In the three years since the Bridgerton pilot premiered, the show's fandom has mushroomed to enormous global proportions.
Fans watch and re-watch the two released seasons of Shonda Rhime's series, read and re-read Julia Quinn's books, create art with their favorite characters, write fanfiction, and, of course, regularly take to social media to discuss the beloved universe.
While these discussions usually involve people drooling over the best moments of the show and books and debating characters and their behavior, sometimes you can come across some really weird opinions that leave you speechless.
Here are five of the craziest Bridgerton takes we found online.
1. Penelope killed her father
Of course, those who think this don't mean it literally. They blame Penelope for using the Lady Whistledown column to expose Marina's pregnancy and destroy her own family's reputation. The scandal contributed to Lord Featherington's stress and made him even more risk-prone, which in turn led to the gambling scam and suicide.
Well, what can we say? That's an Olympic-style reach.
2. The Sharma family are slave traders
Yes, as shocking as it sounds, some fans think that Kate's family is somehow connected to slavery in India. Of course, this has never been mentioned in the show, but the deep dive into the Sharma surname seems to allow such a conclusion.
Not only is this pure speculation for the sake of shock value, but such an opinion ruins some of the best characters in the show. Meanwhile, the Bridgerverse is a fictional universe, and tying it to real historical issues is too far-fetched.
3. Anthony's family is stealing from him
Believe it or not, there is an opinion that the Bridgerton siblings and Violet are taking advantage of Anthony's hard work and embezzling his money.
There's probably no point in clarifying this statement, but here we are. Anthony happens to be the firstborn and main heir to the viscount's title, estate, and job of increasing the family fortune.
His position implies that he is the head of the household who must take care of his siblings and mother. How can he refuse? Besides, what in the family relationship makes people think that he doesn't want to do it? These characters really do care for each other.
4. Those who like Season 1 are abuse apologists
The Season 1 scene of Daphne overpowering Simon in bed was wrong for many reasons. And now those who love the Season 1 story are sometimes met with harsh comments in fan threats.
Does Daphne's infamous action ruin the whole season? The majority of fans believe not. And can it be the reason for online bullying? Definitely not.
5. The show isn't worth your time because it strays too far from the books
From time to time, you may come across opinions like 'the books did it differently' or 'that was not in the books'. Some commenters even say that the show is bad because of all the changes the creators have made to the source material.
Let's face it, there are plenty of reasons to change characters and plots in adaptations. TV romance in the 2020s should be different from romance books in the early 2000s. There is beauty in the fact that Bridgerton the show and Bridgerton the novel series are two separate universes.