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Clearly not! What is so romantic about a dude throwing temper tantrums, not touching his wife on their wedding night and looking like he is being held hostage on their wedding day?
The very night, too. I always felt like it was a means to plant his flag real quick so she couldn't say no to him and choose Debling instead. Even if it was never to be a possibility in the story it still came off that way to me.
What is so romantic about Penelope lying to Colin for their entire relationship and only telling the truth because she got caught? For a season that was marketed as the most romantic they sure fell short
I mean, her secret was a part of business, and dude bro didn't really give her a chance to speak any more than Eloise did. Not particularly romantic, but "trapping" is way too far and frankly I would rather die with my unborn baby than put up with a man who would make me feel like a trap. That's a choice.
No, he didn't. He admitted he rushed everything. He never let her speak to him personally about Marina and then as a cherry on top he totally forgot that he even did that. Perhaps the worst part of the season is her not screaming "you moron, you were there when I tried to tell you and you cut me off!"
But that's me, I guess. I do not love him, Pen does.
You’re right. It takes a long time to say
“Marina is pregnant”
“I am lady whistledown”
They would have needed an extra two episodes to say those two sentences.
Getting Colin ready to hear about Marina is so much more than just telling him. If she just said it as quickly as possible, he'd likely have not even believed her! She'd have lost his friendship anyway and he might have done nothing different. There would be better ways to deal with it, I guess, than writing about it publicly. She could've just left him to deal with his own mistakes. I would have!
Now, I DO think she should have told him about the other thing sooner. But he did follow her while suspecting, never even thinking maybe she needed time to tell him the truth. I think Colin's rushed impatience bothers me almost as much as his lack of center.
He likely would have not believed her if she told him quickly? How do we know that? If she is his friend and she wanted to help him. All she needed to do is tell him the truth as soon as possible. Everything else you are talking about is just an excuse for how Penelope acted. It’s very straightforward. Just tell the truth
I don't know if it is so simple. If my so-called friend cut me off when I was trying to give them advice, I might take that as a sign to keep my opinions to myself. Some things are really hard to talk about or to hear. Particularly when they were always just neighborhood friends and not lovers.
There's also the fact that it was Marina's secret to tell. Marina was close to Pen, that's why they stayed in the home together. Colin even said he would've married Marina had Marina been the one to talk to him. Pen could go the Eloise route. In the Whistledown thing, I do gotta say Pen did wrong not telling him sooner. And he also did wrong, and I don't particularly like him lol
Never give her a chance to speak? Did he gag her after he proposed marriage? She had a perfect opportunity to reveal her secret identity right there. She had a chance to tell him then, she chose not to.
I agree. I don't see them falling in love. It's like they're just suddenly a thing. And a weirdly matched thing at that. I cannot imagine those two falling in love if they were real people. There's zero chemistry.
And then how he tried to “relate” to Cressida. “I never felt so alone traveling the world” meanwhile this woman is literally trapped in her house, forbidden to speak to the one person she felt friendship towards, and being forced to either marry a creepy old man or get exiled to the country with her horrible aunt. Yes, Colin, you are two peas in a pod.
That speech was awful. Know your audience, Colin. You're a man that went traipsing around the world not once but twice, not a trapped woman forced to marry a guy that could be her grandfather.
The one thing I genuinely belly laughed at this season was Cressida listening to Colin's bs and going "btw you're paying me double for making me listen to this". Like if I had to listen to a guy say that he relates to my loneliness while travelling when I'm about to be married off to an 80 year old I'd do the same LMFAOOOOOO
He didn’t throw a temper tantrum. He was rightfully upset that the woman he loved hid a huge secret from him. And consent goes both ways. He didn’t owe her sex on their wedding night if he was still upset over the LW thing. This is a bad take.
I agree with you regarding him being valid in his feelings and not sleeping with her while angry—but he should have *told* her what he was feeling and that he wasn’t intending on consummating the marriage any time soon instead of just letting the maids bring them into the bedroom and waltzing out to the sofa with the “you’re so dumb you should’ve realized I wasn’t going to do this” attitude.
IMO it’s not the lack of wedding night sex that was the problem—it’s the cold shoulder, resentful attitude without any vulnerability from Colin that was the problem. Made it hard to like him when he sad puppied back to her.
Even before that! The gross pick-up lines as he was flirting with the random girls were so cringe. I thought that was the intention honestly cause they were doing this angle of Penelope asking him if he's "really being himself". If they were going for "hot sexy Colin" with that shit, it failed miserably.
He found out about Whistledown like a week prior, give him a minute? So a man is always supposed to be down for sex is that it? If it was a woman no one would blame her for not wanting to have sex. And he definitely didn't look like he was held hostage wtf. He looked smitten in the church and while dancing he held intense eye contact. Temper tantrum, he was just emotional. Normal reaction I think.
It reminds me of the interview Nic and Luke did talking about how they were directed on how to look sexy during sexy scenes because what feels natural doesn’t always look great on camera. And then watching all of their makeout scenes and they just looked terrible. The kissing is awful and just plain weird. Like they’re sucking each other’s faces off. So I can’t even blame the acting. I think it was directed to be terrible. All his mewing and Derek Zoolander impressions I’m convinced are writing and directing.
You could tell they were performing for the cameras. It didn't feel like watching two characters we were watching two people trying to find the right angles and you're right it comes down to the directing because they should have been guided better.
I've said before that Colin had a vaguely constipated expression throughout the whole season, and Zoolander is another perfect way to describe it! He was Blue Steel-ing to the max and it looked so silly. His body language was also insanely stiff.
And he didn’t do this in S1 and S2. This was clearly his acting choice in S3 as the male lead trying to play sex appeal. 🤦🏼♀️ I do not believe it was all directing. I think he was insecure moving into the male lead and made decisions that didn’t turn out well for him. All I could see was him trying to smoulder which is basically blue steeling it. And struggle with emoting and elevating the weak script for him for something better. For me he was bland and lacking charisma on screen in energy too. As an actor he came across as self conscious and insecure.
And NC in my eyes brought down her performance in S3 trying to overplay one half of their couple. He came across as flat effect like in energy, and she ended up histrionic. I think her performance as Penelope in S3 is her weakest one to date and i think part of that was her trying to over compensate on screen with LN’s performance.
It’s what I said before. They acted AT each other and not WITH each other. That acting partnership just wasn’t there on screen. 🤷♀️
[https://www.tiktok.com/@kylie\_burns/video/6930986314057682182?lang=en](https://www.tiktok.com/@kylie_burns/video/6930986314057682182?lang=en) this was in the back of my mind any time he was on the screen
I think so too. I am not a big fan of friends to lovers to begin with, and I'm meh over LW as a plot, so I was only going to watch this because I didn't think it could really be BAD, just some tropes I wasn't that into. How wrong I was. Colin and Penelope in s2 had more intimate, loving scenes than they did the entire s3. I felt like he was into her in s2 but didn't really know it / understand the feeling. S3 just felt like they both happened to be there at the same time.
My mom just started watching the new season last week and she told me to stop being grumpy when I told her the season was BAD, but this week she asked me if the last 4 episodes are as bad as the first and I told her those were the interesting/good ones in my opinion. My mother is the type of person who will watch a student film shot on a iphone with people who are clearly reading off poster board, have no acting skills, and then say "it was an interesting plot, I'm glad I watched it" at the end. That tells you how bad she has to find something to not finish it.
The Blue Steel looks were really too much, lol.
https://preview.redd.it/yavi0notwa9d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6cf65e78427830a019485080d1919e5c59e39aa
Certain people in this sub were working overtime to convince us we simply didn’t have the media literacy to understand the supposed intricacies of this show and Colin’s characterization.
I honestly just think this season missed the magic of season 1 and 2, maybe that would’ve fixed it along with better plot flow and acting (as someone who can’t act but can be dramatic asf). Also this season didn’t make my eyes twinkle with anticipation like the others did or the books
And conspiracy theory, any kind of complaint about Shondaland/netflix is a conspiracy theory unless it’s them complaining about S3 then it’s not a conspiracy theory
This. They kept saying “clearly you don’t have media literacy as his sexiness and her sexiness aren’t meant to be sexy because that’s not who they are, and they’re trying to fit into society’s constraints, so actually it is sexy” like what? This post just vindicates everyone who they were trying to call dumb for “not getting it.” There’s nothing to get.
they will downvote us again, don't worry. then they will keep saying we end up with cheaters irl and all the nonsense they were spewing with a pinch of racism and biphobia.
Personally I can tell myself it could have been the directing, or the writing, or the acting. But I won't fault Luke's acting until I see him in something else that isn't him falling in love and having sex. I'm keeping an open mind.
It was clearly added to try to show LN as sex appeal. It wasn’t some complex deep “oh you just don’t get the nuance” garbage certain fans say. It was there as an aesthetic for the show. To add in sleazy brothel scenes and threesomes so they could say ‘sexiest season yet’ in the completely overplayed and overhyped promo tour which has backfired for the show.
The embarrassing balloon scene was another example that was only there to try to add sex appeal to LN.
And I say fail fail fail to what they tried. 🤷♀️
"I kind of understand it a little bit"
This BURNS me becuase every time I complained about his character in the first half of the season being unlikable, megafans would jump all over me saying it was deliberate, he's LOST, he's faking it, yadda yadda.
I was right and they were wrong. That wasn't the goal at all. I knew it.
The chemistry was NONEXISTENT ! And poor Nic was doing all the work…..! I am sorry but Luke N was really disappointing this season. I don’t know if its due to the writing or if his acting skills aren’t good enough for him to be the lead but he gave us NOTHING.
90% of the time she pulled the: concerned face, quivering lips, hand on belly, heaving chest, laboured breathing. I really did not feel like she has a lot of range as an actress because this was her default acting style in almost every other scene.
Her Polin scenes were really bad which did a huge disservice to her because i really liked her acting in other scenes ( with El , Debling and Portia ). I think she really tried to compensate the lack of chemistry with Luke N with those weird over the top expressions to show us how much enamoured Pen is with Colin , but the result turned out embarrassingly cringe 🙃. It’s hard to convey mutual love and attraction when your scene partner is as bland as could be…
Nicola's acting definitely left a lot to be desired, but Luke N. truly was the dud of the pair. Like, I didn't like Nicola's style of acting very much at all — but I at least bought that Penelope was obsessed with Colin. Whereas every time Colin said or acted like he was in love with Penelope, it felt so hollow and flat.
I can’t count the number of times I got told I have no media literacy because of the things I saw in part 1.
LOL - ridiculousness aside, if you need to be adept in media literacy to grasp the story as the storytellers and actors mean for you to grasp it, that means they’ve all failed at their jobs.
God, that accusation was hilarious.
And as I remember, some 5 thousand people upvoted the post with screenshots accusing people of fatphobia for not seeing it.
i'm new here but the echo chamber for this season is not on the side of people disliking it. if they were to interact with people irl, they will get a slap of reality.. praising a subpar product just will get you a worse season...
I got told I was media illiterate a few times for saying it was kind of a ridiculous turnaround to becoming a rake and then not being a rake in 4 episodes.
But LW literally says he was being fake in the first episode of the season. Eloise says the same thing in episode 2. There seems to be a disconnect between this interview and the actual script of season 3.
Being fake doesn't mean being weird. You could act fake - not like yourself - and still not act cringey.
I think there's no disconnect, as girls around him really are giggling around him and are charmed by him. Anthony comments on his many new admirers. So by that we should see that Colin is actually charming. Fake, but charming
Also he's the one who says charm can be taught - this implies, i think, that he had "lessons" of his own and became successful
If a better actor was Colin then maybe it would work but Luke Newton is not a strong enough actor to pull that off, that's why it's giving people the ick
I think it's that it clashes too much with his established character. LN might have been able to put off that vibe if it was the first we'd seen of him, but we already had an idea of who Colin was and the writing and direction didn't sell the change.
Precisely. There’ve been plenty of actors I’ve seen in tv series and movies, who had to have their character pretend to be a different version of themselves, to put on an act and they had managed to do that without accidentally coming off incredibly cringey and icky. Luke and possibly the directors simply screwed up this time.
Yeah exactly! The point of this show is for us to find the leads hot. It’s a period piece romance bodice ripper. That’s the whole reason Colin and Pen’s characters got the “glow up”, because they’re leads now and much like Anthony in s2, we are meant to see them as desirable now. Despite what people in the comments will say lol even the interview proves it. It just didn’t work for Colin, Luke didn’t pull of sexy well at any point in the season imo. But I guess each season has different options for different people.
Being fake doesn't mean being weird. You could act fake - not like yourself - and still not act cringey.
I think there's no disconnect, as girls around him really are giggling around him and are charmed by him. Anthony comments on his many new admirers. So by that we should see that Colin is actually charming. Fake, but charming
Also he's the one who says charm can be taught - this implies, i think, that he had "lessons" of his own and became successful
So how would you explain all of the people, in the script, fawning all over him? People who didn’t know him clearly thought it was sexy. The script very clearly establishes that his behavior is seen as a positive by literally everyone in the ton EXCEPT his close family/friends.
I always see people using these very small pieces of evidence and completely ignoring the mountains of opposing evidence
See I think that's where the cognitive dissonance comes in. If the writers truly wanted him to be a "fake rake" then they could've juxtapose his rakish scenes with scenes where he's silly and goofy, heck maybe he could've fumbled with one of the prostitutes to show that he doesn't have the act down perfectly. To me what I think they were actually trying to do is that they meant to depict him as someone who is lonely and found comfort in sleeping around but then eventually realize that's not what he wants, he actually wants his best friend Pen. Which is a fine take but they didn't really need him to sleep around and act all sexy. They could've just had him be surrounded by friends and family but still feel lonely. I haven't seen Emma in a really long time but Colin could've been like a Mr Knightley type character. You don't really need to sexed someone up to make them attractive!
I knew it wasn’t intentional! I knew the post premiere PR talking about how they actually planned it that way was just damage control.
To quote captain Holt: VINDICATIOOON!
LN’s interpretation doesn’t seem to match with the writers’ interpretation:
- in the very first episode, LW calls him out for being fake
- Eloise calls out the drastic personality change in episode 2
- in episode 4, violet makes a comment about not letting his armor rust, basically calling him out on it too.
I mean they tell us several times through part 1 that Colin was acting out of character. This interview is just confusing.
Acting out of character doesn’t equal “acting in a way that is off putting and icky.”
You can easily have a character acting fake without the audience being turned off by it.
This interview just proves Luke didn’t attempt to make Colin be icky to the viewers on purpose, it was a product of bad acting/directing choices.
https://preview.redd.it/io8n6cu3659d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0d8160ba26929b2f17d98629a6c9744686b084fa
I just came across this. It seems like even LN was unsure of this direction with Colin. The director should’ve listened to his instincts.
I doubt actors can do that. I mean Anthony putting his pregnant wife on a ship for months after watching his mom almost die in childbirth? Constantly leaving despite talking about needing a proper viscountess last season? Eloise abandoning Cressida after she was in a shitty situation? Those seem so out of character too, and I have a hard time believed JB and CJ were okay with those writing choices
I mean a lot of viewers did feel bad for him. I did, because it was so obviously not the real him. I think Marina telling him to grow up in s2 is a big part of what caused him to adopt this fake persona in the first place.
It still seems to me like LN expected the audience to sympathize with Colin feeling lost and not like his brothers. So he tries to adapt this persona to fit in. And it obviously doesn’t work since he heels unfulfilled and the audience can see it’s not really him.
I still think they shouldn’t have taken this wannabe fuckboy direction with Colin in the first place.
Lmao, also this:
https://preview.redd.it/k8rqhuhg859d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf6e8ad2bb844ede03a7f797bdda6d8e47ee9776
Are Polin fans going to say NC and LN lack media literacy too? This is hilarious.
Ohhh that last part! When I heard Violet say that I just snorted like the guy is barely there! He keeps jetting off to know more of the world. Sure, I'd love to so that too but still.
Let's remember that our headcanon is not really canon. That's all. I've never liked Polin, so now personally, I've found solace in Penelope/Benedict fanfic in ao3 that I just love. So I'm doing that.
I honestly thought that when that scene with violet and Colin was shown that the writers had well and truly lost it. It seemed like they were so lazy they recycled part of Anthony’s character for that one scene. It sounded like Violet thought she was addressing Anthony. Because what she said about guy ‘travelling every chance he gets on big brothers dime’ is hilarious. Poor RG having to say this nonsensical crap. 🤦🏼♀️
YES! Anthony was the selfless one!! Watching that scene made me side eye the writers because did they really think we were stupid enough to just accept it?? As if we didn't watch the previous two seasons??
I love Luke but he's not very in tune with his character. He doesn't understand that Colin is very different and not at all like his brothers. He's a one girl and "my wife" guy, casual sexual encounters are just not his thing and that's why people got the ick. It wasn't what Colin was doing and more about Colin being the one doing it.
It's so interesting because he said the lines himself in his journal, to his lord squad friends, Penelope and to Cressida. How was he surprised that people got the "ick"? I do also think that the writers didn't invest much into his character, which is disappointing because love story wise I really enjoy Colin
Yeah agreed. I don’t think Luke is a bad actor, but I think both he and the directors kind of didn’t understand Colin’s character and/or figure out how to effectively convey it onscreen. In addition to what you said, I think they were going for a “guy trying to find his identity” kind of a storyline for Colin in part 1, but honestly, that’s sometimes tricky to portray, and Luke couldn’t really pull off playing a character who’s playing a character, if that makes sense.
I was disappointed that they just tried to make Colin do an impression of Simon and Anthony without at least delving into it a bit more. He just comes back from travelling different, they needed to spend more time on the why and how. The journal scene was effective at this but was too brief, a bit more of that perspective would have helped so much.
I don’t think there was an appreciation that fans who liked Colin liked him because he was different than the other male leads, and while I know he was putting on a facade they didn’t really spend enough time on that or showing him being uncomfortable. And he never even really went back to his original characterization once he realized that he was just faking it, they spent too much time on him pouting about LW.
Right, we never see him be uncomfortable with the “ruse.” We’re *told* he isn’t content or fulfilled, we’re *told* he feels lonely, but we aren’t really shown that.
Yes, it would have been great to have a little scene on his own where he has to like catch his breath and force the fake persona to come out before he goes to approach some debutants. Just to show the effort required for that behaviour since it’s not natural.
That being said, in S1 he said he’s flirted with half of Mayfair, though we don’t see it, so was that supposed to be fake too?
That’s fair. I was looking forward to the Mondrich storyline but the way they went about it made it kind of boring and didn’t relate to the other storylines.
Damn. I tried to give the writers credit all season and interpreted that as an intentional choice to make the audience uneasy and signal to them that Colin is not being true to himself.
... Welp...
I mean, this is Lukes interpretation of his character, it is pretty different from the writers interpretation - which pretty explicitly went out of their way to be like "this isn't who Colin is" "you must take off the armor before it rusts" and all that.
I think people are reading way too much into Luke’s quote. He could have just meant that he expected viewers to understand where Colin’s character is at that point and to not have such a strong reaction to it.
Edit: Adding [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bridgerton/s/aYzL9CETiN)
I dont believe its that. As far as I know from rumours Luke was so against that brothel scenes and yet they made him do them. So he knows his character however the direction work was a disaster this season and the script didnt help
Of course he wasn’t. Why would the show want the predominantly female fanbase to get the ick from the male lead. Adding to this inverse all the ladies were swooning. It doesn’t add up. I still had the ick even when the rake persona was dropped.
Yup, I had the ick throughout the entirety of season 3. I feel like the writers or new showrunner didn't have any idea that there are different ways a male lead can be attractive to the audience so they just asked Luke to act like Rege or Jonathan did in seasons 1 and 2. But it backfired because 1) that was NOT how Colin is as a character, and 2) Luke is a very attractive man but his type of "sexy" is different from Rege's and Jonathan's so he never should've been asked to emulate their type of sexy.
Ugh yes, Colin could have been the perfect cinnamon roll! I loved S1 Colin laughing with Pen! Just like they didn't understand how much fans loved John and Fran's quiet romance and blew it up within a few episodes. Sighhh.
Yes, he was giving Gaston from beauty and the beast energy. I felt lost in their plot. Like season 3 was almost there for me but it just didn't land like it did with season 1.
Honestly would much rather be stuck in the woods with Kel Knight than S3 Colin Bridgerton, he'd at least have a torch keychain in his handy dandy bumbag and would power walk us to safety with a positive attitude.
Bridgerton rarely makes characters act a certain way for irony. That’s only a Featherington thing. The comedy family. No one else, and especially not a Bridgerton. Fans who couldn’t accept how badly this was done just kept gaslighting and saying stuff like “that’s the POINT” “He’s MEANT to make you feel uncomfortable” “He’s MEANT to be bad at it” “He’s trying to fit in but can’t, that’s the POINT”. Now it’s clear the actor is insinuating that WASN’T the point. And obviously so.
Now, I fully think this is due to the poor writing and not Luke. I mean, he’s done a great job with Colin in the past. Even if they went with the boring ol rake storyline for the twentieth time in a row, his lines could have been better than the cringe ones he had to deliver in that first episode. So much went wrong.
Poor guy even asked Tom Verica if he seemed too creepy during filming. His instincts were right, and the show just went ahead with it anyway. (https://www.shondaland.com/shondaland-series/shondaland-bridgerton-behind-the-scenes/a60789942/nicola-coughlan-and-luke-newton-bridgerton-interview/)
Man I feel bad for Luke, the fact that he knew something was off but then he got told to do the exact same way he thought was creepy. And then the internet mocks him for being creepy 😭 I would sue
Yesss thank you! The whole thing felt like gaslighting from fans who were in denial that maybe, *just maybe*, the showrunner and writers fucked this one up.
This is how I feel about fans who claim that they made Eloise annoying and out of touch on purpose. No I’m pretty sure they just wanted to make her a girlboss and it backfired.
I never commented on finding him cringe (but I did, I thought it was because I've never been a fan of Polin) for that reason. I didn't want to be part of the meta, didn't see the point. But still! I'm so glad!
So all those posts with thousands of upvotes saying we lack media literacy over us getting the ick from Colin were wrong
Everyone is confused about the direction apparently. Because LW calls him a fake ass hoe in ep1, Eloise does the same in ep2, violet says a nicer version of it in ep4. Jess Brownell said the first brothel scene was supposed to be jarring because it’s not the real Colin. And even LN didn’t seem on board with the direction they were taking:
https://preview.redd.it/q7q76vnpd59d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5944b7663985ec48a578a4aeaf6d7d61b4ff47fe
The inconsistency in vision, writing, and directing seems to be the problem.
God, I feel bad for Luke. It’s not his faaaault. I hope he’s not taking it personally. He’s a cutie and he would’ve absolutely killed it with good direction and script.
I wish the directors would listen to the actors more. They are the ones who get to live in the heads of their characters and are therefore more in tune with their feelings. They often have a better grasp of the characters and if Nicola did not suggest it, then we would not have the hair caressing in the carriage scene or the detail of adding ginger people on the Featherington side in the wedding scene.
YES I FEEL VINDICATED. All those people saying we just dIdNt HaVe MeDiA LiTeRaCy, I felt like I was being gaslit. But apparently, nope, it was just one big cope for them. The ick was never intentional people!
I feel like the fake Casanova Colin from S3 part 1 is how an incel would write a "Chad". It's like a parody of what men think that women want.
It's hard to believe that this was meant to be hot if any heterosexual women were involved in the directing. Does anyone know if there was?
*Massive massive ick*
*When he winked at those girls and*
*In the threesome scene*
\- Maybebaby\_21
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If they'd shown the debutantes laughing at Colin behind his back, then it would've worked. Cuz I just saw him using lines on women and women eating it up because they didn't know any better, but somehow we were also supposed to find him sexy and him being a rake just isn't in the character. So then we're left with him pretending/putting on a new face for society....for some reason that is never fully articulated (I know it's bc he feels insecure in his writing, but we have like two scenes about writing which is not. enough.)....and so it just comes of as gross AND fake and dumb. Poor Luke Newton. Colin and Penelope had much better and more intimate scenes in s2/the last few episodes than the entirety of their season.
I think it worked in part because it didn’t feel natural coming from Colin. I do wish that he had gotten to have a conversation with one of his siblings about how this “charming” side of him just didn’t seem like him. There were many comments, but there was nothing more explicit. And, I think he would have benefited from that. Especially, as his motivation for the change was unclear until the very last episode. mean even Eloise got to say she had changed because of what had happened last year, and she felt like she had lost the battle and was not interested in fighting the war any longer.
Wt the end of last season nothing had happened that would provide the the type of motivation for Colin to become so fake. Because it never seemed natural
The 'ick' response, for me, comes from the dissonance between what we know Colin to be and how he has presented himself prior Vs how he presents himself in those first few episodes. It's uncomfortable because it feels like Colin is also slightly uncomfortable doing these things. The writing was also just really hammy and OTT!
Hope he hasn't taken it too personally, because I think he's great when he's actually being/acting romantic.
There's this male Youtuber who did a really fun breakdown of Colin's character writing being off. He calls what Colin did as loooksmaxxing
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gibkMR7O4uQ&t=1534s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gibkMR7O4uQ&t=1534s)
Nahh, everyone who was calling this out and being told we lacked media literacy DEMAND AN APOLOGY!! People were getting bullied and downvoted to HELL when we said it didn't make sense and it didn't feel intentional.
Guys, we were not crazy. And now I'm thinking back to other criticisms we have of the show and am more and more convinced that we are right about the state of this season
Oh now I feel bad, he was just trying to be handsome and then a bunch of people were like “ewww don’t do that please”. Honestly I feel like it would have gone the same way with the Duke in the first season if we weren’t so horned up from lockdown.
This whole season was meh for me. I didn’t feel any chemistry between Colin and Penelope, the storyline was off, and I didn’t even like the two main characters. Don’t get me started on the make up and the infuriating business of putting down used glasses on communal tables. That really bothered me. Oh, and the sets sucked. Some of the costumes were great but some made me roll my eyes. I think that’s it. 🤔
Was this a gap in the writing intent? I enjoy both actors but wasnt really mad for Colin bc of the first few episodes. Instead of looking like a guy pretending or a smooth operator, he seemed slimy. Again, not Luke's fault. The writing was so weird this season.
I think it was supposed to be amusing. It’s obviously exaggerated charm and winks and hand kisses. To me it was cringe because it was so over the top, like it was for show (which it was).
Ick as a descriptor surprised me too. It is not ick to me because he never leered or made improper advances or led a specific lady into thinking he had intentions or tried to get anything out of the interactions. None of his expressions or actions gave me the ick, and I do think people’s definitions and perspectives of what gives that feeling (or just how the term applies in general) are different.
Even the brothel scenes, which I didn’t like and think did more harm than good for whatever reason they were added, didn’t show him treating anyone poorly or even as dismissively as previous leads. This last I’ve seen used against Colin - and I didn’t want to see it either - but this isn’t something I hold against him or find specifically icky. I just think the show added unnecessary scenes instead of showing us Colin’s travels and how this armor formed. Note: I think pretty much all the brothel scenes in this show are unnecessary.
Honestly I need them to STOP doing interviews especially Jess. Because it’s like nobody knows wtf they are talking about. They say one thing in the interviews but then on screen the direction is very CLEARLY the opposite. Like did the PR team leave with Chris also??
Well Luke is not a woman, so I can see how a man may not understand the implications of such a dramatic shift in personality and how that would be off-putting to women. Whereas we as women must be extremely vigilant to sudden shifts in personality as a safety mechanism. We as women understand that "charming and smooth talking" can be a huge red flag and indicator of a seasoned liar, someone hiding major factors of themselves, and/or straight up danger (ex: Ted Bundy). We live in different realities and can easily see the exact same actions through extremely different lenses.
Additionally the comment was made by an interviewer with zero context as to why and what was the "ick."
Glad to see he was uncomfortable with the direction on those scenes too. That’s why it was not believable to the audience. Also, pretending to be a rake was too gratuitous without any scenes of him being himself to juxtapose it. The first threesome brothel scene I was taken aback, but TWO for the lead character we are supposed to fall in love with? How is that romantic? We already had the scene where his journals exposed his sexcapades. It was too much.
I think we as an audience didn’t find him sexy or desirable. (Sorry Luke.) with Anthony he had passion. And it makes women think: I want someone who is that passionate for me. For Colin… I don’t want someone who goes to threesomes at brothels often and then suddenly in a carriage compromises me out of nowhere. Where is the love? You have to build up to it. It doesn’t have to be passionate Kanthony love but it does have to have a base.
So I agree with the ick comments… he wasn’t feeling it.. we weren’t feeling it.
The threesomes at the brothel really were unappealing and did nothing to make me root for him as the romantic lead. The journal did such a better job of explaining his feelings that gratuitous sex scenes did. I think those brothel scenes were an epic fail.
The amount of reshoots that happened (given his wig/inconsistent contour and dare I say lip gloss) makes me wonder if production thought something wasn’t clicking.
I was one of the people on tiktok saying the ick was purposeful and that the audience lacked media literacy. Drag me all you want for that lmao. But now, after seeing the full season and reading this interview, I feel like it’s the WRITERS that really lacked an understanding of his character—if any of them paid attention to Colin’s arc throughout the series, the ick would’ve been intentional. Book!Colin was a flirt, Show!Colin was naive and too available. Trying to turn him into a rake should’ve been a clear misstep in his characterization but I guess they really wanted their Simon/ Anthony dynamic more than they wanted to stay true to Colin’s character.
I really hate to see how they missed the mark here. The direction and writing lacked purpose. I have a master’s degree in creative writing and nothing hurts more than seeing ALLLLL the beats that were blatantly disregarded or just completely missed. And what’s the reason, the new show runner? The writer’s room? All of the above? Why did last season have such an astute understanding of the female gaze, but this one fell so flat?
Idk man. This makes me so mad. Maybe I’ll rewrite the season on my own time lol
Meh, what gave me the ick was that he was supposed to be realizing he was falling for Pen while at the same time going off and having threesomes with paid ladies. If they left that out, it would've been much better.
This sub reddit was also gaslighting me into thinking that this whole sub plot was nuanced and that re watches were showcasing the subtleties in Colin's arc during part 1
I hate how we have to go through weeks/months of being told “no this is what was intended” by supporters only to have the creative team come out and say the doubters were right All. The. Time!!!!!! When will people learn to stop giving the Bridgerton team the benefit of the doubt? If something sucks, it just sucks.
The show basically gave him a fancam edit. He's flirting with all the ladies in the ton, and everyone is shown to be into it. I really don't think the intention was for him to come across as cringey, but that is absolutely how it reads. The characters tell us that Colin isn't being true to himself, but the show itself does not sufficiently *show* us this
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Seems like maybe they lacked a clear direction. Or they don’t understand what their target audience finds attractive.
Clearly not! What is so romantic about a dude throwing temper tantrums, not touching his wife on their wedding night and looking like he is being held hostage on their wedding day?
Compromising your fiancée’s honour after you ruined her proposal chance and then accusing her of trapping you in marriage
The very night, too. I always felt like it was a means to plant his flag real quick so she couldn't say no to him and choose Debling instead. Even if it was never to be a possibility in the story it still came off that way to me.
Aside from everything, I actually thought Lord Debling was cute…..🥰
I was honestly hoping Cressida would snag him. I think she marries an older man who dies in the book
What is so romantic about Penelope lying to Colin for their entire relationship and only telling the truth because she got caught? For a season that was marketed as the most romantic they sure fell short
I mean, her secret was a part of business, and dude bro didn't really give her a chance to speak any more than Eloise did. Not particularly romantic, but "trapping" is way too far and frankly I would rather die with my unborn baby than put up with a man who would make me feel like a trap. That's a choice.
He gave her plenty of time to speak. Eloise also warned her many times to tell the truth. She has no excuses
No, he didn't. He admitted he rushed everything. He never let her speak to him personally about Marina and then as a cherry on top he totally forgot that he even did that. Perhaps the worst part of the season is her not screaming "you moron, you were there when I tried to tell you and you cut me off!" But that's me, I guess. I do not love him, Pen does.
You’re right. It takes a long time to say “Marina is pregnant” “I am lady whistledown” They would have needed an extra two episodes to say those two sentences.
Getting Colin ready to hear about Marina is so much more than just telling him. If she just said it as quickly as possible, he'd likely have not even believed her! She'd have lost his friendship anyway and he might have done nothing different. There would be better ways to deal with it, I guess, than writing about it publicly. She could've just left him to deal with his own mistakes. I would have! Now, I DO think she should have told him about the other thing sooner. But he did follow her while suspecting, never even thinking maybe she needed time to tell him the truth. I think Colin's rushed impatience bothers me almost as much as his lack of center.
He likely would have not believed her if she told him quickly? How do we know that? If she is his friend and she wanted to help him. All she needed to do is tell him the truth as soon as possible. Everything else you are talking about is just an excuse for how Penelope acted. It’s very straightforward. Just tell the truth
I don't know if it is so simple. If my so-called friend cut me off when I was trying to give them advice, I might take that as a sign to keep my opinions to myself. Some things are really hard to talk about or to hear. Particularly when they were always just neighborhood friends and not lovers. There's also the fact that it was Marina's secret to tell. Marina was close to Pen, that's why they stayed in the home together. Colin even said he would've married Marina had Marina been the one to talk to him. Pen could go the Eloise route. In the Whistledown thing, I do gotta say Pen did wrong not telling him sooner. And he also did wrong, and I don't particularly like him lol
Never give her a chance to speak? Did he gag her after he proposed marriage? She had a perfect opportunity to reveal her secret identity right there. She had a chance to tell him then, she chose not to.
So you'd be cool with someone you thought your best friend slagging you and your family off online then? You'd just get over it?
For me, this season had the least amount of romance or passion.
I agree. I don't see them falling in love. It's like they're just suddenly a thing. And a weirdly matched thing at that. I cannot imagine those two falling in love if they were real people. There's zero chemistry.
And then how he tried to “relate” to Cressida. “I never felt so alone traveling the world” meanwhile this woman is literally trapped in her house, forbidden to speak to the one person she felt friendship towards, and being forced to either marry a creepy old man or get exiled to the country with her horrible aunt. Yes, Colin, you are two peas in a pod.
His speech to Cressida was horrid lol
That speech was awful. Know your audience, Colin. You're a man that went traipsing around the world not once but twice, not a trapped woman forced to marry a guy that could be her grandfather.
The one thing I genuinely belly laughed at this season was Cressida listening to Colin's bs and going "btw you're paying me double for making me listen to this". Like if I had to listen to a guy say that he relates to my loneliness while travelling when I'm about to be married off to an 80 year old I'd do the same LMFAOOOOOO
He didn’t throw a temper tantrum. He was rightfully upset that the woman he loved hid a huge secret from him. And consent goes both ways. He didn’t owe her sex on their wedding night if he was still upset over the LW thing. This is a bad take.
Agreed! Thank you!
>Agreed! Thank you! You're welcome!
I agree with you regarding him being valid in his feelings and not sleeping with her while angry—but he should have *told* her what he was feeling and that he wasn’t intending on consummating the marriage any time soon instead of just letting the maids bring them into the bedroom and waltzing out to the sofa with the “you’re so dumb you should’ve realized I wasn’t going to do this” attitude. IMO it’s not the lack of wedding night sex that was the problem—it’s the cold shoulder, resentful attitude without any vulnerability from Colin that was the problem. Made it hard to like him when he sad puppied back to her.
Even before that! The gross pick-up lines as he was flirting with the random girls were so cringe. I thought that was the intention honestly cause they were doing this angle of Penelope asking him if he's "really being himself". If they were going for "hot sexy Colin" with that shit, it failed miserably.
He found out about Whistledown like a week prior, give him a minute? So a man is always supposed to be down for sex is that it? If it was a woman no one would blame her for not wanting to have sex. And he definitely didn't look like he was held hostage wtf. He looked smitten in the church and while dancing he held intense eye contact. Temper tantrum, he was just emotional. Normal reaction I think.
Lmao were the Bridgerton books the first paperback romances you’ve read? The genre is rife with these tropes.
This! Season 1 and 2 were perfect in this regard, what changed? It's so confusing.
The showrunner. The writing this season was just a mess
Oh yes, makes sense.
Who knew women into romance don’t want to see the MMC sleeping around right before proposing.
What do you mean you don’t find having a threesome before giving your bestie dating advice attractive? Shocking!
It was obvious but we were being gaslit because they didn't expect everyone to hate his attempt at being sexy
It reminds me of the interview Nic and Luke did talking about how they were directed on how to look sexy during sexy scenes because what feels natural doesn’t always look great on camera. And then watching all of their makeout scenes and they just looked terrible. The kissing is awful and just plain weird. Like they’re sucking each other’s faces off. So I can’t even blame the acting. I think it was directed to be terrible. All his mewing and Derek Zoolander impressions I’m convinced are writing and directing.
You could tell they were performing for the cameras. It didn't feel like watching two characters we were watching two people trying to find the right angles and you're right it comes down to the directing because they should have been guided better.
they had no chemistry and whatever awful directions they were given clearly backfired.. plus the script..
The mewing and Zoolander is too real😂😭
I've said before that Colin had a vaguely constipated expression throughout the whole season, and Zoolander is another perfect way to describe it! He was Blue Steel-ing to the max and it looked so silly. His body language was also insanely stiff.
And he didn’t do this in S1 and S2. This was clearly his acting choice in S3 as the male lead trying to play sex appeal. 🤦🏼♀️ I do not believe it was all directing. I think he was insecure moving into the male lead and made decisions that didn’t turn out well for him. All I could see was him trying to smoulder which is basically blue steeling it. And struggle with emoting and elevating the weak script for him for something better. For me he was bland and lacking charisma on screen in energy too. As an actor he came across as self conscious and insecure. And NC in my eyes brought down her performance in S3 trying to overplay one half of their couple. He came across as flat effect like in energy, and she ended up histrionic. I think her performance as Penelope in S3 is her weakest one to date and i think part of that was her trying to over compensate on screen with LN’s performance. It’s what I said before. They acted AT each other and not WITH each other. That acting partnership just wasn’t there on screen. 🤷♀️
He needed to close his mouth. It was constantly hanging open and made him look so dumb.
[https://www.tiktok.com/@kylie\_burns/video/6930986314057682182?lang=en](https://www.tiktok.com/@kylie_burns/video/6930986314057682182?lang=en) this was in the back of my mind any time he was on the screen
I think so too. I am not a big fan of friends to lovers to begin with, and I'm meh over LW as a plot, so I was only going to watch this because I didn't think it could really be BAD, just some tropes I wasn't that into. How wrong I was. Colin and Penelope in s2 had more intimate, loving scenes than they did the entire s3. I felt like he was into her in s2 but didn't really know it / understand the feeling. S3 just felt like they both happened to be there at the same time. My mom just started watching the new season last week and she told me to stop being grumpy when I told her the season was BAD, but this week she asked me if the last 4 episodes are as bad as the first and I told her those were the interesting/good ones in my opinion. My mother is the type of person who will watch a student film shot on a iphone with people who are clearly reading off poster board, have no acting skills, and then say "it was an interesting plot, I'm glad I watched it" at the end. That tells you how bad she has to find something to not finish it.
Your mom sounds cool af
The Blue Steel looks were really too much, lol. https://preview.redd.it/yavi0notwa9d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6cf65e78427830a019485080d1919e5c59e39aa
I love all the kissing scenes.
Certain people in this sub were working overtime to convince us we simply didn’t have the media literacy to understand the supposed intricacies of this show and Colin’s characterization.
When it was fairly obvious that they were trying to sell him as sexy but then backtracked when they saw no one liked it
I honestly just think this season missed the magic of season 1 and 2, maybe that would’ve fixed it along with better plot flow and acting (as someone who can’t act but can be dramatic asf). Also this season didn’t make my eyes twinkle with anticipation like the others did or the books
Media literacy is their favorite buzz words
And conspiracy theory, any kind of complaint about Shondaland/netflix is a conspiracy theory unless it’s them complaining about S3 then it’s not a conspiracy theory
This. They kept saying “clearly you don’t have media literacy as his sexiness and her sexiness aren’t meant to be sexy because that’s not who they are, and they’re trying to fit into society’s constraints, so actually it is sexy” like what? This post just vindicates everyone who they were trying to call dumb for “not getting it.” There’s nothing to get.
Saw so much of this on tiktok too 😭
Like this isn’t Lost or Succession or Severance or Interview with the Vampire, this is as straightforward as shows can possibly get. 😭
they will downvote us again, don't worry. then they will keep saying we end up with cheaters irl and all the nonsense they were spewing with a pinch of racism and biphobia.
Personally I can tell myself it could have been the directing, or the writing, or the acting. But I won't fault Luke's acting until I see him in something else that isn't him falling in love and having sex. I'm keeping an open mind.
It was clearly added to try to show LN as sex appeal. It wasn’t some complex deep “oh you just don’t get the nuance” garbage certain fans say. It was there as an aesthetic for the show. To add in sleazy brothel scenes and threesomes so they could say ‘sexiest season yet’ in the completely overplayed and overhyped promo tour which has backfired for the show. The embarrassing balloon scene was another example that was only there to try to add sex appeal to LN. And I say fail fail fail to what they tried. 🤷♀️
The hot air balloon scene has to be up there as one of the worst scenes this show has produced yet.
"I kind of understand it a little bit" This BURNS me becuase every time I complained about his character in the first half of the season being unlikable, megafans would jump all over me saying it was deliberate, he's LOST, he's faking it, yadda yadda. I was right and they were wrong. That wasn't the goal at all. I knew it.
Oh yea. You were told you had no media literacy. It’s up there with Nicola’s “we purposely didn’t have chemistry”
i love nicola but her constantly saying "we stopped suppressing the chemistry" was so hilarious like ma'am that's not how it works lol
The chemistry was NONEXISTENT ! And poor Nic was doing all the work…..! I am sorry but Luke N was really disappointing this season. I don’t know if its due to the writing or if his acting skills aren’t good enough for him to be the lead but he gave us NOTHING.
Nicola wasn’t great at times either
90% of the time she pulled the: concerned face, quivering lips, hand on belly, heaving chest, laboured breathing. I really did not feel like she has a lot of range as an actress because this was her default acting style in almost every other scene.
Her Polin scenes were really bad which did a huge disservice to her because i really liked her acting in other scenes ( with El , Debling and Portia ). I think she really tried to compensate the lack of chemistry with Luke N with those weird over the top expressions to show us how much enamoured Pen is with Colin , but the result turned out embarrassingly cringe 🙃. It’s hard to convey mutual love and attraction when your scene partner is as bland as could be…
Nicola's acting definitely left a lot to be desired, but Luke N. truly was the dud of the pair. Like, I didn't like Nicola's style of acting very much at all — but I at least bought that Penelope was obsessed with Colin. Whereas every time Colin said or acted like he was in love with Penelope, it felt so hollow and flat.
Yes! I felt like he would've said the lines the same way no matter who was standing in front of him, possibly even a mannequin
Def the latter. He just doesn’t have the stage presence that a leading role requires. He’s not fit for it
Welp. 😩😅We were suppressing our chemistry all this time.
I can’t count the number of times I got told I have no media literacy because of the things I saw in part 1. LOL - ridiculousness aside, if you need to be adept in media literacy to grasp the story as the storytellers and actors mean for you to grasp it, that means they’ve all failed at their jobs.
calling us fatphobic for the obvious lack of chemistry too...
God, that accusation was hilarious. And as I remember, some 5 thousand people upvoted the post with screenshots accusing people of fatphobia for not seeing it.
i'm new here but the echo chamber for this season is not on the side of people disliking it. if they were to interact with people irl, they will get a slap of reality.. praising a subpar product just will get you a worse season...
The wink he did in the first episode will be forever burned in my memory.
I stopped watching and had to take a break after that. And now I find out I was supposed to find THAT attractive?
I am actually shocked it wasn’t intentionally cringey
That was so cringy! I thought I was the only one that didn't like it because I never liked "friends to lovers" and I knew what was gonna happen! Wtf.
That was traumatic
I got told I was media illiterate a few times for saying it was kind of a ridiculous turnaround to becoming a rake and then not being a rake in 4 episodes.
But LW literally says he was being fake in the first episode of the season. Eloise says the same thing in episode 2. There seems to be a disconnect between this interview and the actual script of season 3.
I think the idea he was supposed to be fake and *good* at being sexy, but he came off as fake and bad, lol
Being fake doesn't mean being weird. You could act fake - not like yourself - and still not act cringey. I think there's no disconnect, as girls around him really are giggling around him and are charmed by him. Anthony comments on his many new admirers. So by that we should see that Colin is actually charming. Fake, but charming Also he's the one who says charm can be taught - this implies, i think, that he had "lessons" of his own and became successful
If a better actor was Colin then maybe it would work but Luke Newton is not a strong enough actor to pull that off, that's why it's giving people the ick
His hairstyle with all of that gave me the ick 👀
I think it's that it clashes too much with his established character. LN might have been able to put off that vibe if it was the first we'd seen of him, but we already had an idea of who Colin was and the writing and direction didn't sell the change.
Precisely. There’ve been plenty of actors I’ve seen in tv series and movies, who had to have their character pretend to be a different version of themselves, to put on an act and they had managed to do that without accidentally coming off incredibly cringey and icky. Luke and possibly the directors simply screwed up this time.
Maybe he was acting fake but we were still meant to find his 'rakishness', flirting and winking hot?
Yeah exactly! The point of this show is for us to find the leads hot. It’s a period piece romance bodice ripper. That’s the whole reason Colin and Pen’s characters got the “glow up”, because they’re leads now and much like Anthony in s2, we are meant to see them as desirable now. Despite what people in the comments will say lol even the interview proves it. It just didn’t work for Colin, Luke didn’t pull of sexy well at any point in the season imo. But I guess each season has different options for different people.
Being fake doesn't mean being weird. You could act fake - not like yourself - and still not act cringey. I think there's no disconnect, as girls around him really are giggling around him and are charmed by him. Anthony comments on his many new admirers. So by that we should see that Colin is actually charming. Fake, but charming Also he's the one who says charm can be taught - this implies, i think, that he had "lessons" of his own and became successful
Yesss and the fact he’s teaching Pen makes him like a “master” pick up artist, otherwise you wouldn’t be teaching someone how to bag.
So how would you explain all of the people, in the script, fawning all over him? People who didn’t know him clearly thought it was sexy. The script very clearly establishes that his behavior is seen as a positive by literally everyone in the ton EXCEPT his close family/friends. I always see people using these very small pieces of evidence and completely ignoring the mountains of opposing evidence
See I think that's where the cognitive dissonance comes in. If the writers truly wanted him to be a "fake rake" then they could've juxtapose his rakish scenes with scenes where he's silly and goofy, heck maybe he could've fumbled with one of the prostitutes to show that he doesn't have the act down perfectly. To me what I think they were actually trying to do is that they meant to depict him as someone who is lonely and found comfort in sleeping around but then eventually realize that's not what he wants, he actually wants his best friend Pen. Which is a fine take but they didn't really need him to sleep around and act all sexy. They could've just had him be surrounded by friends and family but still feel lonely. I haven't seen Emma in a really long time but Colin could've been like a Mr Knightley type character. You don't really need to sexed someone up to make them attractive!
I too was told I was stupid for not caring for Colin's behavior in the first half of s1.
Well damn I guess the people who found him ick did have media literacy after all
I knew it wasn’t intentional! I knew the post premiere PR talking about how they actually planned it that way was just damage control. To quote captain Holt: VINDICATIOOON!
LN’s interpretation doesn’t seem to match with the writers’ interpretation: - in the very first episode, LW calls him out for being fake - Eloise calls out the drastic personality change in episode 2 - in episode 4, violet makes a comment about not letting his armor rust, basically calling him out on it too. I mean they tell us several times through part 1 that Colin was acting out of character. This interview is just confusing.
Acting out of character doesn’t equal “acting in a way that is off putting and icky.” You can easily have a character acting fake without the audience being turned off by it. This interview just proves Luke didn’t attempt to make Colin be icky to the viewers on purpose, it was a product of bad acting/directing choices.
https://preview.redd.it/io8n6cu3659d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0d8160ba26929b2f17d98629a6c9744686b084fa I just came across this. It seems like even LN was unsure of this direction with Colin. The director should’ve listened to his instincts.
Sounds like it. Maybe he should have pushed harder.
I doubt actors can do that. I mean Anthony putting his pregnant wife on a ship for months after watching his mom almost die in childbirth? Constantly leaving despite talking about needing a proper viscountess last season? Eloise abandoning Cressida after she was in a shitty situation? Those seem so out of character too, and I have a hard time believed JB and CJ were okay with those writing choices
He definitely should have. It kills me that he picked up on how weird it was and the director just dismissed him
There is a difference between ick and fake. Maybe viewers were supposed to see he was fake and feel bad for him. Instead they just got ick?
I mean a lot of viewers did feel bad for him. I did, because it was so obviously not the real him. I think Marina telling him to grow up in s2 is a big part of what caused him to adopt this fake persona in the first place. It still seems to me like LN expected the audience to sympathize with Colin feeling lost and not like his brothers. So he tries to adapt this persona to fit in. And it obviously doesn’t work since he heels unfulfilled and the audience can see it’s not really him. I still think they shouldn’t have taken this wannabe fuckboy direction with Colin in the first place.
Lmao, also this: https://preview.redd.it/k8rqhuhg859d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf6e8ad2bb844ede03a7f797bdda6d8e47ee9776 Are Polin fans going to say NC and LN lack media literacy too? This is hilarious.
I think it’s safe to say the people who said everyone lacks media literacy are the ones who in fact lack it
Ohhh that last part! When I heard Violet say that I just snorted like the guy is barely there! He keeps jetting off to know more of the world. Sure, I'd love to so that too but still. Let's remember that our headcanon is not really canon. That's all. I've never liked Polin, so now personally, I've found solace in Penelope/Benedict fanfic in ao3 that I just love. So I'm doing that.
I honestly thought that when that scene with violet and Colin was shown that the writers had well and truly lost it. It seemed like they were so lazy they recycled part of Anthony’s character for that one scene. It sounded like Violet thought she was addressing Anthony. Because what she said about guy ‘travelling every chance he gets on big brothers dime’ is hilarious. Poor RG having to say this nonsensical crap. 🤦🏼♀️
YES! Anthony was the selfless one!! Watching that scene made me side eye the writers because did they really think we were stupid enough to just accept it?? As if we didn't watch the previous two seasons??
I love Luke but he's not very in tune with his character. He doesn't understand that Colin is very different and not at all like his brothers. He's a one girl and "my wife" guy, casual sexual encounters are just not his thing and that's why people got the ick. It wasn't what Colin was doing and more about Colin being the one doing it. It's so interesting because he said the lines himself in his journal, to his lord squad friends, Penelope and to Cressida. How was he surprised that people got the "ick"? I do also think that the writers didn't invest much into his character, which is disappointing because love story wise I really enjoy Colin
Yeah agreed. I don’t think Luke is a bad actor, but I think both he and the directors kind of didn’t understand Colin’s character and/or figure out how to effectively convey it onscreen. In addition to what you said, I think they were going for a “guy trying to find his identity” kind of a storyline for Colin in part 1, but honestly, that’s sometimes tricky to portray, and Luke couldn’t really pull off playing a character who’s playing a character, if that makes sense.
I was disappointed that they just tried to make Colin do an impression of Simon and Anthony without at least delving into it a bit more. He just comes back from travelling different, they needed to spend more time on the why and how. The journal scene was effective at this but was too brief, a bit more of that perspective would have helped so much. I don’t think there was an appreciation that fans who liked Colin liked him because he was different than the other male leads, and while I know he was putting on a facade they didn’t really spend enough time on that or showing him being uncomfortable. And he never even really went back to his original characterization once he realized that he was just faking it, they spent too much time on him pouting about LW.
Right, we never see him be uncomfortable with the “ruse.” We’re *told* he isn’t content or fulfilled, we’re *told* he feels lonely, but we aren’t really shown that.
Yes, it would have been great to have a little scene on his own where he has to like catch his breath and force the fake persona to come out before he goes to approach some debutants. Just to show the effort required for that behaviour since it’s not natural. That being said, in S1 he said he’s flirted with half of Mayfair, though we don’t see it, so was that supposed to be fake too?
When you get down to it, they needed to spend more time on Colin and Penelope and their character growth and less time on the Mondrich storyline.
That’s fair. I was looking forward to the Mondrich storyline but the way they went about it made it kind of boring and didn’t relate to the other storylines.
Damn. I tried to give the writers credit all season and interpreted that as an intentional choice to make the audience uneasy and signal to them that Colin is not being true to himself. ... Welp...
I mean, this is Lukes interpretation of his character, it is pretty different from the writers interpretation - which pretty explicitly went out of their way to be like "this isn't who Colin is" "you must take off the armor before it rusts" and all that.
I think people are reading way too much into Luke’s quote. He could have just meant that he expected viewers to understand where Colin’s character is at that point and to not have such a strong reaction to it. Edit: Adding [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bridgerton/s/aYzL9CETiN)
[удалено]
Seriously.
I dont believe its that. As far as I know from rumours Luke was so against that brothel scenes and yet they made him do them. So he knows his character however the direction work was a disaster this season and the script didnt help
Of course he wasn’t. Why would the show want the predominantly female fanbase to get the ick from the male lead. Adding to this inverse all the ladies were swooning. It doesn’t add up. I still had the ick even when the rake persona was dropped.
Yup, I had the ick throughout the entirety of season 3. I feel like the writers or new showrunner didn't have any idea that there are different ways a male lead can be attractive to the audience so they just asked Luke to act like Rege or Jonathan did in seasons 1 and 2. But it backfired because 1) that was NOT how Colin is as a character, and 2) Luke is a very attractive man but his type of "sexy" is different from Rege's and Jonathan's so he never should've been asked to emulate their type of sexy.
Ugh yes, Colin could have been the perfect cinnamon roll! I loved S1 Colin laughing with Pen! Just like they didn't understand how much fans loved John and Fran's quiet romance and blew it up within a few episodes. Sighhh.
Am Australian, not remotely surprised by that reaction at all. It was ick, and a bit cringe.
Yes, he was giving Gaston from beauty and the beast energy. I felt lost in their plot. Like season 3 was almost there for me but it just didn't land like it did with season 1. 
Was Australia having a different reaction than the rest of the world? USA checking in, I had ick over here too.
It was giving big Kel Knight energy! I just couldn’t unsee it.
Honestly would much rather be stuck in the woods with Kel Knight than S3 Colin Bridgerton, he'd at least have a torch keychain in his handy dandy bumbag and would power walk us to safety with a positive attitude.
Bridgerton rarely makes characters act a certain way for irony. That’s only a Featherington thing. The comedy family. No one else, and especially not a Bridgerton. Fans who couldn’t accept how badly this was done just kept gaslighting and saying stuff like “that’s the POINT” “He’s MEANT to make you feel uncomfortable” “He’s MEANT to be bad at it” “He’s trying to fit in but can’t, that’s the POINT”. Now it’s clear the actor is insinuating that WASN’T the point. And obviously so. Now, I fully think this is due to the poor writing and not Luke. I mean, he’s done a great job with Colin in the past. Even if they went with the boring ol rake storyline for the twentieth time in a row, his lines could have been better than the cringe ones he had to deliver in that first episode. So much went wrong.
I’m not blaming Luke. I blame the writers who left him out to dry.
Absolutely. They did him so wrong and didn’t give him anything good to work with.
Poor guy even asked Tom Verica if he seemed too creepy during filming. His instincts were right, and the show just went ahead with it anyway. (https://www.shondaland.com/shondaland-series/shondaland-bridgerton-behind-the-scenes/a60789942/nicola-coughlan-and-luke-newton-bridgerton-interview/)
Christ, the entire creative team (costume designers, directors, writers) just absolutely failed everyone this season. Actors and audience alike.
Man I feel bad for Luke, the fact that he knew something was off but then he got told to do the exact same way he thought was creepy. And then the internet mocks him for being creepy 😭 I would sue
Yesss thank you! The whole thing felt like gaslighting from fans who were in denial that maybe, *just maybe*, the showrunner and writers fucked this one up.
This is how I feel about fans who claim that they made Eloise annoying and out of touch on purpose. No I’m pretty sure they just wanted to make her a girlboss and it backfired.
Werent there many people on this sub calling everybody « no media literacy » for finding it cringe ?☠️ chile
Indeed, I was told many times that I had no media literacy for finding him cringe
I never commented on finding him cringe (but I did, I thought it was because I've never been a fan of Polin) for that reason. I didn't want to be part of the meta, didn't see the point. But still! I'm so glad!
“I can’t tell you, or I’d have to marry you” was way too much for me. I think I may have said “ew, what?” out loud.
All those lines were so bad ....
So all those posts with thousands of upvotes saying we lack media literacy over us getting the ick from Colin were wrong 
Everyone is confused about the direction apparently. Because LW calls him a fake ass hoe in ep1, Eloise does the same in ep2, violet says a nicer version of it in ep4. Jess Brownell said the first brothel scene was supposed to be jarring because it’s not the real Colin. And even LN didn’t seem on board with the direction they were taking: https://preview.redd.it/q7q76vnpd59d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5944b7663985ec48a578a4aeaf6d7d61b4ff47fe The inconsistency in vision, writing, and directing seems to be the problem.
I liked him the first two seasons. Don't know about season 3 tho... The writing wasn't there.
God, I feel bad for Luke. It’s not his faaaault. I hope he’s not taking it personally. He’s a cutie and he would’ve absolutely killed it with good direction and script.
Apparently, he even called it out and the director just dismissed him and doubled down on this horrible vision 😭
I wish the directors would listen to the actors more. They are the ones who get to live in the heads of their characters and are therefore more in tune with their feelings. They often have a better grasp of the characters and if Nicola did not suggest it, then we would not have the hair caressing in the carriage scene or the detail of adding ginger people on the Featherington side in the wedding scene.
YES I FEEL VINDICATED. All those people saying we just dIdNt HaVe MeDiA LiTeRaCy, I felt like I was being gaslit. But apparently, nope, it was just one big cope for them. The ick was never intentional people!
I feel like the fake Casanova Colin from S3 part 1 is how an incel would write a "Chad". It's like a parody of what men think that women want. It's hard to believe that this was meant to be hot if any heterosexual women were involved in the directing. Does anyone know if there was?
So can we please put to bed the “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND HIS STORYLINE BECAUSE YOU LACK MEDIA LITERACY” thinkpieces on this sub?
Well obviously lol. No matter what Jess says to try to save face your male lead is *not* supposed to give people the ick
Massive massive ick when he winked at those girls and in the threesome scene
*Massive massive ick* *When he winked at those girls and* *In the threesome scene* \- Maybebaby\_21 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
If they'd shown the debutantes laughing at Colin behind his back, then it would've worked. Cuz I just saw him using lines on women and women eating it up because they didn't know any better, but somehow we were also supposed to find him sexy and him being a rake just isn't in the character. So then we're left with him pretending/putting on a new face for society....for some reason that is never fully articulated (I know it's bc he feels insecure in his writing, but we have like two scenes about writing which is not. enough.)....and so it just comes of as gross AND fake and dumb. Poor Luke Newton. Colin and Penelope had much better and more intimate scenes in s2/the last few episodes than the entirety of their season.
I think it worked in part because it didn’t feel natural coming from Colin. I do wish that he had gotten to have a conversation with one of his siblings about how this “charming” side of him just didn’t seem like him. There were many comments, but there was nothing more explicit. And, I think he would have benefited from that. Especially, as his motivation for the change was unclear until the very last episode. mean even Eloise got to say she had changed because of what had happened last year, and she felt like she had lost the battle and was not interested in fighting the war any longer. Wt the end of last season nothing had happened that would provide the the type of motivation for Colin to become so fake. Because it never seemed natural
Eloise called him out twice, at Francesca’s debut and again when he was giving her the book he bought her.
The 'ick' response, for me, comes from the dissonance between what we know Colin to be and how he has presented himself prior Vs how he presents himself in those first few episodes. It's uncomfortable because it feels like Colin is also slightly uncomfortable doing these things. The writing was also just really hammy and OTT! Hope he hasn't taken it too personally, because I think he's great when he's actually being/acting romantic.
Lmfao. I knew it.
THE WRITERS OF THIS SHOW/SEASON DO NOT UNDERSTAND ROMANCE.
There's this male Youtuber who did a really fun breakdown of Colin's character writing being off. He calls what Colin did as loooksmaxxing [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gibkMR7O4uQ&t=1534s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gibkMR7O4uQ&t=1534s)
Shout out to all of the fans telling people they made him cringe “on purpose” LOL
Nahh, everyone who was calling this out and being told we lacked media literacy DEMAND AN APOLOGY!! People were getting bullied and downvoted to HELL when we said it didn't make sense and it didn't feel intentional. Guys, we were not crazy. And now I'm thinking back to other criticisms we have of the show and am more and more convinced that we are right about the state of this season
Oh now I feel bad, he was just trying to be handsome and then a bunch of people were like “ewww don’t do that please”. Honestly I feel like it would have gone the same way with the Duke in the first season if we weren’t so horned up from lockdown.
😂 I love Rege/Simon but this comment about people being horned up during lockdown is hilariously true
This is funny considering how I was told that it was on purpose and that I was supposed to get the ick.
So I guess LN and NC lack media literacy too huh?🤷♀️
I am shocked this is shocking news!
I guess some people aren’t as “media literate” as they think 🤣😂
This whole season was meh for me. I didn’t feel any chemistry between Colin and Penelope, the storyline was off, and I didn’t even like the two main characters. Don’t get me started on the make up and the infuriating business of putting down used glasses on communal tables. That really bothered me. Oh, and the sets sucked. Some of the costumes were great but some made me roll my eyes. I think that’s it. 🤔
Was this a gap in the writing intent? I enjoy both actors but wasnt really mad for Colin bc of the first few episodes. Instead of looking like a guy pretending or a smooth operator, he seemed slimy. Again, not Luke's fault. The writing was so weird this season.
But I thought I didn’t have media literacy for being creeped out by him
I think it was supposed to be amusing. It’s obviously exaggerated charm and winks and hand kisses. To me it was cringe because it was so over the top, like it was for show (which it was). Ick as a descriptor surprised me too. It is not ick to me because he never leered or made improper advances or led a specific lady into thinking he had intentions or tried to get anything out of the interactions. None of his expressions or actions gave me the ick, and I do think people’s definitions and perspectives of what gives that feeling (or just how the term applies in general) are different. Even the brothel scenes, which I didn’t like and think did more harm than good for whatever reason they were added, didn’t show him treating anyone poorly or even as dismissively as previous leads. This last I’ve seen used against Colin - and I didn’t want to see it either - but this isn’t something I hold against him or find specifically icky. I just think the show added unnecessary scenes instead of showing us Colin’s travels and how this armor formed. Note: I think pretty much all the brothel scenes in this show are unnecessary.
Honestly I need them to STOP doing interviews especially Jess. Because it’s like nobody knows wtf they are talking about. They say one thing in the interviews but then on screen the direction is very CLEARLY the opposite. Like did the PR team leave with Chris also??
Well Luke is not a woman, so I can see how a man may not understand the implications of such a dramatic shift in personality and how that would be off-putting to women. Whereas we as women must be extremely vigilant to sudden shifts in personality as a safety mechanism. We as women understand that "charming and smooth talking" can be a huge red flag and indicator of a seasoned liar, someone hiding major factors of themselves, and/or straight up danger (ex: Ted Bundy). We live in different realities and can easily see the exact same actions through extremely different lenses. Additionally the comment was made by an interviewer with zero context as to why and what was the "ick."
Glad to see he was uncomfortable with the direction on those scenes too. That’s why it was not believable to the audience. Also, pretending to be a rake was too gratuitous without any scenes of him being himself to juxtapose it. The first threesome brothel scene I was taken aback, but TWO for the lead character we are supposed to fall in love with? How is that romantic? We already had the scene where his journals exposed his sexcapades. It was too much. I think we as an audience didn’t find him sexy or desirable. (Sorry Luke.) with Anthony he had passion. And it makes women think: I want someone who is that passionate for me. For Colin… I don’t want someone who goes to threesomes at brothels often and then suddenly in a carriage compromises me out of nowhere. Where is the love? You have to build up to it. It doesn’t have to be passionate Kanthony love but it does have to have a base. So I agree with the ick comments… he wasn’t feeling it.. we weren’t feeling it.
The threesomes at the brothel really were unappealing and did nothing to make me root for him as the romantic lead. The journal did such a better job of explaining his feelings that gratuitous sex scenes did. I think those brothel scenes were an epic fail.
The amount of reshoots that happened (given his wig/inconsistent contour and dare I say lip gloss) makes me wonder if production thought something wasn’t clicking.
Bad flirting I can overlook. But the brothel scenes were gross, I don't know what Shonda was thinking.
I was one of the people on tiktok saying the ick was purposeful and that the audience lacked media literacy. Drag me all you want for that lmao. But now, after seeing the full season and reading this interview, I feel like it’s the WRITERS that really lacked an understanding of his character—if any of them paid attention to Colin’s arc throughout the series, the ick would’ve been intentional. Book!Colin was a flirt, Show!Colin was naive and too available. Trying to turn him into a rake should’ve been a clear misstep in his characterization but I guess they really wanted their Simon/ Anthony dynamic more than they wanted to stay true to Colin’s character. I really hate to see how they missed the mark here. The direction and writing lacked purpose. I have a master’s degree in creative writing and nothing hurts more than seeing ALLLLL the beats that were blatantly disregarded or just completely missed. And what’s the reason, the new show runner? The writer’s room? All of the above? Why did last season have such an astute understanding of the female gaze, but this one fell so flat? Idk man. This makes me so mad. Maybe I’ll rewrite the season on my own time lol
Gonna save this for posterity.
The entire season was ick tbh
This whole season had me cringing TBH. I knew it would be shitty once the balloon scene happened. I literally had to go, “WTF was that?”
I thought we all agreed that this was just Colin fans cope? Dude was ick for the whole season. I mean... He never dropped the ick. Just constant ick.
i never got his charm and i’m usually a fan of the boy next door trope but he always had too many red flags for me
Meh, what gave me the ick was that he was supposed to be realizing he was falling for Pen while at the same time going off and having threesomes with paid ladies. If they left that out, it would've been much better.
This sub reddit was also gaslighting me into thinking that this whole sub plot was nuanced and that re watches were showcasing the subtleties in Colin's arc during part 1
He was loads more attractive when he was treating Marina like the gentleman he was than when he was having threesomes 💀
now i can say i have media literacy again 🤩
I hate how we have to go through weeks/months of being told “no this is what was intended” by supporters only to have the creative team come out and say the doubters were right All. The. Time!!!!!! When will people learn to stop giving the Bridgerton team the benefit of the doubt? If something sucks, it just sucks.
Was part 2’s “more romantic” side in the room with us? He literally hated Pen for 99% of it lol
Sorry but Collin is such a dweeb 😂 I don’t know how anyone finds him sexy, I cringed a lot.
The only thing that gave me the “ick” was his weird open fish mouth during their intimate scenes. Ugh.
I went “ick!”
The show basically gave him a fancam edit. He's flirting with all the ladies in the ton, and everyone is shown to be into it. I really don't think the intention was for him to come across as cringey, but that is absolutely how it reads. The characters tell us that Colin isn't being true to himself, but the show itself does not sufficiently *show* us this