A cold war has started between the duke and duchess in Bridgerton Episode 7 “Oceans Apart,” and the family reels from the gossip that was uncovered by Lady Whistledown.
We are getting close to the end of season 1 with “Oceans Apart,” and as with most stories, things get worse before they get better. This one was tough to watch, because so many of our favorite characters were hurting.
Stalemate
Things are not great between the newlywed couple – a sharp contrast between what they were at the beginning of the last episode. A cold war has definitely begun. While tossing angry glares at each other, they also sneak some long looks.
Yet, despite each of them being angry with each other, there is still some affection brewing under the surface. Daphne cares about where Simon is going at night and wonders if their marriage is over.
Simon at first fights her when she demands separate bedrooms, but still insists that they do not have separate households.
He changes his mind later in “Oceans Apart,” because later he declares that he will live separately from her if it turns out she is not pregnant. If she is, he will stay and provide for Daphne and the child. But he won’t like it (insert angry duke foot stomping here).
Clearly they can’t keep their hands off each other, which is why Simon wants space. Still, when her period starts at the end, both were devastated.
While we understand the pain that Simon’s father caused him, we think he is still letting the man cause him pain by being the reason he won’t let himself be happy. Keeping a vow to a dead man is pointless and everyone is miserable because of it. The best thing Simon could do to piss off his dad is to be happy.
Married Ladies
Meanwhile, Daphne is finally settling into her life as a duchess and what that means. She hurries back to town to help save Colin from scandal because her title carries a lot of weight. Also, she is able to help Marina out with the general’s wife. Her pain of what she is going through with her husband has lent her some sympathy for Marina.
We love that Lady Danbury throws a married ladies party where they all get drunk and gamble. How different that lifestyle is from the one Daphne lived before as a debutante.
Her family knew that something was off with her right away. Honestly, we love how much the Bridgertons love one another. They know they can always count on each other if push comes to shove.
Daphne had some harsh words for her mother about not preparing her for the world. We don’t disagree that Violet epically failed at the sex talk. She took what Daphne said to heart because she told Eloise that she didn’t need to go out into society until she was ready.
Violet comforting Daphne at the end of “Oceans Apart” was a reminder that even though they fight, some mothers and daughters have a relationship that is more important than their temporary disputes. We love to see it.
Colin’s Woes
When Colin loves, he loves hard. Our dear boy is still not believing everything he heard about Marina, and once again throwing off his family’s offers for help. But when he sees her in person, she confirms that she didn’t love him but held him in friendly esteem. Our hearts broke for Colin and we hope he uses this heartache to grow up and see his true love that is right in front of him (Penelope).
He is such a good man and it’s going to be amazing in future season to see him once he’s matured. We believe him when he told Marina that he still would have married her and raised the child if she had come to him with the truth.
There was a nice moment between Anthony and Colin. And the eldest Bridgerton actually apologized for once. That has to be a first. Could it be that Anthony is growing up too?
Oh wait, a few minutes later he is starting fisticuffs with Simon at the gentleman’s club. While we love that he was coming to his sister’s defense, he shouldn’t have let the duke get the better of him like that.
Featherington’s Are Banished
Another fallout from the Marina situation is that the Featheringtons have basically been banished from society. No one wants to talk to them.
Lady F of course blames her husband’s gambling debt for their troubles. She says they would have been able to case Marina out when they found out she was pregnant if he didn’t owe her father money. Can we all agree that Lady F is the worst? She has been downright awful to not only both Penelope and Marina. We love Penelope, tolerate her sisters (where is Felicity, by the way), but their parents are too much.
We love how Eloise is quick to come to her best friend’s defense, even though Violet Bridgerton is very anti-Featherington at the moment. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, Eloise and Penelope are friendship goals.
Marina, however, is in despair. She doesn’t really have options now that she has lost Colin. Daphne is writing to find the whereabouts of George, but Marina has given up hope. She drank some sort of tea, they don’t tell us what it was, but we can only assume it was to abort her baby. Penelope finds her passed out on the floor.
While we don’t like what Marina did to Colin, we worry about her future. The options for an unmarried lady back then were slim. Reason number 1,000 we are glad we don’t live in that time period.
On The Hunt
Can we get a detective show that is just Eloise Bridgerton out in the world, solving crimes?
In the past, Eloise wanted to uncover Whistledown because she wanted to know the secrets to her independence. But now, she has two new reasons to find her. First, because the queen has charged her to. And this is almost enough to entice Eloise to go out into society. Second, because she wants to restore the damage that was done to Penelope from the Marina situation.
When she learns that the queen wants to silence Lady Whistledown, Eloise objects. She wants to make sure the writer does some good first.
Thwarting Society
We got a few more Benedict scenes in “Oceans Apart,” centered around his friendship with Sir Granville. He questions the man’s relationship with another man, even though he is married. His friend shares with him the difficulty of being gay in society, and challenges Benedict to learn to live outside the standards that have been put upon him.
This was a heartbreaking scene, and we are glad that Sir Granville was able to find a wife that wants to also have an open marriage.
Benedict, though confused by the arrangement, takes Granville’s words to heart. He immediately hooks up once again with the modiste, Madam Delacroix. Without spoilers, we will tell you that this sets up Benedict nicely for his own love story one day, when he falls for someone who is not what society would approve.
Favorite Quotes
This episode, dear readers, was grim indeed. But there were a few good quotes we enjoyed.
- “I did not come here to be shamed by you, nor anyone else.” – Marina to Daphne and Colin
- “Lovely indeed, we should tempt scandal more often.” – Colin
- “Teach them, what Miss Cowper? Judge not, lest we be judged?” – Daphne to Cressida
- “Marriage has it’s joy, but it also brings with it its special trials.” – Lady Bridgerton to Daphne
- “First a woman takes her wedding vows and then we gamblers take her virtue.” – Lady Trowbridge
- “You have no idea what it is like to be in a room with someone you cannot live without but still feel oceans apart.” – Sir Granville
Bridgerton is streaming now on Netflix.
