The Penelope Featherington/Lady Danbury Friendship Forsaken by Netflix (Bridgerton Season 3 Review)

if there's one thing Bridgeton season 3 has made clear it's that the people making the show did not want Penelope to have any women friends during her main season previously in my life my mother tried to marry me off someone please marry my daughter hi I'm lady genevia and on my channel I like to talk about entertainment media by the time you're watching this video I will probably be out of town or about to go out of town but if I can get this published before part two is released well then good I'm not completely inept at being a small part-time channel that does it as always donation links for Palestine are in the description box stream hind Hall by mmore and if you'd like to get official merchandise for kalani's new single next to you the proceeds of that will be divided between sending Aid to Palestinian congales and sudin families in collaboration with operation Olive Branch if you are new here hello welcome to my corner of the internet I've been posting coverage of bridg since I got press screeners for season 2 and look how far we've come I already have a video pre-recorded reviewing episodes 5 and six of season 3 it's been scheduled to publish when the Embargo lifts and I don't know if I will have time to make a video covering episodes 7 and 8 until after I get back for today though I wanted to follow up on some of the videos and talking points I've already been posting about in other videos I've published about season 3 and it's also a topic that's often brought up in my comment section which is the fact that Bridgeton season 3 has done absolutely nothing thus far to include the relationship between Penelope and Lady Danbury that was in the book I did another video comparing some of the major relationship moments for Colin and Penelope in the book and the show and similarities or differences in how those moments were done and given the fact that when I've done polls on my community tab comparing book four to season 3 there are always people who vote for the option that they haven't read the book I decided that I would Circle back around and share a couple of the points that I liked of Penelope and Lady danbury's relationship in the book if you've read the book but you are fuzzy on the details I will be able to refresh your memory and if you outright just have not read the book well then you will get to go through some of the Highlights today one of the first instances we see of Penelope and Lady danbury's interactions and moreover the fact that lady Danbury holds Penelope in high esteem is when Penelope and Colin are talking to one another at a ball lady Danbury calls out to Colin and he's terrified I'll give you 10B if you don't leave my side Colin blurted out penel be choked on air don't be silly I 20 done she said with a smile not because she particularly needed the money but rather because it was strangely enjoyable to be extorting it from Colin lady Danbury she called out hurrying to the elderly lady's side how nice to see you nobody ever thinks it's nice to see me lady Danbury said sharply except maybe my nephew and half the time I'm not even sure about him but I thank you for lying all the same Colin said nothing but she still turned in his Direction and SW swatted his leg with her cane good choice dancing with this one she said I've always liked her more brains than the rest of her family put together Penelope opened her mouth to defend at least her younger sister when lady Danbury barked out ha after barely a second's pause adding I notice neither of you contradicted me it is always a delight to see you lady Danbury Colin said giving her just the sort of smile he might have directed at an opera singer glib this one is Lady Danbury said to Penelope you'll have to watch out for him it is rely necessary that I do so Penelope said as he is most often out of the country see Lady danb crowed again I told you she was bright you'll notice Colin said smoothly that I did not contradict you the old lady smiled approvingly so you didn't you're getting smart in your old age Mr Bridgeton it has occasionally been remarked that I possessed a small modicum of intelligence in my youth as well H the important word in that sentence being small of course Colin looked at Penelope through narrowed eyes she appeared to be choking on laughter we women must look out for one another lady Danbury said to no one in particular since it is clear that no one else will do so now the book makes a point of emphasizing how Charming Colin is and how easily he can charm people so the fact that lady Danbury is not falling for any of that and she instead holds Penelope in high regard while Penelope is the one constantly being overlooked and ignored by people in the Taun not to mention being poorly treated by everyone in her family except her third sister Felicity who is a character that does not exist in the show yeah surprise surprise to any of you who didn't already know that book Penelope has three sisters not two I just love everything about lady danbury's energy her noons vibe and the lack of filter that tends to come from getting older comedies with women over the age of 40 not even 40 50 60 the older the better are always a good time to me First Wives Club Death Becomes Her Golden Girls I'm here for all of that energy and that last line we women must look out for one another since it is clear that no one else will do so this is really honing in on the thing I really wish had been present in season three if Violet had been working to get Colin and Franchesca matched up on the show I love the idea of Lady Danbury taking it upon herself to help Penelope lady Danbury is observant we know that I talked about that in my video essay about Kate and Anthony's not so hidden feelings lady Danbury was one of the people who could clock that those two were in love even if they were in denial about that or at the very least trying to keep those feelings secret if Lady Danbury is in fact observant she should be able to see that Porsche is not particularly loving or nurturing towards Penelope so why couldn't lady Danbury have taken it upon herself to help Penelope out the entire marriage Mark premise is sexist and none of those characters have the class Consciousness to burn the system to the ground so the key to making us as the audience fall more in love with those characters despite their obscene amount of privilege is to focus instead on the love and camaraderie they have for one another and if we could have seen seen more of this intergenerational women solidarity I would have loved to watch that also I think I just tend to have Whitney Houston's Cinderella on the brain a lot so I like the idea of Lady Danbury being like that a sort of fairy godmother who is always impeccably dressed and helping the girls out to get their lives in order you know she helped Simon Kate and now she could have helped Penelope talented brilliant incredible amazing showstopping this conversation goes on for longer lady Danbury reiterates that she likes Penelope she calls Colin a dunderhead hilarious and eventually the conversation escalates to where she decides to issue a challenge to the Taun at large where if anyone can unmask lady whistledown she will give them a prize of ,000 [Applause] 50,000 now for another excerpt Miss featherington Lady D boomed you haven't told me who you suspect no Penelope Colin said a rather smirky smile on his face you have it Penelope's first instinct was to mumble something under her breath and hope that lady danbury's age had left her hard enough of hearing that she would assume that any lack of understanding was the fault of her own ears and not Penelope's lips but even without glancing to her side she could feel Colin's presence since his quirky cocky grin egging her on and she found herself standing a little straighter with her chin perched just a little higher than usual he made her more confident more daring he made her more herself or at least the herself she wished she could be actually Penelope said looking lady Danbury almost in the eye I think it's you a collective gasp echoed around them and for the first time in her life Penelope featherington found herself at the very center of attention lady Danbury stared at her her pale blue eyes shrewd and assessing and then the most amazing thing happened her lips Began to Twitch at the corners then they widened until Penelope realized she was not just smiling but positively grinning I like you Penelope featherington lady Danbury said tapping her right on the toe with her cane I wager half the ballroom is of the same notion but no one else has the metal to tell me so I really don't either Penelope admitted grunting slightly as Colin elbowed her in the ribs obviously lady Danbury said with a strange light in her eyes you do Penelope didn't know what to say to this she looked at Colin who was smiling at her encouragingly then she looked back to Lady Danbury who looked almost maternal which had to be the strangest thing of all Penelope rather doubted that lady Danbury had given maternal looks to her own children Isn't it nice the older lady said leaning in so that only Penelope could hear her words to discover that we're not exactly what we thought we were and then she walked away leaving Penelope wondering if maybe she wasn't quite what she'd thought she was maybe just maybe she was something a little bit more if you watched my previous video that was also about this book that last part of this quote should ring familiar further on into the story when we reached the handcut scene between Colin and Penelope remember this bit I wish I'd known you kept a journal Penelope said reapplying pressure to his palm why I'm not sure she said with a shrug it's always interesting to find out that there is more to someone that meets the eye don't you think interesting to note how that line is sort of a call back to what lady Danbury said first to Penelope it further deepens the interconnectivity of the characters in this world and moreover this line of Isn't it nice to discover that we're not exactly what we thought were that line gets called back to in yet another conversation between Penelope and Lady Danbury at another social Gathering it's during a conversation in which lady Danbury is sort of able to psychologically profile lady whistledown fairly accurately as a matter of fact about how she's I suppose the word would be tenderhearted the details aren't overly important but it has to do with the Smite Smiths if I wasn't in a hurry to get this video finished before I go out of town I might have elaborated on this a bit more but it's the same conversation where lady Danbury speculates that Penelope could be Lady whistledown Lady Danbury didn't even honor Felicity with a glance let me tell you something she said as if we could stop you Penelope said so sweetly that it came out like a compliment and truth be told it was a compliment she admired lady Danbury a great deal she admired anyone who knew how to speak her mind in public lady Danbury chuckled there's more to you than meets the eye Penelope featherington and it's actually quite cute because lady Danbury recalls how Penelope had speculated that lady Danbury could be lady whistledown and it just feels like we're just a couple of girls out for brunch having a laugh except it's Regency so you don't have brunch with mimosas you have balls and Gatherings where the Smite Smiths are playing their instruments to varying degrees of capabilities that's certainly not my idea of a good time though I would rather take brunch thank you brunch with the girls give me some plum wine some sushi maybe a side of ganio to start things off that's more so my Japanese version of brunch but it's a good time nonetheless tip your waitress in general what I find the Penelope story is lacking is female friendship on the show I can look at my YouTube analytics and see how massively skewed the audience is most of you who are watching this your YouTube accounts are labeled as female YouTube analytics will show the viewer breakdown as either female male or other depending on what I'm reviewing those percentages will shift around but for bridgin topics it's always predominantly female why wouldn't a largely fem audience want to see the girls being friends and having camaraderie and looking out for one another now up until this season we got a good amount of that for Penelope with her friendship with Eloise but the people in charge decided to rip up that female friendship and throw it away in the bin they threw away this book relationship between Penelope and Lady Danbury during the adaptation process and moreover they did little to nothing to utilize the Rapport between Penelope and Madame dequa even though it would have made so much sense to have those two interacting more in this season since she's one of the only people who knows that Penelope is Lady whistledown without currently being in a tiff with Penelope the way that Eloise is I didn't read this book for the first time until after I had watched most of season 3 and now after having both of those perspectives my general stance is that if they weren't going to include lady danbury's relationship with Penelope they 100% needed to have Penelope have some recurring scenes with Madame de laqua as it stands now I just don't think we got enough of Penelope in general even the scenes that she has had with Colin thus far in episodes 1 through 4 they have felt too short I always left those scenes feeling like well I would have liked to have stayed there longer when I think about the other love interest for the Bridgeton there was always good material outside of the moments with the Bridgeton that they were falling in love with For That season Simon had some great interactions with Lady Danbury Anthony and the mandres Kate had great interactions with uina Lady Danbury and to a lesser degree I also liked the exchange she had with Eloise it was a good exchange but that wasn't really a recurring part of the story the way that the relationships were that she had with those other women for show Penelope she doesn't really get on well with her family in the book she has three sisters not two the third sister Felicity is someone book Penelope has a better relationship with than her mother and her two other sisters but since Felicity does not exist on the show you could have had Penelope interacting with Eloise Madame dequa lady Danbury all of those women were good options and they blew up the relationship with Eloise in the season 2 finale but I think them working through the rift earlier in the season would have been good material now whether or not they make amends in part two I'm not allowed to say but even if they do that's only four episodes to do something interesting with their relationship in the midst of a million other subplots that are happening simultaneously the next excerpt from the book Miss featherington Miss featherington Felicity instantly took a step away I think she means you she whispered urgently of course she means me Penelope said with just a touch of hot I consider lady d a cherished friend felicity's eyes bugged out you do miss featherington lady Danbury said thumping her cane an inch away from Penelope's foot as soon as she reached her side not you she said to Felicity even though Felicity had done nothing more than smile politely as the Countess had approached you she said to Penelope uh good evening lady Danbury Penelope said which she considered an admirable number of words under the circumstances I have been looking for you all evening Lady D announced Penelope found that a trifle surprise you have yes I want to talk with you about that whistle down woman's last column me yes you lady Danbury grumbled I'd be happy to talk with someone else if you could find me a body with more than half a brain Penelope choked on the beginnings of laughter as she motioned to her companions uh I assure you that lady Bridgerton lady Bridgeton was furiously shaking her head she's too busy trying to get that oversized brood of hers married off lady Danbury announced can't be expected to know how to conduct a decent conversation these days Penelope stole a frantic glance over at lady Bridgeton to see if she was upset by the insult after all she had been trying to marry off her oversized brood for a decade now but lady Bridgeton didn't look the least bit upset in fact she appeared to be stifling laughter stifling laughter and inching away taking hn and Felicity with her sneaky little traitors ah well Penelope shouldn't complain she'd wanted an escape from the Bridgeton hadn't she but she didn't particularly enjoy having Felicity and hent think somehow pulled one over on her they're gone now lady Danbury cackled and the good thing it is too those two girls haven't an intelligent thing to say between them oh now that isn't true Penelope felt compelled to protest Felicity and Hyacinth are both very bright I never said they weren't smart lady d replied acidly just that they haven't an intelligent thing to say but don't worry she added giving Penelope a reassuring reassuring who ever heard of Lady Danbury being reassuring pat on the arm it's not their fault that their conversation is useless they'll grow out of it people are like Fine Wines if they start off good they only get better with age Penelope had actually been glancing slightly to the right of Lady danbury's face peering over her shoulder at a man who she thought might be Colin but wasn't but this brought her attention right back to where the Countess wanted it Fine Wines Penelope echoed hm and here I thought you weren't listening no of course I was listening Penelope felt her lips tugging into something that wasn't quite a smile I was just distracted did looking for that Bridgeton boy no doubt Penelope gasped oh don't look so shocked it's written all over your face I'm just surprised he hasn't noticed I imagine he has Penelope mumbled has he hm lady Danbury frowned the corners of her mouth spilling into long vertical wrinkles on either side of her chin doesn't speak well of him that he hasn't done anything about it Penelope's heart achd there was something oddly sweet about the old lady's faith in her as if men like Colin fell in love with women like Penelope on a regular basis Penelope had had to beg him to kiss her For Heaven's Sake and look how that had ended up he' left the house in a fit of temper and they hadn't spoken for 3 days well don't worry over him lady Danbury said quite suddenly we'll find you someone else Penelope delicately cleared her throat lady Danbury have you made me your project the old lady beamed her smile a bright and glowing streak in her wrinkled face of course I'm surprised it has taken you so long to figure it out with this excerpt we again reiterate this sentiment where lady Danbury seeks Penelope out because likes her she thinks she has a brain she has some sense I've seen some people claiming that they're not as quick to push this relationship into the show because it hasn't existed thus far but I don't think it's ever too late to start exploring new relationships on the show between characters that already knew one another or knew of one another Madame dequa didn't always know that Penelope is Lady whistle down but now she does Colin himself hasn't realized fully in Prior Seasons that Penelope is a catch but now he does Penelope has evolved and grown and there was that one video I saw making the rounds on social media of Nicola explaining how she has changed Penelope's voice each season the same principle can be applied to relationships I also am just biased in the sense that I think it's very funny that lady Danbury in the book is reading Colin for not doing anything sooner to get coupled up with Penelope so of course I would have enjoyed seeing something like that on the show as well if Lady Danbury could see how obvious it was that Kate and Anthony were into each other in season 2 why shouldn't that same principle extend to Colin and Penelope as well for several seconds Penelope did nothing but stare at her lady Danbury she said carefully I very much appreciate the gesture and the sentiment but you must know that I am not your responsibility of course I know that lady Danbury scoffed have no fear I feel no responsibility to you if I did this wouldn't be half so much fun see what I mean when I say I don't watch Bridgerton for dramatic plots I just watch it for Vibes and banter if the Vibes are good I will Overlook a fair bit on the show the entire premise the world the setting is people nonsense that I don't generally tend to care for but if the Vibes are good I will have a good time usually The Vibes are between the main couple of the season but Vibes don't have to only be romantic to work for my viewing pleasure and women uplifting each other that is always a good vibe for me penel be knew she took longer than she should have to reply but somehow she needed a few seconds to find her voice I don't think I know how to speak my mind she finally said turning to look at lady Danbury only as she uttered the final words of her sentence I never know what to say to people you know know what to say to me you're different lady Danbury threw her head back and laughed if ever there was an understatement oh penelopy I hope you don't mind if I call you by your given name if you can speak your mind to me you can speak it to anyone half the grown men in this room run cowering into Corners the minute they see me coming they just don't know you Penelope said patting her on the hand and they don't know you either lady Danbury quite pointedly replied no Penelope said A Touch of resignation in her voice don't I'd say that it was their loss but that would be rather Cavalier of me lady Danbury said not to them but to you because as often as I call them all fools and I do call them fools often as I'm sure you know some of them are actually rather decent people and it's a crime they haven't gotten to know you oh and another extra tidbit Beyond Lady Danbury encouraging Penelope to speak her mind here's lady Danbury calling cresa a bully Penelope opening up about cresa bullying her and sharing how the bridgin would always look out for her I hate cres up Penelope muttered lady Danbury choked on a bit of laughter and you say you don't know how to speak your mind don't keep me in suspense why do you detest her so Penelope Shrugged she's always behaved quite badly toward me lady Danbury nodded knowingly all bullies have a favorite victim it's not so bad now Penelope said but back when we were both out when she was still crusted a Cowper she never could resist the chance to torment me and people well she shook her head never mind no please lady Danbury said do go on Penelope sighed it's nothing really just that I've noticed that people don't often rush to another's defense cresa was popular at least with a certain set and she was rather frightening to the other girls our age no one dared go against her well almost no one that got lady danbury's attention and she smiled who was your Champion Penelope Champions actually Penelope replied the Bridgeton always came to my Aid Anthony Bridgeton once gave her the cut direct and took me in to dinner and her voice Rose with remembered excitement he really shouldn't have done so it was a formal dinner party and he was supposed to scort in some maress I think she sighed treasuring the memory it was lovely now of course if you want to get the full portrait of what Penelope and Lady danbury's relationship is in the book and how that relationship fits into the larger Story the best way to do that would of course be to go and read or reread the book but I figured I could give a couple of examples of what Penelope and Lady Danbury have going on together in Romancing Mr Bridgeton and how that Dynamic is completely absent in the show if Lady Danbury could offer wisdom and insight to both Simon and Kate I don't see why she couldn't have done some of that for penelopee in season 3 particularly when we don't really get to see Lady Danbury interacting with her own children on the show and Penelope is very much an outsider within her family unit when you think about what that feels like to members of the Bridgeton audience who might not have close relationships with their own families and have to find that sense of community support and found family elsewhere I think there was a real missed opportunity to not have more of those elements for Penelope during her turn as the main girl of the season going into watching season 3 I felt very strongly that I did not have any interest in the idea of them potentially trying to do any type of redemption for Porsche I wholeheartedly reject the notion that you are somehow required to just forgive Decades of trauma and mistreatment being done to you just because it was done by your blood relative absolutely not if pel journey is about not only finding her romantic love match but also her coming into her own as a person becoming more confident and secure in herself part of that Journey could have been that you get to choose to cut ties with people who have been absolutely horrible to you and build your own circle of people who actually care about your well-being and will'll make sure that you're doing all right when things get tough I'm not saying that season 3 is bad but there were just many story lines I wish had gone in different directions if I thought season 3 was irredeemable I wouldn't be revisiting it as often as I am to cover all of these different details of the show's material at least Nicola Caan is a fabulous actress even if there are so many things about Penelope stories that I wish had been altered in this or that way and I wish she had been given more screen time with Colin as well as with these other characters like Eloise Madame de laqua and sure why not lady Danbury while we're talking about this Nicola Cogan is a strong enough actress that as long as I'm watching her act as Penelope season 3 will have been worth covering on my channel they are histories of connection of hope for a better life

Channel: LadyJenevia

Views: 14,913

Keywords: Bridgerton, Netflix, Benedict Bridgerton, Luke Thompson, Video essay, Review, Jonathan Bailey, Simone Ashley, Charithra Chandran, Luke Newton, Nicola Coughlan, Claudia Jessie, Florence Hunt, Kate Sharma, Anthony Bridgerton, LadyJenevia, Prince Friederich, Freddie Stroma, Regé-Jean Page, Season 3, Penelope, Colin, Penelope Featherington, Colin Bridgerton, Anthony, Kate, Polin, Kanthony, Reaction, Romancing Mister Bridgerton, Lord Debling, Lady Danbury, Adjoa Andoh

Id: QPuTAQlqGig

Length: 23min 59sec (1439 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 09 2024