*This post contains spoilers*
The date is June 14, 2024 and I’m about to have a fucking stroke.
I wasn’t even going to write a follow-up to my first Bridgerton post but here we are. Now that I’ve seen the whole season I can say with no hesitation that the writing was atrocious and I’m currently going through the seven stages of grief.1
I was perturbed by many things: everyone’s clown-like makeup, the gel nails, the pacing of the overarching story - but I’ve somehow condensed my problems with season 3 into three main sections and will try to be as coherent as possible.2
Read the following at your own risk.
Penelope and Colin
I don’t care about them. I’m sorry! I tried, but I just don’t.
My fundamental issue with Penelope and Colin is that the core of what attracts them to each other was not explored. The reason they are drawn to each other in the first place, which is arguably more important in a romance story, was not emphasised enough outside of dialogue.
This is why I preferred season 1 over season 3. A lot of time was spent getting the audience to understand why Daphne and Simon were attracted to each other, and most of the subplots also revolved around their courtship. Daphne was drawn to Simon because he represented her sexual awakening in a society where choices for women are limited. Simon, on the other hand is drawn to her because he’s able to cultivate a safe, intimate friendship — something he hasn’t been able to do with other women in his life.
Season 2 did a superior job at this, as the writers clearly showed the audience how Kate and Anthony were drawn to each other because of a shared understanding that being the eldest sibling is tiresome. They found common ground in each other’s life experiences, and the audience was rooting for them to overcome psychological trauma that was preventing them from experiencing true love.
If the reason Penelope and Colin are drawn to each other is because of childhood friendship, then there was simply not enough build-up to make me care about their love story. We hear about their big beautiful friendship, but we didn’t get to see any of it this season. A flashback or two, perhaps, of them spending time with each other as children in the Bridgerton house would have easily solved this. Show me that Penelope’s been in love with him since she was a kid. Show me that Colin has constantly overlooked her. Show me that they’ve actually spent quality time with each other outside regency balls.
In a romance story, the journey is arguably more important than the destination, because all love stories end the same way — they all lived happily ever after. We all know how the story will end, so it up to the writer to keep audiences hooked from start to finish by answering a key question: why should we care about these specific people and their specific story? Unfortunately, the writers room failed to convince me that these characters were worth investing my time in.
Kate and Anthony
Kate and Anthony, my sweet angel darlings, I must ask: were you silent or were you silenced?
The scenes we got were definitely cute, but they weren’t good enough. So much of their story happened off-screen it was making me want to stab my eyeballs with a fork. The dialogue they were given was a waste, because it was used to explain to the audience where they’ve been and where they’ll go next geographically; it didn’t add anything to the story. Could the writers not have shown us more stuff of substance, even if it meant their story developed at a slower pace?
I don’t think trauma is necessary for characters — or a story for that matter — to be interesting, but it’s been made canon in season 2 that Kate and Anthony’s trauma have shaped their identities and personalities very deeply. They have so much agony weaved into their backstories, more so than any of the other siblings, so would it not have made sense for the writers to use at least some of it?
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, a more fruitful use of precious screen time could have been to portray both of their anxieties surrounding the impending birth of their first child — Kate having complicated feelings about motherhood and Anthony still being traumatised from watching his mother almost die giving birth to Hyacinth.
For example, Kate admitting these anxieties to Anthony during Colin’s engagement party would have been a natural transition from the conversion they previously had while curled up in bed, where Kate tells Anthony she wants to keep her pregnancy a secret. What is more, this theme of complex motherhood would have also tied in nicely with Portia and Penelope’s arc. The main plot could have easily mirrored the subplot, and added nuance to a story that lacked a lot of it.3
Watching their scenes was so frustrating I almost wish they hadn’t been included at all, and I found myself longing for the joy of watching season 1 and 2 all over again.4
I am not advocating that they should have had more screen time, as it must have been an immense struggle for production to work around the schedules of two very famous actors. However, what I am saying is that the screen time they did have should have contributed to the development of their character arcs. I am sad they were not given the chance to continue to grow.
Chris van Dusen
Chris, the likelihood that you’re reading this is slim to none. But I miss you. It is clear to me now that you were the heart and soul of Bridgerton. I naively forgot how important it was for the original showrunner to remain embedded within a story they created from start to finish.
In 2006, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino exited Gilmore Girls after season 6 and was replaced by David S. Rosenthal. For fans, the most shocking plot twist from the new writers room was that Luke had a secret child nobody knew about, which felt completely out of character for him.
I didn’t know about the Palladino exit until many years after I had stopped watching the show, and it dawned on me that I stopped watching towards the end of season 6 precisely because it just felt off. The spark had disappeared.
In 2012, Dan Harmon was fired by NBC after serving as the showrunner of Community for over three years. Fans famously labelled season 4 as “the gas leak year”, and lead actor Joel McHale even petitioned for Harmon to return for season 5. Word on the street is season 4 is never included in anyone’s rewatch because the show didn’t feel “normal” after his departure.
Unfortunately I don’t think Bridgerton was immune to the curse of the banished showrunner, as much as they tried to reassure us that everything would be fine.5 Aside from the first episode, season 3 lacked the magic which made Bridgerton so special. Admitting to myself (and to my friend Cat) that I didn’t like this season was a huge weight off my shoulders. I suppose it’s okay to no longer experience joy from things you once loved.
For now, I’ll just sit here on my sofa and stew in my anger. We have two more years
until season 4 airs, so we’ll see if I decide to tune in!
Except for the part where Benedict tells Eloise not to worry about losing Colin or Penelope — fortunately, love is finite (I did shed a tear).
I’m not a huge stickler for historical accuracy but if you’re meant to be in 1817 and your nails look exactly like my coworkers’ nails then it’s going to take me out of the story a little bit.
Someone PLEASE give me the scripts. I’ll make it better, I swear.
December 2020 and March 2022, I will always remember you.
Everything was NOT fine.