Bridgerton Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Daphne And Simon Are Oceans Apart

Épisode de Bridgerton With Mary & Blake: A Bridgerton & Queen Charlotte Podcast par Mary & Blake Larsen · 8 janvier 2021

In our Bridgerton Season 1 Episode 7 review, we break down “Oceans Apart,” the episode where Daphne and Simon are no longer separated by misunderstanding. They are separated by the truth. Simon finally explains why he refuses to have children, Daphne confronts how little she understood when she entered their marriage, and the two remain painfully attracted to each other even as trust between them collapses.

The episode also pushes Marina Thompson toward her darkest moment, gives Colin Bridgerton the truth far too late, forces Penelope to confront the consequences surrounding Lady Whistledown, and builds directly toward the Season 1 finale. “Oceans Apart” is ultimately about people who are physically close but emotionally unreachable — and about what happens when honesty arrives after the damage has already been done.

The short answer: Bridgerton Season 1 Episode 7, “Oceans Apart,” follows the fallout from Daphne learning the truth about Simon’s vow not to have children. Simon finally explains that the decision comes from his hatred of his father, but Daphne realizes that his trauma has been allowed to control their marriage. Marina’s engagement to Colin collapses, Marina takes a dangerous mixture after losing hope, Penelope becomes increasingly connected to the consequences of Lady Whistledown, and Daphne ends the episode devastated when she gets her courses and realizes she is not pregnant.

Full spoilers for Bridgerton Season 1 Episode 7, “Oceans Apart,” follow.

Listen To Our Bridgerton Season 1 Episode 7 Recap And Reaction

Mary & Blake break down Daphne and Simon’s broken marriage, Simon finally explaining his vow, Daphne getting her courses, Marina and Colin, Penelope and Lady Whistledown, the episode’s excellent editing, Lady Danbury’s married-lady party, and whether “Oceans Apart” puts enough pressure on the story heading into the Season 1 finale.

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Cups of Tea Ratings: Mary 5.0 | Blake 4.5

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Rewatching the season? Visit our Bridgerton Season 1 Episode Guide for every recap, podcast reaction, relationship guide, character explainer, and major Season 1 story beat.

Bridgerton Season 1 Episode 7 Recap: What Happens In “Oceans Apart”?

“Oceans Apart” begins with Daphne and Simon living inside the damage created at the end of “Swish.” They remain under the same roof, but their marriage has become a battlefield of silence, anger, sexual attraction, grief, and truths neither knows how to handle.

Simon finally explains why he refuses to have children. He is physically capable of fathering them, but he vowed to his dying father that the Hastings line would end with him. Simon sees that vow as the final way to deny his father the legacy he cared about more than Simon himself.

Daphne understands the trauma behind the decision, but she also sees the consequence more clearly than Simon does. He believes he is punishing a dead man. Daphne believes he is allowing that dead man to determine the future of their marriage.

Meanwhile, Marina’s future collapses after Lady Whistledown exposes her pregnancy. Colin confronts Marina and tells her that he might have married her if she had trusted him with the truth. Daphne attempts to help Marina by contacting General Thompson, but Marina recognizes that Daphne’s efforts may mean little without Simon’s influence behind them.

Eloise continues investigating Lady Whistledown under increasing pressure from Queen Charlotte, while Penelope remains emotionally tangled in the consequences of Marina’s downfall. By the end of the episode, Marina takes a dangerous mixture and collapses.

Daphne’s story reaches its own emotional breaking point when she gets her courses and realizes she is not pregnant. She falls apart in Violet’s arms, while the episode leaves Daphne and Simon facing a marriage that still contains love and desire but almost no trust.

Bridgerton Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Truth Does Not Automatically Repair The Damage

The smartest thing “Oceans Apart” does is refuse to pretend that Simon finally explaining himself fixes anything.

The truth matters. Daphne deserves to know why the man she married has decided they will never have children. But the episode understands that truth arriving late is different from honesty arriving on time.

Simon’s explanation gives Daphne context for his choices. It does not give her back the ability to make an informed decision before their marriage.

That distinction is where the episode gets its emotional weight.

Daphne and Simon are not fighting because they suddenly stopped loving each other. They are fighting because love is no longer enough to conceal what each person has done to the other. Simon allowed Daphne’s ignorance about sex and reproduction to preserve a misunderstanding about his vow. Daphne responded to discovering that deception by violating Simon’s trust during sex.

Now they have to live together after both injuries have been exposed.

That is much more interesting than simply asking whether the romantic leads will reunite.

Why Is Bridgerton Season 1 Episode 7 Called “Oceans Apart”?

The title “Oceans Apart” refers primarily to the emotional distance between Daphne and Simon.

They are physically close throughout much of the episode. They occupy the same home, pass each other on staircases, argue face-to-face, look at each other across rooms, and remain intensely attracted to each other.

Emotionally, however, they can barely reach one another.

Simon is still living inside a battle with his dead father. Daphne is grieving the future she believed marriage would give her. Both understand that the other person is hurting, but neither is yet capable of stepping fully outside their own wound.

The title also applies to Marina. She is separated from George, separated from the future she imagined, increasingly separated from Colin, and trapped in a society offering very few acceptable paths forward.

Everyone in “Oceans Apart” is painfully close to somebody they cannot reach.

Why Won’t Simon Have Children?

Simon refuses to have children because of the vow he made to his father. The Duke of Hastings cared obsessively about continuing the family line and treated Simon cruelly when his childhood stutter made him appear less than the perfect heir his father demanded.

Simon eventually promises that the Hastings line will die with him. In his mind, refusing to produce an heir becomes the ultimate revenge against the father who valued legacy more than his own child.

The tragedy is that Simon’s father is already dead.

Simon believes the vow proves that his father no longer controls him, but “Oceans Apart” exposes the opposite. Simon is still organizing one of the biggest choices of his adult life around what his father wanted.

Daphne sees that immediately. Simon thinks he is denying his father a legacy. Daphne sees that the vow is also denying their marriage a future she desperately wants.

That does not mean Simon owes Daphne children. It means the real reason behind his choice should have been part of an honest conversation before marriage.

Want the full Simon story? Read our Duke of Hastings and Simon Basset explainer for more on his father, his childhood wound, his vow, and why that trauma controls so much of Season 1.

Why Is Daphne So Angry With Simon?

Daphne is angry because Simon told her he could not have children without explaining that he actually meant he had decided not to have them.

That difference matters enormously because Daphne entered marriage with almost no useful understanding of sex or reproduction. She did not possess enough information to recognize what Simon was doing during sex or to understand that pregnancy was being deliberately prevented.

Daphne therefore realizes that her marriage was built partly on a loophole. Simon’s words were technically compatible with his vow, but they allowed Daphne to believe something fundamentally different about the future she was agreeing to.

Her anger also expands beyond Simon.

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"Bridgerton With Mary & Blake," the ultimate podcast dedicated to the hit TV show from NETFLIX and Shondaland Media, Bridgerton, and the captivating spinoff, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Join hosts Mary and Blake as they embark on an immersive journey through the world of Bridgerton,…

Bridgerton With Mary & Blake: A Bridgerton & Queen Charlotte Podcast

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