Gerri Florence (00:02.296)
Welcome back to Chemistry Read. this episode we are traveling back a bit in time, giving our listeners a bit of a chance to catch up on the current shows we've been watching. And we thought maybe it would be important to delve into the archives back to September, no, December 2020. just before we were all trapped inside, with nothing but TV to watch, we were blessed with a show. It was supposed to be a period drama, but we may argue it was not that.
Our friends, we are talking about Bridgetin this episode.
Mia Fileman (00:35.408)
I'm so excited for this. I'm a massive Bridgerton fan. How about you?
Gerri Florence (00:41.868)
Same, but like really binge worthy. I can remember it quite fondly back then, and it was really tricky 'cause they did that like slow release, didn't they, in twenty twenty, where they kind of released a cup like two episodes and then one a week.
Mia Fileman (00:56.993)
Marketing genius. Absolutely genius. Because and I'm gonna try not to make this a a a marketing episode, but because I don't know about you, Jerry, but like I will sign up to a streaming platform, watch the show, immediately cancel, move on to the next streaming platform. However, if they do the slow release, I'm locked in for another month or two until the whole season.
Gerri Florence (00:58.454)
I know.
Gerri Florence (01:22.124)
Yeah, it's why I waited four weeks to sign up for Ted Lasso, because I knew that I still had another month to finish it off. Very clever. It also keeps it current for a lot longer. Like where if you kind of binge all eight episodes over three days and you move on, where it kind of keeps it in people's discussions for a lot longer. So very clearly remember when Bridgeton came out and it was like wildfire. It spread. And I don't know about you, but it was my introduction to Smut.
Mia Fileman (01:52.11)
smut Is it smut?
Gerri Florence (01:59.394)
I guess maybe for me it's the first mainstream T V show where I feel like the sex was very but much more graphic shown than I was used to. And I think maybe I I mean smut I mean it's for the female gaze. It's built for the Yeah. And really remember maybe a couple of weeks ago you said in a meeting we were in that we can be intelligent women and enjoy smut at the same time and that
Mia Fileman (02:15.896)
Mm, it is so much for the female gaze. Yes, yes.
Gerri Florence (02:29.101)
Both can be true.
Mia Fileman (02:30.911)
Yes, we can. Absolutely. I don't think it's as like steamy as like Outlander, but you're right. It's definitely focused on females female pleasure and the female.
Gerri Florence (02:45.121)
I would have put it much steamier than Outlander. Really? no. Here we go back. I mean, do you think Outlander was built for the female gaze? There was I guess it was just the one couple I feel like at Outlander where we saw a lot of where in Bridgerton you see a lot more romance between multiple multiple characters.
Mia Fileman (02:48.986)
interesting. Mm.
Mia Fileman (03:06.852)
Mm. Do you know the sex scenes in Bridgerton are completely choreographed?
Gerri Florence (03:12.757)
Really? Like with an intersect coordinator? Well I guess you could have.
Mia Fileman (03:13.747)
Yeah. Yes, with an intimacy but like a lot like before production, weeks before production, they are rehearsing the actual intimacy scenes.
Gerri Florence (03:28.459)
When I was researching for the episode, I read that the they hold the camera on those scenes for like thirty seconds longer than what would be traditional in in TV. So you kinda start to feel that sense of like you are really in the room.
Mia Fileman (03:46.123)
Mm, mm.
Gerri Florence (03:48.759)
So do you are gonna talk about all four seasons today? Do you have a favorite season?
Mia Fileman (03:55.997)
That's a tough one, right? Because I like all of them. And Queen Charlotte as well. I would actually have to say that the most recent season is my favorite, which is Benedict and Sophie. I don't know, I just I really loved the narrative of the butt below stairs, the servant.
Gerri Florence (04:20.674)
Mm.
Mia Fileman (04:21.589)
story arc and talking about the difference in classes. That is something that was a new dimension to Bridgerton. How about you? Do you have a favourite?
Gerri Florence (04:31.286)
It wasn't season four, I would say, for me, that was probably on the lower side for me. I think because of that Cinderella storyline, potentially felt that was a bit overdone. Or maybe I just couldn't cope with the fact that he didn't know it was Sophie because of a tiny eye mask. I you know, I have these issues with plot plot holes. I think
Mia Fileman (04:50.479)
Yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (04:56.398)
I still might say Daphne and Simon, season one. I think I'm OG favorite season.
Mia Fileman (04:59.945)
The only her hair annoyed me so much with the little her hair with the little curl at the front, and like I get it, they were trying to show us the transformation from her going from a girl to a woman, and the easiest way to do that was with the like this little ringlet at the butt my god, it was so
Gerri Florence (05:07.01)
Her hair. The tiny fridge.
Gerri Florence (05:23.15)
You notice the most random things.
interesting that season one I love so much and it's that same fake relationship trope. Maybe I'm a sucker for that, like an off campus. Like we'll pretend to be dating. and then, you know, we'll turn it we'll fall in love. That friendship turns into love. Maybe I'm just a sucker for that trope. That's why I like it.
Mia Fileman (05:48.218)
Yeah, and like the the tropes exist in everything. I'm I'm always fascinated with how they iterate on that. So when I started watching season four and I could tell, this is very closely a Cinderella story, like how is this because the Bridget is based on best-selling books. Like how do you sell a best-selling novel that is essentially a retelling of a Cinderella story? But then I really liked how it then
Gerri Florence (06:03.704)
Mm.
Mia Fileman (06:18.662)
went in its own direction and and there was, you know, same, same but different kind of plot. And I thought it was, yeah, I I c I quite liked it.
Gerri Florence (06:28.28)
Mm.
I really liked how Sophie wasn't willing to settle for the secret relationship. What's it called?
gonna drive me crazy. But like the mistress. Yeah, that's not the word they used in that, but I'll try and go back and look. that's okay.
Mia Fileman (06:41.425)
The mist the mis. Yeah. But I sorry, sorry to interrupt. I the thing that had me on the edge of my seat was the will. I needed to see what was in the will. I needed to see what her dad had done. You know, like it we know that we're gonna end up together. And and that's that's what's so interesting about Bridgetton as a show.
Gerri Florence (07:01.549)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (07:10.326)
Anyway, don't you think? Is that we already know the ending, but we still love to watch. Like we already know, like as soon as they announced Kate, we're like, cool, she is going to marry Anthony. Like, we know this, but we love it. And so for me, it was like the will. And then breaking into the house, getting Cressida's help, was just I loved it.
Gerri Florence (07:12.75)
We still keep watching. Mm.
Gerri Florence (07:24.941)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (07:37.292)
It was. It was it did keep you on the edge of your seat. And I feel like every season too they just got more elaborate with the balls and the costumes and and watching it that way. do you th think it's the end of the Lady Danbury storyline with season four?
Mia Fileman (07:46.629)
Mm.
Mia Fileman (07:55.362)
no, I think she'll be back. She's a great character. but I don't know how they're gonna bring her back. I was thinking about that today, actually. Is she gone?
Gerri Florence (08:04.27)
Mm-hmm.
I think so. I think she's gone to back to explore her homeland and I don't imagine she's coming back, but sh maybe she will. But I I think probably that's the end of that storyline. do you have a least favorite couple?
Mia Fileman (08:16.291)
Yeah.
Interesting.
Mia Fileman (08:28.846)
I love British and I don't have least favorite tools. I have things Okay, okay, okay, all right. That's what we're doing, ranking. I love them. I love them for different reasons. I love that Colin is attracted to Penelope's brain, not just her look. That really that was awesome for me.
Gerri Florence (08:31.148)
No. If you had to rank them, how would you rank them?
For a ranking.
Mm-hmm.
Gerri Florence (08:51.874)
Mm. Mm-hmm.
Mia Fileman (08:57.587)
I probably found Anthony and Kate the most steamy. There were that was most believable. Yeah, yeah. Do you? Yeah.
Gerri Florence (09:02.686)
Mm, agree. Hard agree. Hard agree. Yeah, they had real chemistry. I w love to see the v footage of their chemistry read before they got cast.
Mia Fileman (09:13.551)
So much chemistry, considering, let's get this right, Jonathan Bailey, not Brayley, is outwardly homosexual, so sensational actor. so great. Simon is such a problematic human, so much emotional baggage, so much like
Gerri Florence (09:18.272)
Mm-hmm.
Yes. Yes, absolutely.
Gerri Florence (09:31.818)
I know. It really worries me that I find him the hottest of all. I'm like, Jerry, is it toxic? Like he's toxic. That whole season, when you go back to watch it, it's really bad. Like when you think about the consent, like how she made him he didn't consent to finishing with her. That was bad. But I still really love that.
Mia Fileman (09:43.197)
He's not his
Mia Fileman (09:47.863)
It's bad.
Mia Fileman (09:58.058)
It was bad. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (10:01.374)
season. I don't know. I think they were just so hot and cold that it was that up and down, back and forth roller coaster that I enjoyed watching from the outside. I don't think I'd want to be in that type of relationship. but the I burn for you scene, when Simon says that I burn for you, I was like, I'm dying right now. but as you said, I think at the start where Daphne is qu quite innocent at the start. And I guess it's talking about is it a period drama of the time because
Mia Fileman (10:11.969)
Mm.
Gerri Florence (10:30.486)
For a show that shows a lot of graphic sex, they don't talk about it don't even have the language to talk about sex in the show. Daphne had didn't know what she was signing up for when she got married.
Mia Fileman (10:43.443)
No. She didn't even know how babies were made, which was just so ridiculous. Cr as so negligent on the part of her family. And Violet is my favorite character by far. But she's flawed. She's in she's imperfect, right? and you know, she wants the best for her children, but I feel like it was really negligent on her part not to tell Daphne about procreation.
Gerri Florence (10:49.922)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (11:12.994)
Yes, I think her response was that her husband will know. Like that's what Violet says in the show. They have this real birds and the bees talk. and Violet just can't come out and say what actually happens. And she gets flustered and uncomfortable with the conversation, then she just says, Let your husband lead, your husband will know. So I feel like Daphne went into marriage not consenting to what was gonna happen. And then she turns it on him. And even though he says he can't have
Mia Fileman (11:13.022)
The birds and the bees.
Gerri Florence (11:42.563)
Children. She forces that when she's get they get drunk and and whatever happens in that scene. and then later on when Violet meets Lord Anthony, sorry, I'm she refers to them having sex as the gardening blooming again. Her garden has bloomed again. She just can't go there.
Mia Fileman (12:01.341)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (12:04.638)
Yeah, she can't. But it was it I really liked how they how Violet said, but you'll let your husband lead. And then the consequences of that were was Daphne misunderstanding how babies were born. And and that really made Violet's error really visible and and present. But how I really love how Violet has developed as a character over the seasons.
That's another reason why I loved season four so much is that we see Violet take a fella. And take a fella. Is now a good time for me to tell you that I don't find any of the men in this show so far attractive. Sorry. None. Sorry, dear listener. Look, they just don't do it for me. I love the show. I love what
Gerri Florence (12:52.749)
None of them.
Mia Fileman (13:00.828)
the the intimacy of the show, I just am not attracted to any of the dudes. Meanwhile meanwhile, Francesca is the hottest woman I've ever seen in my life. my God, she is goddess, an absolute goddess. Anyway.
Gerri Florence (13:13.774)
Francesca. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (13:19.404)
Yeah. Well you'll be seeing more of her next season, apparently.
Mia Fileman (13:23.505)
We sure will. We'll be seeing her with a female lead, which I'm really excited for.
Gerri Florence (13:28.108)
Yeah. Yeah, I think it'll be really interesting. I mean, I don't that is actually not from the book. So when they bought the rights to the to the books, the author just said, Go go forth and do what you want. in her mind, Shon Deland knows what they're doing and how to make good good TV. So in the book, Francesca does hook up with a cousin, but it's a male cousin where in in season five it's Michaela.
And I mean, I don't I'm not so so much bothered by it being two women, but I don't know how I feel would feel about my wife now dating my cousin if I died.
Mia Fileman (14:11.228)
Well, I mean back in the back in the day cousins would get married. But that I guess like comes back to the whole premise of Bridgerton, right? Like it's not really an accurate historical fiction period drama. So period dramas, period pieces are are d above cults, which is really they are above cults. Okay. So
Gerri Florence (14:30.093)
Like cults.
Gerri Florence (14:35.31)
Above cults. Wow. Okay. I've got to really rein you in then in this podcast episode.
Mia Fileman (14:41.168)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So like if I had to pick a genre number one would be period dramas and like, you know, really true to form period dramas like, you know, Sanditon, we're talking about Belgravia. Anyway. then Colts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So so Bridgeton is like it's a fantasy period drama. Like there's there's some things that they
Gerri Florence (15:00.194)
Yeah, don't know any of those yet.
Mia Fileman (15:11.035)
kind of stick true to and other things that they just completely thrown out. And so like cousins marrying cousins and if a if a guy dies back in in the time, yes, you would marry his cousin. Yes.
Gerri Florence (15:25.528)
Would you so to me it's not so much it's the cousin, but I guess it's that idea that Michaela was like his best friend, you know, his sidekick and they had such a close relationship that it feels like a bit I don't know. If I kick the can I don't want Sam hooking up with my bestie, like that just feels weird. I don't know. But again, we just let go of these things that are p we feel are plot holes. and it'd be really interesting to see how th they
Mia Fileman (15:36.315)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (15:55.201)
create chemistry between Francesca and Michaela because Francesca disliked her so much. So again they have to kind of turn that around. And I do don't think they hinted to it at all at the end of season four. Do you think? I mean did they? I feel like they were like hanging out and and friendly, but I didn't I didn't twig to the fact that it was becoming romantic. Am I stunned?
Mia Fileman (16:07.82)
Yeah, they do. Absolutely.
Mia Fileman (16:16.769)
maybe I knew. Maybe I knew already that they were going to be that, but they were both in mourning together and then they st you know, Michaela starts bringing Francesca out of her shell and didn't they like hold hands at one stage playing chess or something? Maybe I've got this wrong. I thought they set it up really well.
Gerri Florence (16:36.11)
Well, we'll clue it. Okay, maybe I'm just stunned. I'll find out. I thought Eloise was gonna be the star of the of the next season.
Mia Fileman (16:42.665)
What wait we're finding out.
Mia Fileman (16:48.629)
We all want that season, right? We are all waiting for the LOE season. And they are just like, no, no, you have to wait one more.
I mean I ca I do know the letters of the alphabet, right? Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne. Like I g I g I know I d I do know it. She's E. but yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (17:11.008)
Yeah. Do you I don't know if they'll buck the trend. Maybe she won't take a husband. that'd be my favorite way to end her season. I don't want her to succumb to the patriarchy. She's such a good, strong female character, in my opinion, one of the few in the show. A lot of people talk about this as a feminist text and I don't know if I necessarily agree because I do think that love and marriage and beauty are the kind of ultimate goals. but I want for Eloise to just
Mia Fileman (17:30.849)
Mm-hmm.
Gerri Florence (17:41.066)
stay strong and and not take a husband at the end of her season. But I don't know if they can get away with it.
Mia Fileman (17:47.571)
I want her to find her intellectual equal and I want him to be from the working class. because I feel like that would be so powerful. because I love Eloise as a character, but she is a very privileged feminist. She rails against marriage and rules for women, but she has a loving family, money, and considerably more freedom than characters like Cressida, for example.
Gerri Florence (18:05.272)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (18:10.238)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (18:15.266)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (18:15.804)
She can afford to reject or at least put off the marriage market in a way that Cressida simply cannot.
Gerri Florence (18:23.98)
And and who's the character who was living with the Feathertons and she was pregnant? She and Penelope basically blew up her chances of marriage. Marianna, that's it. 'Cause then I guess this brings us back to what you said about marrying the cousin because she married the brother.
Mia Fileman (18:33.962)
Mariana? Marianna? Yeah.
Mia Fileman (18:41.056)
She married the brother. See? Yeah. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (18:44.022)
That's a thing. before we move on from Francesca and her character, how did you what'd you think about the chemistry between her and John? Did you what'd you think of that? It's a hero.
Mia Fileman (18:54.175)
Zero chemistry. There was no chemistry. There was no I didn't see any chemistry and like the whole, did you reach your pinnacle was like a funny, funny plot device. But what I did like about Francesca, she's this lovely counterpoint to the dramatic Bridgetan version of love. Like we had Colin and and Penelop and Penelope like rocking the carriage.
Gerri Florence (19:02.702)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (19:16.044)
Mm.
Gerri Florence (19:22.253)
Hmm.
Mia Fileman (19:23.919)
whereas, you know, the Francesca and John's love was quiet, it was comfortable, it was safe. and so it was it was very different to the heavy breathing that we we were used to.
Gerri Florence (19:31.778)
Mm.
Gerri Florence (19:40.163)
Yes. And yes, and you can see that's probably why they didn't get their own season. Cause how do ya make that big enough for a show? And I c I do rate my ability to predict things happening in the sho in shows that I watch. I you know, I I gloat to my husband all the time that I can I could write these things, but again, I knew John past moments before that that actually showed it. Again I didn't see it coming.
Mia Fileman (20:09.851)
I I knew it was coming. I think I'd researched it, which is silly 'cause I ruined it for myself.
Gerri Florence (20:14.572)
What why is why you're researching these shows? I I get it for the podcast before you watch them, Mia.
Mia Fileman (20:21.595)
I don't know. I just did. I this is but the this is the whole premise of the show, isn't it? The like the chemistry read is that I'll watch a show and then I'll go on a big rabbit hole deep dive. And all of that research should be directed somewhere, otherwise
Gerri Florence (20:30.996)
Right, right. By by and then you find out by accident.
Mia Fileman (20:38.331)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But yeah, I I I don't know, I knew that he was gonna he was gonna pass. Did you know that Francesca auditioned for the role of Daphne originally?
Gerri Florence (20:50.516)
No, I didn't know. And they didn't bring Daphne back, which is interesting. And she has said publicly she wants to be back.
Mia Fileman (20:55.331)
No. No d
Mia Fileman (20:59.994)
We've seen Daphne a little bit.
Gerri Florence (21:02.274)
Yes, a little bit, but they didn't come to the funeral, her and Simon.
Mia Fileman (21:06.03)
No, and we've seen none of Simon. Simon's gone.
Gerri Florence (21:08.172)
None of Simon, which is a shame, because in my opinion, he's the hottest of all the male leads. So I'm very sad. I think I like the chiseled jaw line. so I'm sad that they haven't come back. But yeah, I saw in my research that she was saying that she welcomes the idea of coming back, but she's only kind of in in little small cameo roles. So even though Francesca didn't get that role, maybe she's quite thankful for the fact because she had a lot more airtime as a result.
Mia Fileman (21:36.37)
I actually do think I think she's the bigger bigger role. Like now it's been several seasons with Francesca. And and she and she's getting a whole season and she's the most beautiful woman alive. So makes sense to me.
Gerri Florence (21:40.385)
yeah. Yeah. And she's getting a whole season. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (21:48.322)
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, most beautiful woman alive. 'Cause I think Kate is so gorgeous.
Mia Fileman (21:57.873)
Stunning, stunning Stunning Also that line What's the line that he says to Kate?
Gerri Florence (22:07.678)
you are the b you're the bane of my existence and the object of my desire? Semi subcont.
Mia Fileman (22:14.113)
So good, so good, so good. Yes.
Gerri Florence (22:18.284)
Yes, that is my second l favorite after I burn for you.
Mia Fileman (22:22.799)
But we never got to see Kate in a wedding dress All the other brides Where's Kate's wedding dress?
Gerri Florence (22:29.134)
Like Taylor. Just keeping it keeping everyone want more.
Mia Fileman (22:33.071)
Hey hey Shonda, what's going on? I want I want Kate in a dress, thank you.
Gerri Florence (22:40.216)
While her sister was in the wedding dress, 'cause they were actually
Mia Fileman (22:43.46)
But they just Yeah, they were just married. They arrived they came back married. And they're gonna be in the next season, which is great. Looking forward to seeing more of Anthony and Kate, but we never got the wedding. We want the wedding.
Gerri Florence (22:46.526)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely.
Gerri Florence (22:55.374)
Yeah, please.
Hmm. I so do you think in my mind, Bridgeton was like the first of the real romance books turned into a genre that was massively prop popular. And since then we've had lots of really great shows. And I think really that this one was was trailblazing for that. and paved the way for other shows that we'd love like off campus and shows built around the female gaze, very different to how we've
Mia Fileman (23:10.522)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (23:23.31)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (23:28.022)
seen it previously. Interestingly enough, in the shows, and you might notice this in future seasons, the male characters are often undressed first and undressed more often as the women are sitting s the sex scenes are slow burn scenes, they last a lot longer and they're just building these in a way that is how women would would enjoy them. But the characters in the show aren't allowed to enjoy sex, right? Where other shows we've watched
They talk about women's pleasure in a really positive way and it's very normalized when it's a very shameful thing in Bridgerton, which makes it tricky. Is it progressive? Is it conservative?
Mia Fileman (24:11.831)
It is it's full of contradictions. Let's hear from one of our lab partners, Norell, on this.
Gerri Florence (24:14.68)
Mm.
Mia Fileman (24:21.842)
So many contradictions in this show, right? Like you've got people of color holding senior positions, even the most senior position in society being the queen. And yet, women are aren't allowed to have any real power or money outside of marriage, and the a woman's worth is still defined by the marriage. Yep. So so we've got.
Racial equality, which is never discussed in the show. It just is what it is, which I love. Yes, but but we we don't have gender equality, which I think is even i i is a statement in itself, right? It's like women are so us are going to be the last to get a semblance of equality.
Gerri Florence (24:53.87)
Just makes us love it more. Yep, absolutely.
Gerri Florence (25:13.006)
But true, sad but true.
okay, we're done with that. Talk to me about female friendships. It's another thing that you and I like to talk about a lot in the shows that we watch, because often we like to watch shows for the romantic relationships, but also the female friendships carry lots of interesting things to look at. We have the main female friendship, I think, is Eloise and Penelope. Which
Mia Fileman (25:40.128)
Yeah. What do you think of Lady Whistledown? Do you have a view on her?
Gerri Florence (25:48.167)
I thought it was a very interesting plot device for them to use in the story. And I did pick up what was Penelope, but not probably as so er early as I would have liked to have been proud of myself. I think it's I thought I thought it was important for the show to kind of expose the things that are going on behind the scenes to then create the momentum and the progressions that they hope to achieve. So I think.
Y I'm a fan, even though she's a little bit nasty. What do you think?
Mia Fileman (26:21.827)
Mm. Yeah, I agree. I think that Eloise and Penelope's friendship is one of the most beautiful love stories of this show. but I totally understand Eloise's betrayal, her feeling of betrayal. that her best friend is keeping this enormous thing from her. That's massive.
Gerri Florence (26:44.982)
Yeah. And why Penelope Penelope felt like she couldn't confide in in Eloise?
Mia Fileman (26:51.733)
Yeah. And even like do it together. Like, I just it's interesting. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (27:00.438)
It's definitely iconic for the show. And now they that they're very clever with how they were able to keep her in there. Like the the Queen still wants Penelope to write the Lady Whistledown piece, but when everyone knows who she is, then she then becomes a pariah and no one's gonna trust her and be around her. So it'd be interesting to see if they can continue it bec I feel like it became less central to the storyline as well as as
Time went on and they had a lot more other, I guess, ways to pull strings and make things happen in the show outside of Lydia Wissadin's newsletter. But I did like that it was that representation of her finding a way to express power and to make money and all that kind of stuff. I thought was quite good. I'm not so convinced Colin would have gotten over it as easily as he did.
Mia Fileman (27:47.07)
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (27:51.323)
Yeah, yeah, that would have been massive. The other female friendship that's really central to the show is Lady Danbury and the Queen.
Gerri Florence (28:00.259)
Yes, of course, of course. breaks my heart.
Mia Fileman (28:03.843)
And then also Lady Danbury and Violet. What did you think of that?
Gerri Florence (28:09.868)
The the Queen scares me. I mean, she is a a very that actress is incredible. She's a very powerful woman. And the tact that Lady Danbury has to kind of get the Queen to come around to how she wants and the way she can manipulate her, like she's just brilliant. Lady Danbury's brilliant. But I don't know it I I think her relationship with Violet is more real and more true friendship where the
Mia Fileman (28:17.748)
Love her.
Gerri Florence (28:39.382)
Relationship with the Queen always still felt a little bit stilted.
Mia Fileman (28:44.594)
Well, it's not allowed to be a real friendship because in a real friendship you're like, babe, I'm fucking going back to Ghana see you later. Like, you can't tell me what to do. And like, I'm ri I really love that Lady Danbury worked up the strength to speak truth to power and say, if we're real friends, then you will respect this boundary.
Gerri Florence (28:50.284)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (29:09.128)
anyone else we've missed?
Mia Fileman (29:14.534)
Female friendships that we've missed, I'm sure.
Gerri Florence (29:18.03)
Well we've got the Featherton sisters who are quite toxic. I wouldn't say that they're friends. And then Crescida again. Go.
Mia Fileman (29:25.774)
Let's talk about Cressida.
Gerri Florence (29:28.948)
Can you refresh my memory? What is with her storyline was confusing, and when I was watching recaps for the show, there's so many names to remember.
Mia Fileman (29:29.523)
I
Mia Fileman (29:37.52)
my god, there's so many names. Cressida, we met in season one, and she was coming out at the same time as Daphne. Cressida is with the like the crazy hair and the crazy outfit.
Gerri Florence (29:49.186)
Yeah. She reminds me of like the mocking jade. Like that kind of anyway.
Mia Fileman (29:53.39)
Yeah. Yeah. And she's the villain. Cressida's the villain. And in season one we hate her and she's up against Daphne for the the love of the crown prince or the whatever. The Prussian guy, yeah, yeah, yeah. But Cressida is one of my favorite characters in this show. And is not even a main character. This is how much I love Bridgetton.
Gerri Florence (30:07.724)
Hmm. the Prussian guy?
Yeah.
Mia Fileman (30:22.148)
Because Cressida is such a good example of what happens when the villain finally gets context. We are we hate her. She's cruel. She's competitive. She's desperate. We like we want terrible things to happen to her in season one. And then we get to see her home life and realize, well, of course, she's like this. She's been raised in a household where marriage is not romance, it's escape. And suddenly.
Gerri Florence (30:30.006)
Mm.
We hate her.
Gerri Florence (30:44.792)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (30:49.878)
Mm.
Mia Fileman (30:51.161)
Her behavior's not good by any stretch of the imagination, but it it's it be there's it's understandable. and I really loved seeing Eloise and Cressida in season four. and so there's there's another female ship. and and it was almost like when they were sitting there, they're like, Look, we don't really like each other, let's be honest, but we have more.
Gerri Florence (30:52.978)
Mm, no. Understandable. Mm.
Gerri Florence (31:08.096)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mia Fileman (31:19.649)
in common than we thought we did initially. And so let's, you know, try to find ground that we can both agree on because it seems like this ton is pretty small.
Gerri Florence (31:32.652)
Yeah. Ton And Eloise is very forgiving, all in all. Like she she does accept and you know, she'll accept that friendship. And now Penelope's married, of course. So she's not gonna be able to spend as much time with her as she would have in the past. So I think it makes sense that we need to find room for someone else. I love Eloise so much. She's so clever.
Mia Fileman (31:39.727)
Yes.
Mia Fileman (31:55.917)
So clever. Yeah.
Gerri Florence (31:58.238)
another thing I assume that you absolutely love from this show, knowing you Mia, is the music.
Mia Fileman (32:03.189)
Love the music, love the the covers of all the incredible yeah, love
Gerri Florence (32:12.204)
So I think again, the marketing churn available for this show is crazy because it created a whole other stream of content for people to consume. I've got a Bridgerton playlist on Spotify because I can listen to the kind of the classical music, there's no words, and still focus. My cousin had a Bridgerton-themed baby shower, which I planned for her, which was amazing. so I just think it's done so much for.
Mia Fileman (32:35.619)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (32:42.1)
The artists again, but they're more famous artists, I s suppose. They don't really cover lesser artists, but it was really a fun thing to partake in the show, listening and trying to guess the song before other people that you were you were sitting with. and I look f ho forward to next season and I hope that they cover someone like Olivia Dean. That's my goal. So
Mia Fileman (33:01.494)
Ooh. Yeah, did you have a favorite cover? Like they've done Taylor Swift, they've done Coldplay. Did you have a Yeah, that was awesome. I loved that too. Yeah. we had a string quartet do a cover of Coldplay for my wedding.
Gerri Florence (33:10.338)
Billy Eilish?
Gerri Florence (33:15.288)
Amazing.
Gerri Florence (33:22.382)
so you were ahead of the curve then, Mia.
Okay, so I am proposing, and Mia and I spoke about this, that we have a little segment in each episode called a cold read, which is, I guess, in reference to the chemistry read. I'm gonna come to every episode with a question for Mia that she has not seen and has no prior knowledge of, and we'll just see how she takes it, which knowing Mia will be like a champion. So I wrote three, of course, classic me. So I'm gonna choose one. so.
My question to you, Mia Lady Whistledown builds an entire empire out of gossip about women, mostly at other women's expense. Is she as bad as the system she is trying to expose?
Mia Fileman (34:08.505)
such a good question.
Gerri Florence (34:11.586)
You can have thinking time. We can edit it out.
Mia Fileman (34:13.568)
Hello.
I wouldn't say she's as bad. I would say that she's flawed. And that's deeply human. And we're all flawed. and I feel like she's paying paying the price of that now because she is now the queen's kind of lackey. Right? so Lady Whistledown or Penelope, she's not an uncomplicated underdog.
Gerri Florence (34:37.619)
Mm. Mm.
Gerri Florence (34:45.261)
No.
Mia Fileman (34:46.268)
Yeah, she has been bullied and underestimated for sure, but she's also used Lady Whistledown to hurt people. I think this makes her a more interesting character. And it asks us as the audience whether being powerless justifies what you do once you finally get some power.
Gerri Florence (34:52.493)
Yeah.
Gerri Florence (35:11.022)
Right answer.
Mia Fileman (35:12.485)
yeah, yeah!
Gerri Florence (35:14.062)
answer. A plus from the teacher on that one.
Mia Fileman (35:17.984)
Okay, cool.
Gerri Florence (35:19.096)
Give me an easy one, please.
Mia Fileman (35:20.936)
God. Okay, here's mine. Brittany sells us fantasy while constantly showing us the brutality underneath. Please discuss in fifty in a hundred words or less.
Gerri Florence (35:35.992)
That is such an English teacher prompt.
Mia Fileman (35:40.07)
Well, I wrote it for you, 'cause you're an English teacher.
Gerri Florence (35:43.372)
I mean to achieve that under one hundred and fifty words. Okay, sorry, you have to give it to me again.
Mia Fileman (35:48.318)
Bridgetton sells us fantasy while constantly showing us the brutality underneath it. Please discuss.
Gerri Florence (35:57.401)
So, interesting. If I was going to talk about the fantasy in this show, we'd be looking at the romance fantasy. So the that unattainable sense of passionate love that is so often sold to us in shows like this, but is maybe not necessarily realistic to real life. So that's where the fantasy part for me goes. The brutality underneath needs to be the
societal pressures that try and keep people down. The idea that you cannot rise above your station when we're looking at the class structure is is quite brutal. And I think this is where Violet's character was so pivotal and so clever that she always found a way to twist things in society to allow her kids to achieve the fantasy that they desired. But
think comes from a position of privilege as as you spoke about before, where we have other characters that don't necessarily have the same things afforded to them, in the sense that we talked about the Marianne character who got married after the brother and was miserable and she lost Colin in the end. Penelope, who was the one who was her undoing, got Colin in the end. So what message does that send? I think I think a pretty brutal one.
Mia Fileman (37:25.638)
A plus with extra credit.
Gerri Florence (37:28.556)
Yes. Go us. Okay. Anything we've missed? Anything that we need to leave readers with our listeners with?
Mia Fileman (37:37.692)
I was thinking about this and I like this is not a fully formed thought, okay? But Okay. Don't you think that the queen character is kind of an analogy for the algorithm? Everyone is performing in the hope that one extremely powerful taste maker chooses them.
Gerri Florence (37:43.758)
Perfect, the best guide.
Mia Fileman (38:04.388)
And once she does, the rest of society suddenly agrees that yes, we all love that.
Gerri Florence (38:08.418)
Mm. Yeah. And they become an influencer. The diamond of the of the season. It's a thing. this is definitely gonna have to be some content that we explore a little bit further. The Queen is like the algorithm.
Mia Fileman (38:12.548)
Yes. The diamond of the sea. my god Yes It is
Mia Fileman (38:27.001)
Yeah. Yes. What about you? Any other half formed or fully formed thoughts about British
Gerri Florence (38:28.654)
That's new. I'm gonna write a substack on that.
Gerri Florence (38:35.692)
I'll I mean, I like I love Bridgerton like you, and I'm really looking forward to the next season. I think for a bit of escapism and and the romance, and I was thinking about if I was gonna s who would I wanna be? If I was gonna be any Bridgerton character, who would I wanna be? It's a really hard choice. But I think that I
Mia Fileman (38:52.12)
Yes, tell me.
Gerri Florence (39:00.514)
I've 'cause I'd want to work. I'd want to be able to job and I'd want to be able do something, but I'd want a really important love as well. The can and I'm and I don't know their names, and I know you'll know their names, so that's okay. They own the bar. She becomes the Queen's Lady in Waiting in season four.
Mia Fileman (39:18.188)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (39:19.33)
The husband is Boxer?
Mia Fileman (39:22.746)
god, the name except ex- she is also absolutely gorgeous, right? Yeah. It is I'm quickly bringing up IMDB.
Gerri Florence (39:27.872)
Stunning.
Gerri Florence (39:39.598)
Thank you. I'm glad you don't know the name. It makes me feel better about the fact that I didn't know the name. But she's the character that I think I would swap places with. Because their love seems really real and deep and they go to the ends of earth for each other. But it's not that passionate kind of love that's gonna burn out. And she still has an important role, but she's not the center of attention.
Mia Fileman (39:48.012)
Interesting. Yeah.
Mia Fileman (40:01.578)
Interesting, yeah. they their son comes into an inheritance. It's Mondrich, the Mondriches. Yeah. Alice Mondrich and her husband. I wouldn't want to be the Queen's Lady in waiting. That looks boring as fucking bad shit. Yeah, no wonder they have to do something.
Gerri Florence (40:09.954)
Mondrich. Yeah, that's a hard.
Gerri Florence (40:23.704)
To think. I know, but it's still like something to do. 'Cause I was I was gonna say Penelope because she gets to work and write, but I'm not I don't want I don't want to be a gossip writer, but I wanna get out of the house and do things.
Mia Fileman (40:38.964)
I would choose Kate because she is Lady Bridgerton and it's a huge job and Auntie Dee doesn't seem too interested in doing it and I would convince my husband to share the duties with me.
Gerri Florence (40:50.988)
Yeah, no one's surprised that you're Kate. Hundred percent. You are Kate. And they they go they don't stay in the town. They go away and come back and forth, don't they? And she rides a horse so well. And she's got the most stunning skin. Yeah, you make a good Kate.
Mia Fileman (41:01.858)
Yeah. Yeah.
Mia Fileman (41:09.504)
I don't know how to ride a horse, but thank you!
Gerri Florence (41:13.592)
Well now you have to learn, clearly.
Mia Fileman (41:15.66)
I do have to learn. Yeah. All right.
Gerri Florence (41:20.65)
Excellent. So Mia, where to next? I love the chat on the Bridge Channel when season five comes out, we'll come back and do a bit of a an a part two episode after that. But until then, where are we going next?
Mia Fileman (41:31.369)
Yep. What are we gonna watch? Or or read or what what do you think? What do you reckon we should do?
Gerri Florence (41:37.4)
Well, I am voting that we do a midway episode on the new season of Ted Lasso. Mmm.
Mia Fileman (41:44.787)
And yes, I love the new season of Ted Lasso.
Gerri Florence (41:48.622)
Someone criticized it today and I was absolutely outraged. I do think there's some kind of theme around 2020 COVID shows, though, that's going on for me in my top favorites. And we have waited years for a Ted Lasso new season. And I never thought it was actually gonna happen. So I reckon it deserves a two-parter. We do a after episode five, we do a midseason review, see what we can predict, and then we'll do another sh episode at the end.
Mia Fileman (42:14.367)
Yeah. Yes.
Mia Fileman (42:18.997)
Absolutely. I am 100% down for that. My expectations on Ted Lesso season what it what are we up to? Five? Four?
Gerri Florence (42:19.607)
Yes.
Gerri Florence (42:28.312)
Four, five, five.
Mia Fileman (42:30.813)
were sky high and my expectations have been exceeded. So I am I love it. I think it's my favorite season. Anyway, we'll get into it.
Gerri Florence (42:35.747)
Wow.
Gerri Florence (42:40.92)
Mia, this is supposed to be my hyperfixation episode and you're already stealing it.
Mia Fileman (42:44.181)
Okay, shit.
Gerri Florence (42:47.916)
I I really look forward to chatting. I think that one I think episode five is out. So I think we need to go binge a bit of that. Text me when you're watching it please and we'll prepare for next the episode will drop in two weeks.
Mia Fileman (42:59.889)
Awesome. Great to chat.
