All good things must come to an end, and with the episode “After the Rain,” so does the first season of Bridgerton.
The season ends with happy endings for some characters, while others ended in tragedy. Either way, we are already looking forward to more Bridgerton. We need it now! Can the next four seasons magically show up on our Netflix accounts ASAP, please?
In the meantime, let’s take a look at how our characters fared in the season finale.
Forgiveness
One of our favorite parts of “After the Rain” was when Violet was lecturing Daphne about forgiving her husband when the Featheringtons showed up. The Duchess made her mother eat her words by inviting the scandalized family to her ball.
It totally broke our hearts to see how much Lady Bridgerton is still missing her husband. Her touching his pillow every day when she wakes up was gut-wrenching. The whole situation with Marina finding out that George truly loved her prompted Daphne to look further into Simon’s reasoning for not wanting children.
When he wouldn’t tell her, she dug through his office and found the letters. Lady Danbury provided some additional insight. Daphne needed to choose to love her husband, despite the issues between them, and at the end, she did just that.
Pride
Lady Danbury accurately points out to Simon that his biggest flaw is his pride. She helped him overcome his speech impediment and the pain his father caused – but he couldn’t shake the scars. He is fixated on the idea that he has to be perfect in order to be loved. He tells Daphne that he is doing all this for his own good, that he is not the man she deserves.
But when Daphne opens up to him and confesses her feelings, he’s finally able to let himself be loved and let go of the pain of the past.
Honestly, we are so glad that this story ended with not only a happily ever after, but with a sweet little epilogue of Daphne and Simon welcoming their first child in the world. Seeing the duke holding his son with happiness in pride was the best conclusion this story could come to.
Marina’s Fate
While we are glad that Marina survived her encounter with that tea, we are disheartened that she is still in the same circumstances as before. When Sir Phillip shows up and she learns that George did love her and was planning to take care of her before she died, we couldn’t help but feel for her. Also, much as we disliked her actions with Colin, she at least realized how wrong they were and apologized.
While we are glad she does get a marriage with a good man in George’s brother – we cannot but worry for her. If the show makes it to five seasons and follows the books, Eloise falls in love with Sir Phillip, who is a widower. His first wife’s name was – Marina. This Easter Egg for future seasons was a heartbreaking one.
Featherington’s Financials
Lord F pays Will to take a fall in the match, which Simon doesn’t approve of. But it does temporarily fix the financial situation the Featherington family is in. But Lord F pays the ultimate price for his foolishness and is murdered.
Our hearts broke for Penelope at how devastated she was by the news. Even though he wasn’t the greatest of men, he was still her father. And there is no telling what will happen to the family now. This leaves the fate of the Featherington family up in the air, because they have no money and not a lot of options.
That cliffhanger has us very curious as to who will take over the title and what the impact will be on the family.
Lady Whistledown
Eloise is misguided in her assumption that Madame D is Lady Whistledown. We applaud how she went out on a limb to help the writer from getting caught by the queen. Will her investigation continue next season?
We were shocked when the showrunners chose to unveil Lady Whistledown’s identity so early. We love Penelope and this storyline for her, but we wished the mystery could have continued for another season. In the books, it’s not even revealed until No. 4, so we are interested to see how it plays out in Seasons 2 and 3 before they get to that storyline.
That last scene between Colin and Penelope had us shipping them even more. Penelope was very close to confessing her feelings, but he interrupted to tell her about his trip. The real question is, does Colin know where she was going with that conversation? Did he cut her off for the sake of their friendship? Our poor Pen, she has now lost her father, her family’s reputation, her financial security. And now the man she loves is leaving the country.
We hope some better things happen to her next season.
Anthony Grows Up (Kind Of)
Did anyone else notice how ominous the music was when Anthony was creepily glaring at Siena? Sure, they had a tumble together under the bleachers and were soft together in a bed later. But that music at the beginning of the episode just how obsessed Anthony has become with Siena. He wanted to bring her to the ball, which she was a realist about. (Although this does plant the seeds for Benedict’s story later).
When he comes calling later, she begs him to let her go and leave her alone. She is happy with her life and doesn’t want to change it. Anthony does not love her, because he wants to change her into what she isn’t.
Anthony finally gets the message and apologizes, leaving Siena in the past. While we didn’t love seeing him with someone else, we think the Siena storyline brought Anthony exactly where he needs to be. We loved how they set him up for next season – declaring he’s ready to find a wife and that love is not an important factor at all. In fact, he believes that love will just take away from his responsibilities.
Simon and Daphne giving him the side eye over this was amazing, and we can’t wait to see Kate show up next season and prove him wrong.
Favorite Quotes
Here are a few of our favorite lines from “After the Rain.”
- “One can never know the truth of a marriage behind closed doors” – Lady Whistledown
- “However difficult forgiving someone may be, it is necessary to move forward.” – Lady Bridgerton
- “I do not share.” – Eloise to her brothers about her food
- “We should both aspire to be just like here. Unmarried, earning our own money.” – Eloise about Lady Whistledown
- “For someone who hates ballgowns, you look exquisite in one.” – Daphne to Eloise
- “Pride, your grace will cost you everything and leave you nothing.” – Lady Danbury
- “My imagination is the furthest away I could allow myself to go.” – Siena to Anthony
Bridgerton is available to stream now on Netflix.
