My First Thoughts on Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1
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Thought One: This is only the first half of the season.
This thought has a lot of different connotations. Most of the drama, most of the intensity, is yet to come. It’s also a good reminder for myself and for others that we have only seen fifty percent of these characters’ stories this season. It also means that a lot of the thoughts and opinions I have right now are subject to change, likely some won’t and some will. It’s hard to judge a season without seeing it all, and we don’t know the payoffs on the other side. Still, there is a lot to dissect in these first four episodes.
Thought Two: The aesthetic isn’t my personal favorite, but it’s strong and cohesive.
While I adore many of the costumes (particularly Francesca’s), and find the rich, saturated nature of the world utterly beautiful, there’s something about the visuals this season that just aren’t my personal favorite. That is not to call these out as a flaw. It’s spectacularly done, carefully crafted, and fitting with the grander nature of a third season of a hit show. Which leads me into my next topic…
Thought Three: This feels like a growing season, and with growth comes change and a bit of pain.
Usually a show’s sophomore season is where it grows larger and begins to truly define itself, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. However, all the Covid restrictions really shifted things and prevented them from going bigger and harder on a lot of the story. It forced them to go inward and focus deeply on character development and internal turmoil over basically anything else. This season is very possibly the opposite. Character development and internal logic suffers a bit in the favor of grand set pieces, immense balls, and overpowering costumes. I think it’s growing pains, though, and they will find their footing and balance a bit more, hopefully by the end of the season and certainly by next.
Thought Four: Speaking of change, Hannah Dodd as Francesca is a joy.
Francesca’s storyline is the most consistent hit for me in this whole season. Her character is consistent and compelling, she gives us a different but highly likable perspective on the Ton and marriage. She connects with Penelope, has a fascinating and adorable relationship with John that, once again, feels utterly unique to any we have seen before, and commands attention not by her own desire but by virtue of her talents. Her clear desires and decisiveness is admirable and beautiful.
Thought Five: Meanwhile, Colin has no consistency.
Someone messaged me that it felt like the writers room had two versions of Colin that didn’t talk to each other. Violet calls him her most sensitive child who always does things for others, and that really doesn’t show up this season. Granted, I do get that he has his armor on, but his sensitivity really doesn’t come out in any way. He is never vulnerable. He is never even really in danger of losing Pen because it’s always pretty clear, at least to us, that as soon as he speaks, Pen is back at his side. He doesn’t have to change or grow or work to earn Pen, and really, he should. Plus the whole rake bullshit that was really disturbing. Why do they think the only way we can find a man sexy is if he has had copious sexual experience? Not just that he’s not a virgin, but that he’s spending every night having threesomes with sex workers. I thought this season was supposed to be romantic.
Thought Six: It doesn’t get more Romantic than Kanthony.
Oh my gosh, Kate and Anthony. Holy freaking freak, those two! They’re adorable, obsessable, and downright perfect. Two different times they’re getting it on, and both are perfect in their own way. The first one especially is gorgeous, and I love that Anthony absolutely cannot get enough of what his wife has got going on. The reminiscent quality to the gazebo scene was a joy. And while having them head back out on another honeymoon is a bit of a cop out to get them out of filming, it’s one I appreciated. It fits so well with two people who have been the most responsible ever. They can let other people take the reigns for a while longer. It shows just how far they’ve come. Anthony has always been a worrier in both seasons, but this one, he shrugs off Francesca playing the funeral march and says eh, it will probably be fine. Let me go back to pleasuring my wife. Good for him, is what I have to say on that, and good for Kanthony.
Thought Seven: Nicola Coughlan makes this season.
Penelope is such a complex character to play. She is at one moment so confident as to almost be arrogant — she knows how influential and powerful she is in a way she hasn’t in previous seasons. At the next moment, she is a painfully struggling wallflower who can’t speak a sentence without putting her foot in her mouth. And somehow, she is just as natural in both roles. Nicola is able to bring together a character with major disparities in a way that bowls me over.
Thought Eight: The subplots struggle this season.
And I think they’re struggling because they’re too entwined with the main story. There really are only two subplots, Francesca’s and the Mondriches, that aren’t basically just offshoots of the main story. Cressida and Eloise is mostly a Pen and Eloise story with a bit of Cressida’s history added in. The Featherington girls are really just a Penelope’s new reality story with a bit of humor sprinkled in. Comparing that to Season 1, where the subplots were best executed, there was a whole intricate web of storylines with Whistledown, Pen, Eloise, her search, Colin, Marina, all meshed together. Not to mention Anthony and Benedict having storylines that don’t interact even slightly with the main tale. This one needed that distance to help the pacing, because despite seeming like it covers a lot, very little really happens in each episode. Don’t get me wrong, there are amazing moments in these subplots, but I think they could have been crafted a bit differently to help lend better pace to each episode.
Thought Nine: What doesn’t struggle is the big romantic moments.
The first kiss is spectacular. I love that Pen asked to kiss him, I love the atmosphere, and I love how intense it is. They look so pretty together, and I love that Colin can’t get over it, that he’s the one who keeps reliving it. As for the carriage scene, well, phew that was steamy. Colin has some beautiful words to get us, and Penelope, going, and it certainly works. Explosive sexual tension morphs into this more sensual dance, which is where I think this scene really kicks into high gear, once he starts kissing her neck and they get a bit of rhythm going. It’s damn sexy. Plus the consent, hot damn. And I do love him with that slutty ring and his hand going up her dress. Delicious from start to finish.
Thought Ten: Hero Colin gave me the good tingles.
That hot air balloon mishap was maybe the high point of these first four eps for me. I would have liked the fan theory where Gregory fell from the balloon and that’s how he got hurt to have been the case; the stakes would have been amped up with that. But seeing Colin grow in his maturity and courage there, to trust himself and his instincts based on what he’d been through, that was amazing. Working so hard to protect Pen, big yes in the swoony column. All in all, that and his adorable little smile at Pen as they get out of the carriage, those were my big WOWs for Colin this season.
Bonus Thought: That carriage scene!
Give me more romance like that! It’s steamy and fun. It’s got gorgeous consent. Colin and that slutty ring is a pleasure, for us and for Pen. Especially when they really get into things and start getting a bit of a rhythm, it’s damn sexy. It felt so very Polin, that they go from basically zero to sixty, that the level of comfort is so strong, and that the care for each other was evidence in every movement, every word, every breath. Did not disappoint.
The first part of this season has been interesting, to be sure. It’s not knocking my socks off yet — I think some things are off here. But it is so Bridgerton. It is more Bridgerton than Bridgerton has ever Bridgertoned before. Everything is turned up to eleven, and I think that is a fabulous thing because it will hopefully allow for reflection and realization that some things need to be at an eleven, but some function better at about an eight, or a five. But we would never know how big and incredible things can go, like stunts and sets, like music and dances, until we actually go there, then decide to scale back as needed. So while I think this first half has it’s bumps, it makes me so excited for what’s to come as well as happy to rewatch what we’ve already seen.