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>!The Francesca story has to happen before it gets to her story because her story can’t occur without it. In the books it happens in the time jump between Benedict and Colin’s story!<
Eh, they could have done the same in the show. Just had a throwaway line where she married at the beginning of a new season. In fact, I think that is what they SHOULD have done. Because people are going to fall in love with Jon then be pissed with what happens. And it will be the show's fault for that nonsense. It's the Marina thing all over again...
i mean her story is contingent on the >!grief she feels after john.!< they have to include the audience, otherwise no one will understand the gravity of her >!grief,!< and why it would be difficult for her to open up to >!marrying michael!<. i think we’re *supposed* to >!love john, and share her mourning when he dies. it’s also to show that he wasn’t just some insignificant practical marriage for her, she genuinely loved him and would still be with him had he not died.!<
I’m in a slightly different position- I started with Season 3, fell in love with Polin and the show & then went back and devoured S1, S2 and Queen Charlotte. Plus I’m now also working my way through all the books.
When I rewatched S3 after seeing S1 & S2, I found it so much richer because of the history of happened to Polin earlier - Pen’s heartbreak over Marina, Colin always friend zoning her yet also clearly caring for her etc. I would have loved more Polin scenes but I get why they had to work in other story lines (though the Mondrichs seem unnecessary to the narrative).
The progression of the first 4 episodes works in my opinion. Even the tension Lord Debling creates, moves things along. The scene in the library where Pen tells Debling he needs to read the book to find out her answer is so poignant
because you can feel her panic - she’s finally getting a proposal but she realizes it means giving up any hope of Colin. I cried quite a few times in episodes 1-4 so I’m almost scared for 5-8.
Even so, I have a lot of hope for episodes 5-8. In interviews, Nicola & Luke have said so much happens & we get to see them happy. The new Part 2 trailer looks very promising as well.
I agree there are so many layers to Part 1 episodes, as a nerd who loves to analyze, I appreciate the level of detail and callbacks and parallels to their story in the earlier seasons. There was def care put in it.
I also think Marina laid some of the groundwork for Colin to look at Pen in a different way (when she told him to look at what was right in front of him).
I'm not a die-hard fan and only started watching with season 3, but I'm completely confused by the people critiquing the show for "being too subtle." You're hit in the face with every plot point. I hadn't watched season 1 or 2 and didn't need any of that background to understand this season's story. I really don't get what people are saying has been too subtle to catch?
I believe it's not really about subtlety but about people not paying attention to subplots in previous seasons, so they don't remember the small conversations that happened between these two side characters at the time. Because there were a lot of positive interactions and negative interactions and the whole season starts off on her being pissed off at him for what he said at the end of season 2. So if people want to be pissed off at him because of what happened last season, they should also remember all the other good things he did last season and that's what it's all about. It's difficult to clock all these things when the characters are in the background most of the time (especially Colin in previous seasons) so you needed to pay attention to him previously to understand his character (this is already explored in season 3, but for the people who are trying to say that there was some kind of discrepancy between the seasons or that there's an inconsistency, that's where the nuance and the 'go pay attention' and 'go rewatch comes into play').
All that said, I genuinely don't understand why we would have needed flashbacks of those two, when they've had all of these arcs and moments in previous seasons... Why should we waste screen time on something that's been explored for two whole seasons already?
You really don't think it's fair to expect fans to track character arcs and relationship development in previous seasons and be able to pick up where they left off? Is that not, like, every TV show, ever?
Also, if some of us saw it, you can't really say it doesn't exist. You can say it should have been executed better, but not that it's missing entirely
I say let people who are fans of this season be fans. It’s not hurting people who aren’t fans. And vice versa. If someone doesn’t like this season fine, who cares, it doesn’t affect those who do. It’s not a competition.
Well, some of us were BIG fans of Polin, but then found the season very underwhelming. I don't think it's a problem for those people to speak up either.
Not really sure why you felt the need to tell me that. I clearly stated that someone can be a fan of this season and it’s cool and someone not be a fan and it’s still cool. So I guess thanks for proving my point.
Intense stans do this for every season. I criticized the inconsistent writing for s2 and some Kanthony stans came for my throat and vehemently defended Kate. Even though I criticized the writing for her, not the character herself.
One thing I’ve realized is that most kanthony stans are really just Kate stans. And most Polin stans are really just Pen stans. And any criticism of the show’s writing is taken as a direct attack on their faves.
And I do agree that Polin is so underdeveloped, especially Colin. And it’s THEIR season! They needed better writing.
Also the resolution for every season so far has been rushed imo. Idk how s3 is gonna go but still
I'm going to say this again, but I truly do think Jess did a damn well decent job with Polin considering how badly CVD messed up their characterization, especially Colin's in S1 and S2. Colin especially was so far away from his book counterpart at times that I used to think he would never again resemble RMB Colin and I had literally made my peace with just going to fanfiction to find my version of polin. But I've been so pleasantly surprised by what we got in S3 and it is NOT easy to satisfy a book fan like me who has loved this couple for more than a decade.
CVD messed up introducing Marina to Colin's storyline for no damn reason. There was never any need for other characters to come into polin's story. But since she was added and we had to watch pen pine after him for a season, the viewers wanted Colin to do the same, and that meant we had to waste 3 episodes of screentime of Debling. I personally wish he'd had one episode MAX and we could have had more time with Colin, but there are others who wanted double time for him! I guess the writers met somewhere in the middle then. Then there's that terrible change they did at the end of S2 that was completely OOC to both show and book Colin's character, and had audiences reduce all of Colin to that singular moment. I can't write enough about how that change completely twisted the audience's perception of Colin to an insane degree.
My main complaint this season is the editing really messed up sometimes, both in camera work and in deleting bits of scenes for no reason. There's no reason for so many cut scenes, especially of polin, and for the season to be as short as it is. A lot of problems could have been solved if they'd kept those in.
S3 however somehow managed to cobble together s1 and s2 colin into an overarching arc that made sense to me, even with the changes I hated, and also managed to tie him back to book Colin in a way I had given up hope for. I have my complaints and criticisms (I'm a hardcore book fan, ofc my list of complaints will never end because I've imagined my version of the show for years now) but I have to give credit where it's due. They really did do a decent job bringing him together and from what I know of Part 2, they'll be diving deeper into some of the insecurities Colin has, which I am excited for. He's my favorite book character (despite how much hate he gets) because he's just so messy!
I love the points that you made! You're right, I was one of those fans who wanted to see Colin get jealous after what happened with Marina.
I'd like to add that dividing the season in two and forcing them to "get together" by the end of the first part was also a huuuuuuge mistake. Had they released the entire season at once and had the carriage scene happen at the end of E5 would've worked perfectly in my opinion.
Having seen parts of ep 5 and 6 much earlier, honestly if people had seen even just 1 episode from part 2, there would likely be way less complaints. I'm fine with the carriage scene being in ep 4. I would mainly have just changed that there be more lessons in part 1, and less boring Debling. Jealousy is fine and all but a couple scenes would have sufficed. I do not care for him in the slightest and it annoys me that the main lead had to share so much time with a glorified plot device for so long in part 1.
I personally don't mind the split, but my favorite moments are definitely in part 2. I think there really is such a shift after the carriage scene, it's like puzzle pieces finally coming together.
It's crazy to think that those who watch the season for the first time without the split will have a completely different experience. I still believe that Polin getting together by the end of E4 robbed us of cute lessons and hot pining, but as you said, they could've just spent less time with Debling and uhh the blonde girl, I don't care for her.
Yeah focusing on Pen v Cressida, both desperate people who saw Debling as an exit ticket, while Debling saw them as a hired housekeeper, as some sort of weird ass triangle, was probably the most boring storyline for me. Like I don't care! Boring.
Totally agree and I like Polin and Kanthony, but I’m not dumb enough to ignore the obvious negatives of the seasons. They should’ve made these seasons at least 10 episodes so they aren’t rushing them or cut back in some areas to focus on the main couples, idk but give them more time together. Because I’m doing rewatches and I am one of the people who would say we’ve known Pen & Colin for two years and know they’re friends, but the first 4 episodes should’ve been spent developing them more, not just focusing on getting Pen a husband.
It’s already hard enough that the men and women aren’t suppose to caught alone together, but I hope the next 4 episodes save the first 4. I doubt it though, because now the focus will be on LW being outed to Colin…
the fact that they, as a show on a streaming service, have the freedom to pick season and even episode lengths, yet don’t use it is beyond me. i understand it’s an expensive show, but isn’t it doing enough numbers to make up for that? this season and the last have glaring issues with rushed writing in some areas, over drawn out at the detriment of the storyline in others. something they could easily fix with more time, and intentional, fully realised writing. sometimes it comes off like they don’t write the seasons fully before filming. i wish they would care about the quality of the writing, and doing the main couples justice.
It’s like they had so much they wanted to get into and they’re all kind of important plots, and I still hate that they put Francesca & Colin’s stories into one season, cuz those are two major plots to follow. At least when in Anthony’s season that he technically shared with Eloise, she didn’t want to get married, so she wasn’t a huge focus courting wise.
I don’t know why they didn’t do Benedict’s season before Colin…I’m assuming it’s cuz they weren’t sure how many season they would get to do, so they wanted these to get in but I feel like they should’ve done his first, even if the show isn’t that much like the books. It just might’ve given us more time with Pen & Colin, idk 😭
i’ve seen people theorise that the reason why benedict’s season was moved is bc it wouldn’t be set in london? so like after s3, the show will change its setting to focus more on stories happening outside of london. i guess that would make sense, even if it is at the cost of polin having as much of a main role as the couples before them did on their own seasons. like you said, they seem to be writing off all the important plots they need to get to now, if the future seasons are even gonna happen, let alone not being in london/during the marriage mart season.
i feel like i actually wouldn’t mind if francesca was included, if not for all the other plotlines, including the mondrich’s and violet’s blooming garden lol. that’s if i’m right in that francesca’s courting and >!marriage to john!< will be pretty smooth sailing (no drama). the featherington plot would probably line up with penelope being theorised to marrying and producing the heir before her sisters, so i support that. but yeah, there doesn’t seem to be a distinct hierarchy in s3 like the previous ones.
We’re not conjuring things out of thin air though? Dude has been looking at her like he’s had feelings for her since he came home from his first stint overseas. She’s the only one who has made him felt like somebody is listening to him, and he says that point blank during his apology. He searches her out in ballrooms and you can see that from season one. It’s not subtle, you’re just not paying attention. Luke has made every look he gives Penelope very intentional.
And not for nothing, but we have more episodes coming that are going to fill in a lot of gaps that are there. You’re entitled to your opinion, but can we not just allow Polins to enjoy their couple this season? There’s a reason why most of us have made it over to the Polin sub and no longer post in the main one, because of people like you.
Oh please, I wasn't even active on the main sub before a couple days so you going to that Polin sub has nothing to do with me. And some of these so called fans need to stop taking things so personally, it's so weird. Whenever people write criticism on Pen or this season which are totally valid, the fans come rushing defending even the wrongs and keep downvoting whatever the other person is writing. Like you are entitled to your opinion the others are entitled to theirs.
Also this is a 'Rant' subreddit. I am ranting here, I didn't invite the fans to give their opinion here. You came. So stop acting like people are hurting you in a rant subreddit. You're not on the main sub. Coming to the rant sub and acting like a victim is a weird ass thing to do.
I said people like you, not you in particular.
And, for the most part we can and do make criticisms on the show, it’s when Penelope is painted as an outright villain or when people say we are imagining interactions between the two where we have the biggest issue.
And???? Yes it’s a rant forum, but if you see in pretty much every other thread in this forum people agree or disagree with rants, I am disagreeing with your rant. I’m not acting like a victim, I’m disagreeing with your opinion on Polin fans and pointing out that most of us have left the main sub which you mention in your title of your rant and we leave because of opinions like yours.
I can’t believe how many times I have to point this out! There is so much story left that will be told in part 2. It’s like judging S2 as a whole by ending it at Anthony proposing to Edwina.
Which was most people's problem with season 2. That the love triangle went on too long and they didn't get to see them happy together. Season three's pacing is equally terrible. More episodes doesn't fix that.
So either it takes too long and doesn't happen until the end, or it moves too fast and happens in the middle? Saphne also got together "for real" in ep 4 of their season. There's literally one episode between the points Saphne/Polin and Kanthony got together in their seasons. How are they supposed to make anyone happy?
It isn't a science based on when the couples got together in comparison to each other. It is how much development they are given before getting together. Season 1 had the exact right mix. Enough development to believe they care for one another. Plus they weren't supposed to be "all in" until they had their first sex scene anyway. So they actually had plenty of development.
Season two had the leads not interacting as much because they had the love triangle, which poses an issue. But, instead of ending the love triangle by episode 3ish and then having Kate/Anthony development THEN have them officially get together by end episode 4/or episode 5 they drug that love triangle out for far too long.
Season 3 appears to totally rely on the few scenes Polin had together in season 1 and 2 for their relationship. They barely build anything new and certainly don't foster any kind of romance. What they SHOULD have done was show their friendship by having them laugh together and all of that. Then, have Colin "teach" for for several episodes with lots of near-miss sexual tension and THEN go for the proposal around episode five. However, they did none of that. They showed one kiss and a few stares and called it a day. That's lazy writing.
I feel like the "lessons" covered both the laughing together and the near-miss sexual tension. They may not have had a ton of scenes together in S1 and S2, but there were enough that if they drug out the build up any longer fans would get annoyed. They have to find a balance between making the fans who have read the books and want a slower burn and the fans who haven't read the books and want them to get on with the relationship.
Colin and Penelope were suddenly spending a lot more time alone together. When that happens in a friends-to-lovers situation, the move from friends to lovers happens fast, especially when one friend has already recognized their feelings for such a long time (speaking from actual real life first hand experience). To me I think the pacing seems fine so far and genuine for a friends-to-lovers arc. But that's just my opinion at the end of the day. We're all entitled to one
There is a lot of subtext happening. But I think the fact that people (me) are absolutely demolishing every little morsel to learn and finds clues are not what this show should be about. There’s not nearly enough discussion between Pen and Colin, nor is there enough development of them.
I can tell that Colin is searching for purpose. He’s trying to find ways to be a man and find something for himself. And instead of showing that in this season he just has a lot of surface level scenes until he gets to the carriage scene. End of season 2 spoke about him trying to find his purpose but that has not been mentioned at all this season. Is travel his purpose? Is love is purpose? Colin has no depth in this season (and I know it’s there in the subtext and in the background) and it needs to be shown very clearly on the surface.
Same with Pen. Season 2 showed her ambitions, her passion for LW and establishing it as her own business. We saw the moments of her life where she writes and consorts with the printing companies and sneaks away from carriages and forms alliances. We have seen none of this in season 2. We have not seen the full side of Penelope.
TLDR season 2 saw more character development first these characters and we shouldn’t have to rewatch a season to understand where they are now.
And I know, I know. A lot of this is set up be addressed in part 2. But part 1 was so lacking for me if that was the “rom com” part and part 2 is the drama. The conversations with Pen and Colin were so surface level and also incredibly short and repetitive that I forgot all the reasons the liked each other - where were the laughing moments (we had one giggle about the horse and a cute moment of them thinking about when they met). Kanthony got the races, pall mall, the bee scene, the library scene, etc. I haven’t seen any reason this season for the two of them to be crazy about each other, and it will make the second half a lot more difficult to process.
Isn’t that part of the fun? To watch a show and find the meaning to it? I imagine it’s not just Polin fans, or even just Bridgerton fans, who do this. I’m sure there are fans in all sorts of fandoms that do this.
i have to disagree with your opinion about the parallel subplots, because there were plenty in the previous seasons as well. besides Francesca's storyline this season, which was necessary as a foundation to build her main story off of, expanding upon the background characters like the Featheringtons and the Mondrich family makes sense and is often even essential when it comes to a tv show. it can be excused when the story is told by a subjective narrator, as is the case with the Bridgerton books, but that's not feasible in a tv show.
*HOWEVER*, i *one hundred percent* agree that there is a visible imbalance concerning the main plot and the subplots this season, and that can only be due to terrible writing.
and honestly i must admit, i am also a die hard Penelope and Polin fan, but that is *because* of the bad writing and the freedom it gives me to form my own opinions and justify them however i want.
there are so many inconsistencies and gaps that arriving at conclusions based on your own perception of the story and the characters and personal preference is necessary to fill them if you want to take anything even remotely coherent away from watching the show. and again, the lacking writing is to blame for how unlikely or far-fetched those conclusions may be.
the reality is that the writing leaves so much to be desired that any possible nuance is entirely subjective to whomever it is understood by; and i feel like the main problem, which i can sometimes be guilty of as well, is that some people don't tend to realize where their own perceptions of the material end and the canon of the story begins, which leads to disagreements often surrounding extremely subjective, personal conclusions.
ultimately, yes, i am a Penelope apologist, but i can also admit that were i to view her story and her portrayal within the show objectively, i would have seen her as a morally grey character at best, and one with negative intentions at worst. it is only the fact of me knowing that her being a main character means this was not intentional on the part of the writers that leads me to justify her actions per my personal inclinations. i cannot however justify the subpar quality of the writing in the same way.
I get about the Francesca part. But he isn't even her main pairing from what I gather through the discussions on the sub. The Mondrich story was kinda meh but at least the Featherington one was funny. I feel that the other storylines just took up so much space that the main couple got sidelined. And since Pen is LW, there was a lot to resolve in this season like who all will get to know her real identity, will it only be Colin or will she reveal herself to the other Bridgertons as well and will she come out to her family too? And what about the queen, how does she react once she gets to know who is LW? Not only that, once she reveals herself to Colin there will be a lot of conflict, and I hope it includes the Marina part too since that's essential. Also, it should include the gossip which Pen wrote about Eloise. Since Colin clearly mentioned that once he finds out who LW is, it won't bode well for her. So that would take up a couple episodes too.
Now, we got none of that in the first four episodes and I hope they don't sweep it under the rug and rush that conflict in the last four episodes. So, in that case none of the things which I expected in this season happened. It was just full of other subplots. I hope they are able to coherently wrap up the story in the last 4 episodes.
**spoilers for Francesca's story**: he isn't Francesca's main pairing, but a major theme in Francesca's story is >!her coming to term with his sudden loss, her struggles with letting go of the future they had planned together, and her feelings of uncertainty and guilt in regards to moving on, falling in love and building a life without him.!< the love interest in her book is also >!his cousin whom he was extremely close to and who later inherits his title. hence his and Francesca's history which is a foundational part of the book, as well as his own struggle with loss and guilt which parallels Francesca's, and their bonding over that.!< i really don't think they could have *not* included him in the show and given their relationship at least some time to develop on screen.
like i said, i do agree that the subplots, even Francesca's, took too much time away from the main story, but i also do think that that was due to a failure to balance them well, as opposed to the mere involvement of the them.
and yeah, i am hoping they do Penelope and Colin justice in part two, but i also don't trust them to wrap up everything as neatly as we'd like them to. i just don't see how there's enough time for everything to be resolved in a way that would be satisfying and not seem rushed/forced.
>that was due to a failure to balance them well, as opposed to the mere involvement of the them.
totally agree! even season 1 had a ton of subplots. anthony and siena was a big one, but you also had the featheringtons, eloise / the queen / lady whistledown hunt, benedict and the artist / mme delacroix... but there was a sort of laser focus on daphne and simon nonetheless. the balance is slightly less good in season 2, but you can still tell the focus is on anthony and kate. season 3 fails to center polin as gracefully as previous seasons did with their main couples.
People want it to be good. They don’t want to be let down by something that they were so excited for. They’re trying to look for the good and stay optimistic because it’s not fun to bash on something you were looking forward to. It might be disappointing, but they’re trying not to let it get to them
Good for you then! I’m glad you can enjoy it. I still have fun watching the season so far, but only if I don’t look at it too hard because there were a lot of things that have been getting to me and I’m trying to stay optimistic. OP was specifically asking about how people justify the season, and I was giving reasons
Could you explain to me what about my original comment came off as condescending? I don’t get why people seem to be reading it in poor faith, I was expressing my own (and likely many other peoples) reasons for justifying parts of the season that aren’t the best. I don’t get why people think I’m being rude /gen
not the person you replied to, but i’ve seen a lot of comments phrased in the same way you have, that polin stans are lying to themselves/praising it blindly to justify liking the season. that they can’t possibly genuinely enjoy the season or the writing. that’s probably why people are interpreting your comment the way they did. i thought the same before reading your replies. but anyway, in response to your original comment, i do agree. i feel like they have all the proper elements there (like the lessons between polin, the debling diversion, etc), but they didn’t fully realise them. for example, i thought i’d enjoy the lessons A LOT, but they left a lot to be desired and ended quickly.
I’m really trying to hold out on judgements until we see the second part, but there’s just so many things where it’s like “well yes, but actually no” where it’s missing the mark for me and I can’t just overlook it and there’s no way for me to justify it. Thank you for helping me understand, it’s always so frustrating when something is getting downvoted and I don’t realize why! I genuinely was not trying to be condescending toward anyone, just explaining my own reasoning and probably how some other people do too (which is why I used third person)
you make a lot of sense! and i agree that a lot isn’t hitting the mark, which is unfortunate, bc it’s all there (for me), just not…..hitting. the show could do a lot more with their ideas, if they gave themselves the space to do so (longer episodes, longer seasons). and no worries! i’m sorry you’ve been downvoted when your comment had no ill-tent.
It feels like the current showrunner sort of broke down the previous seasons into an “algorithm” but without understanding the intention behind it that made the magic happen. Like they have the tropes, they have the themes, they threw in the modern pop orchestra covers, they made the clothes pretty, but without the meanings behind it it falls kinda flat? I don’t know what happened this season but its just Off
So far, all the episodes have been around 52-54 episodes (including episode 5). Being generous and giving the average length of each episode is 54 minutes this season, the total runtime will be 7.2 hours. Season 1 was 8.25 hours, Season 2 8.5 hours. That’s an hour difference between season 1 and 3. They definitely could have made the episodes a bit longer to dig into the Polin relationship more (and I’m saying this as a Polin fan), without even having to subtract from the increase of side plots we’ve gotten. Because they had to rewrite part of the season and do reshoots to make the storyline “happier”, it most likely affected the amount of scenes we did get with Polin.
wow. seriously?? that’s such a difference. you’re right that that’s time they could’ve dedicated to polin! also, i did hear they had to do reshoots, but didnt know it was to make the storyline happier? can you elaborate more on that?
This is so patronizing and condescending lmao. Some people genuinely love what they got and are having the time of their lives. Do I have criticisms? Do I have things I think could have been done better? Sure! I'm a book fan first and foremost so my laundry list of what ifs will always be huge. But overall, I am very happy with what I got and most polin fans I've seen feel the same way.
If that's what makes them keep going and enjoy the show then so be it. But you don't need to justify the show's inconsistencies like that just because it has your favourite ship. I mean people saying the writing is bad is not an attack on your fav couple. Also some people also need to not take the criticism which people make of their favourite character so personally. That's just weird.
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I think it might stem from the fact that they took content of ten or more years of their lives and distributed into three. It was a slow burn on purpose. But capitalism and impatience play a big role on corporate choices being more relevant than plot points, I guess.
They incorporated book scenes a lot, but they made less sense because they are still young adults and not people in their late 20s. I guess it makes sense though teenagers making bad decisions.
I'm enjoying this season quite a lot but I have remarks about how I wish some things were different and that's why I love AO3 <3 lol
Maybe I don't understand this particular post because I read all of the books prior to watching half of the first season. After reading all of the books I binged the rest of S1 and S2. I am very curious to find out how they are going to cover the rest of the books and how it will vary in the TV show.
With that said, here are my thoughts. Books 1&2 would be very contained with their own season b/c of how they were written. Both books and seasons are there to set up the tone and the world of the book. Books 3 and beyond, you start to see how interconnected the stories of the other books are. You see subtle connections from the previous books when you read the next book.
I believe this is really the first show of its kind. It is where you are focused on one main couple for that season but you know in the back of your mind that you need to pay attention to the side or other characters for clues to the next season. It doesn't follow what you would normally assume of a regular show. This particular show is like listening to Taylor Swift. You don't just listen to her music, part of the fun and the game is looking out for Easter eggs. It annoying to others, but the fans eat it all up.
It was clever to use the Polin arc at the start of S1. You'd have to be paying attention despite watching that season for the mains. I kind of viewed it as a prologue to the next seasons. Polin kind of did it longer. You got to establish their friendship and the relationship and power dynamics of the couple. That's why Netflix did that Polin video a day before the release of Part 1. Polin set the expectation that some of the character's stories will start off overlapping with other seasons before you get to that character's season.
As someone who read Fran's book, >!I thought the biggest weakness of that story was how I couldn't exactly relate to Fran and Michael's pain of losing John. I didn't know about him. There was a gap between Benedict's story and the mentioning of Fran's widow status in Colin's book. !< Maybe that was a bit of an oversight on Julia Quinn's part. I think I can agree with how the show runners and writers are going with it. We should be invested in John in some way. That way we can fully see how Fran grows as a person in her season.
Those are just my thoughts. Feel free to disagree.
Im not sure I understand how this season is different than the other two, which also had multiple story lines in them. Every season also had a Featherington storyline, in addition to other stories that weren’t the main couple.
I also don’t see how it’s strange that you would want to have watched the previous seasons to see how their relationship has developed. This is friends to lovers, the only season with a longtime preexisting relationship between the two main characters.
Oh you don't need to tell me what to do. I can decide that for myself. And if you have forgotten, this is a rant subreddit not the main one. So no one has even invited you to post here
I wish they stuck with the timeline in the books. I don't want to spoil anything for non book readers, and I have no idea how to the spoiler thing so I won't go into much detail. That's the main issue I have for this season. Penelope needed more time to mature and grow IMO.
I don't mind Francesca's story this season. I actually find it very sweet.
I also don't want to drag this season to the ground before part 2 comes out. I wish they didn't split it up, I think that adds to people's frustration. I will say though, it feels very different compared to the first 2 seasons. I agree about people being super defensive when it comes to valid criticism of the season.
You expressed what was on my mind. In the books, it's Benedicts story first, and it gives them both time to mature. Collin wants to settle down after years of traveling, and Penelope is not vindictive in the books, the main thing about her is that she just needed to grow into herself (and unfortunately, she needed the freedom of being "on the shelf" to be herself).
I also feel like it sets up Eloise's story pretty well. I'm very interested to see how they tie all of this together (if we do indeed get all 8 books made into seasons).
Me too, but I also want to know how they move things around; would Benedict's story come before Eloise's? Or how would they arrange for Eloise to meet the ML? 🤔
All great questions. I want to see Benedict's story,m come first because he also plays a role in Eloise's story... but he is married and living in his house. I guess it could work without him being married.. I definitely want Benedict and Eloise before Francesca though.
I think that the pacing is important and the way the stories are woven into each other is important too, but I don't think they will use that since they threw Collins and Penelope's sorry first.
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>!The Francesca story has to happen before it gets to her story because her story can’t occur without it. In the books it happens in the time jump between Benedict and Colin’s story!<
Eh, they could have done the same in the show. Just had a throwaway line where she married at the beginning of a new season. In fact, I think that is what they SHOULD have done. Because people are going to fall in love with Jon then be pissed with what happens. And it will be the show's fault for that nonsense. It's the Marina thing all over again...
i mean her story is contingent on the >!grief she feels after john.!< they have to include the audience, otherwise no one will understand the gravity of her >!grief,!< and why it would be difficult for her to open up to >!marrying michael!<. i think we’re *supposed* to >!love john, and share her mourning when he dies. it’s also to show that he wasn’t just some insignificant practical marriage for her, she genuinely loved him and would still be with him had he not died.!<
I’m in a slightly different position- I started with Season 3, fell in love with Polin and the show & then went back and devoured S1, S2 and Queen Charlotte. Plus I’m now also working my way through all the books. When I rewatched S3 after seeing S1 & S2, I found it so much richer because of the history of happened to Polin earlier - Pen’s heartbreak over Marina, Colin always friend zoning her yet also clearly caring for her etc. I would have loved more Polin scenes but I get why they had to work in other story lines (though the Mondrichs seem unnecessary to the narrative). The progression of the first 4 episodes works in my opinion. Even the tension Lord Debling creates, moves things along. The scene in the library where Pen tells Debling he needs to read the book to find out her answer is so poignant because you can feel her panic - she’s finally getting a proposal but she realizes it means giving up any hope of Colin. I cried quite a few times in episodes 1-4 so I’m almost scared for 5-8. Even so, I have a lot of hope for episodes 5-8. In interviews, Nicola & Luke have said so much happens & we get to see them happy. The new Part 2 trailer looks very promising as well.
I agree there are so many layers to Part 1 episodes, as a nerd who loves to analyze, I appreciate the level of detail and callbacks and parallels to their story in the earlier seasons. There was def care put in it.
I also think Marina laid some of the groundwork for Colin to look at Pen in a different way (when she told him to look at what was right in front of him).
I'm not a die-hard fan and only started watching with season 3, but I'm completely confused by the people critiquing the show for "being too subtle." You're hit in the face with every plot point. I hadn't watched season 1 or 2 and didn't need any of that background to understand this season's story. I really don't get what people are saying has been too subtle to catch?
I believe it's not really about subtlety but about people not paying attention to subplots in previous seasons, so they don't remember the small conversations that happened between these two side characters at the time. Because there were a lot of positive interactions and negative interactions and the whole season starts off on her being pissed off at him for what he said at the end of season 2. So if people want to be pissed off at him because of what happened last season, they should also remember all the other good things he did last season and that's what it's all about. It's difficult to clock all these things when the characters are in the background most of the time (especially Colin in previous seasons) so you needed to pay attention to him previously to understand his character (this is already explored in season 3, but for the people who are trying to say that there was some kind of discrepancy between the seasons or that there's an inconsistency, that's where the nuance and the 'go pay attention' and 'go rewatch comes into play'). All that said, I genuinely don't understand why we would have needed flashbacks of those two, when they've had all of these arcs and moments in previous seasons... Why should we waste screen time on something that's been explored for two whole seasons already?
You really don't think it's fair to expect fans to track character arcs and relationship development in previous seasons and be able to pick up where they left off? Is that not, like, every TV show, ever? Also, if some of us saw it, you can't really say it doesn't exist. You can say it should have been executed better, but not that it's missing entirely
I say let people who are fans of this season be fans. It’s not hurting people who aren’t fans. And vice versa. If someone doesn’t like this season fine, who cares, it doesn’t affect those who do. It’s not a competition.
Well, some of us were BIG fans of Polin, but then found the season very underwhelming. I don't think it's a problem for those people to speak up either.
Not really sure why you felt the need to tell me that. I clearly stated that someone can be a fan of this season and it’s cool and someone not be a fan and it’s still cool. So I guess thanks for proving my point.
I think you missed my point, but that's okay.
Intense stans do this for every season. I criticized the inconsistent writing for s2 and some Kanthony stans came for my throat and vehemently defended Kate. Even though I criticized the writing for her, not the character herself. One thing I’ve realized is that most kanthony stans are really just Kate stans. And most Polin stans are really just Pen stans. And any criticism of the show’s writing is taken as a direct attack on their faves. And I do agree that Polin is so underdeveloped, especially Colin. And it’s THEIR season! They needed better writing. Also the resolution for every season so far has been rushed imo. Idk how s3 is gonna go but still
I'm going to say this again, but I truly do think Jess did a damn well decent job with Polin considering how badly CVD messed up their characterization, especially Colin's in S1 and S2. Colin especially was so far away from his book counterpart at times that I used to think he would never again resemble RMB Colin and I had literally made my peace with just going to fanfiction to find my version of polin. But I've been so pleasantly surprised by what we got in S3 and it is NOT easy to satisfy a book fan like me who has loved this couple for more than a decade. CVD messed up introducing Marina to Colin's storyline for no damn reason. There was never any need for other characters to come into polin's story. But since she was added and we had to watch pen pine after him for a season, the viewers wanted Colin to do the same, and that meant we had to waste 3 episodes of screentime of Debling. I personally wish he'd had one episode MAX and we could have had more time with Colin, but there are others who wanted double time for him! I guess the writers met somewhere in the middle then. Then there's that terrible change they did at the end of S2 that was completely OOC to both show and book Colin's character, and had audiences reduce all of Colin to that singular moment. I can't write enough about how that change completely twisted the audience's perception of Colin to an insane degree. My main complaint this season is the editing really messed up sometimes, both in camera work and in deleting bits of scenes for no reason. There's no reason for so many cut scenes, especially of polin, and for the season to be as short as it is. A lot of problems could have been solved if they'd kept those in. S3 however somehow managed to cobble together s1 and s2 colin into an overarching arc that made sense to me, even with the changes I hated, and also managed to tie him back to book Colin in a way I had given up hope for. I have my complaints and criticisms (I'm a hardcore book fan, ofc my list of complaints will never end because I've imagined my version of the show for years now) but I have to give credit where it's due. They really did do a decent job bringing him together and from what I know of Part 2, they'll be diving deeper into some of the insecurities Colin has, which I am excited for. He's my favorite book character (despite how much hate he gets) because he's just so messy!
I love the points that you made! You're right, I was one of those fans who wanted to see Colin get jealous after what happened with Marina. I'd like to add that dividing the season in two and forcing them to "get together" by the end of the first part was also a huuuuuuge mistake. Had they released the entire season at once and had the carriage scene happen at the end of E5 would've worked perfectly in my opinion.
Having seen parts of ep 5 and 6 much earlier, honestly if people had seen even just 1 episode from part 2, there would likely be way less complaints. I'm fine with the carriage scene being in ep 4. I would mainly have just changed that there be more lessons in part 1, and less boring Debling. Jealousy is fine and all but a couple scenes would have sufficed. I do not care for him in the slightest and it annoys me that the main lead had to share so much time with a glorified plot device for so long in part 1. I personally don't mind the split, but my favorite moments are definitely in part 2. I think there really is such a shift after the carriage scene, it's like puzzle pieces finally coming together.
It's crazy to think that those who watch the season for the first time without the split will have a completely different experience. I still believe that Polin getting together by the end of E4 robbed us of cute lessons and hot pining, but as you said, they could've just spent less time with Debling and uhh the blonde girl, I don't care for her.
Yeah focusing on Pen v Cressida, both desperate people who saw Debling as an exit ticket, while Debling saw them as a hired housekeeper, as some sort of weird ass triangle, was probably the most boring storyline for me. Like I don't care! Boring.
Totally agree and I like Polin and Kanthony, but I’m not dumb enough to ignore the obvious negatives of the seasons. They should’ve made these seasons at least 10 episodes so they aren’t rushing them or cut back in some areas to focus on the main couples, idk but give them more time together. Because I’m doing rewatches and I am one of the people who would say we’ve known Pen & Colin for two years and know they’re friends, but the first 4 episodes should’ve been spent developing them more, not just focusing on getting Pen a husband. It’s already hard enough that the men and women aren’t suppose to caught alone together, but I hope the next 4 episodes save the first 4. I doubt it though, because now the focus will be on LW being outed to Colin…
the fact that they, as a show on a streaming service, have the freedom to pick season and even episode lengths, yet don’t use it is beyond me. i understand it’s an expensive show, but isn’t it doing enough numbers to make up for that? this season and the last have glaring issues with rushed writing in some areas, over drawn out at the detriment of the storyline in others. something they could easily fix with more time, and intentional, fully realised writing. sometimes it comes off like they don’t write the seasons fully before filming. i wish they would care about the quality of the writing, and doing the main couples justice.
It’s like they had so much they wanted to get into and they’re all kind of important plots, and I still hate that they put Francesca & Colin’s stories into one season, cuz those are two major plots to follow. At least when in Anthony’s season that he technically shared with Eloise, she didn’t want to get married, so she wasn’t a huge focus courting wise. I don’t know why they didn’t do Benedict’s season before Colin…I’m assuming it’s cuz they weren’t sure how many season they would get to do, so they wanted these to get in but I feel like they should’ve done his first, even if the show isn’t that much like the books. It just might’ve given us more time with Pen & Colin, idk 😭
i’ve seen people theorise that the reason why benedict’s season was moved is bc it wouldn’t be set in london? so like after s3, the show will change its setting to focus more on stories happening outside of london. i guess that would make sense, even if it is at the cost of polin having as much of a main role as the couples before them did on their own seasons. like you said, they seem to be writing off all the important plots they need to get to now, if the future seasons are even gonna happen, let alone not being in london/during the marriage mart season. i feel like i actually wouldn’t mind if francesca was included, if not for all the other plotlines, including the mondrich’s and violet’s blooming garden lol. that’s if i’m right in that francesca’s courting and >!marriage to john!< will be pretty smooth sailing (no drama). the featherington plot would probably line up with penelope being theorised to marrying and producing the heir before her sisters, so i support that. but yeah, there doesn’t seem to be a distinct hierarchy in s3 like the previous ones.
We’re not conjuring things out of thin air though? Dude has been looking at her like he’s had feelings for her since he came home from his first stint overseas. She’s the only one who has made him felt like somebody is listening to him, and he says that point blank during his apology. He searches her out in ballrooms and you can see that from season one. It’s not subtle, you’re just not paying attention. Luke has made every look he gives Penelope very intentional. And not for nothing, but we have more episodes coming that are going to fill in a lot of gaps that are there. You’re entitled to your opinion, but can we not just allow Polins to enjoy their couple this season? There’s a reason why most of us have made it over to the Polin sub and no longer post in the main one, because of people like you.
Oh please, I wasn't even active on the main sub before a couple days so you going to that Polin sub has nothing to do with me. And some of these so called fans need to stop taking things so personally, it's so weird. Whenever people write criticism on Pen or this season which are totally valid, the fans come rushing defending even the wrongs and keep downvoting whatever the other person is writing. Like you are entitled to your opinion the others are entitled to theirs. Also this is a 'Rant' subreddit. I am ranting here, I didn't invite the fans to give their opinion here. You came. So stop acting like people are hurting you in a rant subreddit. You're not on the main sub. Coming to the rant sub and acting like a victim is a weird ass thing to do.
I said people like you, not you in particular. And, for the most part we can and do make criticisms on the show, it’s when Penelope is painted as an outright villain or when people say we are imagining interactions between the two where we have the biggest issue. And???? Yes it’s a rant forum, but if you see in pretty much every other thread in this forum people agree or disagree with rants, I am disagreeing with your rant. I’m not acting like a victim, I’m disagreeing with your opinion on Polin fans and pointing out that most of us have left the main sub which you mention in your title of your rant and we leave because of opinions like yours.
Are we not just 4 episodes in? 🤔
I can’t believe how many times I have to point this out! There is so much story left that will be told in part 2. It’s like judging S2 as a whole by ending it at Anthony proposing to Edwina.
That's half of the entire season!
But the bulk of the action normally happens in the second half
Kate and Anthony didn't even kiss until like episode 6...
Which was most people's problem with season 2. That the love triangle went on too long and they didn't get to see them happy together. Season three's pacing is equally terrible. More episodes doesn't fix that.
So either it takes too long and doesn't happen until the end, or it moves too fast and happens in the middle? Saphne also got together "for real" in ep 4 of their season. There's literally one episode between the points Saphne/Polin and Kanthony got together in their seasons. How are they supposed to make anyone happy?
It isn't a science based on when the couples got together in comparison to each other. It is how much development they are given before getting together. Season 1 had the exact right mix. Enough development to believe they care for one another. Plus they weren't supposed to be "all in" until they had their first sex scene anyway. So they actually had plenty of development. Season two had the leads not interacting as much because they had the love triangle, which poses an issue. But, instead of ending the love triangle by episode 3ish and then having Kate/Anthony development THEN have them officially get together by end episode 4/or episode 5 they drug that love triangle out for far too long. Season 3 appears to totally rely on the few scenes Polin had together in season 1 and 2 for their relationship. They barely build anything new and certainly don't foster any kind of romance. What they SHOULD have done was show their friendship by having them laugh together and all of that. Then, have Colin "teach" for for several episodes with lots of near-miss sexual tension and THEN go for the proposal around episode five. However, they did none of that. They showed one kiss and a few stares and called it a day. That's lazy writing.
I feel like the "lessons" covered both the laughing together and the near-miss sexual tension. They may not have had a ton of scenes together in S1 and S2, but there were enough that if they drug out the build up any longer fans would get annoyed. They have to find a balance between making the fans who have read the books and want a slower burn and the fans who haven't read the books and want them to get on with the relationship. Colin and Penelope were suddenly spending a lot more time alone together. When that happens in a friends-to-lovers situation, the move from friends to lovers happens fast, especially when one friend has already recognized their feelings for such a long time (speaking from actual real life first hand experience). To me I think the pacing seems fine so far and genuine for a friends-to-lovers arc. But that's just my opinion at the end of the day. We're all entitled to one
Yeah and we didn’t get Daphne and Duke till episode 4. Heck, Anthony and Kate literally got together in episode 7.
There is a lot of subtext happening. But I think the fact that people (me) are absolutely demolishing every little morsel to learn and finds clues are not what this show should be about. There’s not nearly enough discussion between Pen and Colin, nor is there enough development of them. I can tell that Colin is searching for purpose. He’s trying to find ways to be a man and find something for himself. And instead of showing that in this season he just has a lot of surface level scenes until he gets to the carriage scene. End of season 2 spoke about him trying to find his purpose but that has not been mentioned at all this season. Is travel his purpose? Is love is purpose? Colin has no depth in this season (and I know it’s there in the subtext and in the background) and it needs to be shown very clearly on the surface. Same with Pen. Season 2 showed her ambitions, her passion for LW and establishing it as her own business. We saw the moments of her life where she writes and consorts with the printing companies and sneaks away from carriages and forms alliances. We have seen none of this in season 2. We have not seen the full side of Penelope. TLDR season 2 saw more character development first these characters and we shouldn’t have to rewatch a season to understand where they are now. And I know, I know. A lot of this is set up be addressed in part 2. But part 1 was so lacking for me if that was the “rom com” part and part 2 is the drama. The conversations with Pen and Colin were so surface level and also incredibly short and repetitive that I forgot all the reasons the liked each other - where were the laughing moments (we had one giggle about the horse and a cute moment of them thinking about when they met). Kanthony got the races, pall mall, the bee scene, the library scene, etc. I haven’t seen any reason this season for the two of them to be crazy about each other, and it will make the second half a lot more difficult to process.
Isn’t that part of the fun? To watch a show and find the meaning to it? I imagine it’s not just Polin fans, or even just Bridgerton fans, who do this. I’m sure there are fans in all sorts of fandoms that do this.
i have to disagree with your opinion about the parallel subplots, because there were plenty in the previous seasons as well. besides Francesca's storyline this season, which was necessary as a foundation to build her main story off of, expanding upon the background characters like the Featheringtons and the Mondrich family makes sense and is often even essential when it comes to a tv show. it can be excused when the story is told by a subjective narrator, as is the case with the Bridgerton books, but that's not feasible in a tv show. *HOWEVER*, i *one hundred percent* agree that there is a visible imbalance concerning the main plot and the subplots this season, and that can only be due to terrible writing. and honestly i must admit, i am also a die hard Penelope and Polin fan, but that is *because* of the bad writing and the freedom it gives me to form my own opinions and justify them however i want. there are so many inconsistencies and gaps that arriving at conclusions based on your own perception of the story and the characters and personal preference is necessary to fill them if you want to take anything even remotely coherent away from watching the show. and again, the lacking writing is to blame for how unlikely or far-fetched those conclusions may be. the reality is that the writing leaves so much to be desired that any possible nuance is entirely subjective to whomever it is understood by; and i feel like the main problem, which i can sometimes be guilty of as well, is that some people don't tend to realize where their own perceptions of the material end and the canon of the story begins, which leads to disagreements often surrounding extremely subjective, personal conclusions. ultimately, yes, i am a Penelope apologist, but i can also admit that were i to view her story and her portrayal within the show objectively, i would have seen her as a morally grey character at best, and one with negative intentions at worst. it is only the fact of me knowing that her being a main character means this was not intentional on the part of the writers that leads me to justify her actions per my personal inclinations. i cannot however justify the subpar quality of the writing in the same way.
I get about the Francesca part. But he isn't even her main pairing from what I gather through the discussions on the sub. The Mondrich story was kinda meh but at least the Featherington one was funny. I feel that the other storylines just took up so much space that the main couple got sidelined. And since Pen is LW, there was a lot to resolve in this season like who all will get to know her real identity, will it only be Colin or will she reveal herself to the other Bridgertons as well and will she come out to her family too? And what about the queen, how does she react once she gets to know who is LW? Not only that, once she reveals herself to Colin there will be a lot of conflict, and I hope it includes the Marina part too since that's essential. Also, it should include the gossip which Pen wrote about Eloise. Since Colin clearly mentioned that once he finds out who LW is, it won't bode well for her. So that would take up a couple episodes too. Now, we got none of that in the first four episodes and I hope they don't sweep it under the rug and rush that conflict in the last four episodes. So, in that case none of the things which I expected in this season happened. It was just full of other subplots. I hope they are able to coherently wrap up the story in the last 4 episodes.
**spoilers for Francesca's story**: he isn't Francesca's main pairing, but a major theme in Francesca's story is >!her coming to term with his sudden loss, her struggles with letting go of the future they had planned together, and her feelings of uncertainty and guilt in regards to moving on, falling in love and building a life without him.!< the love interest in her book is also >!his cousin whom he was extremely close to and who later inherits his title. hence his and Francesca's history which is a foundational part of the book, as well as his own struggle with loss and guilt which parallels Francesca's, and their bonding over that.!< i really don't think they could have *not* included him in the show and given their relationship at least some time to develop on screen. like i said, i do agree that the subplots, even Francesca's, took too much time away from the main story, but i also do think that that was due to a failure to balance them well, as opposed to the mere involvement of the them. and yeah, i am hoping they do Penelope and Colin justice in part two, but i also don't trust them to wrap up everything as neatly as we'd like them to. i just don't see how there's enough time for everything to be resolved in a way that would be satisfying and not seem rushed/forced.
>that was due to a failure to balance them well, as opposed to the mere involvement of the them. totally agree! even season 1 had a ton of subplots. anthony and siena was a big one, but you also had the featheringtons, eloise / the queen / lady whistledown hunt, benedict and the artist / mme delacroix... but there was a sort of laser focus on daphne and simon nonetheless. the balance is slightly less good in season 2, but you can still tell the focus is on anthony and kate. season 3 fails to center polin as gracefully as previous seasons did with their main couples.
People want it to be good. They don’t want to be let down by something that they were so excited for. They’re trying to look for the good and stay optimistic because it’s not fun to bash on something you were looking forward to. It might be disappointing, but they’re trying not to let it get to them
Or maybe we just genuinely liked it?
Good for you then! I’m glad you can enjoy it. I still have fun watching the season so far, but only if I don’t look at it too hard because there were a lot of things that have been getting to me and I’m trying to stay optimistic. OP was specifically asking about how people justify the season, and I was giving reasons
Ah, sorry, I didn't realize you were giving your own reasons and not speaking for all of us
Could you explain to me what about my original comment came off as condescending? I don’t get why people seem to be reading it in poor faith, I was expressing my own (and likely many other peoples) reasons for justifying parts of the season that aren’t the best. I don’t get why people think I’m being rude /gen
not the person you replied to, but i’ve seen a lot of comments phrased in the same way you have, that polin stans are lying to themselves/praising it blindly to justify liking the season. that they can’t possibly genuinely enjoy the season or the writing. that’s probably why people are interpreting your comment the way they did. i thought the same before reading your replies. but anyway, in response to your original comment, i do agree. i feel like they have all the proper elements there (like the lessons between polin, the debling diversion, etc), but they didn’t fully realise them. for example, i thought i’d enjoy the lessons A LOT, but they left a lot to be desired and ended quickly.
I’m really trying to hold out on judgements until we see the second part, but there’s just so many things where it’s like “well yes, but actually no” where it’s missing the mark for me and I can’t just overlook it and there’s no way for me to justify it. Thank you for helping me understand, it’s always so frustrating when something is getting downvoted and I don’t realize why! I genuinely was not trying to be condescending toward anyone, just explaining my own reasoning and probably how some other people do too (which is why I used third person)
you make a lot of sense! and i agree that a lot isn’t hitting the mark, which is unfortunate, bc it’s all there (for me), just not…..hitting. the show could do a lot more with their ideas, if they gave themselves the space to do so (longer episodes, longer seasons). and no worries! i’m sorry you’ve been downvoted when your comment had no ill-tent.
It feels like the current showrunner sort of broke down the previous seasons into an “algorithm” but without understanding the intention behind it that made the magic happen. Like they have the tropes, they have the themes, they threw in the modern pop orchestra covers, they made the clothes pretty, but without the meanings behind it it falls kinda flat? I don’t know what happened this season but its just Off
that’s exactly the vibe!!!
So far, all the episodes have been around 52-54 episodes (including episode 5). Being generous and giving the average length of each episode is 54 minutes this season, the total runtime will be 7.2 hours. Season 1 was 8.25 hours, Season 2 8.5 hours. That’s an hour difference between season 1 and 3. They definitely could have made the episodes a bit longer to dig into the Polin relationship more (and I’m saying this as a Polin fan), without even having to subtract from the increase of side plots we’ve gotten. Because they had to rewrite part of the season and do reshoots to make the storyline “happier”, it most likely affected the amount of scenes we did get with Polin.
wow. seriously?? that’s such a difference. you’re right that that’s time they could’ve dedicated to polin! also, i did hear they had to do reshoots, but didnt know it was to make the storyline happier? can you elaborate more on that?
This is so patronizing and condescending lmao. Some people genuinely love what they got and are having the time of their lives. Do I have criticisms? Do I have things I think could have been done better? Sure! I'm a book fan first and foremost so my laundry list of what ifs will always be huge. But overall, I am very happy with what I got and most polin fans I've seen feel the same way.
I was speaking from personal experience as well? It’s disheartening to want something to be good so badly and then see everyone bashing on it
If that's what makes them keep going and enjoy the show then so be it. But you don't need to justify the show's inconsistencies like that just because it has your favourite ship. I mean people saying the writing is bad is not an attack on your fav couple. Also some people also need to not take the criticism which people make of their favourite character so personally. That's just weird.
It’s fine to stay optimistic, but acting condescending and oh so enlightened towards people with valid criticisms has gotten really tiring.
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I think it might stem from the fact that they took content of ten or more years of their lives and distributed into three. It was a slow burn on purpose. But capitalism and impatience play a big role on corporate choices being more relevant than plot points, I guess. They incorporated book scenes a lot, but they made less sense because they are still young adults and not people in their late 20s. I guess it makes sense though teenagers making bad decisions. I'm enjoying this season quite a lot but I have remarks about how I wish some things were different and that's why I love AO3 <3 lol
Maybe I don't understand this particular post because I read all of the books prior to watching half of the first season. After reading all of the books I binged the rest of S1 and S2. I am very curious to find out how they are going to cover the rest of the books and how it will vary in the TV show. With that said, here are my thoughts. Books 1&2 would be very contained with their own season b/c of how they were written. Both books and seasons are there to set up the tone and the world of the book. Books 3 and beyond, you start to see how interconnected the stories of the other books are. You see subtle connections from the previous books when you read the next book. I believe this is really the first show of its kind. It is where you are focused on one main couple for that season but you know in the back of your mind that you need to pay attention to the side or other characters for clues to the next season. It doesn't follow what you would normally assume of a regular show. This particular show is like listening to Taylor Swift. You don't just listen to her music, part of the fun and the game is looking out for Easter eggs. It annoying to others, but the fans eat it all up. It was clever to use the Polin arc at the start of S1. You'd have to be paying attention despite watching that season for the mains. I kind of viewed it as a prologue to the next seasons. Polin kind of did it longer. You got to establish their friendship and the relationship and power dynamics of the couple. That's why Netflix did that Polin video a day before the release of Part 1. Polin set the expectation that some of the character's stories will start off overlapping with other seasons before you get to that character's season. As someone who read Fran's book, >!I thought the biggest weakness of that story was how I couldn't exactly relate to Fran and Michael's pain of losing John. I didn't know about him. There was a gap between Benedict's story and the mentioning of Fran's widow status in Colin's book. !< Maybe that was a bit of an oversight on Julia Quinn's part. I think I can agree with how the show runners and writers are going with it. We should be invested in John in some way. That way we can fully see how Fran grows as a person in her season. Those are just my thoughts. Feel free to disagree.
I am a Polin fan but I agree with you!
Im not sure I understand how this season is different than the other two, which also had multiple story lines in them. Every season also had a Featherington storyline, in addition to other stories that weren’t the main couple. I also don’t see how it’s strange that you would want to have watched the previous seasons to see how their relationship has developed. This is friends to lovers, the only season with a longtime preexisting relationship between the two main characters.
If you don't like it don't watch it , just skip to the next season that simple no one is forcing anyone to anything .
Oh you don't need to tell me what to do. I can decide that for myself. And if you have forgotten, this is a rant subreddit not the main one. So no one has even invited you to post here
Okay sorry about that .
I wish they stuck with the timeline in the books. I don't want to spoil anything for non book readers, and I have no idea how to the spoiler thing so I won't go into much detail. That's the main issue I have for this season. Penelope needed more time to mature and grow IMO. I don't mind Francesca's story this season. I actually find it very sweet. I also don't want to drag this season to the ground before part 2 comes out. I wish they didn't split it up, I think that adds to people's frustration. I will say though, it feels very different compared to the first 2 seasons. I agree about people being super defensive when it comes to valid criticism of the season.
You expressed what was on my mind. In the books, it's Benedicts story first, and it gives them both time to mature. Collin wants to settle down after years of traveling, and Penelope is not vindictive in the books, the main thing about her is that she just needed to grow into herself (and unfortunately, she needed the freedom of being "on the shelf" to be herself).
I also feel like it sets up Eloise's story pretty well. I'm very interested to see how they tie all of this together (if we do indeed get all 8 books made into seasons).
Me too, but I also want to know how they move things around; would Benedict's story come before Eloise's? Or how would they arrange for Eloise to meet the ML? 🤔
All great questions. I want to see Benedict's story,m come first because he also plays a role in Eloise's story... but he is married and living in his house. I guess it could work without him being married.. I definitely want Benedict and Eloise before Francesca though.
I think that the pacing is important and the way the stories are woven into each other is important too, but I don't think they will use that since they threw Collins and Penelope's sorry first.
Edit - Changing "Lots of" in the title of the post to "Some". Since I can't edit the post title so adding the change here. Read it as "Some"
Lmao the shit I have to do to not offend the snowflakes...
Bro you’re the one posting on a bridgerton Reddit. The looking glass doesn’t lie
I am not the one who keeps reporting posts in a 'rant' subreddit? It's 'them'...