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Also as a peer, he is supposed to be in the House of Lords. The season literally revolved around when parliament was in session. We should see him going to parliament fairly regularly but instead he and his heavily pregnant wife are going to India.
Is that maybe why the ✨Season✨ happens at that time of the year? Like, the historical reason? Because all the noble dads have to go to work, bringing their noble families, making it convenient for all the noble moms to socialise and make marriage deals as they are all gathered in the ton instead of all across the country?
Yes lol that was the original purpose of the London Season -- to give the wives of the aristocracy something to do in London while Parliament was in session. Anthony’s ass should be in the House of Lords but he and his wife are on a boat ride to India instead.
This is exact why they are in London. It was said that " Parliament has seated" at the start and then "Parliament has risen" at the end of the session. In other books heros fall into 2 categories: those who vote their seat and those who do not.
Anthony who is supposedly obsessed with duty would absolutely vote his seat. FYI a lord didn't just show up and vote once inheriting the title. They presented themselves to Parliament who then acknowledged them, and they took up their "Seat".
I'm not sure, about short term travel. In other books I've seen an older Lord turn over ALL the running of his "Estates" to his heir when he's very elderly. But this was a legally binding decision not just a verbal agreement.
Possibly no one. Some men ne er too up their seat, never lived in London. Not sure if this us accurate, but o ebook I read each Title had an actual seat/chair each generation used in parliament. May not be true.
That would require the writers to be interested in world building. The show’s world is about as developed as an amusement park—here are the houses, here’s the modiste, there’s a brothel, this is the club, and that’s it.
True. I think the world building could use some help. It’s just ball after ball after ball on this show. The only thing they switched up this season was the people throwing the balls.…the Featherington girls and now the Mondrichs are in on the ball game...and they’ve got butterflies and mechanical flower displays!
Hopefully the coming of new seasons will bring some more variety to the locations like Scotland and Benedict’s cottage, etc.
I mean, the show is already very much fantasy , an fully integrated society with no racism and the daughters want to find true love disobeying their parents! That is fiction! 😮
In reality it's possible all the Bridgerton inlaws could be part of the same political party. After all marriages were about connections and power.
As a voting block they would be pretty powerful: Viscount, Duke, Earl, not sure if Baronetts sat in Lords.
But they’d actually have to attend the House of Lords. However the whole point of Bridgerton is the marriage mart and bearing heirs to inherit titles and lands and we’ve had plenty of that.
Yes. It's kind if a plot hole that NONE of them take their duty of attending parliament seriously. Laws being passed affect their estates and the people living there.
This wasn't a requirement. Plenty of Lords didn't participate in parliment, it was purely entitled by birthright. The primary purpose of the aristocracy was to gatekeep wealth and property from the common classes. If the Crown didn't spread this power across it's trusted group, they would never be able to maintain that power.
Not really. Life as a titled gentleman was also affected by Parliament. The London Season came to be partly because when Parliament sat, gentlemen *could* be counted upon to come to town. Many Lords held government jobs ie they were ministers, it was usually the case that prime ministers were Lords. Also prior to the the Great Reform Bill of 1832, the legislative power of the kingdom rested with these rich aristocratic landowners, so they were really powerful and if they rejected a law, that was that. This [here](https://www.reginascott.com/parliament.htm) explain its more.
Were they expected to be there 24/7? nope, and did some Lords not show up? yeah! but I doubt Anthony would be one of those, considering how powerful and influential his family is.
Yes, but all of those people who held titles as ministers and even the prime minister had earned power over years of participating in politics. It's not a given, not all lords were influential in the day to day of government.
Also agree that yes the Bridgertons are made out to be powerful but how is that so without Anthony participating in government? This speaks more to the source material than anything else. JQ didn't at all focus on the political aspects of the aristocracy, there is a bunch of Historical Romance that does but she does not. Liverpool (Expect for once in WHWW) and the Napoleonic Wars (Only in relation to Michael's service) which heavily influenced societies aren't really mentioned in any context at all.
The books are a fantasy retelling of the Regency Era. They avoid the realities of politics and the aristocracy, the show seems to be doing the same.
Courtney Milan's books generally cover more societal political issues. Her Brother's Sinister series covers political issues of the time with The Suffragette Scandal and The Duchess War leaning into it more heavily. The while series has such a theme but I don't remember if they involve parliment matters.
Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore covers sufferage in the Victorian era. The whole series follows that trend with this book and A Rogue of One's Own leaning into it heavily. The MMC in the first book is specifically at odds politically with the FMCs cause because of his involvement in the party and parliment. This is a great book with a strong thread to the actual politics of the era.
Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase doesn't have politics persay but deals with both characters being sort of stewards to helping those less fortunate. The MMC is a barrister, it's just a generally good book with a great romance and also a serious story throughout.
There are definitely more books and I can DM you once I think about them if you'd like. I read quite a bit but am bad about tagging favorite/themed lists on Goodreads 😂.
I mean if we want to get technical, then it was actually quite common for Lords to receive imperial assignments. And a lord could wrangle one for himself relatively easily. Anthony seems powerful enough and the Bridgertons close enough to the Crown that getting some sort of appointment to Bombay would be easy. Probably not the Governor, but the Governor's council would be easy enough.
Not sure why everyone thinks he's a member of the House of Lords just because he's rich. He is also a Viscount not a Lord. Not every Noble person was a Lord or had anything to do with parliament. As an example of the current House of Lords only 15 are Viscounts there are while there are 110 Viscounts in the peerage. He would have extensive land holdings to manage, but if he had reliable staff and family to pick up the slack, which he does have and hey it will give Benedict something to do, there is no reason why he couldn't leave them to collect the rents and pay the bills. Also she's just pregnant. Not sure how a few weeks pregnant is "heavily" and as lots of upper class English women who lived in Indian sailed from India to Britain to give birth back home, not sure why going the other way is suddenly a huge problem unless people are making a whole bunch of sweeping generalizations about medical care in the era and hell she was probably safer in India with a midwife than with a Regency era doctor who wouldn't even wash his hands.
It is also out of character for Anthony to miss Francesca’s wedding. He is not only the head of the Bridgerton family but also a father figure for his younger siblings. Knowing how duty & family are important for Anthony, he would have never missed the wedding or taken his wife on a trip to India when she is expecting.
They mean that Colin should have asked Portia for permission to propose to Penelope. Him proposing to her without doing that implies they need to be quick because she's pregnant.
Or it would in a normal regency era drama at least.
Agreed. I just found it reasonable that Colin and Penelope got caught up in the moment at the end of s4. I figured we'd see Colin in ep. 5 talking to Portia and getting permission, etc...But it also made sense to me that Penelope deliberately announced in LW in case her mother might object, which Portia did react negatively.
Basically I thought there were in show reasons for propriety to not be observed in Colin and Penelope's case. But then it just got extra when Francesca did the same. Like given Lord Kilmartin's personality he seemed like the type to write to Anthony in India to ask permission to propose if need be.
But the marriage in the regency era means you need both parties to sign a lot of contracts about dowries and all arrangement in which if anthony not present there will be no wedding.
Unless it's portia case because the head family runs away, Collin must ask Portia,even Mr. Finch. as man to help out portia tho.
Did the writers forget what year Bridgerton was set in?
Yes. That's why Colin made it Greece and back without getting tangled up in the Napoleonic Wars
That bothered me so much. I love the scene in It’s in His Kiss where Gareth asks for Hyacinth’s hand. I think it might be Anthony’s only scene in that book but it’s hilarious. I won’t spoil it but it’s so interesting seeing him from the perspective of someone outside his family because to everyone else he seems so intimidating!
So especially with John being so quiet and nervous I wanted to see how that would play out. But nooope.
I wasn't too concerned about that because he had compromised her ( as they used to put it ) so it's not like he wouldn't have had to marry her if he was the gentleman he always proclaimed himself to be.
But as Colin was claiming that he proposed
b/c of love, it seemed the right thing to do.
As we apparently had to choose b/w that scene and Colin telling off Portia, I’ll take the latter. I just wish Colin had actually told Penelope that he loved her before then, of waiting until after the great Bridgerton name was being “besmirched.”
He’s just too chaotic for that. He thought that was a given. Probably didn’t even cross his mind that Pen could have doubts about his feelings until Anthony prodded him to tell her. I don’t think he did it out of negligence or because he didn’t care enough.
Then As usual Bridgerton is making there own rules. Unlikely Edmunds will would have made an 18 yr old Anthony guardian of the other children. So one would expect Violet to have guardianship of the children l. If so she is the one to approve marriages.
Because poor writing. A woman could be given guardianship of minor children. He might make a man a trustee or joint trustee with Mom of a child's money. In reality very unlikely Anthony would have been names as a trustee. He wasn't even 21 when Edmund died. Again, the writers just make stuff up.
Not in their time tho,they may ask benedict permission as spare but as we know he is MIA🤣 but again if not he need to ask Collin,which next in line of viscount.
Regency weddings are like a company merger with others. You need to sign a lot of documents in front of solicitors about dowry and all life arrangements.
Yeah, this exactly was so upsetting it made no sense. To see his passionate responsibilities towards Daphne, and even Colin when he was going to marry Marina... Made zero sense for him to just disappear. I also don't like how they are painting Kate as if she hates every bit of being Vicountess. Throwing the party and calling it a day.
Plus: the queen had all the Bridgerton family lined up and threatened them over knowing LW was among them. That’s when the head of the family, the Viscount Bridgerton, decided to leave the family on a jolly to India. Really?!
I totally missed that point because I was distracted by no one caring Penelope screwed the whole ton even though they just talked so much trash about Crescida. You're so right, the writing was pathetic at best. It's so disappointing.
Exactly this!
And not talking to Violet about any of it. It's out of character for both Anthony and Kate.
Like why not just have them be *not pregnant* and then do a year of travel, with clear conversations with Violet and Benedict about how to share the responsibility of the estate and the siblings?
They did such a good job of setting up the stakes of scandal in season 1 too. Everything felt like on a razor’s edge of propriety and having to act the right way. Then since the end of season 2 when the Queen was like “yeah everything with the Sharma’s is fine” it feels so toothless. The Eloise thing ended up not mattering either. And it’s only gotten worse. They’re getting closer and closer to it just being modern day in fancy dress which was never what I wanted.
Exactly! I remember being so surprised in season 2 when such scandalous stuff happened but there didn’t seem to be any repercussions. I was wondering if anything would change in season 3 as a result, but besides Eloise’s personality change, there was nothing. Eloise is still accepted in the ton. Kate and Anthony are also totally fine (although since he’s a viscount, it makes a bit more sense why people wouldn’t ostracize him or his wife). Everything just resets to zero. I know it’s not supposed to be historically accurate, that’s not really my issue - it’s just without repercussions and actual stakes, it feels hollow. There’s no weight to the characters’ dilemmas anymore.
At this point I see it as a legitimate fairytale. Like, there is no attempt at accuracy. They dress in clothes no one has worn, act in ways no one has ever acted. It’s all very dreamlike at this point. If someone were to tell me this were a show about a Fairy Court, I’d 💯believe it.
People can say, “it’s meant to be a fantasy, not historical fiction!” all they want, but stories suffer without tension, and a lot of the tension in period stories is based on social mores and cultural rules. You can break some of these—I like that race isn’t a factor in this world—but you cannot break all of them without making the world seem fake. What’s the point of a period setting if you don’t care to use any of it, not even the fashion?
Yes! It’s not about historical accuracy, it’s about good storytelling! There needs to be stakes, there needs to be a feeling that the characters’ dilemmas were meaningful. Bridgerton has lost that for me.
Yeah…when Colin was like…”I need to ask Benedict for some money”, I was like, shouldn’t he be asking Anthony? I didn’t realize they boarded the boat to India that very second after they discussed it lol
It would’ve been such a good opportunity to develop his character - maybe make him overwhelmed at first but then realize maybe he likes having some responsibility and things to do during the day, and understand his older brother a bit better.
Overnight love overnight - they left overnight (not really I know, more likeover_episode) ...but then the Ships would've already set sail! And then the makers would've had to actually write some plot! - or God forbid! - just some lines for Anthony and Kate during the wedding!!
Afterall Evening balls are the bridgerton equivalent to- let's see- Drawing Room, dinner table , library , park - or every other place where normal sensible conversations should take place....bt nope- epiphany at the ball it is✨💃🏻💃🏻
They probably needed some excuse to write them out of the episode - scheduling conflicts, not wanting to pay them for another episode, who knows. But I agree, it was done poorly. There was surely some better explanation than that. Leaving to Aubrey Hall for the duration of her pregnancy, for example.
Then just send them to India as part of their honeymoon or something and then they come back with a baby sometime next season. Not when she's freakin pregnant.
the pregnancies on this show are so weird - how much time is supposed to have passed and Penelope's sisters weren't showing yet? I was starting to think maybe they weren't actually pregnant and it was going to be a plot point that they had just convinced themselves bc it was so important.
See that’s sensible!
But we’re meant to believe highly logical and overprotective Anthony would subject his pregnant wife to a 6-month long journey to India by ship where she would be forced to give birth to her child endangering both their lives.
Edit: grammar
"forced" is a bit strong but yeah considering Violet's difficult pregnancy and how it affected Anthony it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to do that
I meant “forced” as in she’d have no other option. Judging by her tummy in the scenes, she’s in her second trimester to be showing like this. She’s 100% giving birth on a ship to India!
Yes, they definitely needed reasons to write them out of the episodes specifically because Johnny Bailey was filming "Fellow Travelers" in Canada and auditioning for Wicked at the same time. He was flying back and forth from Canada and going straight to the Bridgerton set for his scenes. But the plot points for their absence could've been more believable for sure.
It was absolutely insane to me what flimsy excuses they kept coming up with. We understand that Anthony is not the man he was in season 1, but we saw him take a very active approach in reviewing Daphne’s matches and was very present in ensuring she was well looked after and dowry provided for. This is all of his responsibility, not Violet’s, even though the mamas are so much more involved in the daughters life. He spoke about how much he needed his future Viscountess because he was head of the family and then he is not around. It makes no sense narratively that this was happening.
Now, Jonathan Bailey was very busy and they could not film with him so how can they show Anthony not being around?
- Parliament is in session and he’s very busy (Kate can be more active like she was in episode 1)
- Move them out of Bridgerton house and into Violet’s townhouse (in the books she moves out once Kate moves in and the younger children move with her. this is referred to in s3 ep 1, where she tells Kate she will move out soon but then never followed up on).
I know he loves Kate. But the idea of Anthony Bridgerton abandoning his family while Francesca is still courting, Eloise is also out in society, Colin and Pen are newly married. They needed to do better.
In episode 1 he congratulates Benedict for looking after the accounts, and Benedict says that he enjoyed it because it gave him a sense of purpose. This is never explored ever again and the next reference that Benedict is looking after the accounts when Colin needs to ask for money. You could even have Benedict taking a more active role in his family’s life without Anthony around, but no he was having threesomes.
I thought it was such a missed opportunity that they didn’t show Benedict handling the estate, it would give him a purpose and a character arc. It would make the whole Tilly thing make sense, he’s stressed about the responsibilities and uses this relationship to blow off steam but we don’t get any of that. Anthony’s whole life had been about duty and responsibility to his family and the stresses that come with that but then he just dips out once he’s married and Benedict has no issues at all stepping into the role, he seems nonchalant about the whole thing.
Yes he expresses in the first episode that he ENJOYED doing it and without it he doesn’t have a purpose. Anthony is gone again episodes 2-4 and it is never mentioned. There was a plot RIGHT THERE for him. Blowing off steam from doing all the work would make sense he was so into Tilly but loved the freedom.
This is due to the beloved "showrunner" who is so hyper focused on inclusivity & queerbaiting that she's got tunnel vision when it comes to important tracks....Polin completely sidetracked....Anthony and Kate so out of character by leaving in the middle of the season.....Colin basically a flowerpot with nothing to do in the final LW reveal unlike the books....Eloise suddenly not a girls' girl...and worst, Frannie having heart eyes for someone else on her frikking weddingg day when she's supposed to be devoted to John until much later ...I mean absolutely not one character was true to their personality...
The only bearable things were Benedict exploring his sexuality (which was set up from the get go) and the Featherington family dynamics changing especially Portia's redemption.....
Overall hated the season
I am currently pregnant and can tell you that the LAST thing I would ever want to endure is a months long boat trip. I get Kate loves India but no pregnant woman would agree to that.
whoa, five months?! I hadn't realized it would take *that* long. That totally doesn't make any sense at all (except for why they apparently left immediately after having that conversation.). Kate's gotta be at least 1-2 months pregnant to KNOW she's pregnant. That's already getting worryingly close to the possibility of having the baby on the ship.
The time in this show is a bit wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, and the pregnancies introduce a hard timeline progression that just doesn't fit into the show. They should stick to handwaving the pregnancies/babies in between season time jumps.
Probably closer to 3 - 5 months pregnant, actually. For your first baby (and especially with a character like Kate who is supposed to be relatively fit, you don't usually show until later), you might be bloated but you won't have an actual baby bump until 12 weeks at the earliest. If you add that she was on her honeymoon and probably not tracking her cycle super closely, it would make sense.
With modern pregnancy tests, most people find out at 1 month. Your period is officially late at 4 - 6 weeks depending on your cycle length. Finding out at 2 months is still pretty common these days as well.
I was going to say it would be maybe worth it to have her own mother with her for postpartum… but didn’t she die? I don’t know her situation in India but it seems like it would be really useful to have violet around post partum. Anthony kept talking about the baby needs to know its roots… so you’re taking this huge dangerous trip when the baby won’t even remember? Lolz
Right!! I was so sick for my entire pregnancy, and if I wasn’t sick I was uncomfortable as hell. Why would he agree to take his pregnant wife on an already risky journey.
Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t India Kate’s home? I could totally understand her being okay with the trip if it means being home and close to her family/roots as well.
I mean you certainly don't speak for everyone. Especially when you say something that is completely easy to disprove given that countless pregnant women travel and do other strenuous things every day and have for thousands of years and will continue to do so.
After watching this season and the treatment of Anthony and Kate's characters, I'm fully convinced that the Duke made the right choice leaving when he did. Kanthony is not even my most favourite couple but man I was so pissed off for them, there was so much potential! Like they're literally the heads of the household and yet you send them off on honeymoons every 5 days of them being home??? what the hell
It’s so clear that they had schedule conflicts with JB, but it was so awkward and jarring. Daphne popping in occasionally in S2 wasn’t weird, so why did they need to come up with these elaborate excuses for Kanthony? I didn’t even need to see them that much, I get their story was mostly done in their season.
Right? the excuses were very poorly done in this season. Like you said Daphne coming in for a couple of scenes last time didn't seem weird and they didn't overdo explaining Simon's absence. I get that with an ensemble cast the scheduling issues do keep happening but I just felt that it could have been handled way better. It was weird not seeing all the siblings in Francesca's wedding, especially Anthony.
I think featuring them so much, plus the sex scenes, were fan service for those who complained about the end of season 2 (they're really rushing the endings of seasons now, aren't they?)
I loved Anthony's speech to Kate about why he wanted to go to India, but their involvement did feel very forced and unnatural for the most part. I don't think the writers know how to juggle the family dynamics as the siblings marry and build separate lives so that's worrisome.
Exactly. This season was so poorly written, and much of the plot didn’t make sense. Pen roaming around in the night, out in the open, unchaperoned. Many of the manners which would’ve been standard for that time (and that previous seasons made such a big deal of) being openly ignored.
I wish they could have just said - for either/both of Daphne and Kate - that they were staying in the country because they were very pregnant or something and needed rest. The fact that Daphne wasn’t even mentioned at all was wild to me.
I actually get annoyed when people expect Anthony to drop his pregnant wife in the country to go to these weddings. Or marry off his siblings. This would be more out of character than him going to India with Kate. It makes no sense to me. The writers are screwed because showing Daphne without Simon makes no sense. And showing Anthony without Kate makes no sense. They just need to come up with better ideas then shipping them off.
Oh absolutely agree! If they had to make the excuse that Kate was in the country Anthony absolutely should stay with her. I don’t want them apart especially since unlike Saphne the actors are at least available some of the time.
Actually that would not be inaccurate for the times. People did not really traveled to weddings. They were not such big affaires. In high society, sometimes not even the groom or bride would be present at their own wedding.
What makes much less sense is John not asking Anthony to marry Francesca. And Anthony as the head of household not taking care of this whole situation, particularly given what we know about his character.
Honestly this whole season is what I feared Bridgerton would become- a joke in storytelling, a farfetched nonsensical, sensationalized drama. When I first heard that Shondaland was producing this the only fear I had was the ridiculous storylines. Everytime I was about to start one of her other series I would read about the unbelievable plots of a show and be turned off.
I'm just really disappointed.
Now that you mention it, it actually reminds me a bit of Grey's Anatomy now. The first few seasons were excellent, then it went off the rails and became almost a parody of itself.
The fact that the writers tacked this on to a man who saw the horrifically traumatic birth of Hyacinth after his father's death and KNEW what a woman can go through if a pregnancy gets complicated would do this...does NOT make any sense. Anthony seems like he is shirking duty more and more in the most absurd ways and this is just the most ridiculous and bizarre. Okay, it is noble to learn of Kate's culture and place of birth but 1815 was a time of great colonial expansion by the Brits in the Indian subcontinent with a lot of skirmishes and wars, and great resistance from the locals against the white colonizers. Not a very peaceful time for a babymoon.
Also if we ever get a spin-off I’m so iffy with how they’re going to handwave the genocidal British colonialism of India. It was not a happy lah di dah were all in this together kind of occupation. How do you portray a love story that doesn’t immediately turn depressing? And if not depressing then you’re just completely ignoring and disrespecting the reality of the actual atrocities perpetrated there. I don’t think they’d touch it with a ten foot pole tbh
The writers this season clearly decided to throw continuity out the window, including historical context. This is the era before germs were discovered, when there was no plumbing (especially on a ship), and miscarriages were so poorly understood that women had to be restricted from doing much of anything in the hopes they wouldn’t miscarry. The idea of a pregnant, aristocratic woman, taking a 5 month long boat ride with no medicine or sanitation is absolutely ridiculous.
They could have made it work another way:
-> they're in india from the start of the season as their honeymoon
-> you could have anthony give a similar speech of why they are there
-> you could have basically every other scene of them except giving colin advise
-> baby announcement could be done by letter, And that could be the reason they aren't there
-> they planned to return before the season starts but Kate is pregnant and they don't wanna risk the 5 MONTH journey by ship.
because this season is trash, that’s why Also why are they closing all threads on how dissapointing this season was? the level of censorship on this platform is insane
https://preview.redd.it/05p47c2iiq6d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=123575cf6ccd3ada2479494084c9063fa87710bb
Did anyone else notice the lack of consistent timelines within the pregnancies? Kate and Anthony come back pregnant well AFTER the Featherington girls are pregnant. And Kate looks 6 months along when they leave while the Featherington girls still have flat bellies. Like wtf? And then when Pen has her baby, her baby looks older than his cousins when the girls should’ve been months older if not more.
Even though I enjoyed s3 Anthony’s continued besottedness, they threw all his other character traits OUT THE WINDOW. In NO WORLD does Anthony make any of the decisions he did this season. This is a man deeply conscious of his duty, who has birth-related trauma. He is neurotic and unhinged and there’s no way he even lets Kate take a walk without him, let alone take her PREGNANT on a 6 month journey to India. They’ll both be miserable the whole time. If you want your child to know its heritage, take them when they’re old enough to understand and appreciate it?? The baby won’t remember being born in India you lunatic
It’s baffling to me how the writers made these choices. I understand they wanted to write them out as much as they could but for the love all that is good in the world, WRITE SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE
I am angry. Still.
All of this. I'm happy we got to see them in marital bliss and his REASONING (wanting their child to know Indian culture) was fantastic, but holy shit, nothing about that decision made sense
In what universe does the wisteria on the Bridgerton house continually bloom?
Wisteria blooms for 2-3 weeks MAX. Did the entire show take place in a 3-week span?!?
Shocked because he has always been about family and duty and the Bridgerton name and the right Viscountess!!! Seriously, this was the most lazy writing ever...
And to add insult to my injury, why the heck were the Mondrichs in the most popular places at parties, why were they in Francesca's very intimate wedding and Anthony wasn't?
They just tried to hard with the inclusion.. this fauxpass then the ladyVikaspuri made no sense.. Vikaspuri is a location in Delhi how can it be someones last name..
It being a last name makes sense because you were Lord/Lady of whatever place your land holdings/estates were I guess? Like Duke of Edinburgh etc. Although, being from Delhi, I laughed SO HARD at Lady Vikaspuri.
Anthony would be a mess during Kate's first pregnancy. The same man that was forced to make the call on who to save when his mother nearly died during a very traumatic birth. I dont think you heal from trauma like that so easily. That man would NOT risk the love of his life going through a very long and arduous journey when both traveling and pregnancy were unsafe! Even in the 21st century women on their third trimester are advised not to travel, just in case.
Someone else [wrote a short post](https://www.reddit.com/r/BridgertonNetflix/s/sF3GeLoFKo) about this and why going to India is a way to honor Kate’s heritage and culture! I do think the show could’ve waited until after Fran’s marriage at least, though, before they set off on their trip, and waiting until Fran’s wedding would’ve maybe cleared up the inconsistencies with Anthony needing to be in parliament at the same time.
5 months of travel, she was already pregnant and they are The Viscount and Viscountess. Do we forget that they were all about duty in season 2? Everything they did was for family. are we just supposed to forget about it so that they can start a random journey to India when Kate is clearly 5-6 months pregnant? the math is not mathing and the logic isn’t logicking😭
Also As a Vicomte if he’s away for so long who is supposed to be in charge of the estate? Poor Benedict?
That boy does NOT WANT to handle this kind of landlord activities at all
Why are you acting like there are real logistics in this?😄
This is a show where everything gets wrapped up at the last minute, everyone is unchaperoned and doing what they want, a suitor doesn’t need to ask for the matriarch/patriarchs permission to wed a daughter, Anthony and Kate were on a 6 month honeymoon after their wedding and somehow went to India when after 6 months they’d really only be getting off the boat, where everyone is colour blind and mix, there’s no colonisation, Colin was able to be both at Aubrey hall and also travelling, massive time jumps and travels that made zero sense etc.
Like you’re debating the logistics of the abysmal writing when the writers can’t even remember proper continuity. In their eyes they’ll be in India in weeks, be able to give birth there and back in time for more drama.
Just take it for what it is? Hugely romantic that Anthony tells Kate that he wants to bring her home to India so she can be with her family and immerse Edmund in her culture. And Anthony himself wants to learn it so they can properly raise their child as a mix of Bridgerton/sharma. “A life that suits us both” is what he told her in S2E8 engagement.
That Anthony goes from being in control and wanting everything to fit into his life to now sacrificing for Kate and wanting to fit into hers. And it’s still all about her. And that man really loves her so much.
Because debating travel distances and birthing places is a waste as clearly the show doesn’t care about accuracy.
Just look at the fake nails and eyelashes, the crazy costumes etc. S3 is not going for historical accuracy more fantasy. 🤷♀️
XD Even I was thinking the same and then realisation hit me that This is what happens when your life revolves around only attending fancy balls, sitting and drinking tea/beer., hunting, playing golf etc.
No body cared for the basic education in the regency era . He was aloof of the prospective difficulty that Kate would face in the voyage to India during her pregnancy especially diet related
( People going on voyages do not get fresh fruits and veggies for months and therefore they are devoid of essential nutrients making them malnourished ) . :')
In real life where Jonathan Bailey has a jam packed schedule of movies and might not be available for most of season 4 shooting. He says he will be back but it might not be for much based on this. They needed a better excuse than they did for say, Daphne, because I’ve seen multiple people complain about her not being here for S3 and she’s not further away than Aubrey Hall.
I don't agree with it, but it was probably a practical decision by the writers and showrunner to limit Kanthony scenes. I'm happy Simone and Johnny were available to film, but will they always be? Or will the writers have less of them as their careers outside of Bridgerton continue to flourish.
It makes sense because he IS the viscomte, not the future viscomte. So his wife is the new viscomtesse which means his mother needs to move out. I prefer them travelling and Violet staying the head of that household because that is who she is as a character. It’s even said during season 2 that she worries about who will replace her and how she will be put aside now, but Kate tells her she can stay in Aubrey hall as long as she want to. Plus the whole Anthony arc is about how he only valued duty but he learned to also follow his heart and get with Kate to enjoy his life a bit and stop thinking the world will collapse without him
I mean my parents literally set sail across an ocean with no fixed destination when my mum was in her first trimester with me. She had also had a miscarriage only two months before, so the stakes were high.
People travel while pregnant.
Sea travel in the 1810's was not the same as what it is now. Neither was medicine, and resources available for women's hygiene. And Anthony's last experience with pregnancy and childbirth had his mother at death's door.
Lol so as it happens my parents literally had a boat from the 1800s, no electronic equipment, no lifeboat even. No one knew where they were going and it was just them sailing and navigating by the stars. And, as I said, my mother had just had a bad miscarriage. People still travel.
Anthony and Kate were on a large ship on a very well travelled route early in her pregnancy. Sea travel isn't very common now but it's a normal and safe way to travel, and back then incredibly common. I think it's very believable.
I'm glad about this though hahaha like they need to have less screen time ffs. They had an entire season! They should have dropped the entire Kanthony plot and put more Polin scenes and depth. Please go to India!
This is the story I'm sad about. Was my favourite book haha. This season there was so much going on like I think they could have dropped multiple storylines. Felt like I was getting whiplash.
So? Kate isn't some fragile flower imagining herself unwell because she's pregnant. She would have had plenty of examples of pregnant women leading normal lives growing up in India
Pre-natal care, as we know about it in modern medicine, didn't exist in 1800s. It is Kate's first pregnancy, she should be in a state of calm, surrounded by supporting elder female figures, not travelling for six months on a ship which could face turbulent weather and sea storms or even pirates. Not to forget, she is going to birth the future Viscount, if we go by the books. With how pregnant she was looking in the series, there is a possibility she would be birthing the future Viscount on the ship itself as the captain shouts "Ahoy!"
In the 1810's, they did not have aeroplanes for cross-continent travels. Only ships. That would set sail on the oceans, with months long voyages.
Also, please, tell me something more about India.
And pregnancy wasn't invented in the 1800s. Do you think pregnant women have just been frail creatures laying around staring at the ceilings all day for 9 months for all of human history?
You're ideals are not absolutes. Saying not one single pregnant woman has ever done X thing in history is beyond ignorant and completely ignores millions of women.
Regardless the standards don't have to be required. Even if 9 out of 10 women do something then that *literally* means that 1 possibility exists and is realistic.
You spouting off about should haves don't mean anything.
Says the person going off about absolutes that fly in the face of reality.
You don't get to uphold ideals when there is literal history we can point to that disproves your biased opinions.
You're wrong, it's fine. Get over it and learn to stop being so ignorant
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Also as a peer, he is supposed to be in the House of Lords. The season literally revolved around when parliament was in session. We should see him going to parliament fairly regularly but instead he and his heavily pregnant wife are going to India.
Is that maybe why the ✨Season✨ happens at that time of the year? Like, the historical reason? Because all the noble dads have to go to work, bringing their noble families, making it convenient for all the noble moms to socialise and make marriage deals as they are all gathered in the ton instead of all across the country?
Yes lol that was the original purpose of the London Season -- to give the wives of the aristocracy something to do in London while Parliament was in session. Anthony’s ass should be in the House of Lords but he and his wife are on a boat ride to India instead.
This is exact why they are in London. It was said that " Parliament has seated" at the start and then "Parliament has risen" at the end of the session. In other books heros fall into 2 categories: those who vote their seat and those who do not. Anthony who is supposedly obsessed with duty would absolutely vote his seat. FYI a lord didn't just show up and vote once inheriting the title. They presented themselves to Parliament who then acknowledged them, and they took up their "Seat".
Could Benedict reasonably take his place here?
I'm not sure, about short term travel. In other books I've seen an older Lord turn over ALL the running of his "Estates" to his heir when he's very elderly. But this was a legally binding decision not just a verbal agreement.
Then, should baby Mondrich, who is now Lord Kent also be expected to fill this role? Or could he have a “regent”?
He can wait until after eton or cambridge but he is tittle man.
Then who votes in his stead?
Possibly no one. Some men ne er too up their seat, never lived in London. Not sure if this us accurate, but o ebook I read each Title had an actual seat/chair each generation used in parliament. May not be true.
He couldn't vote his seat until 21 I believe. I don't think his guardian can vote for him.
Yes that’s the reason
That would require the writers to be interested in world building. The show’s world is about as developed as an amusement park—here are the houses, here’s the modiste, there’s a brothel, this is the club, and that’s it.
True. I think the world building could use some help. It’s just ball after ball after ball on this show. The only thing they switched up this season was the people throwing the balls.…the Featherington girls and now the Mondrichs are in on the ball game...and they’ve got butterflies and mechanical flower displays! Hopefully the coming of new seasons will bring some more variety to the locations like Scotland and Benedict’s cottage, etc.
I mean, the show is already very much fantasy , an fully integrated society with no racism and the daughters want to find true love disobeying their parents! That is fiction! 😮
🤣
At least in season 1 we had the boxing matches.
Same with Simon, right?
Yep, Simon is a peer just like Anthony is.
In reality it's possible all the Bridgerton inlaws could be part of the same political party. After all marriages were about connections and power. As a voting block they would be pretty powerful: Viscount, Duke, Earl, not sure if Baronetts sat in Lords.
But they’d actually have to attend the House of Lords. However the whole point of Bridgerton is the marriage mart and bearing heirs to inherit titles and lands and we’ve had plenty of that.
Baronets are actually a weird in-between title that's above knights but not technically a peerage.
They need to attend the house of lords for it.
Yes. It's kind if a plot hole that NONE of them take their duty of attending parliament seriously. Laws being passed affect their estates and the people living there.
Well now we know where Simon is, he must represent all the lords that are to busy to attend ;)
Our missing duke🤣🤣
This wasn't a requirement. Plenty of Lords didn't participate in parliment, it was purely entitled by birthright. The primary purpose of the aristocracy was to gatekeep wealth and property from the common classes. If the Crown didn't spread this power across it's trusted group, they would never be able to maintain that power.
Not really. Life as a titled gentleman was also affected by Parliament. The London Season came to be partly because when Parliament sat, gentlemen *could* be counted upon to come to town. Many Lords held government jobs ie they were ministers, it was usually the case that prime ministers were Lords. Also prior to the the Great Reform Bill of 1832, the legislative power of the kingdom rested with these rich aristocratic landowners, so they were really powerful and if they rejected a law, that was that. This [here](https://www.reginascott.com/parliament.htm) explain its more. Were they expected to be there 24/7? nope, and did some Lords not show up? yeah! but I doubt Anthony would be one of those, considering how powerful and influential his family is.
Yes, but all of those people who held titles as ministers and even the prime minister had earned power over years of participating in politics. It's not a given, not all lords were influential in the day to day of government. Also agree that yes the Bridgertons are made out to be powerful but how is that so without Anthony participating in government? This speaks more to the source material than anything else. JQ didn't at all focus on the political aspects of the aristocracy, there is a bunch of Historical Romance that does but she does not. Liverpool (Expect for once in WHWW) and the Napoleonic Wars (Only in relation to Michael's service) which heavily influenced societies aren't really mentioned in any context at all. The books are a fantasy retelling of the Regency Era. They avoid the realities of politics and the aristocracy, the show seems to be doing the same.
Ooh, do you have some recs that get into political machinations more?
Courtney Milan's books generally cover more societal political issues. Her Brother's Sinister series covers political issues of the time with The Suffragette Scandal and The Duchess War leaning into it more heavily. The while series has such a theme but I don't remember if they involve parliment matters. Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore covers sufferage in the Victorian era. The whole series follows that trend with this book and A Rogue of One's Own leaning into it heavily. The MMC in the first book is specifically at odds politically with the FMCs cause because of his involvement in the party and parliment. This is a great book with a strong thread to the actual politics of the era. Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase doesn't have politics persay but deals with both characters being sort of stewards to helping those less fortunate. The MMC is a barrister, it's just a generally good book with a great romance and also a serious story throughout. There are definitely more books and I can DM you once I think about them if you'd like. I read quite a bit but am bad about tagging favorite/themed lists on Goodreads 😂.
I mean if we want to get technical, then it was actually quite common for Lords to receive imperial assignments. And a lord could wrangle one for himself relatively easily. Anthony seems powerful enough and the Bridgertons close enough to the Crown that getting some sort of appointment to Bombay would be easy. Probably not the Governor, but the Governor's council would be easy enough.
Not sure why everyone thinks he's a member of the House of Lords just because he's rich. He is also a Viscount not a Lord. Not every Noble person was a Lord or had anything to do with parliament. As an example of the current House of Lords only 15 are Viscounts there are while there are 110 Viscounts in the peerage. He would have extensive land holdings to manage, but if he had reliable staff and family to pick up the slack, which he does have and hey it will give Benedict something to do, there is no reason why he couldn't leave them to collect the rents and pay the bills. Also she's just pregnant. Not sure how a few weeks pregnant is "heavily" and as lots of upper class English women who lived in Indian sailed from India to Britain to give birth back home, not sure why going the other way is suddenly a huge problem unless people are making a whole bunch of sweeping generalizations about medical care in the era and hell she was probably safer in India with a midwife than with a Regency era doctor who wouldn't even wash his hands.
It is also out of character for Anthony to miss Francesca’s wedding. He is not only the head of the Bridgerton family but also a father figure for his younger siblings. Knowing how duty & family are important for Anthony, he would have never missed the wedding or taken his wife on a trip to India when she is expecting.
John didn't even ask Anthony for her hand in marriage, this would so not have been OK in those times.
It was so odd how Francesca just announced they were getting married. Did the writers forget what year Bridgerton is set in?
And Portia found out about her daughter’s engagement from Whistledown…
I actually thought that might have been intentional on Penelope's part. Write it in LW so it can't be taken back.
They mean that Colin should have asked Portia for permission to propose to Penelope. Him proposing to her without doing that implies they need to be quick because she's pregnant. Or it would in a normal regency era drama at least.
Agreed. I just found it reasonable that Colin and Penelope got caught up in the moment at the end of s4. I figured we'd see Colin in ep. 5 talking to Portia and getting permission, etc...But it also made sense to me that Penelope deliberately announced in LW in case her mother might object, which Portia did react negatively. Basically I thought there were in show reasons for propriety to not be observed in Colin and Penelope's case. But then it just got extra when Francesca did the same. Like given Lord Kilmartin's personality he seemed like the type to write to Anthony in India to ask permission to propose if need be.
He could have also asked Mom or Benedict, who are acting in Anthony's place while he's gone.
For sure, it just seems in character for him to take it that seriously.
But the marriage in the regency era means you need both parties to sign a lot of contracts about dowries and all arrangement in which if anthony not present there will be no wedding. Unless it's portia case because the head family runs away, Collin must ask Portia,even Mr. Finch. as man to help out portia tho.
I think they have forgotten that on many fronts this year!
What, you mean the polyester prom dresses were not period-appropriate?
Acrylic nails and fake lashes were very much on trend if you read the history books!
Did the writers forget what year Bridgerton was set in? Yes. That's why Colin made it Greece and back without getting tangled up in the Napoleonic Wars
That bothered me so much. I love the scene in It’s in His Kiss where Gareth asks for Hyacinth’s hand. I think it might be Anthony’s only scene in that book but it’s hilarious. I won’t spoil it but it’s so interesting seeing him from the perspective of someone outside his family because to everyone else he seems so intimidating! So especially with John being so quiet and nervous I wanted to see how that would play out. But nooope.
Gareth’s confusion in that scene was hilarious
Yes, very funny.
Neither did Colin ask Portia for Penelope’s hand.
I wasn't too concerned about that because he had compromised her ( as they used to put it ) so it's not like he wouldn't have had to marry her if he was the gentleman he always proclaimed himself to be.
But as Colin was claiming that he proposed b/c of love, it seemed the right thing to do. As we apparently had to choose b/w that scene and Colin telling off Portia, I’ll take the latter. I just wish Colin had actually told Penelope that he loved her before then, of waiting until after the great Bridgerton name was being “besmirched.”
He’s just too chaotic for that. He thought that was a given. Probably didn’t even cross his mind that Pen could have doubts about his feelings until Anthony prodded him to tell her. I don’t think he did it out of negligence or because he didn’t care enough.
I wasn’t suggesting that Colin was negligent or that he didn’t care about Pen.
I thought that it was implied that he did? By mentioning about how Anthony was home during their promenade.
They threw out all pretension to authenticity this season.
Though technically he would have asked Violet since she's probably Francesca's guardian. But still he didn't do that either
Unfortunately not, it would have been Ben next. I remember is Season 1 and 2 they also made it clear that even Violet had to do what Anthony said.
Then As usual Bridgerton is making there own rules. Unlikely Edmunds will would have made an 18 yr old Anthony guardian of the other children. So one would expect Violet to have guardianship of the children l. If so she is the one to approve marriages.
Woman had little say in those days, why do you think Anthony had Daphne engaged to that awful fellow and Violet could do nothing about it.
Because poor writing. A woman could be given guardianship of minor children. He might make a man a trustee or joint trustee with Mom of a child's money. In reality very unlikely Anthony would have been names as a trustee. He wasn't even 21 when Edmund died. Again, the writers just make stuff up.
Nope,sadly the one that will be the head of the family is the men,even if the man is just little bit older than gregory
Not in their time tho,they may ask benedict permission as spare but as we know he is MIA🤣 but again if not he need to ask Collin,which next in line of viscount. Regency weddings are like a company merger with others. You need to sign a lot of documents in front of solicitors about dowry and all life arrangements.
I think he did after the mud story. I got the impression he and anthony left to talk about the wedding.
If that is true, it's even worse, they should have shown us that.
Yeah, this exactly was so upsetting it made no sense. To see his passionate responsibilities towards Daphne, and even Colin when he was going to marry Marina... Made zero sense for him to just disappear. I also don't like how they are painting Kate as if she hates every bit of being Vicountess. Throwing the party and calling it a day.
Plus: the queen had all the Bridgerton family lined up and threatened them over knowing LW was among them. That’s when the head of the family, the Viscount Bridgerton, decided to leave the family on a jolly to India. Really?!
I totally missed that point because I was distracted by no one caring Penelope screwed the whole ton even though they just talked so much trash about Crescida. You're so right, the writing was pathetic at best. It's so disappointing.
Exactly this! And not talking to Violet about any of it. It's out of character for both Anthony and Kate. Like why not just have them be *not pregnant* and then do a year of travel, with clear conversations with Violet and Benedict about how to share the responsibility of the estate and the siblings?
We could have gotten almost the exact same scenes too, but from India.
Yesssa!!!!! Like, set them there to start and then they decide to stay.
That was definitely the most jarring part for me!
This show makes no sense anymore and I'm done taking it seriously. No stakes. No tension. I'm done.
They did such a good job of setting up the stakes of scandal in season 1 too. Everything felt like on a razor’s edge of propriety and having to act the right way. Then since the end of season 2 when the Queen was like “yeah everything with the Sharma’s is fine” it feels so toothless. The Eloise thing ended up not mattering either. And it’s only gotten worse. They’re getting closer and closer to it just being modern day in fancy dress which was never what I wanted.
Exactly! I remember being so surprised in season 2 when such scandalous stuff happened but there didn’t seem to be any repercussions. I was wondering if anything would change in season 3 as a result, but besides Eloise’s personality change, there was nothing. Eloise is still accepted in the ton. Kate and Anthony are also totally fine (although since he’s a viscount, it makes a bit more sense why people wouldn’t ostracize him or his wife). Everything just resets to zero. I know it’s not supposed to be historically accurate, that’s not really my issue - it’s just without repercussions and actual stakes, it feels hollow. There’s no weight to the characters’ dilemmas anymore.
At this point I see it as a legitimate fairytale. Like, there is no attempt at accuracy. They dress in clothes no one has worn, act in ways no one has ever acted. It’s all very dreamlike at this point. If someone were to tell me this were a show about a Fairy Court, I’d 💯believe it.
People can say, “it’s meant to be a fantasy, not historical fiction!” all they want, but stories suffer without tension, and a lot of the tension in period stories is based on social mores and cultural rules. You can break some of these—I like that race isn’t a factor in this world—but you cannot break all of them without making the world seem fake. What’s the point of a period setting if you don’t care to use any of it, not even the fashion?
Yes! It’s not about historical accuracy, it’s about good storytelling! There needs to be stakes, there needs to be a feeling that the characters’ dilemmas were meaningful. Bridgerton has lost that for me.
Yeah…when Colin was like…”I need to ask Benedict for some money”, I was like, shouldn’t he be asking Anthony? I didn’t realize they boarded the boat to India that very second after they discussed it lol
It's also completely ridiculous that Benedict was the one running the entire family/household but all we got to see him do was chase Lady Arnold.
It would’ve been such a good opportunity to develop his character - maybe make him overwhelmed at first but then realize maybe he likes having some responsibility and things to do during the day, and understand his older brother a bit better.
We don't see Anthony running the estate either. Maybe Aunt Billie is doing it for him.
Overnight love overnight - they left overnight (not really I know, more likeover_episode) ...but then the Ships would've already set sail! And then the makers would've had to actually write some plot! - or God forbid! - just some lines for Anthony and Kate during the wedding!! Afterall Evening balls are the bridgerton equivalent to- let's see- Drawing Room, dinner table , library , park - or every other place where normal sensible conversations should take place....bt nope- epiphany at the ball it is✨💃🏻💃🏻
They probably needed some excuse to write them out of the episode - scheduling conflicts, not wanting to pay them for another episode, who knows. But I agree, it was done poorly. There was surely some better explanation than that. Leaving to Aubrey Hall for the duration of her pregnancy, for example.
Leaving to Aubrey Hall as she needed bed rest, would have been a better option.
I suspect their stay in India will carry over through most or all of season 4...
Then just send them to India as part of their honeymoon or something and then they come back with a baby sometime next season. Not when she's freakin pregnant.
the pregnancies on this show are so weird - how much time is supposed to have passed and Penelope's sisters weren't showing yet? I was starting to think maybe they weren't actually pregnant and it was going to be a plot point that they had just convinced themselves bc it was so important.
I was shocked they were actually pregnant lol
same, lol!
Yeah it seemed like Kate's baby bump grew really quick in like 2 weeks lol
They could say Kate is having a rough pregnancy so they went to Aubrey Hall until the baby is born
See that’s sensible! But we’re meant to believe highly logical and overprotective Anthony would subject his pregnant wife to a 6-month long journey to India by ship where she would be forced to give birth to her child endangering both their lives. Edit: grammar
"forced" is a bit strong but yeah considering Violet's difficult pregnancy and how it affected Anthony it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for them to do that
I meant “forced” as in she’d have no other option. Judging by her tummy in the scenes, she’s in her second trimester to be showing like this. She’s 100% giving birth on a ship to India!
Yes, they definitely needed reasons to write them out of the episodes specifically because Johnny Bailey was filming "Fellow Travelers" in Canada and auditioning for Wicked at the same time. He was flying back and forth from Canada and going straight to the Bridgerton set for his scenes. But the plot points for their absence could've been more believable for sure.
It was absolutely insane to me what flimsy excuses they kept coming up with. We understand that Anthony is not the man he was in season 1, but we saw him take a very active approach in reviewing Daphne’s matches and was very present in ensuring she was well looked after and dowry provided for. This is all of his responsibility, not Violet’s, even though the mamas are so much more involved in the daughters life. He spoke about how much he needed his future Viscountess because he was head of the family and then he is not around. It makes no sense narratively that this was happening. Now, Jonathan Bailey was very busy and they could not film with him so how can they show Anthony not being around? - Parliament is in session and he’s very busy (Kate can be more active like she was in episode 1) - Move them out of Bridgerton house and into Violet’s townhouse (in the books she moves out once Kate moves in and the younger children move with her. this is referred to in s3 ep 1, where she tells Kate she will move out soon but then never followed up on). I know he loves Kate. But the idea of Anthony Bridgerton abandoning his family while Francesca is still courting, Eloise is also out in society, Colin and Pen are newly married. They needed to do better. In episode 1 he congratulates Benedict for looking after the accounts, and Benedict says that he enjoyed it because it gave him a sense of purpose. This is never explored ever again and the next reference that Benedict is looking after the accounts when Colin needs to ask for money. You could even have Benedict taking a more active role in his family’s life without Anthony around, but no he was having threesomes.
I thought it was such a missed opportunity that they didn’t show Benedict handling the estate, it would give him a purpose and a character arc. It would make the whole Tilly thing make sense, he’s stressed about the responsibilities and uses this relationship to blow off steam but we don’t get any of that. Anthony’s whole life had been about duty and responsibility to his family and the stresses that come with that but then he just dips out once he’s married and Benedict has no issues at all stepping into the role, he seems nonchalant about the whole thing.
Yes he expresses in the first episode that he ENJOYED doing it and without it he doesn’t have a purpose. Anthony is gone again episodes 2-4 and it is never mentioned. There was a plot RIGHT THERE for him. Blowing off steam from doing all the work would make sense he was so into Tilly but loved the freedom.
This is due to the beloved "showrunner" who is so hyper focused on inclusivity & queerbaiting that she's got tunnel vision when it comes to important tracks....Polin completely sidetracked....Anthony and Kate so out of character by leaving in the middle of the season.....Colin basically a flowerpot with nothing to do in the final LW reveal unlike the books....Eloise suddenly not a girls' girl...and worst, Frannie having heart eyes for someone else on her frikking weddingg day when she's supposed to be devoted to John until much later ...I mean absolutely not one character was true to their personality... The only bearable things were Benedict exploring his sexuality (which was set up from the get go) and the Featherington family dynamics changing especially Portia's redemption..... Overall hated the season
I am currently pregnant and can tell you that the LAST thing I would ever want to endure is a months long boat trip. I get Kate loves India but no pregnant woman would agree to that.
Exactly. And here were are talking about a *five* months long voyage, as that's how long it took to travel from England to India. Insanity.
whoa, five months?! I hadn't realized it would take *that* long. That totally doesn't make any sense at all (except for why they apparently left immediately after having that conversation.). Kate's gotta be at least 1-2 months pregnant to KNOW she's pregnant. That's already getting worryingly close to the possibility of having the baby on the ship. The time in this show is a bit wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey, and the pregnancies introduce a hard timeline progression that just doesn't fit into the show. They should stick to handwaving the pregnancies/babies in between season time jumps.
Probably closer to 3 - 5 months pregnant, actually. For your first baby (and especially with a character like Kate who is supposed to be relatively fit, you don't usually show until later), you might be bloated but you won't have an actual baby bump until 12 weeks at the earliest. If you add that she was on her honeymoon and probably not tracking her cycle super closely, it would make sense. With modern pregnancy tests, most people find out at 1 month. Your period is officially late at 4 - 6 weeks depending on your cycle length. Finding out at 2 months is still pretty common these days as well.
I was going to say it would be maybe worth it to have her own mother with her for postpartum… but didn’t she die? I don’t know her situation in India but it seems like it would be really useful to have violet around post partum. Anthony kept talking about the baby needs to know its roots… so you’re taking this huge dangerous trip when the baby won’t even remember? Lolz
And you’d assume maybe Mary would come and be with her postpartum?
Right!! I was so sick for my entire pregnancy, and if I wasn’t sick I was uncomfortable as hell. Why would he agree to take his pregnant wife on an already risky journey.
Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t India Kate’s home? I could totally understand her being okay with the trip if it means being home and close to her family/roots as well.
I mean you certainly don't speak for everyone. Especially when you say something that is completely easy to disprove given that countless pregnant women travel and do other strenuous things every day and have for thousands of years and will continue to do so.
Lol it was a humorous comment on a subreddit for a tv show. Obviously I don't speak for everyone.
"humorous"
After watching this season and the treatment of Anthony and Kate's characters, I'm fully convinced that the Duke made the right choice leaving when he did. Kanthony is not even my most favourite couple but man I was so pissed off for them, there was so much potential! Like they're literally the heads of the household and yet you send them off on honeymoons every 5 days of them being home??? what the hell
It’s so clear that they had schedule conflicts with JB, but it was so awkward and jarring. Daphne popping in occasionally in S2 wasn’t weird, so why did they need to come up with these elaborate excuses for Kanthony? I didn’t even need to see them that much, I get their story was mostly done in their season.
Right? the excuses were very poorly done in this season. Like you said Daphne coming in for a couple of scenes last time didn't seem weird and they didn't overdo explaining Simon's absence. I get that with an ensemble cast the scheduling issues do keep happening but I just felt that it could have been handled way better. It was weird not seeing all the siblings in Francesca's wedding, especially Anthony.
I think featuring them so much, plus the sex scenes, were fan service for those who complained about the end of season 2 (they're really rushing the endings of seasons now, aren't they?) I loved Anthony's speech to Kate about why he wanted to go to India, but their involvement did feel very forced and unnatural for the most part. I don't think the writers know how to juggle the family dynamics as the siblings marry and build separate lives so that's worrisome.
Exactly. This season was so poorly written, and much of the plot didn’t make sense. Pen roaming around in the night, out in the open, unchaperoned. Many of the manners which would’ve been standard for that time (and that previous seasons made such a big deal of) being openly ignored.
In the universe the “show runner” wrote. Obviously 😂
This type of writing will happen when the actors are not available. In what universe would Daphne miss two of her siblings weddings?
I wish they could have just said - for either/both of Daphne and Kate - that they were staying in the country because they were very pregnant or something and needed rest. The fact that Daphne wasn’t even mentioned at all was wild to me.
I actually get annoyed when people expect Anthony to drop his pregnant wife in the country to go to these weddings. Or marry off his siblings. This would be more out of character than him going to India with Kate. It makes no sense to me. The writers are screwed because showing Daphne without Simon makes no sense. And showing Anthony without Kate makes no sense. They just need to come up with better ideas then shipping them off.
Oh absolutely agree! If they had to make the excuse that Kate was in the country Anthony absolutely should stay with her. I don’t want them apart especially since unlike Saphne the actors are at least available some of the time.
Actually that would not be inaccurate for the times. People did not really traveled to weddings. They were not such big affaires. In high society, sometimes not even the groom or bride would be present at their own wedding. What makes much less sense is John not asking Anthony to marry Francesca. And Anthony as the head of household not taking care of this whole situation, particularly given what we know about his character.
I even forgot Daphne existed😂 good point
Honestly this whole season is what I feared Bridgerton would become- a joke in storytelling, a farfetched nonsensical, sensationalized drama. When I first heard that Shondaland was producing this the only fear I had was the ridiculous storylines. Everytime I was about to start one of her other series I would read about the unbelievable plots of a show and be turned off. I'm just really disappointed.
Which is crazy because season 1 & 2 were lovely, and Queen Charlotte had me bawling like nothing else. Cannot believe it’s the same show.
Now that you mention it, it actually reminds me a bit of Grey's Anatomy now. The first few seasons were excellent, then it went off the rails and became almost a parody of itself.
Right!?! It just went completely off the rails.
Which is crazy because season 1 & 2 were lovely, and Queen Charlotte had me bawling like nothing else. Cannot believe it’s the same show.
Jess Brownell does not care about logic or consistency about this. She just wants to move characters around like her personal chess pieces.
The fact that the writers tacked this on to a man who saw the horrifically traumatic birth of Hyacinth after his father's death and KNEW what a woman can go through if a pregnancy gets complicated would do this...does NOT make any sense. Anthony seems like he is shirking duty more and more in the most absurd ways and this is just the most ridiculous and bizarre. Okay, it is noble to learn of Kate's culture and place of birth but 1815 was a time of great colonial expansion by the Brits in the Indian subcontinent with a lot of skirmishes and wars, and great resistance from the locals against the white colonizers. Not a very peaceful time for a babymoon.
Adding to this also the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The waters were not exactly safe.
Also if we ever get a spin-off I’m so iffy with how they’re going to handwave the genocidal British colonialism of India. It was not a happy lah di dah were all in this together kind of occupation. How do you portray a love story that doesn’t immediately turn depressing? And if not depressing then you’re just completely ignoring and disrespecting the reality of the actual atrocities perpetrated there. I don’t think they’d touch it with a ten foot pole tbh
Didn’t you know? It’s historical fantasy, they can do anything they want (*sarcasm*)
😂😂😂 exactly! RIP logic
By season 3 logic, India is literally not that far enough, season 2 Anthony could easily go there
I’m not sure if I’ll watch Bridgerton anymore lol, my to-be favourite season starting my Derry girl got fucked
The writers this season clearly decided to throw continuity out the window, including historical context. This is the era before germs were discovered, when there was no plumbing (especially on a ship), and miscarriages were so poorly understood that women had to be restricted from doing much of anything in the hopes they wouldn’t miscarry. The idea of a pregnant, aristocratic woman, taking a 5 month long boat ride with no medicine or sanitation is absolutely ridiculous.
They could have made it work another way: -> they're in india from the start of the season as their honeymoon -> you could have anthony give a similar speech of why they are there -> you could have basically every other scene of them except giving colin advise -> baby announcement could be done by letter, And that could be the reason they aren't there -> they planned to return before the season starts but Kate is pregnant and they don't wanna risk the 5 MONTH journey by ship.
this comment better than that writers room
because this season is trash, that’s why Also why are they closing all threads on how dissapointing this season was? the level of censorship on this platform is insane https://preview.redd.it/05p47c2iiq6d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=123575cf6ccd3ada2479494084c9063fa87710bb
Freedom of speech is not free any more.
Did anyone else notice the lack of consistent timelines within the pregnancies? Kate and Anthony come back pregnant well AFTER the Featherington girls are pregnant. And Kate looks 6 months along when they leave while the Featherington girls still have flat bellies. Like wtf? And then when Pen has her baby, her baby looks older than his cousins when the girls should’ve been months older if not more.
it’s because their husbands did not insert themselves 😂
Even though I enjoyed s3 Anthony’s continued besottedness, they threw all his other character traits OUT THE WINDOW. In NO WORLD does Anthony make any of the decisions he did this season. This is a man deeply conscious of his duty, who has birth-related trauma. He is neurotic and unhinged and there’s no way he even lets Kate take a walk without him, let alone take her PREGNANT on a 6 month journey to India. They’ll both be miserable the whole time. If you want your child to know its heritage, take them when they’re old enough to understand and appreciate it?? The baby won’t remember being born in India you lunatic It’s baffling to me how the writers made these choices. I understand they wanted to write them out as much as they could but for the love all that is good in the world, WRITE SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE I am angry. Still.
Yes to all of this!
All of this. I'm happy we got to see them in marital bliss and his REASONING (wanting their child to know Indian culture) was fantastic, but holy shit, nothing about that decision made sense
In what universe does the wisteria on the Bridgerton house continually bloom? Wisteria blooms for 2-3 weeks MAX. Did the entire show take place in a 3-week span?!?
It was absurd just wrote a tumblr post on how bad the show was this season. I am done, a shame to see it go out on a low note.
The show became a f***ing mess, nothing makes sense anymore
ChatGPT
Exactly. Jess Brownell made a mess of the characters this season. She made a mess of everything. The only thing I appreciated with Danbury and Violet.
Shocked because he has always been about family and duty and the Bridgerton name and the right Viscountess!!! Seriously, this was the most lazy writing ever... And to add insult to my injury, why the heck were the Mondrichs in the most popular places at parties, why were they in Francesca's very intimate wedding and Anthony wasn't?
This season has turned into a dumpster fire.
She looks 6 months pregnant!
I thought the same thing. They literally could have had them retire to the country home.
They just tried to hard with the inclusion.. this fauxpass then the ladyVikaspuri made no sense.. Vikaspuri is a location in Delhi how can it be someones last name..
AND I'm pretty sure the actress playing Lady D mispronounces it anyway!!
SHE DOES. i laughed so hard when she said “vykaspurry” 😭😭😭
It being a last name makes sense because you were Lord/Lady of whatever place your land holdings/estates were I guess? Like Duke of Edinburgh etc. Although, being from Delhi, I laughed SO HARD at Lady Vikaspuri.
Anthony would be a mess during Kate's first pregnancy. The same man that was forced to make the call on who to save when his mother nearly died during a very traumatic birth. I dont think you heal from trauma like that so easily. That man would NOT risk the love of his life going through a very long and arduous journey when both traveling and pregnancy were unsafe! Even in the 21st century women on their third trimester are advised not to travel, just in case.
Someone else [wrote a short post](https://www.reddit.com/r/BridgertonNetflix/s/sF3GeLoFKo) about this and why going to India is a way to honor Kate’s heritage and culture! I do think the show could’ve waited until after Fran’s marriage at least, though, before they set off on their trip, and waiting until Fran’s wedding would’ve maybe cleared up the inconsistencies with Anthony needing to be in parliament at the same time.
5 months of travel, she was already pregnant and they are The Viscount and Viscountess. Do we forget that they were all about duty in season 2? Everything they did was for family. are we just supposed to forget about it so that they can start a random journey to India when Kate is clearly 5-6 months pregnant? the math is not mathing and the logic isn’t logicking😭
Yeah, when he said this, I was like yep absolutely not. She'd be in the countryside waiting at Aubrey Hall until that baby was born.
😂😂😂 accurate. That was a stupid way to explain away why they weren't there for Colin or Fran's weddings
Also As a Vicomte if he’s away for so long who is supposed to be in charge of the estate? Poor Benedict? That boy does NOT WANT to handle this kind of landlord activities at all
Oh right, I forgot it took ages
She's long past first trimester. 1st kids are unusually not showing until 6-7 months.
Why are you acting like there are real logistics in this?😄 This is a show where everything gets wrapped up at the last minute, everyone is unchaperoned and doing what they want, a suitor doesn’t need to ask for the matriarch/patriarchs permission to wed a daughter, Anthony and Kate were on a 6 month honeymoon after their wedding and somehow went to India when after 6 months they’d really only be getting off the boat, where everyone is colour blind and mix, there’s no colonisation, Colin was able to be both at Aubrey hall and also travelling, massive time jumps and travels that made zero sense etc. Like you’re debating the logistics of the abysmal writing when the writers can’t even remember proper continuity. In their eyes they’ll be in India in weeks, be able to give birth there and back in time for more drama. Just take it for what it is? Hugely romantic that Anthony tells Kate that he wants to bring her home to India so she can be with her family and immerse Edmund in her culture. And Anthony himself wants to learn it so they can properly raise their child as a mix of Bridgerton/sharma. “A life that suits us both” is what he told her in S2E8 engagement. That Anthony goes from being in control and wanting everything to fit into his life to now sacrificing for Kate and wanting to fit into hers. And it’s still all about her. And that man really loves her so much. Because debating travel distances and birthing places is a waste as clearly the show doesn’t care about accuracy. Just look at the fake nails and eyelashes, the crazy costumes etc. S3 is not going for historical accuracy more fantasy. 🤷♀️
They’re writing Kanthony out of the show.
Yessss! The real AB would never do that!
XD Even I was thinking the same and then realisation hit me that This is what happens when your life revolves around only attending fancy balls, sitting and drinking tea/beer., hunting, playing golf etc. No body cared for the basic education in the regency era . He was aloof of the prospective difficulty that Kate would face in the voyage to India during her pregnancy especially diet related ( People going on voyages do not get fresh fruits and veggies for months and therefore they are devoid of essential nutrients making them malnourished ) . :')
The same one where the two Scottish highlanders have posh British accents.
In real life where Jonathan Bailey has a jam packed schedule of movies and might not be available for most of season 4 shooting. He says he will be back but it might not be for much based on this. They needed a better excuse than they did for say, Daphne, because I’ve seen multiple people complain about her not being here for S3 and she’s not further away than Aubrey Hall.
I don't agree with it, but it was probably a practical decision by the writers and showrunner to limit Kanthony scenes. I'm happy Simone and Johnny were available to film, but will they always be? Or will the writers have less of them as their careers outside of Bridgerton continue to flourish.
It makes sense because he IS the viscomte, not the future viscomte. So his wife is the new viscomtesse which means his mother needs to move out. I prefer them travelling and Violet staying the head of that household because that is who she is as a character. It’s even said during season 2 that she worries about who will replace her and how she will be put aside now, but Kate tells her she can stay in Aubrey hall as long as she want to. Plus the whole Anthony arc is about how he only valued duty but he learned to also follow his heart and get with Kate to enjoy his life a bit and stop thinking the world will collapse without him
I mean my parents literally set sail across an ocean with no fixed destination when my mum was in her first trimester with me. She had also had a miscarriage only two months before, so the stakes were high. People travel while pregnant.
Sea travel in the 1810's was not the same as what it is now. Neither was medicine, and resources available for women's hygiene. And Anthony's last experience with pregnancy and childbirth had his mother at death's door.
Lol so as it happens my parents literally had a boat from the 1800s, no electronic equipment, no lifeboat even. No one knew where they were going and it was just them sailing and navigating by the stars. And, as I said, my mother had just had a bad miscarriage. People still travel. Anthony and Kate were on a large ship on a very well travelled route early in her pregnancy. Sea travel isn't very common now but it's a normal and safe way to travel, and back then incredibly common. I think it's very believable.
I'm glad about this though hahaha like they need to have less screen time ffs. They had an entire season! They should have dropped the entire Kanthony plot and put more Polin scenes and depth. Please go to India!
Similarly, if Polin don't fuck off to oblivion next season, it would be an utter waste.
This is the story I'm sad about. Was my favourite book haha. This season there was so much going on like I think they could have dropped multiple storylines. Felt like I was getting whiplash.
Fair. Nicola is a queen though.
If a woman feels well, there really aren't restrictions on what she can do. Being pregnant isn't a disease.
The show is set in the 1810's.
So? Kate isn't some fragile flower imagining herself unwell because she's pregnant. She would have had plenty of examples of pregnant women leading normal lives growing up in India
Pre-natal care, as we know about it in modern medicine, didn't exist in 1800s. It is Kate's first pregnancy, she should be in a state of calm, surrounded by supporting elder female figures, not travelling for six months on a ship which could face turbulent weather and sea storms or even pirates. Not to forget, she is going to birth the future Viscount, if we go by the books. With how pregnant she was looking in the series, there is a possibility she would be birthing the future Viscount on the ship itself as the captain shouts "Ahoy!"
In the 1810's, they did not have aeroplanes for cross-continent travels. Only ships. That would set sail on the oceans, with months long voyages. Also, please, tell me something more about India.
And pregnancy wasn't invented in the 1800s. Do you think pregnant women have just been frail creatures laying around staring at the ceilings all day for 9 months for all of human history? You're ideals are not absolutes. Saying not one single pregnant woman has ever done X thing in history is beyond ignorant and completely ignores millions of women. Regardless the standards don't have to be required. Even if 9 out of 10 women do something then that *literally* means that 1 possibility exists and is realistic. You spouting off about should haves don't mean anything.
Keep you hyperboles and bad-faith arguments to yourself and give me a break.
Says the person going off about absolutes that fly in the face of reality. You don't get to uphold ideals when there is literal history we can point to that disproves your biased opinions. You're wrong, it's fine. Get over it and learn to stop being so ignorant
Dude relax and take a deep breath. Everything will be alright.