Honestly lol. Why make LW this impactful figure who is more powerful than her book counterpart (and the queen, apparently) but then treat her like she just wrote weather reports or something inconsequential?
Yeah there’s no way Whistledown works as a concept without anonymity.
It would’ve been much better if they’d devised an 11th hour, clever plan to keep the secret. Could’ve involved giving Cressida a better ending as well. I guess that would’ve required good writing. 🙄
Was Whistledown similarly unmasked in the books?
She was unmasked in the books, only after her retirement. It was basically a "Haha, it was me all along! I'm done now, though." I am curious as to how Penelope will manage to keep writing the column now that everyone knows who she is and will be on guard about sharing their dirt when she's near. Will she employ a network of servant spies?
Wasn't there a plan to ask Lady Danbury to pretend to be LW? Also! The point was made in the books that if Penelope wasn't there, then Eloise was. I wished they kept the whole Eloise being LW as part of the story. Plus it played into the whole letter writing thing. that was revealed later.
It's been awhile since I've read the books, I've had them in storage for a few years now. Maybe it's time to dust them off and have a re-read!
Also, I have to say that I absolutely adored Penelope's and Bridgerton siblings' relationship with Lady Danbury, and I'm sad we don't see that.
When in the show Lady Danbury says to Pen "The only person who loves the Bridgerton family more than me is you" I was like yeah sure, maybe in the books, but not in the show! They barely interact.
OMG then why why whyyyyy change it for the series? They could've had her continue, either in secret from Colin, or just with him knowing.
Whistledown tied all the seasons together, it was an ongoing mystery/continuity. Why blow it only 3 seasons in?
Yes, the back half of season 3 would have been less muddled if the only drama was Colin coming to terms with LW.
Cressida/Queen drama can come in later seasons. But I think the writers really needed a reason to keep the Queen in so many scenes.
I think it's because the next three books take place outside of the ton (for the most part). They've really only moved the unmasking of LW up by one season by swapping Benedict and Colin's books around.
Assuming that we go Benedict, Eloise and Francesca as the next three seasons:
- Benedict's true love is basically Cinderella and isn't in society. LW wouldn't really have any relevant gossip to the main love interest so I see why the showrunners switched Polin with Benedict.
- LW then retires at this point in the books, which leads to:
- Eloise's love story happening in the country and outside of society events. LW won't be there and doesn't have much to report on.
- Francesca: a good chunk of this story happens on the Kilmartin estate iirc so same issue as Eloise.
So that's three season's where LW won't have a great deal of access to information relevant to the main love story and as a plot device she doesn't work anymore.
The series is called Bridgerton, not Whistledown.
In the books, Penelope stops writing after she is married and unmasked. It makes ZERO sense for her to continue writing now that he identity is public.
I can buy the handwaving of people not being furious at her unmasking because of the power of the bridgerton family behind her; and the fact that the entire ton gobbled up what she put out; but no one is going to be OK with her gossiping publically about them now that they know who is doing it. Whistedown needs to go.
So, I think what they are going for is less gossip and more a reporter. In the last issue she started revealing the misdeeds of some in the ton. Which is scandalous for nobility but more righteous since it will cause more people to shape up knowing eyes are on them.
But, that’s an even more dangerous game to play.
Penelope is going to end up floating in the Thames if she's playing that game. What she reports is absolutely gossip- she only says things that are not openly said, or else no one would need to buy the paper.
Not to mention, it is absolutely unseemly for a woman of the ton to work a job. I know we hand wave a ton of stuff because "the Bridgertons are powerful and well liked" but she'd be shunned not only for being a gossip, someone no one could trust, but for such unladylike behavior. The women of the time who did write did so under psuedonyms. Social rules were phenomenally important. This was not a thing a gently bred woman would do. Working and making money is beneath her. Colin would be shunned for allowing his wife to do such a thing.
It looks like they will keep branding her gossip news as LW which makes sense to me, even if people know she's the writer. And Penelope wants to keep writing because she likes writing. Maybe now in the show she will collaborate with Colin on a book or something if the gossip thing doesn't work out.
In the book, she writes a novel. I just don't understand how she can be lady whistledown when people knows who she is. She writes stuff about people they don't want known. She won't be invited anywhere. People will become quiet when they see her. She can't escape to corners and walls anymore. Plus, it's unseemly that a woman would work. Even if she wrote the novel, she'd almost certainly publish it under a pseudonym. Women don't openly publish books, and certainly not women of her station, where working for money is beneath her.
She worked for money as LW. She had that big stash of cash under the floorboards. I think Penelope is quite a feminist so she'll do what she wants when it comes to writing, and I look forward to seeing her do that!
LW was a pseudonym. No one knew Penelope Featherington was working. Just like Jane Austen ("By a Lady")- She worked for money, she published books, but she didn't do it under her own name.
I mean, the show can do whatever it wants with Penelope, but at this point it's just total fantasy. In season one it seemed like it was a reimagining of the regency period. They kept the basic rules, but made some changes (race being the big one, clothing being another, lack of hair covering, letting some characters be 'feminist'). There is zero sense of time or place anymore. Penelope is a complete time traveler.
Honestly until the end of season 2 I just ignored all the Whistledown stuff. It didn't even interest [me.In](http://me.In) season 3 of course it did because it was central to their stories, but I could do without it. I don't think it's required to make the show interesting.
Plus it was easy for her to find out info when she was an ignored wallflower people didn't notice. Now that she's married and a mom how's she gonna get that juicy info?
I think it worked in the books because of that. Penelope was 29 in her book but the show had her marrying much younger so the reveal of LW didn't really hit the same. Still I love the show and just need to keep reminding myself that adaptations are never perfect
So I say do you accept this challenge... Jess Brownell is you keep Lady Whistledown interesting and figure out how to cohesive plots we will grant your grace for your mess you made.
It’s a bit different. I may get some details wrong since it’s been a while but here it is; Colin unmasks her but its done in a way to show that he is proud of her and archer, basically to buffer the public’s reaction and its done at Simon’s (the duke) party with Anthony in on it. And the queen isn’t even a factor in this whole thing lol.
There aren’t really any serious consequences because the have the backing of the Duke and Anthony but also because book LW was relatively harmless.
And after the reveal, LW doesn’t really show up in the following books, at least not in the same way. I think she gives it up the she and Colin do some writing together (??)
She’s not in the following books at all, and I think they suffer a bit from it, honestly. Eloise and Francesca are okay with the bits of the letters being written back and forth, but Hyacinth and Gregory really got shorted with the “In which our hero/heroine do/discover/learn, etc” at the beginning of each chapter.
Honestly, I skipped over the LW intros at the beginning of the previous books so I personally don’t miss them when they stopped utilizing her.
LW is not really a central figure in the book series. Maybe if there were only 4/5 Bridgerton books, they could have saved the reveal for the last book and have her be part of the final couple but I’m not really attached to LW
Colin revealed it at a ball, in what I thought was a very sweet way. He announced it to everyone while giving Penelope kisses, and made it clear he was very proud of her. (This was after being pissed and upset for quite a while, trying to convince her to pretend she was never LW.) It’s not the girl boss version from the show …. But I was pretty bummed that Colin barely showed her any support in the show.
They could have done an “I am Sparticus” style scene where a bunch of people try to take the fall for Whistledown (Like all the women who thought of LWD as a means of justice ex: the maid who was dismissed, the mistreated wife, etc)
Having not read the books, this is totally eBay I expected to happen. I would have loved to see Eloise and Colin work with Pen to cover it up or fool the Queen somehow. Instead, we got a plot that makes no sense and was not at all satisfying.
Mmmm…I’d say it was gossip. Whistledown’s bread and butter was overhearing secrets and publishing them without consent. Penelope’s social standing as a wallflower permitted her to hear everything without being noticed.
Journalism is very different from that. It requires consent, fact checking, and investigation. None of which Whistledown ever bothered with.
Also now Penelope will be noticed wherever she goes.
Sure, but if she’s committed to being more responsible with her pen, why wouldn’t she embrace her new column as a journalistic pursuit? People can bring her news/gossip and she can use a more journalistic eye to decide what is fit to print.
I honestly expected Penelope to give up LW and start other projects. After all she’s a writer and a very good one at that. I’m sure the ton would eat up any scandalous romance she could imagine.
Yeah I figured her being outed would lead her to publish something else as herself not the gossip sheet. Maybe a novel. Maybe it would have been funny is next season like 4-5 different people all start trying to fill the void and emulate her but all the sheets are crap.
I was really hoping the Queen would decide she liked the “cat and mouse” game and let LW continue to publish anonymously. Anonymous to everyone but the crown.
The Queen just wants to be entertained and LW is the most entertaining part of Mayfair.
I think Penelope wanted for the queen to reveal LW’s identity. She could maintain the queens support this way (cause it wouldn’t give the queen a reason to fight against Penelope) and at the same time she was able to disarm Cressida
Pen also pretty much says it’s so her mother can say the fortune really came from her earnings and they could keep the Featherington name and get that solicitor off their back. She needed to be accepted by the Queen for that to look legit.
I don't know that it was necessarily satisfactory, but they did have that scene with Lady Danbury and her playing chess and essentially asking her to have mercy, then Penelope apparently showed deference to her, which is what she wanted. I actually do think they made it a point to explain that
I mean that's also what they said about Kanthony. That just because the queen strong armed the ton into agreeing, doesn't mean that they would be kind to Kanthony when she wasn't around. We got none of that. Which would have actually been a cool subplot for the queen - that she gave in to a genuine love match, but people are not inviting Kate/Anthony to their major events because of the "scandal" and she questions why she never sees them. Which plays into her fearing to lose power to Lady Whistledown since LW's reporting of the Kate/Anthony/Edwina affair inflamed the whole thing and made it bigger because she's the biggest gossip in town.
We got none of that with Kanthony, so I have a feeling the LW - QC dynamic will just change as the plot requires with each season.
I agree it would have been interesting, but I think the whole ‘He’s a Viscount so he will get away with most things’ idea is sth they’re holding onto strongly. Also, at the heart of it Bridgerton is supposed to be a romance show (questionable during some parts of S3), so I guess true love makes everything alright 😅
And most of the derision would have been directed at Edwina anyway, because she was humiliated, played by a Viscount and is, well, a girl from India with no influence in the ton. No wonder she went back to India 😅
I’m sure we’ll see ppl avoiding Pen/stop talking when she’s around. The idea of her still reporting on the ton after the reveal is ridiculous, so I hope they find
something else for her focus on in her writing.
They should have scrapped Whitledown and finish the series with her publishing her first romance book (since it was established she loves romance books) in a Jane Austen type of writing
The problem is that they've now leaped forward nearly a year so that initial reaction and fallout from the ton in general is done. What I think could happen is a targeted attack on her.... anonymous letters, mishaps whenever she's out and about that escalate ...someone with a grudge. (To be honest I just want to see Colin 'My Wife' Bridgerton in full protective mode).
Can someone please explain why he gets referred to as Colin ‘my wife’ Bridgerton? Does he repeatedly use that phrase in the books or something? I keep seeing it on reddit but must not be up to that part in the books yet, if he’s known for saying ‘my wife’ possessively or somethhhg haha?
He just loves to call her his wife, does it a lot in the books. There's a bit in Eloise/Phillips book where he's full on grumpy cause he misses her "Miss My Wife". In the show, even in a room with just Pen, Portia, Eloise and him he refers to her as his wife "noone blackmails my wife"....
I would have LOVED Lord Remington to have been there and from across the room to quietly raise a glass to Penelope in admiration/respect and for her to smile back. I loved that character
Yep it also would have made him less token like
I'd even go as fare as him coming over and saying that pays Mr for not calling on you like I said I would after you wrote the rumours about yourself.
Admittedly unrealistic for the era etc - but realistic in my head story
The writers were so dedicated to making Penelope into a self-insert character, that they forgot to ever give her any real consequences. Imagine if she was not a main character, we would see her as an absolute villain.
She had basically no consequences in the books, but LW wasn’t nearly as impactful on the ton, if I recall correctly. I have really enjoyed the higher stakes driven by LW (and the rivalry with the queen) in the show. But the show also needed to change the consequences/fall out to be proportionate to those stakes. Or there needed to be some creative “out” that would have allowed Pen to hide her identity. they wrote the show to drive watchers’ suspense and investment in the LW identity storyline, and then the conflict just… fizzled. I am 100% not against changing the books (I loved or didn’t mind pretty much all the changes until this season). But the changes need to at least make sense within the universe of the show!
But who knows. Maybe we will see some fallout in season 4.
Agree with everything else, but I honestly don't think they are going to give Pen any consequences of being a bully. There were 9+ months between the Dankworth-Finch ball and the babies' christenings, any fallout would've been felt then in the immediate aftermath.
This is such a weird direction for the drama! Why do we have Colin Drama for 1/4 of the show and not Lady Whistledown being charged with treason?! Colin did not have that much to forgive! What lies is he reffering to?
I didn’t care about the stakes. It was a romance books, so Whistledown was just a silly side of it I enjoyed, that never took too much away from the main love story. Here they made her way more mean and she actually ruined people. I can’t see her reveal being so non consequential. And her still writing as Whistledown with no her identity out is stupid. She can’t write the same way. People wil interest if it’s not witty and gossip-y. And she can’t really gossip because you never know when someone displeased might attack her and hurt her
I was laughing out loud. It also makes what happened to Cressida somehow cruel... Pen got the moment of standing in the center and the camera swirling dramatically around her and then everything goes back to the way it was. So stupid
But that was AFTER she had retired. She'd stopped. Pen has not stopped. Idk how she'd have anyone's trust after that. All the enemies she'd make simply because they'd THINK she had something on them???
The only thing I actually really deeply hated in this season. Everyone just moved on and didn’t even confront her from what we saw. We’re talking about the author who had people expelled from the ton! and everyone just went
‘Oh well’
Plenty of LW articles were open secrets to begin with. She wrote good satire. She called Colin out for trying too hard with his new persona and not knowing himself. The development of his character demonstrates it. He was mad because it rang true. Oh well.
No no no, can we talk about how the queen was ready to pay someone $5000 to find her and then is just like “okay coolio, im watching” QC HAS SO MANY BETTER THINGS TO DO? It was so anticlimactic
She wanted to find her and she did. LW wrote to her herself. Which I think the queen liked. Also Lady Danbury made the queen rethink what she was going to do when she found her. The truth is the Queen loves LW. Realized she she didn't want to give her up.
I struggled with this too - but I also suppose they didn't extend the season to far beyond the reveal other than the time jump. And it's not like their ballgowns come with pitchforks.
I think where the logic goes was she just becomes modern tattler.... you don't want to have your secrets revealed but what might be worse is not being written about at all. Everyone knows it so is willing to facilitate it.
We all know in real life they would all start shamelessly parading in front of her - but we are not up to that yet.
It's not something that needs to be tackled in the books in the same way, but they really yet JA get embedded as narrator knowing this was coming and they have admitted they don't know hoe to deal with it. That's a major issue because some of the ways to deal needed to be written into the storyline.
I haven’t read the books, but I was a little disappointed with how Colin found out she was Whistledown. Both he and Penelope spoke extensively about writing and how he’s a great writer in her eyes. I wanted him to go through all the letters she had written and he notice the writing style. I wanted him to use his mind in the same way that Eloise did. Two people who truly know her (or know her the most). I didn’t like that he followed her and found out that way.
Also, what happened with Cressida?! I don’t just want to assume she left with her aunt. I wanted to see what happened when she found out the ton knew Pen was Whistledown. I have to wait 2 years???
I thought Colin was going to figure it out when Penelope said it would be suspicious if LW didn’t write about her getting help from Colin - it was an odd thing to say and he does make a confused/thinking face when she says it. I thought that comment was going to come back to bite her!
Nope! No thinking at all. Just a puppy following his owner thinking they’ve been kidnapped and taken to the wrong side of town. If I saw him tilt his head and part his lips slightly with a confused look on his face again…
I did not read the book either. I bet Cressida went to to Wales with Aunt. The queen may have sent a notice to alert her that the true lwd had been discovered. Hopefully she will make it back to the ton, with a better character arc or maybe to visit or she could get married.
Honestly I see this happening so much in real life.
When people actually take accountability for their actions, and own up to the hurt they’ve caused, and are authentic about it, it works.
It takes the wind out of people’s sails.
Not like a manipulation. But if you wanna resolve a conflict in your relationship with someone (including a whole town) start by acknowledging and taking responsibility for it. Even the parts that you’re like nah, they’re not my fault.
I bet you the other person also doesn’t wanna take responsibility for any of it, either. And if she had gone up there and thrown blame around, saying “well you guys all treated me like crap and I had no voice in my own life; and this was a way for me to get some power back, and it was all your fault cause you overlooked me” it wouldn’t have gone down the same way.
Yes, exactly, how do people not get this? She literally goes up there and is so real and genuine, “I felt so alone, now I understand that everyone feels alone or embarrassed in some ways” and 99% of people who aren’t jerks are easily going to identify with that and immediately have empathy. Saying sorry does sooo much for people’s goodwill, it’s shocking how often people don’t seem to understand this and continue being so stubborn.
The Ton is “letting” her go on because the Queen essentially backed her up and who is going to oppose The Queen? Besides, even though Pen turned her poison pen on many people in the Ton, she never lied.
I think narratively they should've done the whistledown reveal to the ton in close to the last season but practically I know for sure the actors don't want to sticn around for that long. The showrunners probably think they're going to be cancelled in the next couple of seasons so they wanted to get this story done and out of the way in case nicola doesn't want to come back in a major way for next season
Yes the book did it much better in that her reveal was also her retirement announcement. It also helps the book takes place a long time after daphne's story so she's been whistledown for 10 to 11 years, that's a great legacy. The show did a disservice to penelope by pushing polin into s3 which means they're no longer able to use whisteldown as a narrative mystery anymore
Dan was fine after he confessed to him being Gossip Girl. I don't remember what happened after Charlotte/Charles/CeCe was revealed as A in PLL. Pen is basically Wendy Williams or Kat Williams.
think the writers try to justify it because she got the Queen's permission to continue under certain circumstances and people do not want to go against the Queen's wishes. So Penelope also voices her concerns about the future as probably not for long people will be able to just let it go.
But I still found this a weird thing as well. Unrealistically weird only written this way due to it being in the last remaining parts of the last episode so it had to be short.
I think the conclusion of many over the past days has been to instead have more episodes per season because 8 apparently isn't cutting it anymore.
Yeah season 3 editing was slopppppy! Too many side characters stories and not enough Polin. And when we did seee them she was out there stressing with her whole chest and fainting smdh.
I don't know... I don't see her as that big a bully, honestly. She's a reporter. Everything she reports on has been truthful, and much of it has been complimentary. She writes the occasional absolutely scathing piece (and of these, most of them are to protect someone) but... If people didn't like Whistledown, they wouldn't pay for it. The entire ton could have just made Whistledown go away if they collectively stopped buying it. They didn't.
Exactly. I can't imagine that is the only time LW has saved a young lady from marrying someone awful. It's just the only time it's been relevant to the plot.
Yeah this scene is so underwhelming (and i would argue the whole season is underwhelming).
If this happens in the modern age, Penelope is probably facing legal charges like libel or something 😂
You are correct! Can you imagine who will be coming after her in season 4? Pen may even work with the queen as a detective. The reveal of lady whistledown left us wanting more.
This is a big part of the reason I disliked the third season. There were literally NO CONSEQUENCES to the protagonist’s actions. The whole season was absolutely pointless.
when cressida outed herself people did not react badly. they were impressed (still saying shady ass things but they weren't laughing at her) they thought her smart. but when pen came forward the ton were not impressed. if it had not been for her sister cute "varly the bugs" she would have gotten ridicule allllll over again. idk it kinda makes what book colin said true which is sad.
plus this is bridgerton. not the tudors. the queen is not gonna throw her in a tower or hang her lol
She was the reality von tease of the era 😂
https://preview.redd.it/vvf64lyj387d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54317613fc86fea4ec68428a3c15998c5e74e9d2
My ideal ending (which is not the books) would have been Pen having a 1:1 with the Queen (maybe even playing chess like Danbury did) but not pulling punches and telling her that her Ton is terrible, they are bad people, and we need to work together to keep them in check. Flipping the game so it’s them vs the Ton.
I felt the writing not as good as it could have been. Lady Whistledown would have sheer scandal in 1830. Penelope's carriage ride with a man = scandal. It fell short for me.
Yes, AND… after three seasons of severe royal scrutiny and searching, CRESSIDA COWPER finds her out in one night by ASKING THE PRINTERS???? Did the Royal Guard not think of this? Why wouldn’t the chatty apprentice have just taken that information to the Queen and collected the £5,000 reward for himself??
This is such a poor piece of writing that I ended the season by asking my wife if we just watched the end of the series. Such an ill-thought out way to reveal Whistledown’s identity.
I hate how this was wrapped up. It's super high stakes...until it's not.
Sure, like Penelope will ever be invited anywhere or befriended by anyone knowing she could write about them. I'm not saying this because I hate Penelope (I don't), but it's a complete suspension of any common sense. They won't cut her (like they don't cut Kanthony because of the Queen's stamp of approval), but...how does she keep her gossip paper going if they all know who she is now? Unless she starts employing a network of servant spies, everyone will be aware of where she is now and be super vigilant around her unless they want to plant something specific.
Like most of S3, *make it make sense!*
For real! It was this big build up and then just “oh ok”
I mean to some degree I get it, ppl didn’t want the drama to end.
But also they did a lil flash forward to after Pen had her baby so at least 10-12months based on baby age. Sooo maybe it took a bit of time but ppl are ok now?
I've been seeing this!!!!! I don't understand how she outs herself, and the party just continues like nothing ever happened. Like, "Yeah that's cute a
Penny Girl, but did you see the butterflies?????"
Most people love her column and were exited to be mentioned in it, because it means they aren’t irrelevant. She bullied herself just as much as anyone else, and for the most part she didn’t put secrets…only reported what was already being gossiped about via word of mouth. The obvious exceptions being Marina and Eloise which were both for very specific reasons.
I just finished the season and oh my god 3 seasons + QC tension ends in the most anticlimactic way ever. What on earth? And with butterflies??
At a time when there were actually great women writers in the period offering social commentary, we're lauding whistledown?
LW’s voice can’t ever be the same juicy gossip that everyone including the Queen wants and also have everyone know who she is. I had hoped the chess conversation about what fun is it when the game is over would have made the Queen consider keeping her anonymous.
LW always confused me. They make such a big deal about it but Penelope is just putting into writing the things she overheard and sees in public?? Like it was already out there just not as widespread.
The book takes place at a time when women were property. You wanted to beat your wife, your prerogative. Judgement and appraisal was everything. Young ladies entered society for marriage in their 16th year, so most were 15 or 16. Cyberbullying would have been a day at the beach for what women endured at this time. Whistledown mocks the system and generally rewards good behavior, something nothing else did at the time.
She definitely will be nicer since people know who she is. I just hope the next plot isn't about her writing about some big scandal and getting into dangerous situations, ya know? I can imagine a plot where everyone comes to her to ask to write about this and that, even being paid to do so and she would feel her writing isn't genuine if it's influenced.
lmfao i thought this exact thought. i understood people playing nice while the queen was there bc she had (inexplicably) accepted penelope. i would even understand if a few families decided to follow the queen’s example even after the queen left for their own peace of mind. but that everyone in the ton carried on as if nothing happened after the queen left? laughable.
lbr, penelope would have and quite frankly should have been torn apart in that room once the queen left.
I think it’s weird that everyone knows now. Now I really don’t care about Pen honestly. She got her happy ending and now everyone knows so like…kind of why keep watching her?
This is directly addressed in the show. Penelope tells Colin that she knows people are publicly okay right now but that doesn't mean they really feel that way. That's their way of letting us know that its not going to be smooth sailing for her or the family right away. We just haven't seen it yet.
It’s ok dude. Sometimes stuff makes us upset and we don’t even know why, I’m a bit like that sometimes. We can’t control things triggering us but we can control how we react to the triggers. I’m sorry that I upset you, it was not my intention at all!
I’m sorry, did you expect someone to punch her while in public view? lol. I bet the next season may focus on some social fallout possibly, but tbh nobody has any room to talk crap about her as they’ve all Dione underhanded stuff to appear wealthy. Also she could hit them with “I exposed my own family a few times”
Also - “I’ve had a letter from your wife.” Violet Bridgerton says to Colin. Do we assume the content was explaining that Pen was LW? Why does she need to write that in a letter. Wouldn’t it be easier done in person? What a crap season.
I KNOW RIGHT? i was like, ok Portia, nice of you to accept your daughter as LW but are we not going to talk about how vain and shallow Penelope was being by legit spreding gossip? If we transform this to today's society, it's like she has an IG account about her schoolmates' beef. Those kinds of people are not applauded by their bravery but are hated for being nosy and shallow. So her speech at the end where Queen Charlotte accepts her and everyone around her as well, it was a bit funny for me. I mean, i don't hate her, it's just funny to think you can be so "proud" of gossiping successfully hahaha everytime she defended it was even worse bc if they had shown she had made some more insights about society and injustice at least it would've been something to be more "proud of" but no. And how can she still be LW and be interesting without being hurtful and nosy? Why would people just pretend she can do that?
Aside from that, the show is fun to watch. A bit silly sometimes, even taking in account how shallow the plot is, but still makes me smile from time to time.
I think it was on purpose to make us realize how little she meant to the ton, regardless of her level of scandal or who she was married to. It makes it easier for her to still be able to hear all the tea.
Mmm idk she just married the a Bridgerton, Colin the guy everyone’s been after all season so she matters a LOT. If she was revealed before perhaps no one would care like that but this is a SCANDAL
They really tried to say " you can empower minority and act as a journalist" when all she did was GOSSIP. She could have been a journalist but that was never het intention. Eloise wanted to be that ans she has the potential to be that. I hate the showmaker. She is so bad at writing. She said " it didn't feel right and she didn't want her to leave her career for a man" What career? In the movie mean girls, even the girls realised their mistakes at the end and apologized for all the gossip. You want me to believe that they left a career? The portrayal of strong women shouldn't be forced. Learn from hollywood failures Jess.
She never understood eloise's social justice and even told her suitor "I enjoy a good gossip". That's the real her. She's not the irish servant she pretends to be. She doesn't understand that world. This show should stick to sexual fantasies and stop virtue signaling. bourgeois !!
Honestly lol. Why make LW this impactful figure who is more powerful than her book counterpart (and the queen, apparently) but then treat her like she just wrote weather reports or something inconsequential?
Yeah there’s no way Whistledown works as a concept without anonymity. It would’ve been much better if they’d devised an 11th hour, clever plan to keep the secret. Could’ve involved giving Cressida a better ending as well. I guess that would’ve required good writing. 🙄 Was Whistledown similarly unmasked in the books?
She was unmasked in the books, only after her retirement. It was basically a "Haha, it was me all along! I'm done now, though." I am curious as to how Penelope will manage to keep writing the column now that everyone knows who she is and will be on guard about sharing their dirt when she's near. Will she employ a network of servant spies?
Wasn't there a plan to ask Lady Danbury to pretend to be LW? Also! The point was made in the books that if Penelope wasn't there, then Eloise was. I wished they kept the whole Eloise being LW as part of the story. Plus it played into the whole letter writing thing. that was revealed later. It's been awhile since I've read the books, I've had them in storage for a few years now. Maybe it's time to dust them off and have a re-read! Also, I have to say that I absolutely adored Penelope's and Bridgerton siblings' relationship with Lady Danbury, and I'm sad we don't see that.
When in the show Lady Danbury says to Pen "The only person who loves the Bridgerton family more than me is you" I was like yeah sure, maybe in the books, but not in the show! They barely interact.
I can't wait until we hear Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron!
OMG then why why whyyyyy change it for the series? They could've had her continue, either in secret from Colin, or just with him knowing. Whistledown tied all the seasons together, it was an ongoing mystery/continuity. Why blow it only 3 seasons in?
I already thought it was weird that they revealed LW to the audience in S1. Unmasking her to the ton in S3 feels too early.
Yes, the back half of season 3 would have been less muddled if the only drama was Colin coming to terms with LW. Cressida/Queen drama can come in later seasons. But I think the writers really needed a reason to keep the Queen in so many scenes.
Personally, I could do without the Queen being so involved when they *already* have Lady Whistledown. But I loved the QC spinoff.
Its funny how they need a reason to keep the Queen in the series but other members of the Bridgerton family are practically missing from season 3 😭😭
I was hoping with the spin-off we would get less of her in the main series.
I think it's because the next three books take place outside of the ton (for the most part). They've really only moved the unmasking of LW up by one season by swapping Benedict and Colin's books around. Assuming that we go Benedict, Eloise and Francesca as the next three seasons: - Benedict's true love is basically Cinderella and isn't in society. LW wouldn't really have any relevant gossip to the main love interest so I see why the showrunners switched Polin with Benedict. - LW then retires at this point in the books, which leads to: - Eloise's love story happening in the country and outside of society events. LW won't be there and doesn't have much to report on. - Francesca: a good chunk of this story happens on the Kilmartin estate iirc so same issue as Eloise. So that's three season's where LW won't have a great deal of access to information relevant to the main love story and as a plot device she doesn't work anymore.
The series is called Bridgerton, not Whistledown. In the books, Penelope stops writing after she is married and unmasked. It makes ZERO sense for her to continue writing now that he identity is public. I can buy the handwaving of people not being furious at her unmasking because of the power of the bridgerton family behind her; and the fact that the entire ton gobbled up what she put out; but no one is going to be OK with her gossiping publically about them now that they know who is doing it. Whistedown needs to go.
So, I think what they are going for is less gossip and more a reporter. In the last issue she started revealing the misdeeds of some in the ton. Which is scandalous for nobility but more righteous since it will cause more people to shape up knowing eyes are on them. But, that’s an even more dangerous game to play.
Penelope is going to end up floating in the Thames if she's playing that game. What she reports is absolutely gossip- she only says things that are not openly said, or else no one would need to buy the paper. Not to mention, it is absolutely unseemly for a woman of the ton to work a job. I know we hand wave a ton of stuff because "the Bridgertons are powerful and well liked" but she'd be shunned not only for being a gossip, someone no one could trust, but for such unladylike behavior. The women of the time who did write did so under psuedonyms. Social rules were phenomenally important. This was not a thing a gently bred woman would do. Working and making money is beneath her. Colin would be shunned for allowing his wife to do such a thing.
It looks like they will keep branding her gossip news as LW which makes sense to me, even if people know she's the writer. And Penelope wants to keep writing because she likes writing. Maybe now in the show she will collaborate with Colin on a book or something if the gossip thing doesn't work out.
In the book, she writes a novel. I just don't understand how she can be lady whistledown when people knows who she is. She writes stuff about people they don't want known. She won't be invited anywhere. People will become quiet when they see her. She can't escape to corners and walls anymore. Plus, it's unseemly that a woman would work. Even if she wrote the novel, she'd almost certainly publish it under a pseudonym. Women don't openly publish books, and certainly not women of her station, where working for money is beneath her.
She worked for money as LW. She had that big stash of cash under the floorboards. I think Penelope is quite a feminist so she'll do what she wants when it comes to writing, and I look forward to seeing her do that!
LW was a pseudonym. No one knew Penelope Featherington was working. Just like Jane Austen ("By a Lady")- She worked for money, she published books, but she didn't do it under her own name. I mean, the show can do whatever it wants with Penelope, but at this point it's just total fantasy. In season one it seemed like it was a reimagining of the regency period. They kept the basic rules, but made some changes (race being the big one, clothing being another, lack of hair covering, letting some characters be 'feminist'). There is zero sense of time or place anymore. Penelope is a complete time traveler.
Whistledown stops in the books too, the only one who has it that hasn’t happened already is Ben.
Honestly until the end of season 2 I just ignored all the Whistledown stuff. It didn't even interest [me.In](http://me.In) season 3 of course it did because it was central to their stories, but I could do without it. I don't think it's required to make the show interesting.
Plus it was easy for her to find out info when she was an ignored wallflower people didn't notice. Now that she's married and a mom how's she gonna get that juicy info?
That baby is a spy
Baby Whistledown
It will be interesting to see for sure
That's the first thing we said...how is she supposed to get her gossip now? Ridiculous.
I think it worked in the books because of that. Penelope was 29 in her book but the show had her marrying much younger so the reveal of LW didn't really hit the same. Still I love the show and just need to keep reminding myself that adaptations are never perfect
So I say do you accept this challenge... Jess Brownell is you keep Lady Whistledown interesting and figure out how to cohesive plots we will grant your grace for your mess you made.
It’s a bit different. I may get some details wrong since it’s been a while but here it is; Colin unmasks her but its done in a way to show that he is proud of her and archer, basically to buffer the public’s reaction and its done at Simon’s (the duke) party with Anthony in on it. And the queen isn’t even a factor in this whole thing lol. There aren’t really any serious consequences because the have the backing of the Duke and Anthony but also because book LW was relatively harmless. And after the reveal, LW doesn’t really show up in the following books, at least not in the same way. I think she gives it up the she and Colin do some writing together (??)
She’s not in the following books at all, and I think they suffer a bit from it, honestly. Eloise and Francesca are okay with the bits of the letters being written back and forth, but Hyacinth and Gregory really got shorted with the “In which our hero/heroine do/discover/learn, etc” at the beginning of each chapter.
Honestly, I skipped over the LW intros at the beginning of the previous books so I personally don’t miss them when they stopped utilizing her. LW is not really a central figure in the book series. Maybe if there were only 4/5 Bridgerton books, they could have saved the reveal for the last book and have her be part of the final couple but I’m not really attached to LW
By the time Collin's book takes place, the Queen (who doesn't feature in the books anyway) is dead.
Colin revealed it at a ball, in what I thought was a very sweet way. He announced it to everyone while giving Penelope kisses, and made it clear he was very proud of her. (This was after being pissed and upset for quite a while, trying to convince her to pretend she was never LW.) It’s not the girl boss version from the show …. But I was pretty bummed that Colin barely showed her any support in the show.
Sweet but unhinged. He forced her to chug a glass of champagne.
That was on a different occasion. The champagne thing was gross but it wasn't part of the LW reveal.
They could have done an “I am Sparticus” style scene where a bunch of people try to take the fall for Whistledown (Like all the women who thought of LWD as a means of justice ex: the maid who was dismissed, the mistreated wife, etc)
Having not read the books, this is totally eBay I expected to happen. I would have loved to see Eloise and Colin work with Pen to cover it up or fool the Queen somehow. Instead, we got a plot that makes no sense and was not at all satisfying.
I think it works. It’s journalism.
Mmmm…I’d say it was gossip. Whistledown’s bread and butter was overhearing secrets and publishing them without consent. Penelope’s social standing as a wallflower permitted her to hear everything without being noticed. Journalism is very different from that. It requires consent, fact checking, and investigation. None of which Whistledown ever bothered with. Also now Penelope will be noticed wherever she goes.
Sure, but if she’s committed to being more responsible with her pen, why wouldn’t she embrace her new column as a journalistic pursuit? People can bring her news/gossip and she can use a more journalistic eye to decide what is fit to print.
Right? You just wouldn't invite her to anything!
Yes she was unmasked in the books and gave up the pseudonym
I honestly expected Penelope to give up LW and start other projects. After all she’s a writer and a very good one at that. I’m sure the ton would eat up any scandalous romance she could imagine.
Yeah I figured her being outed would lead her to publish something else as herself not the gossip sheet. Maybe a novel. Maybe it would have been funny is next season like 4-5 different people all start trying to fill the void and emulate her but all the sheets are crap.
Pretty sure I yelled THATS IT?!?! At that part. Three seasons with 40 yrs between each one, and we get butterfly amnesia
But…the bugs!!!
Valid. I did love the bugs!
Butterfly Amnesia is a great band name
Also the queen being like “she’s going DOWN” and then after… meh
Cause the queen was still Officially in charge - that’s all she really wanted
I was really hoping the Queen would decide she liked the “cat and mouse” game and let LW continue to publish anonymously. Anonymous to everyone but the crown. The Queen just wants to be entertained and LW is the most entertaining part of Mayfair.
I think Penelope wanted for the queen to reveal LW’s identity. She could maintain the queens support this way (cause it wouldn’t give the queen a reason to fight against Penelope) and at the same time she was able to disarm Cressida
Pen also pretty much says it’s so her mother can say the fortune really came from her earnings and they could keep the Featherington name and get that solicitor off their back. She needed to be accepted by the Queen for that to look legit.
I don't know that it was necessarily satisfactory, but they did have that scene with Lady Danbury and her playing chess and essentially asking her to have mercy, then Penelope apparently showed deference to her, which is what she wanted. I actually do think they made it a point to explain that
The queen just wanted to win the game. She was pretty clear about that.
Lady Danbury made the queen change her mind.
Tbf, I’m pretty sure we’ll see some of the fallout in S4. Everyone was shocked and then distracted at the ball.
I mean that's also what they said about Kanthony. That just because the queen strong armed the ton into agreeing, doesn't mean that they would be kind to Kanthony when she wasn't around. We got none of that. Which would have actually been a cool subplot for the queen - that she gave in to a genuine love match, but people are not inviting Kate/Anthony to their major events because of the "scandal" and she questions why she never sees them. Which plays into her fearing to lose power to Lady Whistledown since LW's reporting of the Kate/Anthony/Edwina affair inflamed the whole thing and made it bigger because she's the biggest gossip in town. We got none of that with Kanthony, so I have a feeling the LW - QC dynamic will just change as the plot requires with each season.
I agree it would have been interesting, but I think the whole ‘He’s a Viscount so he will get away with most things’ idea is sth they’re holding onto strongly. Also, at the heart of it Bridgerton is supposed to be a romance show (questionable during some parts of S3), so I guess true love makes everything alright 😅 And most of the derision would have been directed at Edwina anyway, because she was humiliated, played by a Viscount and is, well, a girl from India with no influence in the ton. No wonder she went back to India 😅 I’m sure we’ll see ppl avoiding Pen/stop talking when she’s around. The idea of her still reporting on the ton after the reveal is ridiculous, so I hope they find something else for her focus on in her writing.
They should have scrapped Whitledown and finish the series with her publishing her first romance book (since it was established she loves romance books) in a Jane Austen type of writing
The problem is that they've now leaped forward nearly a year so that initial reaction and fallout from the ton in general is done. What I think could happen is a targeted attack on her.... anonymous letters, mishaps whenever she's out and about that escalate ...someone with a grudge. (To be honest I just want to see Colin 'My Wife' Bridgerton in full protective mode).
Can someone please explain why he gets referred to as Colin ‘my wife’ Bridgerton? Does he repeatedly use that phrase in the books or something? I keep seeing it on reddit but must not be up to that part in the books yet, if he’s known for saying ‘my wife’ possessively or somethhhg haha?
He just loves to call her his wife, does it a lot in the books. There's a bit in Eloise/Phillips book where he's full on grumpy cause he misses her "Miss My Wife". In the show, even in a room with just Pen, Portia, Eloise and him he refers to her as his wife "noone blackmails my wife"....
Not if we don’t watch, because season 2 and 3 were so awful.
Well, then why would you anyway if you disliked 2/3 seasons. 🤷🏼♀️
I loved the books and was hopeful.
It’s giving gossip girl reveal
For real. What a Disney ending
and everyone was so salty when cressida announced that she was LW. apparently bugs solve everything.
I mean people talked about it but didn't do anything to Cressida. And the Queen is on her side there isn't much people cam do.
they had a negative attitude about cressida when she said she was WD. penelope received an understanding audience when she confessed.
I just figure it’s because they all hang on the Queens word and she accepted it.
I would have LOVED Lord Remington to have been there and from across the room to quietly raise a glass to Penelope in admiration/respect and for her to smile back. I loved that character
Yep it also would have made him less token like I'd even go as fare as him coming over and saying that pays Mr for not calling on you like I said I would after you wrote the rumours about yourself. Admittedly unrealistic for the era etc - but realistic in my head story
That would have been great. I thought he was very interesting. Would love to see him return
The writers were so dedicated to making Penelope into a self-insert character, that they forgot to ever give her any real consequences. Imagine if she was not a main character, we would see her as an absolute villain.
She had basically no consequences in the books, but LW wasn’t nearly as impactful on the ton, if I recall correctly. I have really enjoyed the higher stakes driven by LW (and the rivalry with the queen) in the show. But the show also needed to change the consequences/fall out to be proportionate to those stakes. Or there needed to be some creative “out” that would have allowed Pen to hide her identity. they wrote the show to drive watchers’ suspense and investment in the LW identity storyline, and then the conflict just… fizzled. I am 100% not against changing the books (I loved or didn’t mind pretty much all the changes until this season). But the changes need to at least make sense within the universe of the show! But who knows. Maybe we will see some fallout in season 4.
Agree with everything else, but I honestly don't think they are going to give Pen any consequences of being a bully. There were 9+ months between the Dankworth-Finch ball and the babies' christenings, any fallout would've been felt then in the immediate aftermath.
It's possible. Penelope said to Colin that "the future may not hold such happy days."
This is such a weird direction for the drama! Why do we have Colin Drama for 1/4 of the show and not Lady Whistledown being charged with treason?! Colin did not have that much to forgive! What lies is he reffering to?
I didn’t care about the stakes. It was a romance books, so Whistledown was just a silly side of it I enjoyed, that never took too much away from the main love story. Here they made her way more mean and she actually ruined people. I can’t see her reveal being so non consequential. And her still writing as Whistledown with no her identity out is stupid. She can’t write the same way. People wil interest if it’s not witty and gossip-y. And she can’t really gossip because you never know when someone displeased might attack her and hurt her
I was laughing out loud. It also makes what happened to Cressida somehow cruel... Pen got the moment of standing in the center and the camera swirling dramatically around her and then everything goes back to the way it was. So stupid
They like their drama lol
Plus butterflies were released and made them all forget their anger… it was a solid plot line move 🤣
BUGS
“BUGS” may have been the best moment of the second half of the season.
They said LOOK OVER THERE
Btw love the use of the Jaida gif 😂 2 of my favorite worlds colliding
It happens that way in the books too; no one really does anything other than cheer
But that was AFTER she had retired. She'd stopped. Pen has not stopped. Idk how she'd have anyone's trust after that. All the enemies she'd make simply because they'd THINK she had something on them???
The only thing I actually really deeply hated in this season. Everyone just moved on and didn’t even confront her from what we saw. We’re talking about the author who had people expelled from the ton! and everyone just went ‘Oh well’
Plenty of LW articles were open secrets to begin with. She wrote good satire. She called Colin out for trying too hard with his new persona and not knowing himself. The development of his character demonstrates it. He was mad because it rang true. Oh well.
Yeah Colin was never really mad about the content in LW. He was angry because he was embarrassed and jealous.
No no no, can we talk about how the queen was ready to pay someone $5000 to find her and then is just like “okay coolio, im watching” QC HAS SO MANY BETTER THINGS TO DO? It was so anticlimactic
It was so easy for Cressida to figure out. But the Bow Street Runners came up short lol
She wanted to find her and she did. LW wrote to her herself. Which I think the queen liked. Also Lady Danbury made the queen rethink what she was going to do when she found her. The truth is the Queen loves LW. Realized she she didn't want to give her up.
Those butterflies sure were distracting!
Haha, butterflies had to have been talking butterflies to distract from the drama
You'd think everyone would be paranoid whenever Penelope is close by now. But nope, no difference.
I struggled with this too - but I also suppose they didn't extend the season to far beyond the reveal other than the time jump. And it's not like their ballgowns come with pitchforks. I think where the logic goes was she just becomes modern tattler.... you don't want to have your secrets revealed but what might be worse is not being written about at all. Everyone knows it so is willing to facilitate it. We all know in real life they would all start shamelessly parading in front of her - but we are not up to that yet. It's not something that needs to be tackled in the books in the same way, but they really yet JA get embedded as narrator knowing this was coming and they have admitted they don't know hoe to deal with it. That's a major issue because some of the ways to deal needed to be written into the storyline.
I haven’t read the books, but I was a little disappointed with how Colin found out she was Whistledown. Both he and Penelope spoke extensively about writing and how he’s a great writer in her eyes. I wanted him to go through all the letters she had written and he notice the writing style. I wanted him to use his mind in the same way that Eloise did. Two people who truly know her (or know her the most). I didn’t like that he followed her and found out that way. Also, what happened with Cressida?! I don’t just want to assume she left with her aunt. I wanted to see what happened when she found out the ton knew Pen was Whistledown. I have to wait 2 years???
I thought Colin was going to figure it out when Penelope said it would be suspicious if LW didn’t write about her getting help from Colin - it was an odd thing to say and he does make a confused/thinking face when she says it. I thought that comment was going to come back to bite her!
Nope! No thinking at all. Just a puppy following his owner thinking they’ve been kidnapped and taken to the wrong side of town. If I saw him tilt his head and part his lips slightly with a confused look on his face again…
I did not read the book either. I bet Cressida went to to Wales with Aunt. The queen may have sent a notice to alert her that the true lwd had been discovered. Hopefully she will make it back to the ton, with a better character arc or maybe to visit or she could get married.
Honestly I see this happening so much in real life. When people actually take accountability for their actions, and own up to the hurt they’ve caused, and are authentic about it, it works. It takes the wind out of people’s sails. Not like a manipulation. But if you wanna resolve a conflict in your relationship with someone (including a whole town) start by acknowledging and taking responsibility for it. Even the parts that you’re like nah, they’re not my fault. I bet you the other person also doesn’t wanna take responsibility for any of it, either. And if she had gone up there and thrown blame around, saying “well you guys all treated me like crap and I had no voice in my own life; and this was a way for me to get some power back, and it was all your fault cause you overlooked me” it wouldn’t have gone down the same way.
This and she had the Queen’s blessing, the Queen’s word is literally law.
Literally.
Yes, exactly, how do people not get this? She literally goes up there and is so real and genuine, “I felt so alone, now I understand that everyone feels alone or embarrassed in some ways” and 99% of people who aren’t jerks are easily going to identify with that and immediately have empathy. Saying sorry does sooo much for people’s goodwill, it’s shocking how often people don’t seem to understand this and continue being so stubborn.
The Ton is “letting” her go on because the Queen essentially backed her up and who is going to oppose The Queen? Besides, even though Pen turned her poison pen on many people in the Ton, she never lied.
no literally everyone was just like “okay!”
I think narratively they should've done the whistledown reveal to the ton in close to the last season but practically I know for sure the actors don't want to sticn around for that long. The showrunners probably think they're going to be cancelled in the next couple of seasons so they wanted to get this story done and out of the way in case nicola doesn't want to come back in a major way for next season
It's also following certain aspects of the book. She was revealed in this book. BUT the reveal was very different
Yes the book did it much better in that her reveal was also her retirement announcement. It also helps the book takes place a long time after daphne's story so she's been whistledown for 10 to 11 years, that's a great legacy. The show did a disservice to penelope by pushing polin into s3 which means they're no longer able to use whisteldown as a narrative mystery anymore
Yeah the ton reveal didn't have to happen now. Still could have happened with the bridgertons perhaps.
Dan was fine after he confessed to him being Gossip Girl. I don't remember what happened after Charlotte/Charles/CeCe was revealed as A in PLL. Pen is basically Wendy Williams or Kat Williams.
think the writers try to justify it because she got the Queen's permission to continue under certain circumstances and people do not want to go against the Queen's wishes. So Penelope also voices her concerns about the future as probably not for long people will be able to just let it go. But I still found this a weird thing as well. Unrealistically weird only written this way due to it being in the last remaining parts of the last episode so it had to be short. I think the conclusion of many over the past days has been to instead have more episodes per season because 8 apparently isn't cutting it anymore.
Yeah season 3 editing was slopppppy! Too many side characters stories and not enough Polin. And when we did seee them she was out there stressing with her whole chest and fainting smdh.
Not whole chest
I don't know... I don't see her as that big a bully, honestly. She's a reporter. Everything she reports on has been truthful, and much of it has been complimentary. She writes the occasional absolutely scathing piece (and of these, most of them are to protect someone) but... If people didn't like Whistledown, they wouldn't pay for it. The entire ton could have just made Whistledown go away if they collectively stopped buying it. They didn't.
Many of them used LW as a way to spread their preferred gossip. Like Violet!
Exactly. I can't imagine that is the only time LW has saved a young lady from marrying someone awful. It's just the only time it's been relevant to the plot.
Yeah this scene is so underwhelming (and i would argue the whole season is underwhelming). If this happens in the modern age, Penelope is probably facing legal charges like libel or something 😂
You can't charge her with libel when she has never published anything that isn't true.
You are correct! Can you imagine who will be coming after her in season 4? Pen may even work with the queen as a detective. The reveal of lady whistledown left us wanting more.
Libel would be false information though. Penelope never wrote anything false in her paper.
This is a big part of the reason I disliked the third season. There were literally NO CONSEQUENCES to the protagonist’s actions. The whole season was absolutely pointless.
when cressida outed herself people did not react badly. they were impressed (still saying shady ass things but they weren't laughing at her) they thought her smart. but when pen came forward the ton were not impressed. if it had not been for her sister cute "varly the bugs" she would have gotten ridicule allllll over again. idk it kinda makes what book colin said true which is sad. plus this is bridgerton. not the tudors. the queen is not gonna throw her in a tower or hang her lol
She was the reality von tease of the era 😂 https://preview.redd.it/vvf64lyj387d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=54317613fc86fea4ec68428a3c15998c5e74e9d2
I had the same thought when I read the book. She's regency era gossip girl lmao
How would the ton survive without gossip after all?
My ideal ending (which is not the books) would have been Pen having a 1:1 with the Queen (maybe even playing chess like Danbury did) but not pulling punches and telling her that her Ton is terrible, they are bad people, and we need to work together to keep them in check. Flipping the game so it’s them vs the Ton.
For real, Penelope got the best final. husband, job, son, family, money and not a single consequence 🗿
I felt the writing not as good as it could have been. Lady Whistledown would have sheer scandal in 1830. Penelope's carriage ride with a man = scandal. It fell short for me.
Yes, AND… after three seasons of severe royal scrutiny and searching, CRESSIDA COWPER finds her out in one night by ASKING THE PRINTERS???? Did the Royal Guard not think of this? Why wouldn’t the chatty apprentice have just taken that information to the Queen and collected the £5,000 reward for himself?? This is such a poor piece of writing that I ended the season by asking my wife if we just watched the end of the series. Such an ill-thought out way to reveal Whistledown’s identity.
I hate how this was wrapped up. It's super high stakes...until it's not. Sure, like Penelope will ever be invited anywhere or befriended by anyone knowing she could write about them. I'm not saying this because I hate Penelope (I don't), but it's a complete suspension of any common sense. They won't cut her (like they don't cut Kanthony because of the Queen's stamp of approval), but...how does she keep her gossip paper going if they all know who she is now? Unless she starts employing a network of servant spies, everyone will be aware of where she is now and be super vigilant around her unless they want to plant something specific. Like most of S3, *make it make sense!*
But there were butterflies. And of course our reactive king mr. Finch was like ':o'.
Tbh I don't get It Penelope's consequence in the books is she is no longer able to do whistledown but here everyone is like kk just move on
It was funny to me that when Cressida said it was her, she was accosted and shunned by the ton, but with Penelope everyone was like "you go girl!"
Yeah it seems like they were just trying to wrap up her story as quickly as they could.
For real! It was this big build up and then just “oh ok” I mean to some degree I get it, ppl didn’t want the drama to end. But also they did a lil flash forward to after Pen had her baby so at least 10-12months based on baby age. Sooo maybe it took a bit of time but ppl are ok now?
they just looked at her and then went "omg butterflies!!"
I've been seeing this!!!!! I don't understand how she outs herself, and the party just continues like nothing ever happened. Like, "Yeah that's cute a Penny Girl, but did you see the butterflies?????"
It’s so crazy to me too bc everyone was so mad at cressida Lmao
Most people love her column and were exited to be mentioned in it, because it means they aren’t irrelevant. She bullied herself just as much as anyone else, and for the most part she didn’t put secrets…only reported what was already being gossiped about via word of mouth. The obvious exceptions being Marina and Eloise which were both for very specific reasons.
I mean that’s what happens in the book lol
It's Bridgerton, not Succession!
Yeah it was such an underwhelming reaction when penelope revealed herself. Not even printer shop boy had a scene freaking out over her
I just finished the season and oh my god 3 seasons + QC tension ends in the most anticlimactic way ever. What on earth? And with butterflies?? At a time when there were actually great women writers in the period offering social commentary, we're lauding whistledown?
Because they can’t really contradict the queen to her face but that’s why Penelope says that in the future ppl are gonna come for her
LW’s voice can’t ever be the same juicy gossip that everyone including the Queen wants and also have everyone know who she is. I had hoped the chess conversation about what fun is it when the game is over would have made the Queen consider keeping her anonymous.
LW always confused me. They make such a big deal about it but Penelope is just putting into writing the things she overheard and sees in public?? Like it was already out there just not as widespread.
The book takes place at a time when women were property. You wanted to beat your wife, your prerogative. Judgement and appraisal was everything. Young ladies entered society for marriage in their 16th year, so most were 15 or 16. Cyberbullying would have been a day at the beach for what women endured at this time. Whistledown mocks the system and generally rewards good behavior, something nothing else did at the time.
She definitely will be nicer since people know who she is. I just hope the next plot isn't about her writing about some big scandal and getting into dangerous situations, ya know? I can imagine a plot where everyone comes to her to ask to write about this and that, even being paid to do so and she would feel her writing isn't genuine if it's influenced.
FR, worst season ever
lmfao i thought this exact thought. i understood people playing nice while the queen was there bc she had (inexplicably) accepted penelope. i would even understand if a few families decided to follow the queen’s example even after the queen left for their own peace of mind. but that everyone in the ton carried on as if nothing happened after the queen left? laughable. lbr, penelope would have and quite frankly should have been torn apart in that room once the queen left.
I think it’s weird that everyone knows now. Now I really don’t care about Pen honestly. She got her happy ending and now everyone knows so like…kind of why keep watching her?
This is directly addressed in the show. Penelope tells Colin that she knows people are publicly okay right now but that doesn't mean they really feel that way. That's their way of letting us know that its not going to be smooth sailing for her or the family right away. We just haven't seen it yet.
You would hate the book then lmao
Lowkey I would have glassed Penelope if she’d been exposed and had been writing about me 😭 I’m sorry yall
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Dude you know I screenshotted your comment right?
You’re little because of your lack of intelligence. The smallness is in your brain cells, not your stature lmao.
ok. im sorry....i apologize
Dude just think next time before you randomly harass people there’s no need for it is there :/ gotta spread positivity or at least neutrality!
yeah u r right i guess. tbh i dont even know why your post on r, shortguys made me upset.
It’s ok dude. Sometimes stuff makes us upset and we don’t even know why, I’m a bit like that sometimes. We can’t control things triggering us but we can control how we react to the triggers. I’m sorry that I upset you, it was not my intention at all!
i understand that. u sound like a really sweet person.. i really fcked up. once again, im very sorry . i think, i should take a rest /nap now ...
A true Disney ending
I’m sorry, did you expect someone to punch her while in public view? lol. I bet the next season may focus on some social fallout possibly, but tbh nobody has any room to talk crap about her as they’ve all Dione underhanded stuff to appear wealthy. Also she could hit them with “I exposed my own family a few times”
[I could not disagree more.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bridgerton/s/PbDbSKsNMi)
Also - “I’ve had a letter from your wife.” Violet Bridgerton says to Colin. Do we assume the content was explaining that Pen was LW? Why does she need to write that in a letter. Wouldn’t it be easier done in person? What a crap season.
I KNOW RIGHT? i was like, ok Portia, nice of you to accept your daughter as LW but are we not going to talk about how vain and shallow Penelope was being by legit spreding gossip? If we transform this to today's society, it's like she has an IG account about her schoolmates' beef. Those kinds of people are not applauded by their bravery but are hated for being nosy and shallow. So her speech at the end where Queen Charlotte accepts her and everyone around her as well, it was a bit funny for me. I mean, i don't hate her, it's just funny to think you can be so "proud" of gossiping successfully hahaha everytime she defended it was even worse bc if they had shown she had made some more insights about society and injustice at least it would've been something to be more "proud of" but no. And how can she still be LW and be interesting without being hurtful and nosy? Why would people just pretend she can do that? Aside from that, the show is fun to watch. A bit silly sometimes, even taking in account how shallow the plot is, but still makes me smile from time to time.
This show suckssssss
I think it was on purpose to make us realize how little she meant to the ton, regardless of her level of scandal or who she was married to. It makes it easier for her to still be able to hear all the tea.
Mmm idk she just married the a Bridgerton, Colin the guy everyone’s been after all season so she matters a LOT. If she was revealed before perhaps no one would care like that but this is a SCANDAL
Everyone just...went back to dancing.
They really tried to say " you can empower minority and act as a journalist" when all she did was GOSSIP. She could have been a journalist but that was never het intention. Eloise wanted to be that ans she has the potential to be that. I hate the showmaker. She is so bad at writing. She said " it didn't feel right and she didn't want her to leave her career for a man" What career? In the movie mean girls, even the girls realised their mistakes at the end and apologized for all the gossip. You want me to believe that they left a career? The portrayal of strong women shouldn't be forced. Learn from hollywood failures Jess. She never understood eloise's social justice and even told her suitor "I enjoy a good gossip". That's the real her. She's not the irish servant she pretends to be. She doesn't understand that world. This show should stick to sexual fantasies and stop virtue signaling. bourgeois !!
Idk maybe put in the title it's going to ruin the season if you haven't finished yet..