Yet everyone gave Simon a free pass in the same episode for violating her consent. Pete Campbell’s rape scene went over the heads of most Mad Men viewers, and both he and Don Draper start as normal-seeming people, and end as heroes with happy endings.

Iron Man gets thousands killed in Age of Ultron, and it’s considered a bit of shading. Jack Bauer’s heroic appeal was built on him committing terrible actions, while James Bond’s was built on sleazy sexual politics. The internet loves Firefly because it’s happy, likeable heroes are willing to just pull out a gun and shoot people without breaking from their hang-out vibe conversations. Arya Stark is one woman who gets a free pass, but she’s on a male-dominated show.

Meanwhile, some people probably didn’t think Daphne did anything wrong, but I have yet to find an op-ed defending her ethics. I looked. I could barely find comments. I couldn’t even find the bad-faith far-right commentary. This is a controversy with one side.

A vocal part of the fanbases for Breaking Bad, Joker, Fight Club, Taxi Driver, and many similar stories unironically worship and defend their heroes. We don’t blame the stories for that. We don’t blame Breaking Bad for becoming darker as it went along. If some Bridgerton fans can’t recognize rape, that’s on them. And while I’m sure they’re out there, they’re far less vocal about it than other fanbases.

The show’s rated for sexual violence. Giving your hero a dark moment at the end of the second act is literally textbook screenwriting. Bridgerton fans don’t need to be coddled over it.