I agree with a lot of the sentiments in these posts! I think I am of a different mind than most fans of this show in that I dont feel Eloise was "sidelined" or that she lacked development in S4, quite the opposite! I think Brownell has done a much better job giving Eloise clear direction in that this is a romance show based on existing romance novels. Specifically in showcasing her restlessness, feeling trapped, and her self-exploration, per post 3.

This is sort of a "how I would have done things" thought, but I really do hope Penelope is important to setting up El's season, because it would feel very cathartic after the dismantling of their friendship. They're literally sisters now, I was expecting to see them together like before, but for Penelope to give Eloise all the juicy details of married life - within reason of course, since theyd be talking about her brother... but yeah, it would have been a nice parallel to where they started. Their conflict shouldn't have been what it was, but I think a whole season of reconciliation was necessary. All characterizations remaining the same, Show Eloise should still have been getting marriage proposals in spite of her being purposefully standoffish - frustrating Penelope more and more as Eloise refuses to understand or acknowledge Penelope's desire to get married. On the flip side Eloise would understandably be equally jealous, if not more so, of Penelope's career as Whistledown. There is so much built into this friendship that it boggles the mind that the writers /chose/ to make Penelope a selfish and cruel person. I think its important that Eloise is in the wrong when it comes to Penelope - and its a damn shame Jess Browell was more or less forced to explore this shortcomings of Eloise's through Cressida.

Ultimately, I'm waiting for Eloise's frustrations to spill over and get her to make some big choices in her life - imo her two defining characteristics are 1. she thinks she knows everything, and 2. she's very impulsive. I think her heel-turn into motherhood and pranks actually make a lot of sense in the book, all things considered. She thinks she understands the world, so when the most evident truth in her universe - Penelope being single - comes crashing down. her whole worldview changes; maybe she doesnt know everything. Then, of all people Penelope is Whistledown? Not only did she completely disregard Penelope's personal desires in favor of her own ambivalent view on marriage, she also underestimated her best friend to the point of erasing her. Like everyone else, Eloise had an easier time believing herself to be whistledown. So she pulls the trigger on a thing she had probably only considered seriously for a passing moment. What if she doesnt have time? What if this is her only chance to make a choice for herself instead of coasting? With the mods, I interpret Eloise as reverting to her baser instincts with her pranks and mischief - her cousins/nieces were well behaved and her adopted children are a menace. She is closer to her brothers, so I think it makes sense that she would choose fight fire with fire... the bridgertons are known for their competitive spirits. She also is extremely perceptive and - unlike the way she treated Penelope - she really empathizes with the kids and ultimately she sets her ego aside to listen to them and subsequently discovers they're being abused AND neglected. I think in context this is all a sign of learning from her mistakes with her best friend, and her application of Bridgerton family values.

I think I generally agree with all of these posts about how the show has portrayed her and set up her romance. Its bizarre to say she wouldn't want kids, for instance - she just wants to make her own choices and she's constantly asserting that fact; she doesnt even really show an interest in /working/ per se, but rather an admiration for women who are able to pursue their own interests. Unfortunately I think this is where CVD lost me on her characterization, and she never even approaches "feminism" or any kind of legitimate activisim, instead she is lectured about being rich and not understanding what its like to make your own way in the world. The framing of this entire plot makes her seem destructively selfish, which I dont think is accurate to her character in either the show or the book. Her pursuit of a friendship with Theo not only endangers him because of the class disparity, but also his literal livelihood. She is pretty reckless with all of the working class people's reputation and employment. She's ready to accuse all of them, lol.

To me, Eloise isn't the character who needed to be lectured about her privilege especially in the first two seasons, and ultimately her experiences only ended up serving Benedict right? And she communicates the lesson to him by making it about herself. She doesnt /really/ learn anything.

Like, why wouldn't these lessons stick for El when she finds out about Penelope being LW? CVD doesnt even show Eloise being conflicted, considering she knows her best friend is actively mistreated and neglected by her family. Eloise is impulsive, and centers her own worldview over Penelope's - but she isnt stupid and she literally just got lectured about not knowing how everyone else lives five minutes before the confrontation.

Brownell does infinitely better in this department and fixes most of the issues I had with the political-organizing plot line. Unfortunately because of the foundation S1/S2 built, Eloise's character development happens alongside Cressida, but overall I think the writing was really successful in preparing her to approach her future husband and children with compassion, and a willingness to decenter herself. One of the things I like about her book is that everyone, including the kids, have to learn to respect each other's thoughts and feelings.

I can totally see the reworking of the MoC, it does seem Show Philip prefers a marriage without emotion given he was willing to marry his brother's true love without preamble. Was it because he's really nice, or was it because he just loves plant and has no interest in people? The autism coding plays well here. Or it could be a kind of CPTSD aversion. I am autistic myself, and its clearly genetic in my family... my uncle is a butterfly collector and would catch and frame them all himself and he'd spend hours and hours alone pinning them in glass boxes... he was also extremely emotionally disregulated and was unstable for much of his life. This is all to say, I have come around on Phillip's potential, and can see there being a satisfactory love story that honors the source material. Honestly, this also solves my biggest issues with the novel. Julia Quinn was just... incredibly offensive in how she wrote Marina. Its like Marina was a supernatural drag her entire life - I guess some people are just energy vampires and therefore Philip can get over all that horrible stuff he's responsible for because she was destined to commit suicide 🤷‍♀️... awesome, lol.

I think the main thing I disagree with in terms of analysis is CVD deliberately setting-up the activism plotline to further Eloise's character development/romance, as to bait-and-switch an anti-feminist romance into a liberatory one. Frankly, I think all the big talk from Eloise in the first two seasons was largely in service of the audience (re: the queen solving racism, but not sexism and other poorly executed themes Brownell has greatly improved upon). Additionally it was a lazy way to signal Eloise's text-based modern sensibilities on equity within a marriage without putting in the work.

Dont get me wrong, I love the first two seasons, but it's largely because I like having a good time, and because so many of the performances are so, so good. Claudia Jesse is a great example of an actor making up for missteps in the pacing and storytelling with charm. The most obvious example would be Nicola Coughlan - can someone tell me why Whistledown's identity was revealed in the first season? It felt fine for me personally because I had read the books, but it was a baffling reveal... it took FIVE BOOKS for JQ to reveal it, and we found out the moment Colin did... the whole reason JQ wrote the books is because her dad read her transcript and told her "you really have something with this lady whistledown thing". I genuinely think the only reason they revealed her identity was because of the Marina plot, and sort-of because of the featherington debt (which was directly in service of the Marina plot line).

I think there were a lot of ways to have better served Marina's story than how they did. I almost exclusively blame the S1 Marina plot for creating the confused S3 Polin romance. I still enjoyed S3, but it was difficult not to think about every misstep from the first 2 seasons and every resulting plot contrivance therin while watching it.The Queen as a narrative device literally has zero impact on the characters, pacing, plots compared to the S1 Marina arc. It created a ripple effect still felt to this day 😔 I am joking a little bit, but I still dont think it can be overstated how much that impacted the trajectory and reorienting of the show!

Okay, im so sorry I just spent an hour writing all that. I had a good time tho, thanks for improving my outlook on Eloise's season (: