.
So I wonder if that was a pieceof it.
And then I also wonder.
If, you know, the tight spaceand the, the intimacy coach or

(01:04:06):
who was on set with them, ifthey couldn't figure out a way
that everybody was comfortablein that particular scene.
So, holding out for the otherscenes because there were other
steamy scenes in the book.

Susan (01:04:17):
It's teasing us a little bit.
It's setting up what's yet tocome.
It's again, important We've onlythe first half of this so
there's still so much more timefor it to flesh out in the next
four episodes, hopefully.
Yes.

Whittney (01:04:31):
I feel like they had to give us the carriage scene
before break in episodes.

Devon (01:04:35):
They had to give us something because I thought that
the episode was going to endbefore the last carriage scene.
And I'm thinking there's justnot enough right now to get the
momentum going for this secondhalf.
just frustrated as a viewer thatit's broken up to begin with.
And I don't know why they choseto do that, especially since
it's just a very small break inbetween, but, I'm glad they gave
us the carriage scene.
I do feel like it's enough tomake it through the break, but I

(01:04:57):
still feel like it's going to betough to pick up the momentum
again.

Whittney (01:05:00):
I also feel like we haven't just recapped that last
line, which I feel like the lastline is everything in the
carriage scene, really.
So Colin gets out of thecarriage, he reaches for Penn,
which actually let's, let's takeit two steps back.
Colin, makes sure her sleeve isback, her hair is not out of
place.
And she's like presentable.
Which I thought was sweet.

(01:05:21):
Everything is, where it'ssupposed to be.
And then he gets out of thecarriage, he reaches for Penn
and he says, are you going tocome with me?
And she says, but your family,they'll see me.
And he says, this is the bestline of the entire first half of
the series so far.
For God's sake, PenelopeFeatherington, are you going to
marry me or not?
Which, was what we came for.

(01:05:41):
Right.

Devon (01:05:42):
Yes, what we came for.

Susan (01:05:43):
we're left then with the previews for what's coming up
next.
so what are your thoughts aboutwhat's coming up?
We have to wait until June 13th,but, what, what are your
predictions or how you feelingabout the next installment?

Devon (01:05:56):
Well, clearly because they set it up in these two
parts, we've got to have thefall from the high.
We had sort of the climax at theend of this.
There's got to be a crash down.
There's got to be somethingkeeping them apart for them to
drag this out for a couple moreepisodes.
So I'm Something big.
I guess the revelation thatshe's Lady Whistledown or,

(01:06:17):
something else to be throwing awrench into this.

Susan (01:06:20):
Wait, why do you say they're dragging it out for four
more episodes?

Devon (01:06:24):
They give you this last line, Are you to marry me so you
know that they're not going toget married in the next episode
because there's still four more.
So there has to be other plotpoints in order for them to have
four more episodes of a story,but we know we can't have four
episodes of happiness.
That there's got to be someThat's what I meant.

Susan (01:06:41):
I'm looking forward to seeing how Penelope and Colin's
relationship continues todevelop.
I'm really curious to see ifthis changes the friendship with
Eloise, now that her brotherwants to marry Penelope, I'm
curious how that's going to playout.
I'm expecting more, chemistryand some spicy scenes between
them, more steam from thecarriage, to quote Whitney.

(01:07:02):
I'm excited to see if LordDebling and Cressida make a
match.
I'm not sure how that's going togo, there's a lot to look
forward to.
I'm excited.

Whittney (01:07:10):
I think this is the Calm Before the Storm, so I'm
more on Dev's, perspectivethere, what's happened so far, I
mean, Penelope's taken kind of alittle bit of a hit, but it was
a mild hit, and it was mostlyhappy, right?
It was mostly, building up to anice point, so, now, just the
chaos will ensue.
Big's gonna happen in the nextepisode that's gonna threaten

(01:07:33):
the engagement, and Eloise willbe involved because there'll be
high tension and drama from herformer best friend and brother
of her supposed fiancé.
I don't think anybody who's readthe book will know anything
other than hopefully we'll get ahappy ending at the end of the
season.

Susan (01:07:49):
I wasn't thinking about the explosion that's going to
happen.
We were already teased with thatwith Colin saying, if I find out
who Lady Whistledown is, her.
And now it's really high stakesbecause the person he's saying
that about is now someone hejust asked to marry him.
So you're right.
There is going to be a huge, a

Whittney (01:08:07):
will he ruin Lady Whistledown?
Will it be physically?
be, will he ruin her for, forthe marriage mart?
Cause I think we're on our way.

Devon (01:08:16):
With Eloise, she's held on to this, grudge against
Penelope for quite some time andthey've really drawn that out.
So obviously that's going to becoming to a head and I really
hope they get over this soon.
Eloise, we really like her as acharacter.
She's got charm.
She's got great wittiness toher.
But it's leaving a bad taste inmy mouth how much she's ignoring

(01:08:37):
Pen and letting some of theseinjustices happen to her and not
stepping in like she should.
It's hurting her character forme.
So I hope that they're able tomend their ways so that we can
have that friendship back.
Because I really miss that.

Whittney (01:08:48):
Agreed.

Susan (01:08:50):
It's been fun.
Deb, thanks for joining us forthis discussion.
As always.

Devon (01:08:54):
Thank you so much for having me.
I love talking with you ladies.
I

Whittney (01:08:59):
love more Dove time.
So, let us know your thoughts onBridgerton Season 3.
Send us an email atsusanandwhitneyatgmail.
com or DM us on Facebook orInstagram.

Susan (01:09:11):
Yes.
And stay tuned for ourBridgerton part two review.
Of course, we're going to coverepisodes five through eight.
So look for that drop after therelease of June 13th.
Stay tuned.
Talk

Whittney (01:09:23):
later.
We are so bad at this.
We are so bad at syncing themup.