Bridgerton, Episode 8: We Found Contentment in a Hopeless Place
"AFTER THE RAIN"
The finale thankfully skips the annoying, unnecessary cliffhangers. So, that's great. Except for the identity of the new Lord Featherington, it pretty much concludes all of its storylines:
Marina
Phillip Crane arrives bearing the devastating news that George Crane, who was, in fact, loyal and in love with Marina all along, has died on the battlefield. He offers Marina his hand in marriage in his brother's place to which Marina declines because she "doesn't know and love the man". Also -- we're sure this is just a small factor -- she's no longer with child now, so nobody needs saving, thank you. For five minutes. Because false alarm.
The tea shockingly didn't work, and as she's back to being pregnant again, we helplessly watch her board Phillip's carriage, accepting the man's proposal. She asks Portia how did she stay married without love for so long. "You find things to love, my dear. Small things, big things. Eventually they add up to be enough," Portia tells her, among other depressing life tips. If it's any consolation, Phillip Crane does look like one of the good guys here(?). Question mark, because what does it even mean to applaud the bare minimum?
Colin
Colin is packing too, travelling the world, leaving Penelope heartbroken. I mean, I don't understand why she should be, but here we are 🤷🏻♀️.
Daphne and Simon
This is an escape romance drama, so somebody's got to have a happy ending -- the reason we're made to watch two people with less chemistry than an airplane's wings attached to a tricycle get one. But they first have to try everything in their power to not make this work. So Simon tells Daphne that he's leaving London, aka separating from her. And she responds to it in the only way that I think she should -- by just granting him his wishes already, and he can go wherever the fuck he wants.
But then there are Simon's unopened letters to the old Duke of Hastings that she finds in the study, and Lady Danbury's vouching for him, and his conversation about family with Will, and apparently sweet moments that he shares with her younger siblings, and Lady Danbury's another lecture to him, and one last dance at one last ball where Daphne challenges him to choose love even if things are not perfect. So I don't get it, but they reconcile and are shown in the end to have a son.
Benedict
Benedict is sort of secretly seeing Genevieve, and while I think she's great and super savvy -- and paid occupation gets a thousand extra points -- this is not it for them.
Eloise
"I suppose I should thank you for being so perfect, so I don't have to be," Eloise tells Daphne at the ball, both seemingly understanding each other's plight finally. Oh Eloise, here's one of the best pieces of internet wisdom that has kept many of us sane:
Eloise is very sure that Genevieve is Whistledown and tips the author off to prevent her from falling into the Queen's trap. But in the end, calling a suspicion derived from one conversation on a horse carriage "investigation skill" pays off in exactly zero ways. Soon enough she realizes that she's wrong. The night that she saved Whistledown in front of the printing shop, as it turns out, Genevieve was with Benedict. Then we are shown who Whistledown actually is.
Whistledown
Penelope really is the perfect Whistledown.
The Featheringtons
Archibald fixes Will Mondrich's match, and his winning takes his family out of their money trouble. But that also gets him killed. Then comes the question of who's going to inherit the Featherington estate as it has to be a man -- because obvs. Portia reads the note that tells her who the man is, looks distraught but does not announce the name. I'm rooting for her, really. She could use a break.
Anthony
Oww Anthony 💔. Siena left town without a word after the duel. But she reappeared with a handsome gentleman on her arm at the last Queen's concert. They reconnect at the Will Mondrich's fight, and Anthony asks her to Daphne's ball, essentially starting a relationship openly.
He arrives at Siena's place with a fancy carriage and flowers in the evening, only to be greeted by the aforementioned gentleman. Siena says that the man accepts her as she is and does not try to change her for some balls or make her second to his duty, tearfully asking Anthony to let her go.
Anthony, who a few days earlier surprised his siblings with his approval for Benedict-Genevieve friendship, announces the next day that he's ready to get married now and wouldn't care if it's not out of love. Ok, then. Here we go again.
Image: Netflix
The finale thankfully skips the annoying, unnecessary cliffhangers. So, that's great. Except for the identity of the new Lord Featherington, it pretty much concludes all of its storylines:
Marina
Phillip Crane arrives bearing the devastating news that George Crane, who was, in fact, loyal and in love with Marina all along, has died on the battlefield. He offers Marina his hand in marriage in his brother's place to which Marina declines because she "doesn't know and love the man". Also -- we're sure this is just a small factor -- she's no longer with child now, so nobody needs saving, thank you. For five minutes. Because false alarm.
The tea shockingly didn't work, and as she's back to being pregnant again, we helplessly watch her board Phillip's carriage, accepting the man's proposal. She asks Portia how did she stay married without love for so long. "You find things to love, my dear. Small things, big things. Eventually they add up to be enough," Portia tells her, among other depressing life tips. If it's any consolation, Phillip Crane does look like one of the good guys here(?). Question mark, because what does it even mean to applaud the bare minimum?
Colin
Colin is packing too, travelling the world, leaving Penelope heartbroken. I mean, I don't understand why she should be, but here we are 🤷🏻♀️.
Daphne and Simon
This is an escape romance drama, so somebody's got to have a happy ending -- the reason we're made to watch two people with less chemistry than an airplane's wings attached to a tricycle get one. But they first have to try everything in their power to not make this work. So Simon tells Daphne that he's leaving London, aka separating from her. And she responds to it in the only way that I think she should -- by just granting him his wishes already, and he can go wherever the fuck he wants.
But then there are Simon's unopened letters to the old Duke of Hastings that she finds in the study, and Lady Danbury's vouching for him, and his conversation about family with Will, and apparently sweet moments that he shares with her younger siblings, and Lady Danbury's another lecture to him, and one last dance at one last ball where Daphne challenges him to choose love even if things are not perfect. So I don't get it, but they reconcile and are shown in the end to have a son.
Benedict
Benedict is sort of secretly seeing Genevieve, and while I think she's great and super savvy -- and paid occupation gets a thousand extra points -- this is not it for them.
Eloise
"I suppose I should thank you for being so perfect, so I don't have to be," Eloise tells Daphne at the ball, both seemingly understanding each other's plight finally. Oh Eloise, here's one of the best pieces of internet wisdom that has kept many of us sane:
Eloise is very sure that Genevieve is Whistledown and tips the author off to prevent her from falling into the Queen's trap. But in the end, calling a suspicion derived from one conversation on a horse carriage "investigation skill" pays off in exactly zero ways. Soon enough she realizes that she's wrong. The night that she saved Whistledown in front of the printing shop, as it turns out, Genevieve was with Benedict. Then we are shown who Whistledown actually is.
Whistledown
Penelope really is the perfect Whistledown.
The Featheringtons
Archibald fixes Will Mondrich's match, and his winning takes his family out of their money trouble. But that also gets him killed. Then comes the question of who's going to inherit the Featherington estate as it has to be a man -- because obvs. Portia reads the note that tells her who the man is, looks distraught but does not announce the name. I'm rooting for her, really. She could use a break.
Anthony
Oww Anthony 💔. Siena left town without a word after the duel. But she reappeared with a handsome gentleman on her arm at the last Queen's concert. They reconnect at the Will Mondrich's fight, and Anthony asks her to Daphne's ball, essentially starting a relationship openly.
He arrives at Siena's place with a fancy carriage and flowers in the evening, only to be greeted by the aforementioned gentleman. Siena says that the man accepts her as she is and does not try to change her for some balls or make her second to his duty, tearfully asking Anthony to let her go.
Anthony, who a few days earlier surprised his siblings with his approval for Benedict-Genevieve friendship, announces the next day that he's ready to get married now and wouldn't care if it's not out of love. Ok, then. Here we go again.
Image: Netflix
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