As Daphne arrives and stumbles a bit in Clyvedon, Penelope decides to stop pleading with Marina and take action.


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As Daphne arrives and stumbles a bit in Clyvedon, Penelope decides to stop pleading with Marina and take action.


Director(s) Julie Anne Robinson
Writer(s) Sarah Dollard
Aired (Netflix) 12/25/2020
Introduced This Episode
Rose Molly McGlynn
Mrs. Colson Pippa Haywood

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Recap

There Is So Much Daphne Didn’t Know – Simon, Daphne, Mrs. Colson

Beyond sex, which Daphne finds so pleasing, especially since Simon is for oral sex as much as penetrative, Daphne does deal with a bit of a learning curve when it comes to life in Clyvedon. For one, Mrs. Colson, who runs the castle, is a bit of a shady woman. Mind you, likely because Simon’s mother is her former mistress, and with her being prim and proper, Daphne’s youth raises an eyebrow. Especially since she and Simon have sex anywhere and everywhere on the estate – even outside in the light of day.

A portrait of Simon's mother, the former Duchess of Hastings

Though, perhaps the real issue is Daphne is just so unaware of how things work that she keeps making unintentional mistakes. For one, she cuts off means of income by not choosing a prize pig at a village fair. On top of that, while she knows Simon’s castle’s history, she doesn’t know of its attendants. Which for Mrs. Colson seems to add a bit to her frustrations, for she loved the former duchess.

Yet, it seems that Daphne’s willingness to learn saves her from beign a social pariah in the long run. Though, with everything learned about Simon’s family, the more she realizes she knows so little about the man she has married.

I See Where Your Loyalties Lay – Marina, Lady Portia, Penelope, Eloise, Colin

Penelope finds herself unable to stay quiet for much longer. For while she won’t disgrace her family and out Marina’s pregnancy, so she claims, she will out Marina’s love for George. However, that plan didn’t work. Also, when she realizes her mother forged George’s signature, this reveal doesn’t end Marina’s engagement to Colin – which is now public.

So, between her or perhaps Eloise, Lady Whistledown learns of Marina’s pregnancy and posts it. Thus ending this push, both Lady Portia and Marina had to expedite Colin’s marriage to Marina in hopes that, once married, he’d just accept Marina’s child as his own.

Naïve No More – Simon, Daphne, Rose

From what it appears, Simon has been using the pull-out method as a means of birth control. Which, considering he is a rake, seems to have worked thus far. Though it has led Daphne to believe ejaculation might be a painful thing for Simon.

Rose (Molly McGlynn) and Daphne talking about sex
Rose (Molly McGlynn) and Daphne

However, while exploring the pleasures of sex, she comes across the question of how women get pregnant and goes to Rose, her handmaiden, for the answer. Which upon learning, Daphne decides to make it so she takes further control when she and Simon are having sex by being on top. Thus forcing him to ejaculate inside of her and then confront him about his many attempts at keeping her from getting pregnant. A fight that we don’t see come to an end by the time the credits roll.

Collected Quote(s) & .Gifs

Cannot and will not are two entirely different things.
— Daphne

Review

Highlights

Understanding The Shift Mrs. Colson And The Staff Are Going Through

A part of you may feel the need to dislike Mrs. Colson due to her nature towards Daphne. However, I do feel there is a need to take note of the shift. For one, Daphne seems much younger than Simon’s mother, the staff have been without their lord for who knows how long, and it was never a house filled with love. So the listening to the sex and Daphne desiring to sit next to Simon, rather than across from him, it’s new.

Mrs. Colson (Pippa Haywood) talking to Daphne
Mrs. Colson (Pippa Haywood)

Heck, it’s not only new but feels revolutionary compared to the former Lord of Clyvedon. Though, I would be remiss to not wonder if it doesn’t also deal with the fact Daphne is stalk white and Simon born of two Black parents. For while Lady Danbury hinted at how things have changed under the Queen, the Queen isn’t an old woman. Much less, it means less than a generation passed since Black people gained titles and prestige. So, while it has gone unsaid, who knows if that is a factor to consider.

Daphne Getting Her Whole Life Yet Not Becoming Utterly Dickmatized

I appreciate that while Daphne is getting dicked down damn near every way but anal and her giving oral, she doesn’t seem to have lost her mind. Rather, she has found an outlet. And as shown by her own studies of what villagers need and becoming their age’s Princess Diana in a way, she can find fulfillment without Simon’s company. Much less, while she loves the man, she isn’t going to put up with his lies or BS.

This truly is wonderful since she is a teenager, with a grown man, in a foreign place, yet hasn’t seemed to have shrunk despite every reason other characters would. If anything, she has grown as a person and took to her new role well, even with stumbling a bit on social norms.

On The Fence

Marina & Penelope’s Storyline

The only Black girl with a consistent speaking part and the only young lady who isn’t relatively thin suffering is just an annoyance. Mind you, I get these two storylines not being ideal makes them a bit more realistic in some ways, but there remains this thought that, if you can make Black people in England the Queen, Dukes, Ladies, and members of high society, why must we punish a girl for not being thin? Never mind, make it so the sole Black woman who is consistent, her character can only know fleeting happiness?

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