#lady bridgerton

In the first few episodes I really sympathised with Marina and her situation. I also loved how supportive Penelope was even though she didn’t really understand the situation.

But, when Marina started to seduce Colin, I did start to dislike her. I don’t know if this is me being overly protective of the Bridgerton bois, or if I would have had a problem with this if it were anybody else. 

Penelope wasn’t just jealous of the attention Colin was paying Marina, she was genuinely concerned for both Colin and the rest of the Bridgertons. She puts all of them on a pedestal of goodness and sees them as a second family, which is obvious from later on when she just turns up in their drawing room and no one bats an eyelid. In the books at least Anthony, Benedict and Colin all like her from the beginning, and so does Violet, despite her issues with the rest of Penelope’s family. 

While what she did was wrong, Colin did deserve to know. But there were other options:

1) Tell Anthony. I know this would have been slightly difficult, but he already had his doubts so he would have taken what she said seriously.

2) Tell Violet. She’s had 8 kids, it wouldn’t have taken much observation on her part to pick up on it once the suspicion was placed in her head.

3) Tell Eloise. Probably the most obvious course of action.

4) Just tell Colin. I know there are other issues with this, and she did at least try, but she could have been more upfront about it.

Publishing it in Lady Whistledown was a low blow, but this wasn’t just about her feelings for Colin, this was about a man she had been friends with for years, and a family who had never made her feel worthless, unlike so many others.

Was it petty and cruel? Yes. Do I feel any pity for Marina? No. 

She turned on Penelope the moment she was anything less than 100% on her side, and couldn’t even fathom that her concern came from anything other than jealousy. 

In Penelope’s mind at least, she was being loyal to those she cared for. And in the next season, I think we will see Penelope become much more aware of the damage she can do, despite no long term damage this time around.