"Diamond of the First Water"
Our narrator, Lady Whistledown, introduces us to 1813 London. Upperclass families across the city are preparing their daughters to be presented to the Queen of England as part of their coming out into society.
The rich and respected Bridgerton family — comprised of Dowager Viscountess Violet Bridgerton and eight siblings (in birth order: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth) prepare for Daphne's debut. Daphne impresses the queen so thoroughly she is regarded as a "diamond of the first water". This causes a deluge of suitors to arrive at the Bridgerton home, but her oldest brother Anthony, now the viscount, disapproves of them all.
The Bridgertons' neighbors, the family of the Baron Featherington, face the opposite situation. They have three daughters out in society — the youngest, Penelope, is a good friend of Eloise's — but not only do none of them have suitors, they are also sponsoring a poor relative from the country. Contrary to their expectations, Miss Marina Thompson draws the eye of several men.
At a ball, Daphne bumps into the handsome and very eligible Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings. Simon turns out to be an old friend of Anthony's with a rakish reputation and a dislike for marrying, though his high status means he is currently the most eligible peer in England. Though Anthony's high standards scare away most of Daphne's gentleman callers, Simon and Daphne appear to hit it off at a dinner with mutual friend, Lady Danbury. Violet scolds Anthony for neglecting his duties, which include finding a husband for his sister. The next day, Anthony reveals his favored suitor: the unlikable Lord Berbrooke, to her horror. At a soiree that night, Berbrooke uses force on Daphne, but she is saved by Simon's timely arrival. Daphne and Simon agree to pretend to court, since doing so makes her look desirable and him unavailable, and publicly share a dance to the astonishment of the ton.
Tropes:
- Condescending Compassion: Mrs Featherington to Marina as the poor younger cousin of her husband's. Marina is well aware of it.
- Crash-Into Hello: Daphne and Simon first meet when she unintentionally bumps into him while trying to avoid an unwanted suitor.
- Embarrassing Damp Sheets: Subverted: it's the lack of blood on Marina's sheets more than a month into her stay that clues Mrs Featherington in on her pregnancy.
- Establishing Character Moment:
- The Bridgerton family dynamic is established as Colin and Benedict consider going upstairs to get their sister Daphne, while Spirited Young Lady Eloise elects to yell for her instead. Their absent eldest brother Anthony is having sex with his mistress, Siena.
- Daphne is presented to the queen. Though she is obviously apprehensive she keeps it together well enough to impress the court, showing her to be a feminine woman and dedicated lady-in-training.
- Fireworks of Love: Daphne and Simon introduce their fake courtship to the ton with a staged Dance of Romance as fireworks go off in the air and lawn in the background.
- Gossipy Hens: Mrs Featherington, Mrs Cowper and various other ladies of the ton frequently discuss the latest news and rumours amongst themselves.
- Hates Their Parent: Simon hated his father.
- Hourglass Plot: Daphne starts off as the Incomparable of the season, with Marina Thompson mostly unknown to the ton. Thanks to Anthony's machinations, she loses this popularity while Marina gains increasing attention. By the end of the episode her attractiveness and prospects begin to climb when she engages in Operation: Jealousy with Simon just as Marina's begin to take a downturn.
- Informed Deformity: Penelope's sisters deride her as overweight and having "blemishes" on her face (she doesn't). Mrs Featherington also tries to describe Marina as "dowdy," which everybody, including her, can see is far from true.
- Irony: Daphne very much wants to marry but can't seem to gain any suitors. Simon meanwhile declares he will never marry and finds himself the unwilling object of every unmarried lady and their mothers' attentions.
- Longing Look: Penelope gives one to Colin during a ball.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Anthony is seen banging his mistress, Siena, by the tree and it makes him arrives late at Daphne's introduction to Queen Charlotte.
- My Sister Is Off-Limits: Anthony reacts very negatively to the prospect of a match between his sister Daphne and his old friend Simon, because he knows Simon to be a rake, with no interest in marriage. His reasons for rejecting Daphne's other suitors start of reasonable (such as not wanting her to end up with a man who gambles), but quickly devolve into minor things like "eccentric" or "being a poet."
- Of Corset Hurts: Mrs Featherington straps her eldest into one that causes her to have difficulty bending over without fainting. Daphne is later seen with red marks on her back from her own corset.
- Platonic Kissing: In the opening, when Daphne is presented to Queen Charlotte, the queen is in awe with Daphne’s beauty that she kisses Daphne on the forehead after calling the young girl flawless.
- Serious Business: Marrying their daughters off is unfortunately this for women in the regency era. Girls are brought up with achieving a marriage to a suitable man as their only means of having a comfortable life, and should they fail at it, they end up spinsters, with a real possibility of becoming impoverished or destitute, if not just a drain on their families. Anthony's putting off all of Daphne's suitors seems humorous at first but him ruining Daphne's prospects is a very severe blow to her reputation and nearly traps her in a marriage to a man she finds odious.
- Spare to the Throne: Anthony uses his three younger brothers as an excuse for not finding a wife yet.Simon: You are the firstborn Bridgerton of a firstborn Bridgerton, nine times over. Where is your wife? Oh! Is your plan to fսck her forever, your mistress? You shall need to sire an heir.
Anthony: I'm in possession of something that you are not. Brothers. - Tall Poppy Syndrome: Eloise comments that Daphne being considered the season's Incomparable (the most promising debutante) will only cause the other ladies on the marriage mart to resent her.Daphne: Trust I was astonished Her Majesty offered me, out of 200 young ladies present, a most gracious remark.
Eloise: Yes, it was quite a distinction. And now 200 young ladies have a common adversary.
