It doesn’t help that Colin largely remains a mere silhouette of a character. Gallivanting around Parisian brothels wasn’t quite enough to make him a fully developed love interest.
Pen without Colin is still an influential, silver-tongued woman. Colin without Pen is just a rich man with long sideburns. At the end of the sixth episode, Colin finally discovers Pen’s secret. But at this point, it’s difficult to comprehend the implications of that revelation, beyond the obvious sense of betrayal.
In fairness to Bridgerton, which was created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes, this is technically the point. Though the women appear to be subservient to the men, they’re the ones with the power to shift the narrative.
This half of the season was a little less chaste than the first, finally revealing a sexual side of Pen we all knew was within her.
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It also treats its side characters with more respect. Cressida Cowper goes from being a two-dimensional bully to a woman determined to escape the suffocating life her parents have planned for her. Meanwhile, Francesca Bridgerton’s marriage to the Earl of Kilmartin, which is largely based on companionable silence, is a refreshing departure from the melodramatic trysts synonymous with the Bridgerton name.
The second half of the season is packed with everything but the kitchen sink – pregnancies, multiple weddings, a fake Lady Whistledown, blackmail and, of course, more outrageous wigs than you can count. But all of that fails to distract us from the fact that it’s missing the thing Bridgerton does best: the chase. Without that, we’re just back to the same old secret and some sweaty, yet tasteful, sex.
The secret is revealed to all during one of the final scenes, when Pen requests that the Queen allow her to explain herself in front of the entire ’Ton. The build-up is sensational, with Pen meticulously planning every step towards the truth. But is anyone that shocked? No. Everyone essentially accepts it and moves on. Pen retires her notorious pseudonym for her real name, they all have babies, and it’s happily ever after.
For those of us who enjoyed the mayhem and anticipation of the first half of the season, we’re left feeling a little numb. I couldn’t help but wonder whether it would have been more exciting if Pen had been thrown in the dungeon, or cast out of Mayfair. After all, we need something to replace the thrill of the chase.