“Bridgerton” Season 3 Loses Interest Before Gaining Momentum for a Rewarding Conclusion

Warning: Part 2 of the season of the popular Netflix series premiered on June 13. What succeeded and what failed?

 

Before “Bridgerton” Season 3 Part 1, new showrunner Jess Brownell suggested that the plot would be “heightened” in an interview with IndieWire. “Crescendo” is an additional one,” Brownell mentioned. 

 

The second installment of the highly popular Netflix series featured Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) engaging in premarital sex (which is advantageous when one’s moral code is less strict than Anthony’s); Cressida (Jessica Madsen) making her first attempt at blackmail; Violet (Ruth Gemmell) pursuing a romantic relationship with Lord Anderson (Daniel Francis); and, shockingly, the revelation to all, including the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel), that Penelope is actually gossip columnist Lady Whistledown.

 

How Camila Mendes Accomplished Her Own and Others’ Needs “I Truly Know Exactly What I’m Talking About,”

 

Four hours is a lot of work, so IndieWire’s Proma Khosla and Erin Strecker break it all down below: What didn’t work (finale pacing) and what did (more threesomes). Not only that, but in the last moments, THREE babies! We let out a gasp.

 

Benedict Investigates

 

Benny B. and Proma Khosla: Happy Pride. Even if it makes sense for the character, I have to admit that I laughed a lot during this because it made sense to viewers three and a half years ago. It’s entirely reasonable that Benedict (Luke Thompson) is on a Journey of Meaning and that it would require a great deal of explanation and investigation in the Regency Era (and even today!), but it’s also reasonable for me to scream through every minute of the build-up because I’ve known this for years.

Erin Strecker The fact that viewers have yelled, “Let Benedict Be Gay,” for nearly the whole duration of “Bridgerton,” is hilarious. The fact that the show leaned in and allowed the artist to be startled by threesomes and sex with males before being intensely aroused by them makes me very happy (this subplot is not there in Benedict’s book). The fact that the drama surrounding him keeps returning to Benedict and the Never-Ending Threesome is possibly my favourite aspect of the second half of the season. It was enjoyable, sensual, and appropriate for the character.

 

(CUT TO: Paul, Benedict, and Tillie still in a threesome.)

 

Lady Whistledown’s Disclosure

 

Proma: Let’s start by recognising Miss Cressida Cowper, the impostor Lady Whistledown, whose ambition and showmanship I respect despite her failure. With Penelope’s spiralling anxiousness and those dramatic clock shots, it was hilarious to see the wheels turn in Cressida’s head at the end of 305. The same is true of her flirting with Portia (Polly Walker) in scene 308; Cressida adores a crowd! Additionally, she eventually confronted Violet for confusing desire with love since someone had to.

However, it appears that Cressida might be permanently lost! Will you miss the terrible girl who lives in the tonne, Erin?

Erin: The show did a great job of illuminating her and her cruel family’s past, which is something I never would have thought about before this season. Now that she’s left in a carriage with her cruel aunt, I can’t say I need to see a lot more of her, but it will be entertaining to see her appear in the S4 finale sporting the wildest hairstyle you’ve ever seen and a nice man (or woman!) on her arm. Well done, she!

What was your overall impression of Part 2?

 

Proma: It’s true that the assortment of episodes was not uniform. Though it didn’t go over length, 305 (“Tick Tock”) was packed with romance, suspense, and storyline, making it one of my all-time favourites. The later episodes, especially 8 (“Into the Light”), however, truly faltered in that area, with what seemed like an excessive amount of back-and-forth on Colin’s position on Penelope being Whistledown and the implications for their marriage.

 

Erin: In agreement. Regretfully, I felt that the finale had a lot of trouble remembering all that had happened before and why and when it mattered, not to mention keeping all the balls in the air. Lady Featherington and the solicitor, for instance. I was over that storyline now! The main problem, as you point out, Proma, is that although I get that Colin’s ambivalence regarding Penelope and Lady Whistledown is a character decision, it was a little unclear at times exactly how furious he was with her. The fact that viewers knew they would eventually make things work out may have hurt the show; in particular, the last few scenes where they weren’t dating and lived happily ever after felt like tension-free treading water.

 

Proma: Queen Charlotte is a formidable and powerful queen, but she also likes chaos, so I wasn’t even somewhat concerned about how she would respond to all of this. It kind of eliminated the stakes for me on that front because she was never going to give Penelope more than a slap on the wrist, if not an O.B.E., for her efforts.

 

Erin: Penelope, Eloise, and Colin have been worried about this for a long time, and Queen Charlotte says, “Great, you’re humbled,” but the revelation didn’t come as a major surprise. It’s entertaining to gossip! Okay? Yes, that was fitting for the character, but such a disappointment for Cressida’s first attempt at blackmail.

Hannah Dodd’s character Francesca leads a happily ever after. Perhaps?

 

Proma I’m stressed because, even though I haven’t read the novels, I know how her narrative ends. The appearance of her husband’s cousin is obviously framed as a Big Moment, and although I initially gasped, supposing she would be a romantic interest for Eloise (Claudia Jessie), the following picture shows Francesca completely losing her mind. I’m not sure why! I am all for homosexual Bridgertons and happy for them, but when we had demisexual queen Fran, I really did love her company.

 

Erin: Now this is when I part ways with you. The entire season, Francesca’s plot was so boring for me that I hoped it would be resolved by sending her and John (Victor Alli) to Scotland, as was probably the case with Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) leaving for India, even though she seems like a really nice person. When there are big, loud, gossipy mysteries to unravel, like did that publishing assistant ever get to meet Penelope?, I don’t care about their wedding or their quiet love.

 

However, afterwards. Though it looks like this unknown cousin of John’s is going to throw Francesca for a loop instead, I was ready for a spinoff about Eloise eventually meeting Outlander. Do you suppose the two already know each other? Once more, congratulations, Team “Bridgerton.”

 

Consider me interested.