#a bee in your bonnet

[waltricia]

Bridgerton season 2 episode 3, “A Bee in Your Bonnet” is ✨magic✨ and let me tell you why.

For those of us who didn’t read the book and knew nothing of what was going to happen, we truly went on an incredible and surprising roller coaster of an experience.

We start the episode with seeing the guy from Hellboy and being like ‘oh yay, it’s the guy from Hellboy!’

… only for him to die three minutes later. And that scene is rough. It’s sudden and abrasive. And the sounds are jarring. The death is scored by tense strings. Then a moment of quiet. Then the AMAZING Ruth Gemmell begins taking us on Violet’s traumatic grief journey, which starts with her jolting Anthony (and us) out of the quiet.

And a thunderous heartbeat threatens him as he walks toward this entirely altered, unwanted life path. And that’s obviously the beginning of his PTSD.

In the other flashbacks throughout the episode, we continue to hear horrific, heart-rending pain radiate out of Violet while Anthony must not only attempt to endure it, but cover his own grief. Anthony and his siblings (and again, we the audience) all have to listen to Violet grieve while she’s giving birth! Screams on top of screams.

And the last flashback is technically quiet, but just as devastating because, like the moment of Edmund’s death, the quiet is weaponized. It signifies the death inside Violet.

It should go without saying that Jonathan Bailey is also a brilliant actor, but I’ll say it now anyway. Damn, he good! He and Ruth partnered perfectly in this grief journey. Serious props to them both because I felt this shit.

And then finally we come to the end. We had been immersed in the horrible aftermath of that striking tragedy. Between the flashbacks- in the present day- we had followed Anthony through the rooms and grounds where he had suffered silently. We had seen Edmund’s grave. We had learned that Anthony’s greatest fears and insecurities all stemmed from that tragic event ten years prior.

And then another fucking bee comes along.

And I swear to god, the first time I watched this, when Kate got stung, my heart was pounding, I was terrified, and my instinctive reaction was “oh my god, is she going to die?!” In hindsight, it’s obviously insane to think that she would be killed off at all, let alone in this scene. But the very fact that, for a moment, that was a legitimate fear I had is exactly why this episode is so god damn brilliant. I felt what Anthony felt. And I’m not the only one! I’ve seen other people’s similar reactions to this scene. The episode really is a roller coaster; easy, lighthearted moments (pall mall, drug tea), interspersed with the terrifying drops and loops that are Anthony’s painful memories which constantly haunt him. And then it brought us right back to that first traumatic moment. Because Anthony has PTSD! And that’s what PTSD does. Anthony is right back where he was, literally not far from the same spot outside Aubrey Hall, standing in front of a person he loves, watching them get stung by a bee on almost the same spot on their body. The tense string scoring comes back and Anthony panics because he’s completely helpless again.

And all of those elements- the setting, the scoring, the acting- combined to terrify us and make us forget something critical: most people don’t die from beestings.

And here’s where it gets really profound for me. Because it’s not just about how we feel Anthony’s fear. It’s also about how Kate completely obliterates it. Without knowing that history and without realizing the full extent of what her actions would mean, she does exactly the right thing. Rather than die and rather than also panic or shy away from his vulnerability, she meets it with her own in the form of care and steady assurance, which is true strength. And in so doing, she stops this cyclical moment in its tracks and completely alters the trauma. She puts his hand on her heart, and the heartbeat comes back. But this time, it’s not threatening. It’s inviting.

And just like in the first scene, the moment is over all too quickly. Just like in that scene, Anthony is thrust onto a new path. But where that moment was damaging, this one is healing. And we feel that too. And it’s the greatest experience that art can give us.

It’s catharsis.

And that’s why this episode is magic. 🐝✨

[awkward-sultana]

(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Kate Sharma's dark teal riding habit 2x03,4

[toshsato]

DAPHNE & AUGIE BASSET

Bridgerton 2x03 A Bee in Your Bonnet

[suspendingtime]

SA: "Treat?" 👆🏾 ATD: ( attempts to speak ) 🐶

SA: "Aww... nearly." ATD: "WOOF!" 😀 SA: "YAAAAAAY!" 😄

ATD: ( enjoys treat ) ATD: ( sniffs out crew's treat ) 🐕

SA: "It's tricks of the trade. 😏 He can... so if you do THAT. 👆🏾 He speaks."

ATD: ( tries to sniff out treats ) 👃

ATD: ( chonks on bed - eats snacks ) SA: "...Yeeaah." 😀

ATG: ( is happy enjoying scratches ) 😝 ( is good )

Simone Ashley (Kate Sharma) demonstrating doggy acting skills with good boy Austin The Dog (Newton Sharma).

BRIDGERTON 2.03 'A Bee in Your Bonnet' | BTS 'At Home and on Set With the Bridgertons' | 3/4

[doctorwhoactorsin]

claudia jessie

kira arlo — kerblam! (doctor who, 2005–), dir. jennifer perrott

eloise bridgerton — a bee in your bonnet (bridgerton, 2020–), dir. alex pillai

[lifewithaview]

Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley in Bridgerton (2020) A Bee in Your Bonnet

S2E3

The Sharmas arrive at the Bridgerton's country estate, where Anthony seeks to win Kate's good opinion amid bad memories and a ruthless game of pall-mall.

[apinchofm]

Like You Like That

Eloise has a problem. Edwina Sharma.

There was nothing wrong with the girl. That was precisely the point. Eloise could find fault in every other girl her age on the marriage mart. 

So she would try to be friendly as Anthony instructed.

Read the rest here

[fastasyoucan1999]

[dont-offend-the-bees]

Marwa WWDITS 🤝 Mary Bonnet OFMD

Being absolutely entitled nay encouraged to murder their husband/fiancé with a pointy object even though he's my beloved gay blorbo

[savingthrcw]

@hqlfbloods liked for Anthony re-experiencing the terror of his father's death

As much as Eloise didn't want to admit it, Anthony wasn't the only one left unnerved by bees, but Hyacinth didn't seem to share that fear at all, proud of the three stings on her arm after they had accidentally disturbed a beehive playing Pall Mall. All three had been stung while helping their little sister retrieve the ball, but none as badly as her, who had gotten one on the face as well; Eloise herself had only been stung twice on the same arm and it felt like someone may be trying to burn it with a candle, so she wondered how Hyacinth could still be so lively. Anthony was, naturally, the one who was dealing with it in the worst way possible, nearly in hysterics, and Eloise had to roll her eyes at the misfortune of needing to caught, attracting the attention of her beyond alarmed brother. "Just a cough, that's not how it works." They had seen how it worked, if one got stung by the wrong bee: it was their breath that went away. Hers felt short, but it had to be because of the cough. "But I think we should take Hyacinth home. Put something on that-" She was interrupted by another single cough, and this time it was a tad more difficult to take enough air in afterwards. "But I'm fine! I can keep playing!" "How can you be fine, it burns like fire..." she saw Hyacinth's confused expression, and then found herself coughing more, and this time a thrill of genuine terror went through her as she felt the wheezing sound that came from her throat while she gasped for air, eyes searching for Anthony.

[coffinbrain]

136649: i cast vicious mockery. nat 20 let's go.

136649: 🎶YOU'RE A SHORT MOTHERFUCKER AND NOBODY LIKES YOU🎶🪈

othello: 💀

136649: SHORT!

[thewestishharpooners]

I gotta say!!!!!! That folks who perpetuate the idea that romance novels are trash that they could write “if they wanted to” and make a lot of money at it!!! Are the most!!! Annoying kind of ‘Not like other girls’!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[awkward-sultana]

(Almost) Every Costume Per Episode + Violet Bridgerton’s black brocade pelisse in 2x03

[edwards-exploit]

edward birdhouse in your soul. do you see it.

[suspendingtime]

"I had the time of my life on season one. And so when I got back I just felt like sort of mostly just really, blessed to have a job..." - Claudia Jessie

BRIDGERTON 2.03 'A Bee in Your Bonnet' | BTS 'At Home and on Set With the Bridgertons' | 1/4

[starrypawz]

Wait so you're involved in alternative subcultures and you're bigoted? Man that must be like so embarrassing for you