The first episode of Bridgerton, “Diamond of the First Water,” lays a strong foundation for the rest of the series. We get to meet the important characters, and more importantly, dive into the world of the ton at the same time as the rest of the new debutantes.
The anticipation by the characters for the society season ahead is nothing compared to ours for the rest of the episodes.
Diamond of the First Water
Daphne is the title character of the episode, being dubbed the “Diamond of the First Water” by Queen Charlotte after she is presented to her for the first time. For those of you new to reading or watching things from this era – it basically means she’s the best catch of all the ladies looking for a husband this season. We can’t help but agree with the royal assessment, because we love Daphne.
We feel for Daphne for all the pressure she put on herself to make this thing work, not only for her future, but to set a precedent for her sisters. And though most girls looking for husbands have money and rank on their minds, Daphne has something that sets her apart. She longs for a love match like her parents, which is a rare thing in this society.
When she said that she would be “utterly worthless” if she didn’t find a husband, our hearts broke for her and we thanked our lucky stars that we weren’t born in this period.
We’re rooting for her, but Anthony doesn’t know what the heck he’s doing when it comes to making it so his sister can have a good match.
Anthony needs to chill
Speaking of the eldest Bridgerton brother, we hate to say it, but he’s kind of an ass. And a hot mess, all rolled into one. We still love Anthony, but we want to shake some sense into him.
While we appreciated seeing his bare bootie on screen, we’re not sure how we feel about this Siena storyline. Our hearts belong to a ship for him, but we do think he was exceptionally rude when he talked to her about not being a lady.
One of our favorite parts of the episode was when Lady Bridgerton took him to task about his responsibility and duties. She called him out for lecturing her while he had a mistress and was relying on his brothers to make his heirs. “Are you an older brother or the man of this house?” Boo, drop the mike, Lady B.
Penelope and Colin
Can we just say that we are living for the breadcrumbs of Colin and Penelope moments that we are given? We ship them so hard that our hearts are likely to explode with excitement every time the two of them are on screen together.
Penelope Featherington is a favorite among most book readers, but in one episode of the show, she is also impossible not to love. We truly feel for her when she wanted to delay going out in society another year like her friend Eloise, and the outfits her mother picks for her are over the top. But what made us fall in love with her immediately is her kindness.
She welcomed Marina Thompson, the newcomer to the Featherington household, when her sisters were kind of rude about the whole thing. We cannot wait to see more of Penelope (and Colin too, please).
Let the romance begin
Who loved the “meet-cute” between Daphne and Simon? Them bumping into each other was perfect, and then the duke finding out that she was his friend’s sister. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – that eyebrow arch from Simon is everything. They could not have picked a better person to play the duke than Regé-Jean Page.
We love the banter between the two of them. It is clear that Simon has finally found his match in Daphne, in more ways than one. We see him boxing in this episode, but who is it that takes out Nigel Berbrooke with a punch? Our girl Daphne.
Simon and Daphne have decided on a fake relationship for their mutual benefit. While everyone who loves this trope is rubbing their hands together with glee, these two characters have no idea just how much their best-laid plans will not work out. We are here for every minute of it.
The Bridgerton family
It was hard to pick one, but our absolute favorite scene in this episode was probably the Bridgerton family dinner. We got a lot of insight into this family during the first episode, but seeing them all there around the table really helped endear each and every one of them. And Simon coming in as an outsider gave us insight as to how unique they are as a family.
We need to point out in this first episode just how perfect the casting is on this show. Every character fits their role in the books wonderfully, and the actors bring their own spin on the roles in a way that we can’t think of anyone else who could possibly play these characters.
As for Easter eggs for their future stories, we get little hints of some of the Bridgerton brothers’ quirks in this episode. Colin talks about longing to travel, which is a major storyline in his book. Benedict is into art, which is also one of his characteristics in the books. And all the Bridgerton brothers running from Lady Danbury had us cackling. This was an excellent nod to several similar scenes in the books.
And how much do we love Eloise screaming up the stairs for her sister? The Bridgertons are simply perfect and we love them all already.
Favorite quotes
Some of our favorite lines from this episode include:
- “Penelope, put that book down at once, you shall confuse your thoughts.” – Lady Featherington
- “Your regrets are denied.” – Lady Danbury when Simon tries to get out of going to the ball.
- “It may be unfashionable but we like each other, most of the time. – Lady Bridgerton to Simon at the Bridgerton family dinner.
Bridgerton Season 1 is available now on Netflix.
