Bridgerton Season 3 (Part 1) Is Here And I Have Some Thoughts…

Bridgerton is back and I can’t help but give my thoughts on the latest season. I talk a lot about animation but period romances do take a special place in my heart, and I could hide it no longer! In all seriousness, Bridgerton is awesome and I have been eagerly awaiting this season only to be throughly disappointed that we have to wait almost a month to actually finish it! What is the madness. So here I am, taking up some of that time talking to you about this latest edition and what I think of it all. Enjoy.

[tenleylillegard]

Also it’s not just friends to lovers, it’s CHILDHOOD friends to lovers. They should have included at least the flashback of how they first met and how a young Penelope fell for an oblivious young Colin. Instead they mentioned it while eating sweets together like that would satiate us… They really missed an opportunity to show us, not tell us, just how deep their friendship is and why it may be hard for Colin in particular to take the next step

[colinneagle]

I personally attribute the weakness of Colin's change of heart storyline to bad writing. Based on what I heard going into this season, I thought this would be a friends to lovers story, with and extended pygmalion riff where Colin would realize his feeling for Pen as he helped her become a more confident and poised lady of society. Annoyingly, this dynamic was completely stopped after and episode and a half when gossips started talking about them. Because of this writing choice, there's no reason for Colin and Pen to spend time one on one and for him to grow into seeing her in a new romantic way gradually over time. Instead, Pen asks for a kiss, and that somehow magically makes him realize he loved her all along. The best acting in the world couldn't make this character arc work, because it's inherently weak and nonsensical.

[tigersmt]

Collin is a writer, he could have narrated his internal dialogue. The clutter of the multiple stories removed tension between Colin and Pen, because they simply weren't really as relevant as other categories and we lacked context for how Colin was feeling. It's unfortunate the show decided to go this route, thus far. I'm hopeful, however, that their subplot will be a reoccurring theme in various other seasons.

[instantromy]

The issue with the multiple storylines is because Polin was not done enough justice. We all know and are expecting Polin and you are right--Penelope is doing what she needs to do in the story. Colin is just... there is a lot to be desired. And that's why we hate that there are so many storylines because it feels like the writers need to dedicate more time to serve his part of the story. So frustrating.

[melissaisloud]

10 eps would’ve been better with the expanded cast.

[hank_]

Can we all agree that old what's his face (Lord Debling) is YUM-MY! Like, Colin had this whole dramatically shot reveal for his new look and I gasped but when Lord D. calmly walked into frame my heart STOPPED. All these other suitors are boys. Lord D. is a MAN!

[lolitapop]

Even though I disliked the "what's his face" 😅 character, I think the plotline of him explaining to her that he will probably never love her makes sense and brings some realism to the picture. Pen was always a romantic, but like most women in those times, the propect of never getting married is way more scary and humiliating than never finding love, hence the sacrifice she would need to make for the sake of feeling as part of society and finally being able to feel like a normal person devoid of scrutiny. The plotline, in my oppinion, brings some realistic tension to the choice between love or duty that many women had to face in the past

[gabrielleduplessis]

Our issue with the multiple storylines were it made the show cluttered.

A couple of them felt unnecessary and did not elevate the characters or prevented the cohesiveness with the main storylines.

I also feel cutting down a couple of them will develop Colin and Pen more so you can more of his internal monologue.

Honestly, Luke Newton’s (colin) was great in my opinion. He and Nichola (penelope) did well adding these subtle nuances and nods to the book characters. They love their characters and the source material and I felt their chemistry was fire.

But am hoping some of the storylines end so we can get more of the main couple and hope the LW drama is not too amped up so we can take a breather with the main characters as they resolve things.

[MissJJoan]

I liked that they snuck in the “ABCDE FU” song in there. Having a cuss hidden in a fancy old timey song with violins is just so hilarious to me 😂

[lilsy]

Yes, there will be more angst and pining but they would already be official lovers as everything else unfolds. The carriage scene happened that past the point of no return. So the excitement of the friendship blossoming to something more is gone. They didn't even try to bread crumb us in to anticipating a confession, a steamy scene, and a proposal. They gave us the entire loaf of bread in one scene.

What most of us just wanted before the big moments was Colin's extra pining and groveling. Just a little bit more of it!!

I don't want to get my hopes up for Part 2 since I strongly feel like they will be tunneling straight on the chase for Lady Whistledown that will eat all the Polin scenes.

But just to feed my absolute delusion, maybe the writers deliberately made Colin's character be impulsive to marry (since this also happened to him with Marina), then eventually gets to FINALLY step back and have a long process once he finds out Penelope is LW. In that way, we have more knowledge about his character this time. But then again, things don't always go our way.

[Witchtimez]

Regarding the costumes, I feel that your impressions are all deliberate: Colin does look out of place because he is struggling with his identity a bit and became the 'I just got back from ___' guy with not much else going on. Cressida's increasingly garish looks match her growing despair over aging out of the marriage market and into a loveless, arranged marriage.

The Featheringtons properly carry this season with delightful surprise.

I think you *may* have missed that Debling was initially searching for a marriage of practicality as was Pen, who was dropping the idea of marrying for love (since Colin said smth absolutely ruthless about her in the previous season) in order to get out from under her family. However, repairing her friendship with Colin plus the new perspective he was forced to have of her allowed the feelings to resurface and she began to hope for love at some point again. Debling made it clear that wasn't smth he could promise, hence why he hoped for a wife who already had fulfilling hobbies and did well on her own.

I don't understand the complaints about other characters receiving screentime, the rest of the cast help tie the world together.

And so far, I'm enjoying the show more than I think I would the books, as the books apparently took Colin TEN YEARS to get a move on with Pen.

I do agree though, the rando threesomes are a tiresome waste of film that would have been better utilized elsewhere unless it's just to be a constant reminder of how vast the double standards are between the men and women of the ton. Alas, I don't sense this is an issue the show intends to address this season, so I'm doubtful of that being the narrative intent.

[HuntingViolets]

I think you could look at Cressida and know her clothing is odd just by looking at other members of the ton.

[sunflowermyeyes]

Colin‘s character arc INFURIATED ME. So much wasted potential, such weak choices. 😭 8:22 I agree with all of this ❤

[Ashley_Magnolia]

I like that Mondrich story because it’s the first story told of a member of the Ton that was not born or married into wealth. And that kind of pressure to assimilate is stressful. So watching them navigate is endearing, in my opinion, as is their romance.

[hannahz]

I don’t have a problem with side plots I’m Bridgerton, I like them. But I do have a problem with side plots that take time away from the development of the main couple, while having little to nothing to do with it. They should have either cut some or made it ten episodes instead of eight. And I keep seeing people say some of the critiques might be fixed in the second part; however my main criticism is I didn’t buy that Colin wanted to marry Penelope. Yeah, we saw a little pining, but that entire arc was super underdeveloped and since he’s already proposed it’s not like that can go back and fix that issue now.

[charmingmouse]

I liked the blonde man much more than I liked Colin. Throughout the whole season I kept asking myself "should we like Colin? should i even care?". I was really shipping the couple in the second season, but this new storyline left me feeling completely dull.

[Dutch_chess]

Maybe I'm in the minority here. I completely disagree that previous leads need to have more screen time than the current leads. The old leads have served their purpose. This isn't a Sci-Fi or Fantasy show where all the characters will end up together to defeat the final boss.

Bridgerton is first and foremost a Series of Romance Novels. There are 8 books and each book focuses on a Bridgerton and their partner. From time to time an old lead shows up to say hi or give the occasional advice or help the plot move along. Sure I love the occasional update on the previous leads but I want most on the focus on the current leads. The focus should always be on that lead Bridgerton from the current book.

There are too many side characters IMO. But I think some of them make sense. I'm still holding out full judgement until part 2 comes out.

[HuntingViolets]

One of the more interesting things is getting a new couple every year with the other dropping into the background.

[MsYugiboy]

The threesome and what not didnt seem very Colin like! his brothers of course but not him! but i think it goes back to the 1st episode where Lady whistledown says he is acting like someone his not. Like how he is supposed to be. I was also dissapointed in how we didnt have enough family moments which exsisted alot in the previous seasons...I love penelope, shes my 2nd favorite character and i do agree that it was a bit too fast with the both of them. I feel they needed more time or at least obviously Colin does. I do like them but i feel like their story shouldnt have happened yet. and the side stories were not as great as the previous series as well.

[mooshini]

I’ve noticed the absence of the previous main characters, and on the occasion that they make an appearance they feel flat, like their lives have reached a conclusion. The Featherington sisters have been married off and they are still included in certain plot lines. It seems out of character for Anthony to not be invested in his siblings lives. I know that Anthony and Kate are happy and in love but I would have like to have seen some of the same fieriness and stubbornness from their season.

While I enjoyed some of the secondary narratives, I think that Benedict’s could’ve been cut (I don’t see any growth/relation to his future love story). I would have preferred if Colin’s “new persona” turned out to be a complete lie (maybe lying about his encounters with women) that is unravelled as he is teaching Penelope to be herself. The dream could have come before the kiss, making Colin confused about his feelings for his life-long friend, instead of the kiss suddenly changing everything. Or, confusion from both sides, both believing that they wouldn’t stand a chance with the other. I also think they needed flashbacks of their long friendship to remind us of why they are close/well-suited.