Dearest gentle reader, if you thought “Bridgerton” season three fell a little flat, you are not alone.
The highly anticipated third season of the Netflix drama series, which follows a tense and steamy friends-to-lovers romance between Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), was released on Netflix in two parts, the first coming to the streaming platform on May 16 and the second part on June 13. Despite taking two years to film and produce just eight episodes of pure regency era drama, romance and scandal, this season lacked much of what made the first two seasons stand out.
Be aware that this review does include spoilers… but not all of them.
For those who do not know, “Bridgerton” is a historical romance TV series that came out in 2020 based off the early 2000s regency era romance novels by Julia Quinn. Each book tells the story of one of the eight Bridgerton children and their search for love and/or marriage in an alternative version of early 1800s London. Each season of the show follows along with one of the books, (i.e., season one equals book one, season two equals book two).
However, season three of the show does something a little different, skipping over book three — which follows Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson), the second eldest — in favor of getting to Penelope and Colin’s highly anticipated storyline.
Let it be known, I did not read the books and I have no intention to do so. I am purely in this for the entertainment value the Netflix adaptation provides; that kind of steamy, regency era romance novel is not my thing. This season of the show, however, did not provide the level of entertainment value that was expected. Usually, a trait of good TV is that the next season is better than the last, but that was not the case with Bridgerton.
Season three was different for many reasons, number one being the showrunner. Previous seasons of the show featured Chris Van Dusen as show runner, but season three went in a new direction with Jess Brownell. While I’m sure Brownell is very talented, her artistic vision for Bridgerton season three was, let’s just say… missed by a lot of people.
The prime example of this is costuming. The costumes were drastically different compared to previous seasons. Although I did not expect everything to be historically accurate, many of the dresses were boring or ugly and featured odd hair pieces, accessories or out-of-season garments. The switch from historically accurate gloves to sheer gloves was a bad one, but Queen Charlotte’s (Golda Rosheuvel) intricately designed wigs almost make up for it.
The music choice was fun, but it always is. No one could have predicted an orchestral rendition of Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything” playing in the background of a sex scene, but Brownell’s selection has made the song go viral.
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Penelope and Colin’s storyline gave us angst, passion and humor. As aggravating as it was to watch them stumble through flowery love confessions, awkward love making, secrets, revelations and arguments that leave Colin sleeping on the couch, especially since the season was annoyingly broken up into two parts, the outcome is a happy union between them.
In episode one, Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) debuts. Although she is not named diamond of the season, Queen Charlotte takes interest in finding her a suitor. Francesca, however, has seemingly no interest in any eligible men except for the quiet and reserved musician Lord John Sterling (Victor Alli).
There is a lot of controversy surrounding their courtship, and her mother Violet (Ruth Gemmell) is convinced it is a mistake because she wants her children to prioritize a love match. The entire ordeal is far more dramatic than necessary considering everything else that is going on, but the two end up quietly engaged, then later married at the end of the season before jetting off to the Sterling’s estate in Scotland.
While Colin is busy with Penelope, Benedict’s storyline actually begins to diverge from the books, and he fools around with widowed Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New) AND Paul Suarez (Lucas Aurelio).
Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen) is still just as awful as the first two seasons, but she does get a little bit of a backbone in trying to stand up for herself, albeit in a horrible way, ultimately becoming the unexpected villain of the season, only to be sent away to live in the countryside as punishment. Cressida by far has the worst costumes and hairstyles in the whole show, often looking more like a glamorous bird of paradise than a debutante.
Everyone finds out Penelope is Lady Whistledown, the anonymous gossip columnist, but that’s not even the most shocking thing that happens this season because the last episode reveals she was pregnant with Colin’s baby for the last four episodes.
Needless to say, there was too much going on in this season. It was also incredibly fast paced compared to previous seasons. Nearly all the Bridgerton children have a subplot, but I do not have time to go over everything in one review or you would be reading all day, and my editor would never let me write a review again.
I did enjoy watching this season. Despite how much drama took place in just eight episodes, this season did a good job of incorporating more characters, or at least making them relevant.
The addition of the Mondrich family — a working class Black family who suddenly inherited a title and estate and thus thrust into high society — was an interesting plot line. Yes, I like the fact there are more Black characters portrayed in high society. However, if we are going to talk about a show that exists in a world where racism does not, then we cannot disregard the blatant portrayal of a working class Black family struggling to fit into a society that had no issue excluding them before they had money AND have no issue continuing to look down on them for wanting to keep their business despite having no financial reason to do so.
I just felt like this season, despite taking two years to finish, felt rushed and did not meet my expectations. It was cute and there were several romantic and steamy scenes, but I would not rewatch it like I have with previous seasons. You remember Anthony’s conversation with Kate from season two — specifically his iconic monologue: “Do you think that there is a corner of this Earth that you could travel to far away enough to free me from this torment? I am a gentleman. My father raised me to act with honor, but that honor is hanging by a thread that grows more precarious with every moment I spend in your presence. You are the bane of my existence. And the object of all my desires.”
Yeah. Nothing beats that.
Anyway, season four is rumored to be about Benedict Bridgerton and may or may not arrive on Netflix in another two years. Maybe.
Yours truly,
Chloe
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
