Into the Light

A general thought throughout this season, but most especially in Part 2 was the little screen time Colin and Penelope had despite being the Main Love Interests for the season. The B-plots took over more time than the main love story, some of them completely unnecessarily (What purpose did Benedict's storyline serve exactly?) It would have been nice to have more of Colin and Penelope's story, preferably them actually having love and affection for each other too rather than Colin being angry and Penelope being sad. The direction employed in this season doesn't give justice to Colin and Penelope's story. There is word going around that there were several deleted scenes of Colin and Penelope together that weren't released in the actual episodes and I can't help but think given how much Nicola and Luke gushed about their story in the promos that the production side removed much of their storyline. For what reason I would like to know. Overall, there were too many storylines and not enough focus on the actual main love interests, along with questionable directing choices. There were high expectations for this season, and they all fell flat.

This season, especially this episode, is for the women everywhere who have ever felt overlooked, undervalued and have the greatest ambition for themselves. This episode hit me square in the chest with its earnestness and sharpness. Penelope is perhaps the most dynamic and stiff backed character in modern depictions of the female archetype.

From cinematography to character development; this episode creates space for characters and families to explore the complexities of self. I am overjoyed to see the adaptation of these lovely books to a beloved series that I will be watching and rewatching. X.

I would give this a 10 had it not been for the random plots that took away from Penelope and Colin. We had 5x more random sex scenes with Benedict than the main characters? What even was the point of that? 86 scenes with the Mondriches??? I feel like they're trying too hard to add content to the seasons. The first scene had the perfect balance of main characters and side plot. The second season also did a great job. This season... it felt disjointed. Maybe it's because the show is extremely popular and they're trying to milk it for all it's worth but.... It just didn't seem cohesive. That being said, I loved most of this season and hope they continue to give us great romance. Give us more Polin.

The first half of the season was so good and really seemed to be leading towards an amazing second half but unfortunately, the second half was extremely lacking. Tons of side stories taking over leaving little screen time for the stars of the season, Colin and Penelope. I felt like there were things forgotten about until the very last second. I'm also not a fan of the comments made by showrunner Jess Brownell. She seems to be writing fanfiction of the show and removing or ignoring the things that made Bridgerton what it was. I cannot stand the changes she made. The first two seasons had changes that made sense and fit within the story but she's changed the vibe and the look and I can't stand it.

For the writers writing that Colin and Penelope wasn't as loved and shown as much as Daphne and Simon or Anthony and Kate, we must remember that Colin and Penelope were already well portrayed characters till this season. They both had their times and certainly there weren't much new things about them to address except mostly their love and obviously Penelope's moments as Lady Whistledown. Certainly just showing their love and proposing more new sets of worries between them wouldn't have been a better choice. Instead we got what we deserved - the awakening of love and lust from friendship and certainly those carraige scene and mirror scene did fullfillingly.

I am really pleased with how it turned out for them, and looking forward to how now that her identity is revealed, Penelope addresses the concerns as Whistledown. However, the deviation they did from the books with respect to Francesca's story is worth looking for. I am eagerlj waiting for how they are gonna takle the concerns especially considering the period they are writing for.