Fans have been rabid for part two of Season 3 of Bridgerton. For the first time, we weren’t getting all the episodes at once, and having to wait a month before part two dropped. So, expectations were high going in, and this inevitably led to disappointment. We’re headed into spoilers territory for this discussion, so look away now if you’re not done with Season 3 of Bridgerton.
After all the build-up between Francesca and John, with the show debunking the expectation that love needed to be loud and overtly passionate, it backtracks on this in part two. It was actually really heartwarming to see Francesca quietly supporting John as he told the story about his muddy boots, as well as John’s wonderful toast to Violet. Their love and relationship was a nice contrast to the overt romantic declarations from the main pairings.
However, towards the end of the season, the show makes it apparent that Francesca isn’t quite satisfied with the relationship as we thought. When she and John share a kiss, she makes a disappointed face. Not to mention, she’s all tongue-tied and stuttering when John’s cousin Michaela Stirling shows up, indicating what a big impression Michaela makes on her. Book readers are aware of the significance of this, as Francesca’s story is about a second-chance romance, but before she and Michael (the show does a gender-swap here) get together, she actually has a beautiful, fulfilling life with John. The show is presenting this very differently, in a way diluting the love between Francesca and John because of the narrative decisions made.
Even though this season’s love story is focused on Colin and Penelope, part two seems intent on keeping them apart more than together. Colin finds out she is Lady Whistledown, and is livid about this revelation – as expected. This anger with her does not dissipate, it flows through their wedding, all the way till the end of the season. Romantic angst and conflict is fine, but not when it takes up the bulk of the season. We’re all watching Bridgerton for the romance and the intense yearning, not constant separation and distance. It feels a bit much that there is more conflict than swoon-worthy moments between Polin.
Not only that, Penelope suffers no consequences when she is discovered to be Lady Whistledown, despite the Queen hunting her down for the past few seasons. We’re made to believe that the Queen loves playing the game with Whistledown a bit too much to stop, but what game will there be now that she is privy to who Whistledown is? Penelope’s big speech was good, but it wasn’t that good to convince the Queen and apparently the entire ton as well. And through all Penelope’s agonising, Colin was not on her side until the very end, which goes against everything we expect from a supportive partner. Yes she kept a secret, but his love for her should have allowed him to forgive her and move on, and be the partner she requires in her time of need. Instead we got prolonged conflict and angst, which deprived us of more romantic moments between the pair.
Like I mentioned in my review of Season 3, the show doesn’t know how to deal with characters once they have fulfilled their romantic purpose. Kate is wise but now she’s almost matronly in the way she doles out advice to the various Bridgertons. She can keep her fiery spunk and still be the wise sister-in-law they all look up to. And now, Anthony proposes that they make a trip to India despite Kate being pregnant, which seems foolhardy and dangerous considering the time period (sea journeys took months), even though it’s incredibly thoughtful that he wants their child to know their heritage/culture.
The biggest fumble of all is Benedict, whose character arc goes nowhere this season. He gets into a romance that basically pointless since its casual and he doesn’t really love her deeply. The relationship is superficial, and the execution of his discovery of his bisexuality isn’t as meaningful because there is practically no development of this Paul character. For Anthony in Season 1, at least the show built the proper bones so that we understand his motivations coming into Season 2 and why he’s now ready to settle down. All we know about Benedict is that he feels like he has freedom now, that he doesn’t feel like he’s subject to the structures of their society. We’ve spent three seasons with him, yet still don’t know enough about him. It’s a shame because Luke Thompson is amazingly charismatic, and we’ve grown to like him despite his shallow characterisation.
Not only do we end Season 3 disappointed with how it all turned out, we have also learnt that Season 4 will probably be a 2 year wait. I miss the time when TV shows would give us 20 over episodes – now we get less than half that and the wait is longer. Bridgerton, how have you become the bane of my existence?
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