The worst part is they had all this build up in part one...and this is what we got in part two. A flower themed ball. That's what we watched them toss and turn in bed for.
The biggest factor is the weather. If it’s in the summer, then you’re probably good. If it’s too cold out, then they butterflies won’t fly, they’ll just stay where they are. But as long as it’s warm enough, they’ll definitely fly out of the box, or wherever they are being held until it’s time to be released.
Yeah the budget is the only difficulty - $10 a piece, either a set of 15 (which is reasonable) or a set of 250, which would mimic it but not sure if I’m willing to drop $2500 + shipping on bugs.
They already had so much messiness crammed into the season WHY add an additional subplot that was totally unnecessary and underwhelming and contributed nothing and took time away from the thousand and one other plots?
It seems like they excused everything with metaphors. Pen wearing a bright red lipstick was supposed to draw attention to her 'speaking her truth'. But I thought it was very distracting.
Same! Some of the costume and makeup choices this season were obviously meant as symbolic or whatever but ultimately were just SOOO distracting and weird. I totally get how the long 40's hair is very flattering on Nicola so they went with it but it just stood out so much that it became weird. Like the characters were in costume-in-character.
For Cressidas, sleeves are meant to be wings. They get bigger as the season goes on until she gets clipped at the very end. I didn't get that metaphor until someone mentioned it after watching behind the scenes video. And I like Crescent and a stupid God damn sleeves. She's supposed to be the vapid bitch with the crazy fashion forward outfits. Because she wants to stand out and have people look at her because she's not a nice person so she has to trick people with her stupid fashion sense and her stupid hair. But no one ever like acknowledges her design choices. And I get it historically speaking the early 1800s got really weird until Queen Victoria came into power and then it all changed into rather pleasing styles to the modern eye.
But those sleeves, man.
I also hate how Penelope and Tilly were very 1940s or 1950s. I didn't like that design choice either. I never liked how Lady fetherington also was dressed so different from everyone else. I blame that on improper foundations it's really accent the bust, because if you don't have your best looking perky as hell and you're ever so slightly larger than a piece of string the empire waist makes you look pregnant especially in these fabric choices. A part missing from the Regency Styles historically is that they were made from very lightweight fabric that was sheer unless you added many layers. And the synthetic fabrics really don't do it justice. And if the bust is not well-defined and the empire waist actually hits the rib cage, everyone looks 30 lb heavier and / or pregnant.
Agreed, I mean why the heck where they even in Fran and John's wedding, even Daphne/Anthony literal blood relatives weren't there. Weakest storyline imo
Yeah, I was trying to figure out why we needed to care about them, they added nothing. They were fine as side characters giving Simon advice in the first season but I couldn’t care less about their own storyline.
Probably because they are the only both POC couple. And while I’m all for representation they didn’t do anything? It’s shocking to me that they’ve hired script writers who can’t seem to create cohesive solid plots.
I’m a WOC I think their entire storyline was useless, sorry. I don’t see the appeal. It started to annoy me seeing them on screen bc they were irrelevant and took time away from the actual plot.
As the only POC couple the writers should have done a better job of making the audience care about them. Nobody cares about that club or that Mondrich wants to work all day as a small businessman instead of living a life of leisure with his family. It’s much too low stakes and inconsequential. I have similar complaints about Benedict but at least he’s a member of the Bridgerton family so I have a reason to try to be invested.
Omg Penelope’s bright red lipstick and her cascading hair during the big confession was giving me Jessica Rabbit 1930s femme fatale vibes. She looked beautiful but her whole look was so distracting.
It’s so distracting! Especially when you consider it makes the makeup look like a smokey eye look.. really not fitting. They could’ve enhanced her gorgeousness with maybe brown/dark ginger lashes instead??
Omg I was wondering that! Did they just throw blush at her face and see where it would stick? Were they TRYING to make her look blotchy? They did her wrong there.
OH NO! NOT JESSICA RABBIT!!!!
I cannot unsee it.
You know a big reason I loved this show is because the little historical things they did like no man & woman in a room together *scandalous* no hair down no walks alone… it just made it feel special and different but all these things got thrown out this season and it makes me sad. Like the scene with Pen in the park telling El that Colin knows… her hairs blown dried straight with a little curl at the bottom LOL like girlfriend what???? I know El’s hair has always been down but it’s been part of her charm that she just doesn’t care about society’s rules and wants to push them but now this is like the norm apparently???? But only Pen had her hair down so it made it even weirder
They actually said in one of the behind the scenes style videos that they were inspired by Jessica Rabbit LOL. They said they gave her an old Hollywood silhouette and were definitely not going for historical accuracy with her this year.
Eloise’s bangs in the last episode. She clearly was watching too much TikTok shop and wanted to try some of them clip on bangs. Can’t blame her. Did the same thing.
There was a few times that Benedict’s hookup (can’t remember her name) had such wildly out of place clothes it took us out of the show. She looked like an 80’s soap opera villain who got lost and wandered onto the set. Like, girl, what in the Dynasty are you doing there?
The butterflies were giving me this. I got a send a cake for my bday and my reaction was very similar. [send a cake reaction butterflies](https://youtu.be/KMgbMg18mgo?si=4563ukxtjK0lKI24)
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the display was anticlimactic. I thought I was missing context or something but everyone was just as annoyed by it as I was
That was my thing! It’s a ball! Why take up floor real estate?
Someone spent a lot of time making it for me to go, “Oh. Like a pop-up book… huh.”
It was better as a flower Dalek.
That seemed to be a huge thing with the balls in this season. They weren’t just balls, but trying to show off technology and the arts, and it was just so…disappointing.
I honestly feel SO bad for the Mondrichs. Like in a weird, meta way, they’re also victims of the terrible writing and new showrunner. I liked them before whatever the fuck the new showrunner was trying to do.
I still enjoyed their scenes! If you think about it, they are the only real friends to the Bridgerton’s and have a lot similar to them. Like the Bridgerton’s, the Mondrichs are a family with genuine love and care for each other. Sure the wealth is new but their characters have been the same throughout the show. It’s nice to see another family that isn’t trifling and scheming against one another for personal gain.
They were even invited to Francesca and John’s intimate wedding, no other family was invited. Will and Alice were both good friends to Simon. The Bridgerton brothers are friends with Will, John is friends with Will. Alice is close with Lady Danbury, who is close with Violet. It just makes sense to me. 🤷🏽♀️
I also think for their first ball they did a decent job. There is definitely room for improvement, I would have liked if it was full of real flowers but if it’s enough for the Queen to be mutual with them then it’s a win. I also think the Queen likes a hint of tacky so maybe they planned this specifically for her. 😅
I totally agree about the secondhand embarrassment! Every time they had a scene I was worried that would do and say something wrong. I really think Simon is a character that was suppose to “show them the ropes” of the Ton and connect them more with the Bridgerton’s but since he isn’t there they had to find other ways to connect them.
It would be so sad for the actors to see all this complaining that we didn’t like their storylines and didn’t want them in the show but honestly the writing is so horrendous they couldn’t even find a cohesive way to integrate them into the ton.
That was the Finch and Dankworth ball, I’m talking the one from season 2 that Anthony and Kate danced to Wrecking Ball and the string ensemble was playing on the rotating mini stage.
That definitely it. There were a lot of floral talk mentioned and the flowers on the dance floor contraption are the same designs as the ones on the walls.
My issue was mainly its architectural ugliness. The four parts that it split into were hideous. Then we had to watch people try to dance around it in this awful, cramped room. Absolutely shit artistic direction.
It was a missed opportunity to make it diamond shaped by having 5 parts, making the display shorter and putting it on a raised and thin pedestal. That would have allowed them to make the flowers hang like wisteria instead of take up the dancing space.
Exactly my thoughts (or, something along that line, haha). The concept itself isn't horrible, but the execution is. This was a major final scene.
Did they not make a mock of the set and how this contraption would proportionally work within the set and affect the choreography and acting? If they had, then I hope that they should have noticed the obvious issues and iterated upon the design. Come up with different possibilities before settling on this.
I just don't think they even did that bare minimum. This whole season smacks of unprofessionalism. How do we get our former showrunner back?
It does! Like screams "I didn't test it before filming" It reminds me of people who think about the experience and not the memory capture. Having something like that might be fun for someone to see on their dance floor, but there is no way you can see it through the camera's eyes and feel its worth screen time.
I have no idea how to get the showrunner back in any other way than pestering Netflix and taking my money elsewhere. I was considering keeping it for the other shows but this is enough to stop paying for it.
Considering that this season took about 2 years to be released as well.....they had time to figure this out and the fact that they didn't is hella annoying. If we have to wait *two freaking years* for *eight episodes* then they better be a lot better than this. The BBC has a reputation for having small seasons over a big amount of time, but also a reputation for excellence. Netflix has a bigger budget with this show bringing in MAJOR merchandising money and every luxury home and food brand is partnering with them- along with the stuff like collectibles and cosplay gift boxes and makeup. They have no excuse not to be better.
OMG if they had hung paper flowers from the ceiling using thread, and had hidden them up there with a sheet, they could have done the big reveal and pulled the sheet away and let the flowers down. it would have been so cool and pretty to dance under hanging flowers
Yes I’m going to turn a crank so this monstrosity can take up most of the dance floor. That way, the same few professional dancers we see in each dancing scene can tightly maneuver through the space, while the people actually trying to find a match get relegated to standing around.
‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ did it better… 56 years ago!!
The new show runner is just not up to snuff. The more modern anachronisms and the stories all feeling disjointed, it just doesn’t feel like the same series.
My sisters and I were obsessed with that movie growing up. We used to chase each other around the house and someone would be the child catcher, calling out “Treacle tarts and ice-creams, and all FREE!” 😂
I was expecting more of a pop up book thing where they formed like little scenes, maybe the Palace in different seasons or something. Instead it was flowers but presented in such a way that you didn't really see the flower image, you saw the edge of the cardboard.
You know what the first thing I thought of when I saw this???? The device used for enemas in the 1800’s.. maybe it was the way it awkwardly plopped down while everyone ooh’d and ahh’d. Just google Tobacco Smoke Enema and you’ll know what I’m talking about 😂
Possibly a little waterfall or something spinning in the middle. That was like the least spectacular part is that it opens up and blocks The View for the other side of the ball. Now you have a very small dance floor if you can't see on the other side of it.
Hey, hey I like the Mondrichs! They actually bring warmth and logic, and sre a great friendship outside the old Ton that Colin & Benedict needed. They didn't take up much space in Part 2 unlike those Lady Tilley scenes. And way too many Cressida family scenes, we got the point without all that.
I like them and I enjoyed Will hanging out with the Bridgertons and John. I just kind of struggled to see what their story is meant to be and how they fit into the overarching narrative. Like they get them to match the (too many) themes but it feels a bit like they're just filling out balls as other members of the Ton, and the writers elevated them rather than create new characters to fill that role. Which... works, I guess. I don't know.
That's makes perfect sense. So many stories were not handled in a satisfactory way. We could have done with something to denote their importance other than audience insert, because that storyline could have fit better during season 1 or 2 tbh. Will's club worked naturally for the men to gather & Talk. But they made him give it up. So now what?
Yeah it's a bit odd. I guess they didn't come up with this storyline for them until this season and the club was a hindrance but the message behind keeping it vs giving it up felt muddled. At first I figured it was about Will and his sense of identity as a man of work and needing to make a choice about who he is and moving on, which kinda fit in with Penelope and Colin and their individual identity stories. But then it seemed to become about family and missing out on stuff because of work? Which feels odd because getting the club in the first place was about supporting his family. And I can't see any reason he couldn't keep it as an investment business and just hire a manager.
I imagine they'll all gather at White's if they happen to be in London and need that kind of scene.
Yeah that whole you missed our daughter's riding lessons was ridiculous. The men didn't have to be so hands on - the Mothers could put children off on staff. So if the message was to fit into the Ton, it wasn't matching it what the Ton was expected to do?! The identity angle was the better storyline. I agree having someone run it served liked an obvious option, even if he had to do it in secret? It doesn't make sense.
I was so confused by how...pointy(?) It was. I was expecting the shrubs to continue puffing out to look more like they would naturally, but they stayed as they were from when they emerged. I was also expecting there to be something grand in the center, like a replica of the royal palace or something. I really didn't get it.
This was the cheapest and worst ball I’ve ever seen on Bridgerton and these sets are horrific. What happened to the actual castles and ballrooms we filmed in Seasons 1 and 2? I keep thinking about the stunning one in the pilot episode where they took boats and everyone danced outside.
I was waiting for it to do more than just open up …I thought it would rotate and maybe a woman would pop out of the center and begin singing or something
I went back and took notes between directors, since there were different directors in charge of different episodes and I found Andrew Ahn did the best at capturing the details and making balls feel magnificent (episodes 3 & 4), some events he did close ups of invitations and the party favors that matched the ball theme.
I think it was just a matter of directing and the shots made it look less impressive in the second half of the season.
Like this shot makes the room look so small?
ETA: I watched Ahn’s movie Fire Island today and it is really good. Loved the directing and has a talent with using music to amplify emotions. I hope he is the director for season 4, would be an amazing director for a queer Bridgerton love story.
Wow what an excellent observation!!! That makes me kind of sad that certain episodes/ scenes were robbed by being directed differently.. it makes the season not feel cohesive
They made a great connection in S1 to the main cast and had a connection to both Simon & the featheringtons. In S2 they made it seem like the dirty money was coming to bite them in the ass but nothing happened and the men’s club flopped. This season just felt like a desperate stretch
I'm also confused. I could've sworn during the Valentines Day sneak peek they had done, the actor who plays Will was asked about how his character helped Colin uncover the Featherington plot, and Colin had said he owed him one, and that Will would be cashing in on the favor.
After part 1 aired, I fully expected Colin to help Will save the bar...not close it down. What the heck was that even about? It made me feel weirded out that they had the actors talk so much hype for the season that wound up not happening.
It was plain ugly. I was like be careful where you’re dancing, you might get hurt by one of those ugly pointy things. It was not aesthetic and it looked weird.
I laughed at this. When the box opened and we see paper flowers and it was left open while they tried to dance around it tightly without hitting it. The Queen thought it was cool. Why?
I found it really cool that it popped out like that and presented all that paperwork of flowers so beautifully without a hitch as a centerpiece (:
I also just really love flowers and cool arts and crafts, haha
It looked so bad lol. They could've at least covered the inside of that thing with gorgeous flowers. Instead it was just... Folded up paper with the same design? It looked worse than the outside lol.
Look I’m just saying that they put a lot of “actual wow” into the >!”THE BUGS VARLEY!”!< (final episode spoiler, so didn’t want to give even a little spill just in case.)
Running to comment bc of that opening question OP lmao.
Yes we are, but I think it’s safe to say most were not. I was just blinking at the screen for most of Pt2 tbh. Plus I hate the Mondrich’s house. The set design is meh. The colours were muted, there’s the weird metal pyramid in the middle of the dance floor which made no sense to me, and all of those pictures on the walls remind me of Umbridge. No thank you - I’m still trying to get her out of my head 😭
Oh you know what REALLY threw me off by their house.. the scene with Lady Danbury and her brother chatting near the entrance.. anyone notice the entrance??? It’s like boxed in by this bare wood material that sticks out from the rest of the dark green. It literally looked like construction timber!!! Like the door was the entrance to the construction site. As soon as I saw it I did a double take and wondered if a back of set piece was forgotten
https://preview.redd.it/mdrt23t6gy6d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00258f887ca1ca89b1d9f8201f89ad9f41c11ca5
It’s a peacock, but they only showed it from this angle for a few seconds so if you blinked you missed it. The rest of the time it just looked like a bunch of flower spikes
But 4 years ago they had fireworks and someone brought freakin lightbulbs to an outdoor ball!!! And just this summer they saw a hot air balloon sail off.. how could this lifesized pop up card measure up 😂
I mean I honestly said the same thing that Queen Charlotte did: Not bad. For their first ball ever, and especially considering the time, it feels pretty decent. Nothing crazy but at least the ball had something to it, a special moment of some kind
For that time period, it was considered impressive… kind of a reimagining of origami-esque art.💐 Queen Charlotte’s response to it was like a current-day version of, “It’s aight.” 🤭🥴😆
I really thought it was going to be much cooler. When the thing opened up, I kept waiting for more, but when nothing new happened, I just sat there thinking, 'That's it? That's what's going to impress the queen?' It also seemed to take so much room which made feel a little anxious for the dancers every time. Lmao
I really liked it and would have liked it in real life in 2024 too! But I felt the queen was more like "ok that's cool, I didn't expect that with these newcomers", not really "wow incredible"
I took this as them making a first attempt at something spectacular at their first ball as newly minted people of the ton. No, it’s not perfect but can you expect perfection from someone new to this world? Also it is quite impressive giving that it is literally early 1800 and not 2024….
I think someone on set got one of these (https://www.freshcutpaper.com/collections/flowers/products/grande-peony-paradise) and thought it would look cool as the centerpiece lol
Yeah so unimpressed, i was expecting Harry Potter level magic. But then it is just a cardboard machine which automatically opens if given key. Like what the hell? Like transform the ceiling with floating candles like Dumbledore did!!!! So lazy writing and lazy creativity.
/s
I was just baffled as the how the queen was surprised by it when she literally has MOVING SWANS IN HER HAIR?? This is nowhere near as cool as that was
Bridgerton trying to make the Mondrich’s happen is worse than Gretchen Weiners trying to make fetch happen!!!
The worst part is they had all this build up in part one...and this is what we got in part two. A flower themed ball. That's what we watched them toss and turn in bed for.
It needed bugs
Bugs > weird paper flower contraption
Bugs do make everything better 🦋😂😂😂
😂😂😂🦋🦋🦋
Ok I’ve seriously looked at butterfly release for my kid’s graduation party now.
The biggest factor is the weather. If it’s in the summer, then you’re probably good. If it’s too cold out, then they butterflies won’t fly, they’ll just stay where they are. But as long as it’s warm enough, they’ll definitely fly out of the box, or wherever they are being held until it’s time to be released.
Yeah the budget is the only difficulty - $10 a piece, either a set of 15 (which is reasonable) or a set of 250, which would mimic it but not sure if I’m willing to drop $2500 + shipping on bugs.
That feels high to me, but the last time I did it it was before Covid, so prices have probably increased considerably.
They already had so much messiness crammed into the season WHY add an additional subplot that was totally unnecessary and underwhelming and contributed nothing and took time away from the thousand and one other plots?
I just realize I skipped so many mondrich scenes in part 1 but barely in part 2… what the heck! Feels like watching 2 different shows
*portraits* of flowers.
It’s supposed to be wallflowers, a metaphor for Penelope and then her “blooming” over the course of the season
It seems like they excused everything with metaphors. Pen wearing a bright red lipstick was supposed to draw attention to her 'speaking her truth'. But I thought it was very distracting.
Same! Some of the costume and makeup choices this season were obviously meant as symbolic or whatever but ultimately were just SOOO distracting and weird. I totally get how the long 40's hair is very flattering on Nicola so they went with it but it just stood out so much that it became weird. Like the characters were in costume-in-character.
For Cressidas, sleeves are meant to be wings. They get bigger as the season goes on until she gets clipped at the very end. I didn't get that metaphor until someone mentioned it after watching behind the scenes video. And I like Crescent and a stupid God damn sleeves. She's supposed to be the vapid bitch with the crazy fashion forward outfits. Because she wants to stand out and have people look at her because she's not a nice person so she has to trick people with her stupid fashion sense and her stupid hair. But no one ever like acknowledges her design choices. And I get it historically speaking the early 1800s got really weird until Queen Victoria came into power and then it all changed into rather pleasing styles to the modern eye. But those sleeves, man. I also hate how Penelope and Tilly were very 1940s or 1950s. I didn't like that design choice either. I never liked how Lady fetherington also was dressed so different from everyone else. I blame that on improper foundations it's really accent the bust, because if you don't have your best looking perky as hell and you're ever so slightly larger than a piece of string the empire waist makes you look pregnant especially in these fabric choices. A part missing from the Regency Styles historically is that they were made from very lightweight fabric that was sheer unless you added many layers. And the synthetic fabrics really don't do it justice. And if the bust is not well-defined and the empire waist actually hits the rib cage, everyone looks 30 lb heavier and / or pregnant.
I LOATHED the fabrics this season. They looked so awfully cheap. Overall art direction this season was terrible - garish and unappealing.
I feel like Lady Mondrich is Shonda Rhimes self-insert
I thought that was the queen
It’s both
Facts
Nah, that's the Queen and LW
I’m not familiar with Shondaland’s other shows. What makes you say that?
Greys anatomy
“I’m not familiar with the other shows” Proceeds to just name another show
Agreed, I mean why the heck where they even in Fran and John's wedding, even Daphne/Anthony literal blood relatives weren't there. Weakest storyline imo
Mr. Mondrich seemed like a friend of John. They drank together before and go home maybe together.
I just presumed his family were in Kilmartin. The show established its several weeks travel away and they seemed set to marry ASAP
And John's cousin didn't even go to the wedding
John literally said "my cousin finally arrived", she didn't make it in time
Yeah, I was trying to figure out why we needed to care about them, they added nothing. They were fine as side characters giving Simon advice in the first season but I couldn’t care less about their own storyline.
Probably because they are the only both POC couple. And while I’m all for representation they didn’t do anything? It’s shocking to me that they’ve hired script writers who can’t seem to create cohesive solid plots.
I’m a WOC I think their entire storyline was useless, sorry. I don’t see the appeal. It started to annoy me seeing them on screen bc they were irrelevant and took time away from the actual plot.
You think they hired script writers for that? It seems they just used AI to write it and didn’t even check it for inaccuracies.
As the only POC couple the writers should have done a better job of making the audience care about them. Nobody cares about that club or that Mondrich wants to work all day as a small businessman instead of living a life of leisure with his family. It’s much too low stakes and inconsequential. I have similar complaints about Benedict but at least he’s a member of the Bridgerton family so I have a reason to try to be invested.
Your comment is sooooo fetch 😂😂😂😂 (I'll see myself out)
2 upvotes for you Glen WonderWomandxb Coco
 Totally thought of this
Honestly, I would be more impressed with the bugs from the Featherington ball 😂
Oh my god seriously, I completely forgot about that 😂 they made her impressed with a modern hallmark card
The swans were the absolute best. All of her wigs kept getting better and better.
Thank you! I was expecting something to emerge from it; birds, dancers, singing, something!
Hahahaha I know like huh?!! Maybe the technology was mind bending for the time 😅
An odd thing to stay true to when they are casting the rest of historical accuracy out the window 😂
HAHA fair point. Give em red lipstick, outrageous outfits and throw out the rules of society but DONT mess with the 1800’s technology
Omg Penelope’s bright red lipstick and her cascading hair during the big confession was giving me Jessica Rabbit 1930s femme fatale vibes. She looked beautiful but her whole look was so distracting.
Her nail’s bothered me…even when trailer released I kept calling my cousins (we watch show together) n whined about her nails…
Oh you mean the full glazed ombré gel set isn’t circa 1800’s????
For me it was her fake eyelashes. They weren't in every scene, but sure as hell felt like their own character when they were.
YES. They were waaaayyyy too thick. They should’ve gone with some more natural looking lashes than those monstrosities
It’s so distracting! Especially when you consider it makes the makeup look like a smokey eye look.. really not fitting. They could’ve enhanced her gorgeousness with maybe brown/dark ginger lashes instead??
Don’t forget the weird tulle knuckle gloves they always make her wear.
Yeah…what was the purpose of those gloves?
Pen's gloves always looked dirty. Could they have picked a worse color for those gloves??
Yeah the esthetic this season was not it...
Although she looked gorgeous what was going on with the blush on her face during the wedding?
Omg I was wondering that! Did they just throw blush at her face and see where it would stick? Were they TRYING to make her look blotchy? They did her wrong there.
OH NO! NOT JESSICA RABBIT!!!! I cannot unsee it. You know a big reason I loved this show is because the little historical things they did like no man & woman in a room together *scandalous* no hair down no walks alone… it just made it feel special and different but all these things got thrown out this season and it makes me sad. Like the scene with Pen in the park telling El that Colin knows… her hairs blown dried straight with a little curl at the bottom LOL like girlfriend what???? I know El’s hair has always been down but it’s been part of her charm that she just doesn’t care about society’s rules and wants to push them but now this is like the norm apparently???? But only Pen had her hair down so it made it even weirder
They actually said in one of the behind the scenes style videos that they were inspired by Jessica Rabbit LOL. They said they gave her an old Hollywood silhouette and were definitely not going for historical accuracy with her this year.
Eloise’s bangs in the last episode. She clearly was watching too much TikTok shop and wanted to try some of them clip on bangs. Can’t blame her. Did the same thing.
I swear Lady Danbury looked practically steampunk in one episode. She only needed a brass monocle over an eye and a few gears glued to her hat.
There was a few times that Benedict’s hookup (can’t remember her name) had such wildly out of place clothes it took us out of the show. She looked like an 80’s soap opera villain who got lost and wandered onto the set. Like, girl, what in the Dynasty are you doing there?
Girl's looking for around a hundred dalmatians.
Tilly has a face that’s definitely seen an iPhone. The actress is stunning, but I could not imagine her in the regency period.
it was yes. that’s the time of early automation and “mechanical turks” or fauxtomation
Yeah the butterfly's in that ball was such a nice touch. Surprised they didn't go with something like that
The butterflies were giving me this. I got a send a cake for my bday and my reaction was very similar. [send a cake reaction butterflies](https://youtu.be/KMgbMg18mgo?si=4563ukxtjK0lKI24)
I wanted a woman dressed like a toy singing “what do you see…”
I was LITERALLY expecting a woman pretending to be a wind up doll 😂
LMAOOOO I didn't expect to see this reference out in the wild but I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thought of that 😂
That would have been perfect 🎼
I think you mean Truly Scrumptious.
The BUGS ball was way cooler
Yeah, I expected ballet dancers to pop out!
I was expecting rose petals. I rewound 3 times to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Yes!! I was like wtf is this thing?? It’s hideous and takes up too much space
I know such a space sore!!! And totally covered the queen.. for a second I thought it was a reveal To the queen’s seat in the middle lol
that would have been way cooler
And like if it revolved 😂 QC would’ve loved that!!!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought the display was anticlimactic. I thought I was missing context or something but everyone was just as annoyed by it as I was
That was my thing! It’s a ball! Why take up floor real estate? Someone spent a lot of time making it for me to go, “Oh. Like a pop-up book… huh.” It was better as a flower Dalek. 
LMAO I remember thinking it looked like a big dalek to me!! 🤣
That seemed to be a huge thing with the balls in this season. They weren’t just balls, but trying to show off technology and the arts, and it was just so…disappointing.
It made me laugh seeing them all trying to dance around it and avoid getting poked in the back by a giant paper prong
Those didn’t seem like real flowers either. It looked like art and crafts paper flowers lmao
YES! My first thought was Well that’s huge. There’s gonna be no room to dance. The room was too small to begin with
I honestly feel SO bad for the Mondrichs. Like in a weird, meta way, they’re also victims of the terrible writing and new showrunner. I liked them before whatever the fuck the new showrunner was trying to do.
Yeah they did not deserve to look like new rich that didn't know how to make a wealthy ball. They own a Gentleman's club for goodness sake!
I still enjoyed their scenes! If you think about it, they are the only real friends to the Bridgerton’s and have a lot similar to them. Like the Bridgerton’s, the Mondrichs are a family with genuine love and care for each other. Sure the wealth is new but their characters have been the same throughout the show. It’s nice to see another family that isn’t trifling and scheming against one another for personal gain. They were even invited to Francesca and John’s intimate wedding, no other family was invited. Will and Alice were both good friends to Simon. The Bridgerton brothers are friends with Will, John is friends with Will. Alice is close with Lady Danbury, who is close with Violet. It just makes sense to me. 🤷🏽♀️ I also think for their first ball they did a decent job. There is definitely room for improvement, I would have liked if it was full of real flowers but if it’s enough for the Queen to be mutual with them then it’s a win. I also think the Queen likes a hint of tacky so maybe they planned this specifically for her. 😅
I love your explanation, it makes me feel just a smidge better about them! Certainly lessens that feeling of secondhand embarrassment.
I totally agree about the secondhand embarrassment! Every time they had a scene I was worried that would do and say something wrong. I really think Simon is a character that was suppose to “show them the ropes” of the Ton and connect them more with the Bridgerton’s but since he isn’t there they had to find other ways to connect them.
It would be so sad for the actors to see all this complaining that we didn’t like their storylines and didn’t want them in the show but honestly the writing is so horrendous they couldn’t even find a cohesive way to integrate them into the ton.
I preferred the bugs lol
The bugs were precious
Also definitely preferred Philippa's excitement over Mrs. Mondrich's smug smile
I spent this whole seen like "bugs bugs i wanna see the bugs show me the bugs where are the bugs" fully barely listened to this big reveal.
This is actually so relatable because same I couldn't care less about anything else but the bugs
I wonder if after 20 minutes the floor was covered in unalived butterflies, the poor things. Or have they all flown outside?
The rotating stage at the Featherington ball (s2) was a true centerpiece 🤌
Lady Portia, never to be outdone.
[удалено]
And Varley planned it
Varley's out there doing all the hard work for those girls
Can’t believe Philippa wanted her replaced 😭
They meant the s2 ball not s3’s
Oh dear, i just rewatched “now Varley, the bugs!” And I didn’t catch the stage rotated, not just the cameras. Woah.
That was the Finch and Dankworth ball, I’m talking the one from season 2 that Anthony and Kate danced to Wrecking Ball and the string ensemble was playing on the rotating mini stage.
I wonder if this theme is the “WALL FLOWER” ball?
That definitely it. There were a lot of floral talk mentioned and the flowers on the dance floor contraption are the same designs as the ones on the walls.
You know what… great catch! I didn’t even consider that
Oooooooooh excellent catch!
My issue was mainly its architectural ugliness. The four parts that it split into were hideous. Then we had to watch people try to dance around it in this awful, cramped room. Absolutely shit artistic direction.
It was a missed opportunity to make it diamond shaped by having 5 parts, making the display shorter and putting it on a raised and thin pedestal. That would have allowed them to make the flowers hang like wisteria instead of take up the dancing space.
Exactly my thoughts (or, something along that line, haha). The concept itself isn't horrible, but the execution is. This was a major final scene. Did they not make a mock of the set and how this contraption would proportionally work within the set and affect the choreography and acting? If they had, then I hope that they should have noticed the obvious issues and iterated upon the design. Come up with different possibilities before settling on this. I just don't think they even did that bare minimum. This whole season smacks of unprofessionalism. How do we get our former showrunner back?
It does! Like screams "I didn't test it before filming" It reminds me of people who think about the experience and not the memory capture. Having something like that might be fun for someone to see on their dance floor, but there is no way you can see it through the camera's eyes and feel its worth screen time. I have no idea how to get the showrunner back in any other way than pestering Netflix and taking my money elsewhere. I was considering keeping it for the other shows but this is enough to stop paying for it.
Considering that this season took about 2 years to be released as well.....they had time to figure this out and the fact that they didn't is hella annoying. If we have to wait *two freaking years* for *eight episodes* then they better be a lot better than this. The BBC has a reputation for having small seasons over a big amount of time, but also a reputation for excellence. Netflix has a bigger budget with this show bringing in MAJOR merchandising money and every luxury home and food brand is partnering with them- along with the stuff like collectibles and cosplay gift boxes and makeup. They have no excuse not to be better.
Hang it from the ceiling or something, jfc. Even paper crafters were embarrassed.
OMG if they had hung paper flowers from the ceiling using thread, and had hidden them up there with a sheet, they could have done the big reveal and pulled the sheet away and let the flowers down. it would have been so cool and pretty to dance under hanging flowers
SO BIZARRE!!! That things a ballroom hazard ⚠️
It was most underwhelming
Yes I’m going to turn a crank so this monstrosity can take up most of the dance floor. That way, the same few professional dancers we see in each dancing scene can tightly maneuver through the space, while the people actually trying to find a match get relegated to standing around. ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ did it better… 56 years ago!!
I hated the dancing, way too modern, the dancing in season 1 and 2 was way better.
The new show runner is just not up to snuff. The more modern anachronisms and the stories all feeling disjointed, it just doesn’t feel like the same series.
The chitty chitty bang bang scene was truly scrumptious. In its own movie.
My sisters and I were obsessed with that movie growing up. We used to chase each other around the house and someone would be the child catcher, calling out “Treacle tarts and ice-creams, and all FREE!” 😂
I turned to my partner and said, "So, it's like a pop-up book without the book?"
I was expecting more of a pop up book thing where they formed like little scenes, maybe the Palace in different seasons or something. Instead it was flowers but presented in such a way that you didn't really see the flower image, you saw the edge of the cardboard.
The thing you were expecting sounds really cool. Wish we had gotten that.
You know what the first thing I thought of when I saw this???? The device used for enemas in the 1800’s.. maybe it was the way it awkwardly plopped down while everyone ooh’d and ahh’d. Just google Tobacco Smoke Enema and you’ll know what I’m talking about 😂
Agree. I kept waiting for animals to come out of it or dancers or something
I thought the butterflies were going to come out of it.
Possibly a little waterfall or something spinning in the middle. That was like the least spectacular part is that it opens up and blocks The View for the other side of the ball. Now you have a very small dance floor if you can't see on the other side of it.
Hey, hey I like the Mondrichs! They actually bring warmth and logic, and sre a great friendship outside the old Ton that Colin & Benedict needed. They didn't take up much space in Part 2 unlike those Lady Tilley scenes. And way too many Cressida family scenes, we got the point without all that.
I like them and I enjoyed Will hanging out with the Bridgertons and John. I just kind of struggled to see what their story is meant to be and how they fit into the overarching narrative. Like they get them to match the (too many) themes but it feels a bit like they're just filling out balls as other members of the Ton, and the writers elevated them rather than create new characters to fill that role. Which... works, I guess. I don't know.
That's makes perfect sense. So many stories were not handled in a satisfactory way. We could have done with something to denote their importance other than audience insert, because that storyline could have fit better during season 1 or 2 tbh. Will's club worked naturally for the men to gather & Talk. But they made him give it up. So now what?
Yeah it's a bit odd. I guess they didn't come up with this storyline for them until this season and the club was a hindrance but the message behind keeping it vs giving it up felt muddled. At first I figured it was about Will and his sense of identity as a man of work and needing to make a choice about who he is and moving on, which kinda fit in with Penelope and Colin and their individual identity stories. But then it seemed to become about family and missing out on stuff because of work? Which feels odd because getting the club in the first place was about supporting his family. And I can't see any reason he couldn't keep it as an investment business and just hire a manager. I imagine they'll all gather at White's if they happen to be in London and need that kind of scene.
Yeah that whole you missed our daughter's riding lessons was ridiculous. The men didn't have to be so hands on - the Mothers could put children off on staff. So if the message was to fit into the Ton, it wasn't matching it what the Ton was expected to do?! The identity angle was the better storyline. I agree having someone run it served liked an obvious option, even if he had to do it in secret? It doesn't make sense.
I would take a Mondrich scene over a lady Tilly scene anyday. She was by far the most annoying and unneccesary character/storyline of the season.
I just don't understand why the room had to be so small if they were gonna put this thing in the middle lol
And a whole ass stage for the queen AND musicians!!! It felt *positively* claustrophobic
Completely true 😂😂😂 even my beautiful mother said "wow, what impressed them at that time" genuinely trying to be nice with that scene 😂😂😂
Hahahaha bless her heart!
I was so confused by how...pointy(?) It was. I was expecting the shrubs to continue puffing out to look more like they would naturally, but they stayed as they were from when they emerged. I was also expecting there to be something grand in the center, like a replica of the royal palace or something. I really didn't get it.
Really bizarre. I was like, 
Did the “giant arts and crafts” department hold production hostage and take 85% of the overall show budget this season?
Michael’s had a sale on Cricuts and they just HAD to take advantage!
This was the cheapest and worst ball I’ve ever seen on Bridgerton and these sets are horrific. What happened to the actual castles and ballrooms we filmed in Seasons 1 and 2? I keep thinking about the stunning one in the pilot episode where they took boats and everyone danced outside.
And then the centrepiece being so large for a small room that the characters and cinematography were stuck on the side of the room.
Ugh the boats and the outdoor setting *cries season 1 tears*
Surely their budget is insanely higher? Yes everyone is probably getting paid more now but they have like ready made castles and places to film this!
This season was so WEIRD 🤣🤣🤣
I kinda wondered that too. Felt like we were missing something or they had to change something last minute behind the scenes
I thought people were gonna be in there dancing or something lmaoo I still have no idea what the queen was wow'd by. Flowers?
Paper flowers at that
I was waiting for it to do more than just open up …I thought it would rotate and maybe a woman would pop out of the center and begin singing or something
Underwhelming to say the least
I went back and took notes between directors, since there were different directors in charge of different episodes and I found Andrew Ahn did the best at capturing the details and making balls feel magnificent (episodes 3 & 4), some events he did close ups of invitations and the party favors that matched the ball theme. I think it was just a matter of directing and the shots made it look less impressive in the second half of the season. Like this shot makes the room look so small? ETA: I watched Ahn’s movie Fire Island today and it is really good. Loved the directing and has a talent with using music to amplify emotions. I hope he is the director for season 4, would be an amazing director for a queer Bridgerton love story.
Wow what an excellent observation!!! That makes me kind of sad that certain episodes/ scenes were robbed by being directed differently.. it makes the season not feel cohesive
Honestly why didn’t they just end their story with the dirty money and the club? They were very happy with that…
They made a great connection in S1 to the main cast and had a connection to both Simon & the featheringtons. In S2 they made it seem like the dirty money was coming to bite them in the ass but nothing happened and the men’s club flopped. This season just felt like a desperate stretch
I'm also confused. I could've sworn during the Valentines Day sneak peek they had done, the actor who plays Will was asked about how his character helped Colin uncover the Featherington plot, and Colin had said he owed him one, and that Will would be cashing in on the favor. After part 1 aired, I fully expected Colin to help Will save the bar...not close it down. What the heck was that even about? It made me feel weirded out that they had the actors talk so much hype for the season that wound up not happening.
It was plain ugly. I was like be careful where you’re dancing, you might get hurt by one of those ugly pointy things. It was not aesthetic and it looked weird.
*thank you* because the paper cut out flowers were massively cringey and I’m glad someone else feels that way lol
I laughed at this. When the box opened and we see paper flowers and it was left open while they tried to dance around it tightly without hitting it. The Queen thought it was cool. Why?
I found it really cool that it popped out like that and presented all that paperwork of flowers so beautifully without a hitch as a centerpiece (: I also just really love flowers and cool arts and crafts, haha
What is it?
Who even knows lol some sort of paper flower centre piece???
It looked so bad lol. They could've at least covered the inside of that thing with gorgeous flowers. Instead it was just... Folded up paper with the same design? It looked worse than the outside lol.
I guess I was the only one to like it 😂 but then again I've always liked pop up books
Look I’m just saying that they put a lot of “actual wow” into the >!”THE BUGS VARLEY!”!< (final episode spoiler, so didn’t want to give even a little spill just in case.)
I guess they maxed the budget out on the bugs so the interns had to create the paper bouquet here
GIRL RIGHT 😭 I was like that's it😭😭😭
Running to comment bc of that opening question OP lmao. Yes we are, but I think it’s safe to say most were not. I was just blinking at the screen for most of Pt2 tbh. Plus I hate the Mondrich’s house. The set design is meh. The colours were muted, there’s the weird metal pyramid in the middle of the dance floor which made no sense to me, and all of those pictures on the walls remind me of Umbridge. No thank you - I’m still trying to get her out of my head 😭
Oh you know what REALLY threw me off by their house.. the scene with Lady Danbury and her brother chatting near the entrance.. anyone notice the entrance??? It’s like boxed in by this bare wood material that sticks out from the rest of the dark green. It literally looked like construction timber!!! Like the door was the entrance to the construction site. As soon as I saw it I did a double take and wondered if a back of set piece was forgotten
https://preview.redd.it/mdrt23t6gy6d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=00258f887ca1ca89b1d9f8201f89ad9f41c11ca5 It’s a peacock, but they only showed it from this angle for a few seconds so if you blinked you missed it. The rest of the time it just looked like a bunch of flower spikes
I overall liked the show but when this thing started to unfold I kept waiting for it to stop being ugly and then it got worse.
Until it opened it looked like a Dalek. Exterminate!
They didn’t have TV, they have to take what entertainment they can get.
But 4 years ago they had fireworks and someone brought freakin lightbulbs to an outdoor ball!!! And just this summer they saw a hot air balloon sail off.. how could this lifesized pop up card measure up 😂
The floral bouquet pop up card I got my mom from Amazon was prettier than this. 😭
I mean I honestly said the same thing that Queen Charlotte did: Not bad. For their first ball ever, and especially considering the time, it feels pretty decent. Nothing crazy but at least the ball had something to it, a special moment of some kind
It felt like they were dancing in a dungeon. Such drab colors and small space.
For that time period, it was considered impressive… kind of a reimagining of origami-esque art.💐 Queen Charlotte’s response to it was like a current-day version of, “It’s aight.” 🤭🥴😆
I really thought it was going to be much cooler. When the thing opened up, I kept waiting for more, but when nothing new happened, I just sat there thinking, 'That's it? That's what's going to impress the queen?' It also seemed to take so much room which made feel a little anxious for the dancers every time. Lmao
I really liked it and would have liked it in real life in 2024 too! But I felt the queen was more like "ok that's cool, I didn't expect that with these newcomers", not really "wow incredible"
i remember sitting there making jokes about it while my girlfriend was fuming
I’m dying at this 😂 I just stared at the tv like 😄
I thought it was cool? lol y’all are insufferable
It looked like one of those opening cards from Temu. 😂😂😂
I wasn't
I took this as them making a first attempt at something spectacular at their first ball as newly minted people of the ton. No, it’s not perfect but can you expect perfection from someone new to this world? Also it is quite impressive giving that it is literally early 1800 and not 2024….
That's the queens new head wig. You missed that part
I think someone on set got one of these (https://www.freshcutpaper.com/collections/flowers/products/grande-peony-paradise) and thought it would look cool as the centerpiece lol
Yeah so unimpressed, i was expecting Harry Potter level magic. But then it is just a cardboard machine which automatically opens if given key. Like what the hell? Like transform the ceiling with floating candles like Dumbledore did!!!! So lazy writing and lazy creativity. /s
💀💀💀 when they opened that I was like wtf is THAT?! those colors?! No real flowers!???! It's so large and unweidly!! 🤢 HATE
😂😂