Something Wicked This Way Comes...

B & S / B & V LIARS

[tagohara]

it's being overlooked but as someone who has enjoyed taylor's character development over the course of the show, i really love how in this past episode she was able to welcome and have a genuinely fun time with belly's new friends compared to in season one where she was worried about being ditched. i think it shows how secure she feels in her relationships now, which is so lovely!

[2004exe]

in defense of steven conklin

i'm seeing a lot of people (especially on twitter) coming at steven, saying that this:

—is the same steven that was yelling at conrad. and well... yes, that's the point. i feel like sometimes a lot of fans tend to forget that steven isn't some random bystander watching this girl navigate a love triangle; he's belly's older brother and the fisher boys' childhood best friend. he is part of this family just as much as the other three are. so yes, this is steven. this is the steven who just watched his little sister's wedding day get ruined. this is the steven who has wanted nothing but the best for his baby sister. this is the steven that knows how things have gone down in the past, and how things have been going up until christmas. there are two important things to remember when talking about steven yelling at conrad. number one: before steven is team conrad, he is team BELLY. he is her older brother before he is anything else. it doesn't matter what team he used to be on and it doesn't matter what he thinks belly should do. all he wants is his sister happy, and to his knowledge, he's doing what he can to make her happy. he is her brother first. before anything. and number two: conrad left him too. it's easy to dismiss conrad leaving as him escaping belly, but what about steven? steven ended up as collateral damage while conrad was off doing his "sad boy brooding bs." yes, a phone goes two ways, but a phone goes two ways. if i were steven, and all the sudden my childhood best friend, someone who i considered my brother, disappeared to california and never talked to me again, yes, i'd feel some type of way. and then, years later, he magically reappears and immediately goes and ruins what i think is supposed to be my baby sister's happiest day of her life, yes, i'd feel some time of way too. listen, i'm team conrad but we can admit he deserved some of the backlash he got from steven. to steven's knowledge, jeremiah is everything belly has needed. we as audience members obviously know that's not true. so yes, steven may be defending the wrong guy. but he's not defending him just because he's team jeremiah. he's defending him because he's team belly. through and through. belly's been an unreliable narrator to him, too.

steven is a good older brother. hopefully he can have the same clarity that taylor had this past episode soon enough. cause if that's how he grilled conrad over his love confession...? god save jeremiah if steven finds out he cheated on his baby sister.

[kat--writes]

I do feel like in this wave of hatred for Belly we are forgetting that she has no idea Conrad is consumed by his love for her? Remember he took it all back at the end of season 2 and he’s been away for four years. She has convinced herself that any move he makes she previously would second guess or question as romantic is all in her head because that’s what he’s let her believe?

So yea, she’s desperate to perceive him as a brother type figure because she thinks that’s what everyone — including him — wants? But that’s innately not how she sees it so she comes off a total mess. If he starts really giving her a couple undeniable signals when they spend six entire weeks together that’s inevitably going to change how she acts and feels.

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

✌️✌️✌️

[mischas]

The O.C. Season 1, Episode 14 "The Countdown" Production Draft dated October 10, 2003 Episode aired December 17, 2003

[yellowdressesandyearning]

The other day I was thinking of how this scene is so much more funny in context!

Because at this point in the episode, we are well established that Colin has been raking around the continent for 4 months. He’s flirted with all the ladies of the Ton and is their season’s most eligible bachelor.

But the one who has him blushing like a 12 year old is his bestie Penelope…

[lovely-v]

It’s crazy and fucked up that being yourself is actually the solution.

[fantasiees]

if i ever seem awkward in any interaction, it is just because i am awkward. hope that helps :)

[muldery]

#i felt this on an emotional and spiritual level

BRIDGERTON (2020-) | S02E05 ‘An Unthinkable Fate’

[speechlessbuthopeful]

and people say they don’t understand Colin’s motivations or who he is at all in S3….

[drbtinglecannon]

You should be able to rot in bed for 2, maybe 3 hours after waking up before it starts affecting what time it is. If I wake up at 8:30 and lie in bed for 2hr it should still be 8:30 when I get up

[livinglights]

Ever since I watched this Chronicles of Noria vid, I can't help thinking how much better the season would have been if we'd seen Colin's tutoring sessions pay off by attracting more than one suitor for Pen.

With Colin acting as her secret wingman, we could have had scenes showing the benefits Pen got out of his tutoring. We saw Pen be socially awkward when talking to men without any real improvement. Imagine--we could have has scenes where Colin's "calling on" Pen in her parlour along with a host of other suitors--suitors he hadn't thought were his competition--and seeing how good and attentive Pen is with them, how she blushes and flirts the way he told her to, drives him mad for her. We didn't really get a chance to see him PINE for her as he slowly becomes more and more jealous of the men vying for her attention. We didn't get to see them working together as a team. We didn't get to see Colin conflicted about helping tutor Pen when he realizes his advice has worked a little TOO well.

I agree with Noria - the writers confused sex for intimacy this season to the detriment of Polin's on screen relationship. It's is a big part of why its second half felt so unsatisfying.

[kat--writes]

Sometimes I cannot believe the network lineup of TV that was the 1999-2000 schedule. I think it might be the best lineup of all time? Shows that were airing included:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Dawson’s Creek

Sabrina the Teenage Witch

Boy Meets World

Party of Five

Two Guys a Girl and a Pizza Place

Zoe Duncan Jack and Jane

Charmed

Roswell

Freaks and Geeks

That ‘70s Show

The Jamie Foxx Show

Moesha

Felicity

Popular

Beverly Hills, 90210

The West Wing

ER

Friends

Ally McBeal

Law & Order

Sex and the City

Young Americans

Suddenly Susan

Angel

[speechlessbuthopeful]

We were spoiled

[girllookingoutwindow]

The intensity.

[dollypopup]

I know what happened, the writers didn't know what to do with a male lead that wasn't Simon and Anthony. Simon had to deal with the trauma, neglect and anger towards his father. Anthony also had major trauma dealing with his father's death and mother's depression.

Colin? They didn't get into his deal. Not really. They were like "Oh, it's Colin. He has no deep dark issues we can explore."

And they left it there, not realizing that a 20 something guy who has no wait time and really wants to do stuff can and will cause all sorts of chaos and no, I'm not talking about the brothel.

It's Colin Bridgerton. The boy breaks things. Let him.

Truthfully? I think it's a lot of things.

I agree that the writers had no idea what to do with Colin, but he *does* have issues to explore. He does have depth. And it's more than just chaos and breaking things.

Colin's story could have spoken to so many people. How many of us have our lives figured out by the time we're 23? He's a middle child in a family of overachievers, in a family where roles have been snatched up already. Anthony is the leader, Benedict is the artistic one, Daphne is sparkling perfect, Eloise is outspoken, Fran is musically gifted, Hy and Greg are just children, but Greg's got determination and Hyacinth has so much sass and fun spirit.

What does Colin have?

How much better it would have been if there was even ONE writer in that room who loved him and understood him. Colin who is lonely. Colin who is young and unsure of himself. Colin who has been rejected. Pretty boy Colin that no one wants to listen to, who no one takes serious. Colin who stumbles through everything, just trying to be helpful. Useful, kind hearted Colin, who does his best and it never pans out for him. Colin who knows how to apologize, the ONLY ONE who knows how to properly apologize, because he has had to have so much practice in it before. Colin who has had his heart broken. Colin who has been lied to. Colin who has to build his trust up again, only to have it broken anew by Penelope when he realizes he's in love with her and she's been Lady Whistledown this whole time? That he can't *stop* loving her, even if his trust is in pieces? That he tries to understand?

How many of us are out here in the same boat? Earnest, good intentions, trying not to hurt anyone- pushed to the side? Unsure of our futures, doing our best?

They could have leaned into his neurodivergence- Colin who needs extra time to respond, who writes down and rehearses what he should say, who practices to fit in, who masks in society. Colin who can be himself around people he trusts and only them- even still feeling like they don't completely understand him.

Colin who hardly anyone wrote to. Colin who loves so deeply, and just wants someone to love him back in the same efforts.

Colin *does* have trauma. Colin has pain he can't voice. Colin cries alone in his bed. Colin tells everyone he's fine. Colin stops talking about his travels and his interests- no one cares. Colin brings ease to his mother, who went catatonic after his father passed when he was 12, and he smiles at her and brings her a beautiful gift and does his best to ease her. Colin compartmentalizes. Colin deals with his concerns alone. Colin is afraid to open up completely.

There is so, so much depth and beauty and relatability and humanity in Colin's story, in his narrative. There is so much to explore. Colin who smiles and laughs and looks to ease people, knowing that he likely had to take on such a role after his father passed. Colin who would rather be an outcast than the center of attention, bonding with Fran. Colin who respects Eloise's passions, bringing her feminist text and listening to her, who didn't tell anyone about how she went to the printers, who didn't disapprove, who supported her. Colin who just wants his brother Anthony's approval, too, and never gets it, no matter what he does. Colin who relates so much to Benedict, the both of them with an artists heart, but doesn't tell him, doesn't break open to confess what weighs heavy on his heart. Colin who watches over Hy and Greg in every scene they're in together, but is never overbearing as a protector. Colin who is tender and sensitive like his mum. Colin who holds the mirror to Penelope in reflection- well intentioned but fumbling, kind but ignored, but also in distortion- lost where she is sure, hypervisible for his exterior and neglected for his interior to her invisible exterior, though everyone listens in to her thoughts.

Colin who loves Penelope, so so deeply, who believes she would never forsake him, only to realize that yes, she would. Yes, she has. And Colin who, instead of cradling this heartbreak, puts himself aside to apologize, only to be lied to once again. Colin who *loves* in every definition of the world, so selflessly, and even when it blows up in his face, decides it was worth it because at least he *tried*.

Colin who tries. Tries and tries and tries, puts forth so much effort, rarely reciprocated.

How many of us can relate to that? How poignant would that have been to see? A man growing up, sloughing off the expectations of his society because at the core of him, he's a lover, a romantic, a dreamer, and he's been raised and influenced by the women in his life so he respects them and listens, who is coming into his own and struggling with his masculinity in a patriarchal society, who doesn't know what he's doing, who feels embarrassed and other.

I love Chaos Colin. Colin who goes in with his heart in his hands, no matter how many times it's been broken. Earnest, open, eager Colin.

But he's even more than that. There's so much to him.

I think the writers didn't know what to do with him, or they were afraid to fully lean into his story. They were influenced too much by a cruel fanbase who hated on him consistently for absolutely terrible reasons, for one mistake, one line, and his character suffered as a result. His actor suffered as a result. And honestly, I do genuinely think there was ableism involved. They even said they rewrote some extra Colin scenes in (like the willow and marketplace) because Jess saw Luke Newton perform Shape of Things and realized just how wide his range was. Why not write to the fullest? If you can't support and believe in your actor, why cast him? Especially when Luke Newton acted the HELL out of Colin. He did more building of Colin's character than anyone else

If the writers weren't ready to dig into him, I just wish they left him be, you know? If you can't love the character you're writing, if you can't find it in you to do him justice, why bother at all?

[speechlessbuthopeful]

now, imagine how great s3 would have been if we were able to actually focus on the real Colin !?

[tallandsleepy]

I would rather kms than play audio from my phone in public without headphones and I don’t understand how others don’t feel the same

[dailybridgerton]

Bridgerton — Season 4 Official Announcement

[indiaalphawhiskey]

Interesting what people are taking away from S3, particularly the discourse around how Pen wasn’t properly romanced or courted “because she’s a mid-sized lead.”

Babes. My love. Sweetheart.

Daphne was fake courted for weeks and then compromised and then denied a proposal.

Kate was all tension, turmoil and heartbreak and then compromised further.

Pen got:

- two stags locking horns over her affections,

- chased down in a carriage,

- a man on his knees for her begging her to see him as a prospect,

- the best (imo) “I have feelings for you and have no idea if you feel the same but I just need you to know it” speech since 2005 P&P,

- a very sexy and consensual, if compromising, romp in a carriage,

- FULL AND IMMEDIATE COMMITMENT WITH ZERO BULLSHIT because this man could not live one more second without her being his,

- defended to her mother,

- paraded around the ton and in front of her worst enemy’s face,

- the most utterly reverent sex scene in the history of the show,

- an engagement ring that matched his mother’s because of the parallel friends to lovers love story,

- and him constantly worried out of his mind that he wasn’t good enough for her

✨ AS ✨ SHE ✨ DESERVED ✨

I mean, maybe I’m a little too modern but that beats a promenade and flavored ice dates and calling hours by literal lightyears. That angel girl was thoroughly — damn nearly aggressively — romanced.

Do I still have issues with the screen time, absolutely, but Jesus if Colin wasn’t head over heels whenever he pulled his head out of his ass. (And even, sometimes, when he hadn’t.)

[loveisnotfinite]

Ahahahahah best post ever. Words. Pinning it.

[speechlessbuthopeful]

I have many issues with this season, episodes 7&8 especially. But it still had so many beautiful moments and two things can be true at once !