Nostalgia sets the mood for the beginning of this episode as young Anthony is learning to hunt with his now passed father. I have to admit I cried ugly tears when Edmund, Anthony’s father, passed. The pain, agony and fear that was in young Anthony’s eyes completely tore me apart. Anthony had to quickly step up to be the man of the house as Lady Bridgerton pleaded that he take care of his younger siblings as she didn’t want them to see their father slowly die. Fast forward to present day and on a less grim note, Anthony invited young Edwina, her family and Lady Dansbury to his ancestral abode, Aubrey Hall ( a magnificent abode that is) Edwina excited with high hopes that she will be Anthony’s viscountess, and Kate her secretly jealous sister, insists to keep her options open but is quickly prompted by Edwina to be on her best behavior. Meanwhile, Lady Featherington devises a plan that her oldest daughter Prudence marry her cousin Lord Featherington so she can stay comfortably in her position. The Duchess Daphne visits her family with her bouncing baby and reminds her family that she is still apart of the the family regardless of her married life with Simon. Anthony fills Daphne in on his current muse and asks for assistance to win over both sisters in hopes to win over his potential bride, Edwina. Anthony asks his mother again for the family ring to eventually give Edwina however, Lady Bridgerton advises Anthony to get to know Edwina more and ask her hand with a clear mind before rushing into things because she knows what he doesn’t speak of and that is the undeniably secret admiration he has for Kate. Anthony has a flashback of when his father first passed and the responsibilities that he abruptly had to take. Daphne likes Kate more for her brother Anthony and Edwina feels slightly defeated. Penelope has been assured by the French bodiste that she will not expose her ghost persona. As the family and their guests play pallmall, Anthony is humiliated by Kate as she takes his favorite tool to win and Edwina is starting to see the spark between Anthony and her sister, or so it seems. Lady Bridgerton and Mary bond over fond memories. Bested by her sister Kate from the game of pallmall, Edwina hesitantly bows out of the game in shame. Kate is so competitive that I can tell she sparks more of Anthony’s interest. Trying to retrieve the ball to return to the game, Kate and Anthony become lost in the woods have a moment of wit and intimacy. Anthony had a harsh memory when he looks at his father’s tombstone in the muddy woods and calls for the game to be immediately over and rushes back to the company awaiting them. Another flashback to when Lady Bridgerton was about to give birth to her eighth child, Anthony was forced to make a decision as the acting lordship, to save his mother or the baby and he gave the chose to his mother which brought the tears flowing again, the agony both of them endured to make such a decision without Lady Bridgerton’s counterpart. Lady Featherington is teaching her daughter Prudence to be more seductive to her fourth cousin Lord Featherington to be the lady of the house quite awkward and strange if you ask me. Prudence embarrassed herself with her ignorance of travel and Lord Featherington is immediately disinterested which made me elated with his sudden choice. Edwina and Anthony have a pleasant chat on the couch and share a moment with her love of books and learning. Maybe there is potential between them both, we shall soon see. Daphne discusses her brother’s potential prospect but she reminds him that love is more than a good chat and that it goes deeper than that, that love is an undeniable feeling that is not forced but simply beautifully formed and he deeply contemplates on her words. I love that Daphne is discreetly giving her opinion on who is better suited for him without revealing names. Anthony purposely denies his feelings and believes he feels those feelings with Edwina when it’s quite obvious he doesn’t. Lord Featherington invited the Cowpers for dinner and his eyes are all on Miss Cressida Cowper as she is intrigued with his travels to the Americas. Competition arouses between Prudence and Cressida is they humbly gloat on their accomplishments. Lord Featherington interests are made known to Cressida and he invites her on a formal date. Collin gives Benedict an elixir to help ease his anxiety about being accepted in art school, peyote perhaps. Eloise and Kate bonded on vices of being a spinster. Loved that this topic was discussed about not being okay with being viewed as property or lesser for not being paired with a man.It it is now clear to me why Anthony is numb to the feelings of love and just sees marriage as a duty because he watched his mother suffer for the love of her life. He refuses still to love someone for marriage to potentially suffer the grief that his mother went through, he continues to stick to his plan to marry out of duty rather than true love . Daphne makes her opinion known by finding similarities between Anthony and Kate. Anthony wanted to make a toast to ask for Edwina’s hand but seeing Kate’s face he immediately backed down and asked Edwina something irrelevant that she was heavily disappointed by. Relieved Kate was able to breath with satisfaction. Edwina expresses her defeat and hurt to her sister and states she should have been better. Kate assures her she is a diamond and has other prospects at hand but is also secretly happy that he didn’t ask for her sister’s hand for there to be a chance for true love for her. High on Collin’s elixir Benedict discovers that he has been accepted into the academy makes a straight fool of himself. Collin inquired about Miss Thompson from Eloise. Lady Whistledown degrades the new modiste as her expertise is not that experienced in dresses as the town thought, giving Madame Delacroix high precedence. Penelope makes her admiration known to Madame Delacroix about her woman-owned business and proposes a plan to help each other. Madame Delacroix drums up more business thanks to Lady Whistledown’s gossip and is willing to assist her with keeping her identity a secret. Kate tried to mend the disaster that happened the other night with Anthony, but a bee stings Kate in the midst of their bickering and Anthony has a panic attack thinking the same thing will happen to her as did his father and the chemistry and sparks that flew when they almost kissed should have awakened Anthony to his true feelings towards Kate but yet again he digresses . They both run from the scene in utter disbelief that their true feelings for each other have been revealed, steamy steamy now….
Episode 4: Victory
Lady Bridgerton is hosting her heart and flowers ball at the ancestral home, Aubrey Hall. The decorating is absolutely exquisite and breathtaking. Anthony is crippled with contemplation as he deciphers if it was in his best interest to invite the Sharmas to his mansion. Benedict urges him to wonder outside where fresh air resides to better accommodate his decision. Meanwhile Kate is having her session of self-reflecting reminiscing about the magical moment that happened the other day. Edwina notices the difference in her sister’s demeanor and confronts her. Edwina announces that she knows why the viscount hasn’t asked for her hand and it was because of Kate. Fear flooded all over Kate’s face as she thought that her sister recognized her secret love but was relieved that she was just as clueless before when she blames the “hate” between Kate and Anthony. This reassured Kate that her secret is kept safe even if it’s just a little longer. Even though Edwina’s obsession with marrying the viscount is simply superficial she is determined to persuade him to marry her and asks for her sister’s assistance. Daphne and Lady Bridgerton discuss the mystery of miss Edwina. Penelope is defensive when Eloise is persistent about finding out who Lady Whistledown’s identity when she wondered on the dangerous side of town. Edwina “forces” Kate and Anthony to bond but failed by the viscount’s pride. Edwina continued to urged Kate to hunt with Anthony for him to spend more time becoming better acquainted. Collin pays Miss Thompson a visit to reconnect, which leaves an awkward sting in the air. Edwina reveals to Daphne, Lady Dansbury and Bridgerton that it was an excellent idea for Kate and Anthony to spend time together for the day. The look on Daphne’s face was priceless it looked like she wanted to say you stupid and foolish girl don’t you see the spark between them both. Edwina is naive which will lead to her demise. Collin meets Marina’s husband Sir Phillip Crane and is invited to dinner. I really don’t understand why Collin wanted to visit Marina as she is already married with a comfortable home, maybe guilt and curiosity overcame him and he wanted to see for himself. Kate is being a stubborn and determined hunter and rejects being guided by the men in the group and urgently wonders off on her own path. Lady Featherington continues to coach Prudence to potentially win over Lord Featherington. When Anthony finds Kate quietly in the woods strategically pinning down her prey, the intensity of their attraction for each other gives me shivers. He boldly intructs her how to hold a gun to shoot down her prey and when he does, it becomes steamy, the hot breathes the physical touch was so fiery, my eyes were unwaveringly pinned to the screen. Of course they were interrupted by their prying posse that the fire between them quickly was put out. Marina demands that Collin leaves her home and wants to leave whatever they had between them in the past. She reads him like a predictable book and I was here for it. She reveals that even though she is not in love with her husband he takes care of her and is numb to the fantasy of what she once thought was love and encourages Collin to wake up to reality. She points out to him the people in his life who care for him, specifically Penelope. Edwina freightens Kate as she returns from the hunt with Anthony and grills her on how it went when she assures her it went well she prompts her to keep on doing what she is doing. Again, she is so blind to what is actually happening because they are falling in love right before her and she is left in fantasy world hoping this will help her chances of her being the next viscountess. Anthony has a restless night as he can’t stop thinking about Kate which makes him conflicted about his future decisions. Restless as well, Edwina decided to take a stroll in the mansion which lands her in the library, using his instinct Anthony finds her and they share an intimate moment on how his father died. The eye contact becomes so intense that it scares Kate to leave Anthony in awe. As preparing for the ball Daphne mentions to her mother that she predicted that Anthony would marry someone similar to him. She then confronts Anthony about her concerns and he tells his sister not to meddle in his business because he doesn’t want his secrets to be revealed and to just stick with his original plan of courting to marry miss Edwina. Eloise is practically forced by her mother to go against her beliefs about good society and have a dance with Mr. Morrison but that came to an abrupt end when he says something too radical she storms off the dance floor and prefers to cry her defiant tears in her room. I am absolutely shocked when Edwina encourages her sister Kate to dance with Anthony in hopes of her having a better chance to be asked for her hand by Anthony. Like girl, how can you not notice that they are falling in love and you are forcing them to have more opportunities to fall even more in love. I am a sucker for intense eye contact I literally swooned and wish I was in that moment. Kate reveals to Anthony that she will return to India once Edwina married him and this angered Anthony as he storms off the dance floor, Kate chases after him to assure her sister that she can fix it. Kate and Anthony meet right back at the library sharing how much they “hate” one another in yet one of many steamy moments and Anthony whispers softly in Kate’s ear to tell him that she doesn’t care for him and he will walk away they were about to kiss and Daphne walks in on the heated moment. Daphne reveals her suspicions that he is in fact in love with Kate. Lady Dansbury has a much needed heart to heart with Kate to be honest with her sister and to herself on the inheritance scheme and how she really feels about Anthony. Lord Featherington reveals to Lady Featherington that he is a penniless man and the reason why he wanted to court Cressida was to secure the family bag but of course Lady Featherington ruins things yet again, she is such a frustrating woman. Penelope hunts down Collin to know how the meeting went with Marina. She is disappointed that he regrets how things transpired. Defeated Edwina and Kate walk to the carriage to return with Lady Dansbury and Mary, then things take a weird turn, Anthony rushes towards the carriage with the family ring Kate thinks he is going to speak with her but instead directs his intentions towards Edwina and asks for her hand in marriage leaving everyone in suspense. Oh the tea just go so hot that is spilled everywhere…
The Restless Boss Beast 