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#But I don't know if I'd bothr people by sending them asks and stuff
missskzbiased · 3 months
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Inspired by a fellow Polin Stan, I must say this here.
A lot of things bothered me in Pt.2, but one of the things that bothered me the most was the fact that Show!Colin doesn't get a chance to show Penelope that despite being mad, he still loves her.
We, as an audience, can see his facial expressions while he is ALONE and kind of follow through his journey to understanding his feelings. But he doesn't communicate. And that's a real problem.
Yesterday, while thinking about it, I compared it to what we call "Metagaming" when we play RPG. As players, we hear things and we know things that our characters aren't supposed to know, and while interpreting our characters, they shouldn't know it just because we know it.
Pt.2 felt like a huge metagaming to me because Colin (and Eloise. I have many more complaints about her) only express what is important to people that aren't Penelope, and somehow Penelope still finds it in herself to be understanding. That's not how it works.
Colin was mean. Was he right to be so? Yes, I think so. Of course, he could have handled it better were he more mature, but he's 22 and he's a man in a society that gives him much credit only for it. So yeah, I'm not mad because he said some hurtful things. I'm not mad because he wanted his space. I'm mad because they didn't allow Penelope to react properly to it.
Colin goes to Cressida and says all that stuff about the letters. Great. He doesn't talk about it to Penelope.
Colin goes with a "It's not up to you" regarding a thing that relates to Penelope a 100%. He shuts her off, and instead of starting from "You're my wife, and I won't allow anyone to harm you" (which wouldn't be my go choice either, I'd prefer him to listen to her), he goes "No one will tarnish my family's name. Oh, and no one will blackmail my wife". It's almost a second thought.
"Missy, but she has his name, and he's considering it". Yeah, but the speech doesn't FEEL like it. It feels like he cares about his family (good) and his name (good) and his pride (name and not blackmailing HIS wife). They could at least have phrased it better, they could have showed more feelings as to Penelope hear him saying "I love you and I'll protect you" instead of "I love my family and your stuff won't bring us down".
Colin goes away when he discovers she's LW. He isn't concerned about her well-being at that moment, and THAT'S OKAY. HE WAS HURT, SAD, MAD. HE WANTED TO INFLICT PAIN. Again, that's not okay nor mature, but it's UNDERSTANDABLE. That's how flawed people act, and we're all flawed. Okay.
But then they could have him showing her that he cared at some point. When they meet before their marriage, instead of letting her go alone, he could have gone with her.
"But Missy she's been doing it for years. She doesn't need it. She says so. Her book self says so too"
YES, I KNOW SHE DOESN'T NEED IT. BUT LOVE MAKES US DUMB! SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
Not once we see Colin putting aside his anger to care for her, and loving is also caring while mad. It's not only about being well while everything is perfect. It's about caring even when you're awfully awful. In any way. It could have been a breakfast tray. It could have been listening to her. It could have been sharing something.
"Missy, but they dance together at the wedding and there's the nod"
Yeah, but that's before Pen goes "I'm Whistledown and you have to come to terms with it". Up to that point, it's like Colin assumes she'll give up on herself because of their marriage. And after she says she won't, he fails to show her how much he truly loves her. We see this at the final episode, when she goes "I understand if you want a divorce, I don't want to harm YOUR family". Because that's all he showed her. And then he gets confused, because in his head it's clear that he loves her so much and nothing should keep them apart, but he doesn't translate it to her throughout the episodes.
It turns out to feel like a "Tell, don't show" kind of thing. They didn't show her that he loved her. They told her, with a confession that I honestly hated. I don't want to hear Colin say "If my purpose is to love you, then be it", I want to hear him say "That's your purpose, and I understand fighting for one. You inspired me to fight for mine, I could never ask you to not do the same, and I want us to fight for our purpose together. I'll always be by your side"
I don't know. Do better. Just do better.
Also, Penelope didn't burst even once. I can't conceive it. But this will be for another rant, cuz this is too long already and no one will read it.
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