Bridgerton Season 3 (Part 2) Is Here And I Have MORE Thoughts... 

Besides the odd Benedict 16 hour continuous sex session, I am confused by Queen Charlotte in season 3. In the other seasons, her opinion and behavior seemed to carry weight, and posed an actual threat. This season it felt at times like she had lost her gravitas, almost becoming a cartoon plot villain. Her failure to pick a diamond, or, for that matter, pretty much eye rolling all the women who walked in front of her. Her general lack of involvement in the society functions throughout the season also didn’t help. An even more specific example - crashing the party and coming to the Bridgertons to make her LWD accusations instead of summoning them just felt weak and childish, not like someone who has ruled for decades or wields immense power. Or her dramatic arrival for the final scene, insulting the hosts who were trying to be gracious about her unexpected appearance, and then instantly forgiving Penelope. It felt contrived, to me, anyways.

This season was a mess. Ive not read the books, but Colin and Pens story felt like it was supposed to be a slow burn, but it happened in a blink. Colin just suddenly fell madly in love? If there were moments throughout the seasons where you could tell he was having moments with her... sure, but that didnt happen, so i often found their scenes a bit meh. Especially with him being jealous of her writing? When did he suddenly get passionate about becoming a writer? They didnt build that up properly, imo, a side comment about him wanting to write about his travels didnt really feel enough for his sudden jealousy. The two poor folks that became rich was actually more interesting imo, as random as it was

For a romance show, Part 2 barely had any romance. Colin just iced out Pen after he found out she was LW. I understand being mad at her but accusing her of entrapping him when he was the one who sabotaged her engagement to Debling and initiated their pre marital sex? Is the romance in the room with us? I understand the writers wanted to give Pen her girl boss moment with the LW revelation to the Ton but why was Colin not standing by her side? Why didnt he go up there to her to check on her?? Ffs Philipa saved the awkward silence by releasing the bugs, pen locks eyes with Eloise first, talks to lady D and her mother AND THEN colin approached her. They should have properly talked things out by ep 7 and reconciled, instead you had Pen offering him an annulment in the last 10 mins??? And it only seemed like Colin's love was conditional and depended on the queen pardoning her. I'm sad we didn't get Polin vs The World and Colin 'My Wife' Bridgerton in Part 2. I wanted Pen to have her 'no you shut up, its my time to speak now' moment but they barely have any lengthy conversations to hash things out? The fight outside the modiste shop should have been their reconciliation where they hash things out. Colin's jealousy comes out of nowhere, him being a writer is shoehorned into Part 2. Even Colin and Eloise's scene at the staircase should have discussed Eloise (and the Bridgertons by extension) being threatened by the Queen to put Pen's actions into perspective for Colin. It's like the writers had a checklist and were just ticking off every bullet point. Violet reacting to Pen's letter off screen and Colin's exposition of her being shocked and proud was such a cop out. Colin reconciling the Pen he loves with LW through her letters, while heartwarming, was also a cop out because we don't get to know the content of the letters. What changed his mind? Pen revealing she's LW to the Ton with no consequence is contrived when Cressida was ostracised for the same. Too many side plots and too little Polin made this season disappointing.

Honestly the ending where Fran suddenly is star struck with the cousin just cheapened the whole arc for me. And that would have been the case regardless of the cousin gender. Because in the story we explore the idea of different kinds of love and not everything needing to be sparks and butterflies. And I loved that. I thought how Fran and John were progressing was super cute and sweet. But then, writers changed the direction to say that well love should be sparks and butterflies and she just had not met the right person. I was left just super disappointed.

Benedict’s story? Just sex. Cressida’s redemption? Reverted. Francesca’s story? Discarded (book readers know what I’m talking about). Mondrich Family? Fillers with no direction. Colin & Penelope? Main couple who are not in focus in their own season. This is what happens when TV writers fancy themselves as better than the author and run wild rather than stay true to the source material.

I don't understand how they need 2 years to release 8 episodes like what? Are the actors too busy doing other roles? Are they waiting for the younger siblings to age? Or are they just trying to drag it out and give filler spinoffs in between? like wtf, this is a huge show with huge interest that are based off existing books, why do u need so much time?

i found season 3 all just "bleh". Also why did Lord Debling just leave? such a dumb choice from the writers

I truly hoped for Cressida to be friends with Penelope by the end of the season with the whole redemption thing. It would have been nice to see the three take control of their own lives by the end of the season. I agree that Cressida should have married the lord to get away from her family.

I feel like they exposed Lady Whistledown too soon. The vibe is going to be off if Pen continues to write gossip about the ton then everyone knows who is talking sh*t oooor they are gonna make her write nice observations. Which is just not gonna feel the same like the previous seasons.

I was bombarded with weeks of Nikola/Luke swearing up and down that they had so many steamy scenes. Did they not know that none of that made it into the final cut and it would be a major angstfest? Or were they ready to right-out lie for advertising?

I also genuinely don’t understand why they scrapped Michael for Michaela when we’ve been LOVING Eloise and Cressida. No one likes Philip, so why did they get rid of Michael????😭😭😭😭

Thank you for mentioning the slack of steam between Polin. With all that angst going around there should have been an angry and very heated steam session.

No way Colin would have left Pen alone her wedding night. It could have been fantastic. He loves her so much and can't keep his hands off her, yet he's upset with her. Just didn't do Pen and Colin justice. They had Pen upset and sad almost the whole time. When Nicola smiles she lights up the room.

Part 2 is giving the last season of Game Of Thrones. I’m that disappointed.

They just kept throwing three-way sex all over the place in this season and I was like… Why?

I would've given the gist of the Mondrich storyline to Anthony and Kate. Kate could struggle with being the new Viscountess and losing some of her independence, and Anthony could struggle with what Society expects of them. Love could still conquer all, in the end! Give Kanthony something interesting, at least.

SO many problems with this season, but a point that gets overlooked about Kanthony. For 2 seasons it was all about how Anthony had a "duty" as head of the family. Suddenly he doesn't care about that, and is leaving his mother in charge. Also TERRIBLE writing - "You make me feel seen in ways that I've never been seen before" Colin says. First - it's Penelope who needs to be "seen," not him, and SECOND - feeling "seen" is entirely a modern idea. This season made very little attempt to stick to the time period, esp w/costumes & makeup, but that line just summed it up about how seriously bad. Go back to Chris Van Duesen and drop Jess Brownell.

6:25 as a bisexual person i hate that the way they introduce the only (to my knowledge) canon queer character (Eloise is some kind of queer idk what to tell you ), who is bi, by having him be in a threesome developing from a straight passing casual relationship, leans on stereotypes about bisexuals that should’ve been left in the 90’s, and was honestly very disappointing

I have a few questions....most of which are: WHY?!?!? WTF?? WHY??? Why did Debling just....DISAPPEAR?!? Knowing what he was looking for in a wife, I feel like he could've made a really good match with Cressida!! They did Debling dirty, imo. WHY Are they trying to make Francesca out to be a lesbian in love with her new husband's FEMALE COUSIN?! WTH?? Benedict exploring his "free love" style sexuality? Sure. That makes sense. But Francesca's shoehorned-in closeted lesbianism is just....come on! Staaahhhp it!! How the hell is that going to even work?? We're still talking quasi-historical closeted Regency England, for goodness sake! Such a relationship would NEVER be openly explored in that time period. The exploration of racial equality is fine, given the "fantasy world" aspect of the show...but this is a bit too far, and it completely butchers Fran's story. Penelope and Colin had the perfect opportunity for a MUCH more steamy session the night before the wedding when he found her on the street. It would've helped explain why he was more comfortable with her on their wedding day and even seemed genuinely happy to be marrying her. Missed opportunity....But then going right back to icing her out and sleeping on the couch once the wedding was over?? No angry sex?? No "It's our wedding night. We must consummate" honorable sex?? Awww come on!!!

I was so pissed about the butching of Francesca's story line. I am not against LGBTQIA+ stories. I knew they were going to kind of include Benidict in that world from the begining, but it does not fit Francesca's story arch at all. They are using her to check a box and it is so blatenly obvious I am annoyed. The Mondrich's were added in and given space in the series, because their son in a Kent. Based on the books he will be Hyacinth's love interest later on (I don't know how they are going to fix up that story line either). They alluded to it already in season three.

To give a comparison, Francesca's love story is to the Bridgerton books what Persuasion is to the Jane Austen books. It is the most mature, compeling and complex written. And they decided that this is the story not worth telling basically. Even if we ignore the gender bend ( which might work in my opinion), taking out the part where Francesca is truly, romantically, in love with her husband and devastated by his loss is a huge mistake in my opinion. And what Francesca was saying this season was right, some people don't need the flashes and bangs to fall in love, is ok so love someone softly. And then, at the end it is revealed this was not true, she was never in love with her new husband and is falling in love at first sight with Michaela. It just feels disapointing, same as they changed the relationship dinamic between the Sharma/Shefield sisters. I think it would have been wise for the show to change some of the pacing and story lines from the books (not all written scenes make good TV scripts) but the fundamental feeling, emotions and connections should stay the same. I don't know, just disapointed that the only romance story they clearly invested so far is Penelope's. Even in terms of family story, the most developed in all the seasons is the Featheringtons in the TV show. And they are aparently butchering everything else.

A fanfiction writer would NEVER do bridgerton as dirty as this screenwriter did. no way

IMO they ruined it, my favorite book which was full of romance and great sex ended up as a side portion of Pen and Colin with numerous other BORING stories crammed in, the worst was how they turned Colin from a nice gentleman into a selfish cruel rake, he out of the brothers did not get to slut around he was always the thoughtful one, yet he left pen alone in the street at night TWICE ruining her would-be marriage to Denby, then petting her in a carriage and having sex [on a sofa in the books he says she deserves a bed for the first time] before marriage then accuses her of entrapment! then abuses her for the rest of part 2 so much pen offers an annulment, is this supposed to be romantic? do these scriptwriters read the book at all? if this is all for drama it fell flat the first series is still the best as it was just about one couple and romance why is that not enough!

Idk that its not 💯 historically accurate, but it is supposed to be REGENCY inspired fantasy is it not? Based on very particular books. Otherwise what is the point-just take the characters and throw them into 21 century. The make up, the decorations, the dresses were not simply not accurate-most of it was tacky and tasteless. With synthetic fibers, crazy smokey eyes - it gave way more Hunger Games Capitol vibes then Regency. Benedict story is so dragged - like why I need all the details? Its Polin season! And its the same story he has EVERY SEASON, cmn! Also - he actually is great painter and very talanted. But here he does not acknowledge it at all. Like what? They robbed him from any personality apart his threesome partners. Colin - smart charismatic talanted writer Colin, Colin who was so in love with Pen, who supports her in the books, who s passionate about his travels and writing-here he just in thressomes and brothels, then kinda in love with pen, but then angry and an ass to her till the queen supports her, than he shows up?! Like literally wtf man? Pen is so sad and apologetic all the time and swooning over Colin. Thats it. While he is such a compelling character in the books. And i honestly think that first 2 seasons were way better than books! (Maybe apart from edwina issue). Polin could have been such an amazing season! Fran, dont even start with that. So many creative ways to introduce representation. So many plot hole’s with this one. The pacing is off. The music is off. Kanthony going to india?! While she is pregnant?! In 1820? Is anthony trying to kill his wife and child?! Eloise is such a bad friend to cressida, with all her talk about friendship and women helping women.

I read that we have to wait 2 years for the next season. Why? I understand the reasons for the last delay (the strikes), but 2 years for 8 episodes again?! I'm not a fan of this new showrunner.

Penelope was a bully in secret and cressida a bully in plain sight. I prefer cressida because she doesn't hide who she is and pretends she bullies out of care.

You nailed it. The book had that Colin learned her identity before the carriage shenanigans happen. Then they deal with it and he DOES work with her and to protect her. They messed UP by dragging out the reveal. I agree about the Mondriches but also Danbury's brother I don't need. He takes up too much time. We need more central love story scenes not side nonsense. THERE ARE ONLY EIGHT EPISODES THERES NO TIME. We for sure were deprived of happy Polin post reveal and I'm so upset. Nicola and Luke worked too hard for 3 years to develop their characters for the writers and editors to shoot it all in the foot. Part 1 was good, part 2 was rough, man. To waste Nic and Luke's chemistry for side nonsense that will never come back is a crime. How dare you Shonda and Jess!

I’m actually over the series. It feels like soft p*rn now. No substance, direction, and very little romance. I didn’t feel connected at all to this season. I also, felt like I wasted my time. Which is sad, bc I was most excited about Penelope to be honest.

***SPOILER FOR FRANCESCA'S BOOK AHEAD. PRESS READ MORE AT YOUR OWN PERIL*** My favorite part of this season was Francesca and John's courtship. It was so freakin' sweet and perfect. My only problem was with Francesca's dumb-struck reaction to Michaela, we completely changed what made her book so good. The fact that we have Michaela and not Michael doesn't really matter--at least not for this part of the story--obviously it will change other things in her story like; they can't get married, they'll have to live as a widow and her cousin by marriage, but that happened all the time back then, two women living together as "friends" or "companions" for like 40 years, when we all know they were a couple. Another thing would be that Francesca really wants to have children, but that can be taken care of by her having children with John, considering Michaela can't inherit the title or estates from John being a woman, Francesca and John having a son would fix that issue. But anyhow, my problem is that what made her book great was the fact that the main point of her story is that we can have more than one great love in our lives and that they are equally great and equally important, even if they are very different. It should have been Michaela who was dumb-struck, not Francesca. All of Francesca's romantic love and attraction should be for John at this point because John is perfect for the kind of person she is at this moment. Anyhow that's how I feel about it. That part of Francesca's story about there being two great loves in your life, both very different, but both perfect for the person you were and the person you had become at that time in your life reminds me of this other book; "The Last Post" by Renee Carlino, beautiful, and sad book. P.S.: Francesca and John's courtship was my favorite part of this season.

I actually wish the Lord Anderson and Violet and Lady Danbury storyline hadn’t resolved this season. It would have kept me wanting to come back next season.

For the queer storylines, I’m suprised they went with Francesca for it. Mainly for the reasons you mentioned as well. I feel like Eloise would have been a much more natural choice, they could lean into her relationships in a new context and made it very believable. She’s always read to me as ’disinterested in romance’ so it’d make sense for her to have a big revelation that it’s not disintrest in romance, but a disintrest in men. As for Benedict, him finding out he’s queer through this storyline felt quite flat and laking in emotional depth. Finding out you are bi, especially in that era would be huge and devestating for the character on a personal level. It was present in hinted at in earlier seasons and I’d wish they built off of that.

I thought part 1 was overstuffed, but went at a good clip. I really liked the pacing for Colin and Pen. Part 2 was all over the place. They were (almost) never given any scenes to breathe within their brand new relationship, almost everything major that happened between them happened around other people, and/or they were dramatically interrupted. I was screaming during Colin's speech to Cressida "why are you saying all this to her and not Penelope?!?" That was such a profound character realization moment and it was wasted on a character blackmailing his wife instead of the wife he hasn't touched since before the wedding. Totally agree that the Whistledown discovery and angst should've been one episode. The dragging out made Colin seem petty and cruel. I didn't care about the Mondrich's storyline but if any married couple was going to give Colin advice, it should've been them and not (only married for like a year) Kate and Anthony, who seemed like they were there just cuz they had to be. Which was sad, cuz they had such well-rounded arcs both individually and together last season. Did Benedict just forget he could paint? He says he's meandering aimlessly in life when it was established that he really did have talent, even if Anthony bought his way into the institute. I don't think the sibling drama was needed between Lady D and her brother. I loved him with Violet, but him and his sister's angst had no bearing on the overall story. Like he could've not been her brother and it would've been fine. The whole season was like they were trying to hold the attention of an ADHD child, it was just too much. And then they just skipped to the end with Colin and Penelope having a kid and Colin having a book, without ever seeing what their relationship is like. We all knew they'd be happy, but what are they like as friends who married? Guess we'll never know.

The book actually did a good job more than the show here for Polin, in a few ways. We had a POV from Colin and it was showing us so many thoughts he was having about her, showing how he was slowly realizing how much love he was with her. Though I am glad that they pursued writing together and not quitting cold turkey like they did in the novels. Otherwise I felt the same about Cressida's treatment and Eloise's cruelty to not just Pen but also Cressida, too. I'm relieved your review was open minded and not at all toxic, this was fun to watch!

I wasn't quite a fan of the first part, but the second one really made me count my blessings with what we were given before 😂 I feel like it is a bit scary to criticise the season since there is a chance to be deemed as a hater BUT First, Francesca... I don't care about the gender swap, the whole idea of the first part was that love comes in different shapes and sizes and that quiet love is also a type of love and you don't have to be swept off your feet and stuff. So it was nice to see a man who wasn't a rake, wasn't spending his days at brothels and sniffing the girl he likes. And then the girl who said that love can be calm and quiet seems disappointed at the kiss and seems to be swept by a girl she meets for the FIRST TIME. I mean... poor John, he is bound to die young and his girl is already emotionally cheating even before they are wed. It doesn't even matter if they were gender-swapped, it is just so illogical - to build a nice story about different types of love and still go with pining and drooling over a person you have just met.

I’m 76 and may not see the next one because it’s never guaranteed. You know what, i don’t care. I loved the books. found them during covid, but am getting less interested in this series not more. Regency Rimance and more superficial soap opera. Heck i like Hallmark movies better. Maybe the need to hire a more experienced Romance writer because this season was not anywhere near a HEA that we. get from the books. In these stressful times, I need that HEA escapism into a beautiful love story with depth and strife followed by joy, kisses and smiles. There’s enough of this hollow feeling floating around without giving it 8 more hours for a Shonda soap box. Next one, i’ll watch reviews before i watch even one episode. i’d rather watch old reruns of The Nanny than this hot mess.

I’m done with this show. Honestly, I only see the writers screwing it up even worse from here on out. They are already ruining Fran and Michael. Benedict and his Cinderella will be effd up and they will find a way to ruin El and Phillip. And for this reason, I’m out.

One thing I did NOT like about the Benedict storyline was the scene the morning after the proposition and he's sitting with the cougar (What's her name? LOL) and he clearly tells her he has been around this before and he was never tempted. Yet she pushes him as if to be like "You'll never know if you don't try" and when he pushes that off she goes "My servants are very discreet". He said he wasn't tempted which I later found out he does like men but the fact remains he told her he wasn't into that. She should have respected his decision but no she had to push him just in case he likes men. It's horrible when gay men are told "Have you ever been with a woman? You won't know until you try" bull crap. I wouldn't be surprised if the show runner does a double whammy and now Sophie is now Samuel the footsman.

I loved Penelope buttt omg the story writing. It wasn’t convincing at all. She was all head over heels with Colin but he was just love bombing here and sooo cringe. Idk the writing was just bad it just became so unconvincing.

I also wish they hadn’t revealed LW to the ton this season. They could have kept Cressida (and they could have even picked up in the middle of courting season…nothing says they can’t). But agree 💯 she should have been able to have a happy wedding. The brooding and angst was Brutal. Romance forsaken for drama.

As a person named Sophus, i find offense in that he didn't know the name existed.

1. I was not into the Mondridges at all. Sorry but I was bored. 2. Benedict story left me uneasy, justtttt sex sex sexxxxx. Now I am nervous about Benedict’s season. Who is Sophie gonna be? 3. I feel like they wasted our time letting us love John. They didn’t even let us enjoy 1 kiss between the two of them. The writers make Francisca fall I love wayyyyyy to quickly with Michelle. I am so angry. Did I mention how sad I am that we didn’t get a single steamy kiss between John and Francisca. So sad 4. Eloise was very not-Eloise-ie. very self absorbed. 5. I loved Lord Vegie-man. I feel like they wasted our time here too. Nothing happened with him 6. I can’t stand Anthony and Kate. It’s way too much to explain here 7. I heard too much about Pen being a wallflower, being over looked, being ignored….goodness she is a published writer. A business owner!!! For the love of God she is the prize!!!! That part was too short compared to the length of time we dwelled on her not being enough or just being publically humiliated. So annoying and so sad and just a no for me 8. I felt disappointed at the end. I came out feel like I wasted a year of longing and another month of anticipation between part 1 and part 2

"Part 2 has been released... and it certainly exists!" Can I subscribe one more time? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Edit: Agree with most of you opinions, but kinda terrified of the fandom right now. Just a sidenote... Sophie is not just a bastard, but basically a Cinderella. Genderbending his story would be harder, in my humble opinion. Edit 2: Colin also made me angry, but I do not think he was pissed about the issue about him. It was about El, Marina and the main thing: she did not tell him anything. Yeah, jealousy also played a role, but I would honestly prefer them to keep it in 307 and leaving it there. But I shall defend the street make out, as both were drinking, emotions ran high, got carried away, and they then kinda remembered why they were hurt. It was honestly one of the strongest scenes for me. But yeah, downgrade from part 1 surely. But few rewrites and it would be perfect 😌

I legitimately don’t care for any of the sex scenes. I’d much rather focus on the romance. I think the sex scenes is really just a product of lazy writing.

I totally agree with your analysis. In a nutshell, Season 3 sucked. The new story lines (i.e, Mondrich, Debling, Cressida, Violet/Marcus) were very weak, the costumes and hairstyles were clownish and the threesome scenes for Colin and Benedict were awful. There was barely any romance for Polin. The actors have more chemistry in real life than they did on screen this season. I could go on and on.

We have mostly the same exact thoughts on this, so many sideplots and characters I just don't care about. I don't mind them on the side but each one got equal time to the actual main plot. I was one of the people that loved the first half, no notes at all, but the second half was so disappointing - except for Peneloise & Violet finally getting some.

I think, with Benedict, they are going to keep 'commitment' as theme that he is unable to or doesn't want to commit, as he would ask Sophie to be his mistress which she refuses, so conflict would be his will to explore and be free instead of her being illegitimate.

I think not sticking to the books in terms of order is a big mistake. Book accurate or not (Idk I never read them) Benedict no longer painting at the end of S2 was the perfect time for him to feel ready to find someone. Or even if not intentionally looking, when he found the right person he would be more ready to settle down as he lost a great purpose in his life through art so throwing himself into something new or someone would have been an interesting arc. I also think the reveal of LW should have been stretched further, this was a big point of tension for the show and without it, I fear the other seasons are going to fall into the bad pattern other shows do which is create drama for no reason. I am so afraid of season 4. I do believe Benedict is next but he should have gone before Polin.

this is the best summary and it made me laugh the entire time. ESPECIALLY the end about Colin and Pen HAH! Thank you for doing it in good humor because I have been so upset about it. My favorite part: "The angst went on way too long. Beyond the point where anybody would want it to. And then it finally comes back to happy times and the shows ends. ENDS! No steam. WHERES MY STEAM!? MORE STEAM! THERE'S NOT ENOUGH, BRO!"

I love this entire video, great takes. The part with Francesca definitely went againts her whole message and character. I think they just did that to try and really reel in viewers with a queer relationship. In the books iirc they start of as really good friends with zero romantic feelings from Fran's side. they should have stuck with that so they could keep Micheala and Francesca's romance in like with her version of love. It would make more sense and be more compelling over all

I'm sorry but I DID NOT care about Francesca. At all. I could barely tell what she was doing or thinking half the time and she had no personality

Yes all of this. And the actors had so much steam in the promotion and they basically made it all negative. I wanted happiness

Cressida did exactly what Penelope did, but Pen was forgiven and Cressida was not. (The blackmail aside, their actions are really similar)

When it comes to romance, it seems like it was more Francesca's season. Penelope's plot was more self-discovery with a side of Colin mostly with Lady Whistledown drama.

In the book colin knew before he and pen did anything... I hated how duplicitous the show made her. I couldn't enjoy anything because the whole whistledowm secret was hanging over them.

Eloise endet up feeling like a villain to me in her treatment of Cressida. She befriends her, "out of pettiness" towards Pen (her own words) but completely drops her, while Cressida's life falls apart. Cressida tries to reach out to Eloise, she explains her fear of being married to an old disgusting man who will lock her away - but Eloise does not give a shit. Eloise is always complaining about everyone ending up married, but then she has a friend trying to escape a horrible marriage and she does not care. At all. She knows that Cressida isn't actually Whistledown but still drops her as a friend - Why?! She knows that Cressida only said that because she was in desperate need of the reward money, because she didn't want to be trapped in a horrible marriage. And yeah sure, she wrote some nasty gossip about the Bridgertons but that was only after Eloise dropped her, plus her mother pressured her into it. And of course the Bridgertons would bounce back from a bit of unflattering gossip - meanwhile Cressida was about to have her entire life ruined by being locked away with her horrible aunt forever. And yet we're supposed to believe that Cressida is the bad guy here? Meanwhile Eloise just forgave Penn for the horrible shit she wrote about the Bridgertons and especially Marina, even though Pen wasn't in such a dire situation.

I just don't understand the incessant need to change the source material when adapting it to the screen. Like, why? It RARELY ends up better than the books. The job should be to translate it to the screen as authentically as possible while enhancing as opposed to detracting from the original story. Ugh.

I like the way you tell the story. Make me laugh hard 😂. Agree to almost all you said particularly the Colin part. Too much drama and angst. People fall in love with the kind and emphathetic Colin that we only get to see in the last few minutes of the show. Writer should have focus on them fighting together rather than them resolving the issue individually. Show could have been better and your right, we still gonna watch it despite all our criticisms. Haha.

I was really annoyed that Pen and Colins wedding was just overshadowed and then the queen ruining their happy moment. Like with waited a long time for these characters to get to together they deserve a happy wedding. And totally agree with Mondrich and Benedicts storylines they were just really random and not thought out. I found Elosie really annoying and I feel Cressida should have got together with Lord Debling. I actually really liked Violet and Lord Anderson and I'd would have preferred more focus on them then the Mondrich or Benedict storylines or just focusing on the main characters. Overall I really liked part 1 but i feel part 2 was really messy and disjointed. And I found some of the season quite boring. I think with season 3 they just had to many storylines. Anyways I think with these big shows it's hard to please everyone and different people have different opinions. If a season 4 or spin off comes out I'd still watch it.

I just started s3 all over again, but I just skip the scenes with unimportant characters or plot lines. I gotta say, once you remove all the noise, Polin has a lot more chemistry all of a sudden. I recommend this experiment. I know I'll do it again. What I can't accept is the public revealing of Penelope as gossip girl. It's highly unrealistic that everyone will be ok with it just cause the queen is. They may tolerate her, but they'll hate her and she'll be just as much an outcast as she has been before, maybe worse. More importantly, everyone will avoid her and she won't be able to find out their secrets as easily as she did before. Her career as a scandal journalist is over.

If they genderbend Sophie, i will stop watching it, sorry, but that's not the Benedict from the books, that's not the story i fell in love with, therefore there's no reason for me to watch it anymore, it will break my heart since i've been waiting for the Benedict season since season 1?, it will, Benedict and Sophie's story is my favorite, it's the best among the Bridgertons series in my opinion, i used to reread it yearly when i was a teen, but that's not the Benedict from the books.

I second a lot of the feelings/opinions described in this video. I love Eloise, but honestly, she doesn't have the best track record at being a good friend to anyone... She used to disparage Pen whenever she would bring up romance or try to talk about what was important to her. I mean, how could she have been friends with Pen for most of their lives and NOT noticed that she was in love with Colin? Because Eloise didn't care enough to pay attention, just like she didn't care enough to be a true friend to Cresida in her time of need. I hope she is given the opportunity to become a better friend to those around her in future seasons - it would be a good story point for her character. But my biggest disappoint of the season was the culmination of the Francesca and John storyline. It broke my heart. They were my favourite pairing of the season - I thought they were unbelievably cute together and that they're love was so beautiful. I knew John wasn't going to be the great love of her life, but I was hoping they'd have a happy, loving marriage before he died... and now, it's just this messy, awkward, unfortunate situation. I just feel bad for everyone involved. I'm so devestated.

If you were to watch only Polin's scenes, I do feel it would have the same effect as what you said about rewatching part 1, that it makes it better. I think all the side plots made it feel like he was mad at her for a long time but given the magnitude of the secret & how it had directed affected his family, he practically got over everything in what, 2 weeks? I can write an entire dissertation on this but I truly believe that Colin's behavior & dialogue makes sense if you see that Colin is an insecure person due to him not being sure what his purpose is in life, along with the conflict of who he is vs the man society expects him to be. Also, he's probably being triggered back to the Marina drama where he was about to marry someone who had a huge secret & in both situations, a point is made of Colin viewing this as disrespecting/mocking him. This then ties back to my first point. Additionally, what I liked about Polin is that while they were fighting, they still had moments where things settled a bit because it can really be like that. Yes, their wedding wasn't perfect but during the ceremony, you could see how much he was in awe & they nodded at each other in reassurance because deep down, at the end of the day they love each other. I do agree with a lot of your criticisms of the season overall but I still believe your previous video of defending him still holds up.

Penelope: I’m very careful Apprentice boy: yeah, she’s a redhead Also, couldn’t the queen just order all the publishers to reveal the identity of LW? Isn’t she, like, all powerful or not?

I was suuuuper upset with the Michael to Micheala genderbend. Not because of any bigotry but more because of many of the reasons you stated AS WELL AS if they had kept Francesca’s storyline, the way they had written it so far, it very much represented neurodivergent realities in many ways (whether you interpret it as anxiety or on the autism spectrum etc etc) AND she’s the one sibling who would give women who experience infertility someone on screen to relate to. It would’ve been much more understandable to make Eloise or Benedict’s story a genderbend. I just really really liked Francesca as the one character in the family who was a little quiet, a little awkward, and they wash it all away by saying “oh well it’s because she’s gay” which also is kind of insulting?

I have no issue with bi or gender swapped characters. What I have an issue with is the laziness of it. I know a lot of people say Benedict was queer coded, but to me, it never felt that way. Just because someone is an artist and gets along well with members of the same sex doesn’t mean they are queer. I’m saying that as an artist with lesbian friends who I love dearly but with no interest in my own sex. It felt wrong how they had the “awakening” happen too. The excuse of “well you’re not attracted to every girl you meet, maybe you haven’t met the right guy yet” is the same thing queer people are told when being pushed to be straight. I felt like his constant sex scenes and Francesca’s instant attraction to Michaela just further added to the stereo type that the queer community is just lustful. Reynolds and Brimsley were so well written in Queen Charlotte too. It’s a shame that went from their realistic and sweet love story to whatever this season was.

There were too many things going on at once. Francesca's romance seemed like an afterthought. She deserved an entire series just like her siblings did. That was frustrating to watch. She needed more attention. They could have broken this down that in the first half of the season, it was about her. Midway through, her story is done, Colin returns, and his story begins. That's what I would have done. As for Benedict...that's my boy and I needed more of his story. There was no substance to it, and I wanted more. What I WILL say is that at the end of the final episode when they mentioned the masquerade...I actually gasped out loud! (I know what that means and its importance...) I also think bisexual Ben was believable. I'm kinda glad they went that way with him. I know it's what the fans wanted for him. Eloise rounded out well, I'm fine with her story. I'm also fine with Violet getting her groove back. I LOVED seeing more of Gregory and Hyacinth! There was a moment when Anthony said that the brothers needed to talk, dragged #2 & #3 away, leaving Gregory behind asking, "Am I not one of the brothers?" Meanwhile, seeing Hyacinth so eager to be a part of society in ANY regard was just precious. Colin and Penelope were...chaotic. It was actually stressful to watch. I'm glad it resolved AT LAST...but, it was difficult to enjoy it. All of the acting was great, don't get me wrong, but it was a little too much anxiety. I still love this show, but this season left me a little...I don't know...less excited. I know what the next story is going to be about, given the context clues, but I guess we will see.

There exists a gay character in the books. Given, he only appears in the last book, but they could introduce him earlier and give him an intriguing sideplot, instead of shoehorning queernees onto canonanly straight characters.

Favorite quotes from you. Veggie man, bring back veggie man. I made an entire video about you overcoming toxic masculinity and you made me look like an idiot. Steam, where’s my steam? Iconic. And I love how balanced this review was. I felt you met in the middle of all of the storylines which is hard for many of us to do because we are bitter about the many missed opportunities.

I AGREE. I really liked part one, but felt so empty after finishing part two, I had to rewatch it a second time to feel a little better. The fact they dragged on Colin being mad until the last second was so annoying. Without knowing at least some of the book, his jealousy in my opinion was completely out of the blue. I liked the idea of Pen doing the speech herself instead of Colin, but why didn't he come up to her right after? So many moments that could have been changed slightly but would have made a big impact. I wish there had been more time for their happy end and romance, it wouldn't even have needed much. Focusing on the drama so much feels like they want to be relevant to other target groups/viewers so desperately it caused them to miss the mark with the romance.

I burst out laughing when Collin said that he was going through with marrying pen because he is "a man of Honor" EXCUSE ME WERENT YOU THE ONE HOOKING UP WITH TWO WOMEN EARLIER

I thoroughly enjoyed this ranty video 😆 Cathartic. Watching other's talk about it convinced me to get and listen to the audio book (I don't read well, so listen it is). My gosh, the book is SO MUCH BETTER. Colin is still a doofus, but he is there for Penelope. He learns her secret first, then they get engaged and not just because he couldn't keep it in his pants. HE is the one who stands up next to his wife and proudly outs her to the ton. Their conversations are great. True friendship is demonstrated prior to the love fest. Mrs Danbury befriending Pen was delightful. None of this was in the show. I agree that parts of the season were lovely. Again, mainly surrounding non sexual &/or familial relationships. I hate that they set up such a beautiful relationship with Francesca and then torpedoed it 🙈 Cressida is beyond vile in the books, but the show went to pains to humanise her, so I'd have liked her to get some sort of resolution. Where did they yeet Debling? Give him a send off. Sheesh. I actually found the stuff with Penelopes sisters to be quite cute, it was just packed in with a lot of other things. Too many things (4 new romances, plus 4 already established couples, plus the Danbury sibling drama, plus the usual with the queen). I hope they do better next season, but I won't be holding my breath

Part 2 and the way they had Polin be at odds at each other for half the time really made me dislike Colin. Especially with the wack pacing, Colin's turnaround about Pen being Whistledown did not feel believable to me. His entrapment accusation made me so angry. Is he seriously accusing the woman that HE deliberately chased and interrupted her engagement as manipulating him into marriage? Pen is stronger than me because it would be ON SIGHT. 😤

I do agree with you with many things you said. I preface all of what I write here with I do not know the books. The Mondrige Family fe. I find to be unnecessary as they do not contribute to the story at all and the are a waste of time as their storyline takes up too much space without leading anywhere. The only exception for me would be if their son the Baron is the future love interest for either Gregory or Hyacinth. This idea came to me when at the end of one of the episodes the children were playing with eachother and Gregory discouraged the Baron- boy from playing with Hyacinth and wanted to play with him instead. But then I would love to see the children playing more in the next 2-3 seasons and have a relationship grow out of it organically. Francescas problem I would solve exactly as you suggested. Have her and John have a son who takes over the estate after John dies. Then have Francesca and Michaela live out their lives as a lesbian couple taking care of the baby and the estate together. I do not get what they are doing with Benedict. He was already sleeping with both men and women at art school, so why he seemed to be taken aback when Tilly suggested the Italian guy join them is just baffling to me. His decision to then want to remain free in his sexual adventures was so weird to me as it seemed they set him up to be this hopeless romantic and wanting a relationship Tilly. So I fully agree it was totally directionless and at this point Benedict needn't be in this season at all. Waste of time! At this point I wish they made his love interest an east-asian person, male or female, I do not care. I didn't like Colin at all this season. I think they should have structured the seasons differently over all, because dedicating each season to only one couple doesn't work at all as seen with Polin. So instead I would have Colin give lessons to Pen throughout season 2 then have her beg him for a kiss near the end of season 2. Finally close out season 2 with Colins dream. I think that way season 3 would have been set up much better. I think they should have cut out Colins rake era as it did not contribute anything to the story line and they had to get rid of it very quickly anyway. So it was a waste of time. They should have focused on the really important things for Polins story instead and not waste so much time on things they neither introduced nor explored properly. F.e. Colin being a rake, Colin giving lessons to Pen, the Vegan guy. I mean the Vegan guy could have been put in the first episode of S3 just to make Colin jump into action and have the Carrige scene in ep1 of S3. Jump start Polin with HOT HOT SPICE. And tackle the Lady Whistle Down Problem properly as team in season 3 ending with a happy wedding at the end of S3.

Colin isn’t withholding sex out of punishment but respect.

I think they were going for this thing with Benedict where he's all casual and doesn't feel romantic attachment and that's why Sophie will come in and shock him to his core because he's all of a sudden head over heels for her and never expected it or felt that way for anyone before.

thoroughly agree with your take on Cressida. I was so hopin for a redemption arc. They did her so dirty. BUT! MAYBE SHE GETS REDEEMED IN SEASON 4! I still have hope. I'll wait two years. WHATEVER. my girl cressida deserves a happy ending.

Agree. Mr. Mondrich is so annoying. He's too pouty and negative, always makes the same scorn face. A rich person definitely wrote that storyline. "being rich is not all that because you lose yourself buhu" We were all rooting for Cressida, that mean blonde girl trope is so outdone as well. Just a small thing but I sometimes thought Lady Tilly was Cressida from a far because they look similar.

and the whole "Lady Whiseldown lives on" is so weird.. how would Pen be able to listen to everyone and remain unseen when everybody knows who she is?

“ I didn’t hate it…I just hated parts of it” true words…my exact sentiment. I agree…episodes 7 and 8 were unfortunately unsatisfying…destroyed Colin as a character and it could have been so much better 😕 Sad that’s it done and we’ll now never get it done right.

I loved this breakdown. Came across you randomly and subscribed immediately. Well done!

THANK YOU for pointing out how stupid it was to have the controversy over owning the club. That was so distracting and unnecessary.

SO MANY good points were made about Fran and how this doesn't really work for her and her specifically. So many aspects. On a more selfish note, it's still hard to make peace with that after all the years of waiting, we will be the only shippers who won't get to see our pairing. Out of all stories, they decided that the most mature and serious one didn't deserve to be adapted, it's wild.

I think the main issue is the fact there is soooooo much they could have done with this season and they did the absolute bare minimum

I'm sure this will be an unpopular opinion, but I really dislike Penelope's character development. To me, it seems as though the show never gave her a genuine personality other than being involved with the Bridgeton's and being whistledown. I didn't get 'girl boss' energy from her. It more so came across as " I exposed everyone because it made me feel less like a wallflower." (Reminds me of bullying) She also said how being lady Whistledown was power, yet she used that power countless times to talk negatively about a family she "loves". When she was justifying her actions, I think she just came across as bratty. I also didn't feel the chemistry with Colin and Penelope. He had to put in no work to be with her. I couldn't see why they loved each other, other than one day they just decided to. I think this whole season was an absolute mess. However, I was let down by Penelope. I think they should have done a movie or spin off of "Unmasking Lady Whistledown" and then Colin and Penelope find each other after that.

I honestly think there was just to much in one season, this could have been two seasons where we focus on two couples for the first and then go back in time and cover the same events with 2 different plots (fran and ben one season and pen and the rags to riches story)

I understand Will not wanting to give up his club. I think it is a business he bought. He would probably be bored as a man of leisure. Your suggestion for a solution would be good, though. That's an interesting thought.

Your points are excellent - except I don't agree that LW is as bad a bully as Cressida. To me it seemed like Pen published stuff about El and Marina as a last resort and not out of any sort of spite, cruelty or power grab, like when Cressida twists her knives. I really don't like how they made Pen apologize and grovel for being LW when it is more celebrated in the book. I was really excited to see Polin and started watching Bridgerton for them, but the show should have kept their story for season 4. The actors, especially Luke Newton, did such an excellent job that I'd want better writing and more thought out story handling for them. Also the surface-level/superficial/21st century feminism of this show has me exhausted.

They could have resolved the thing with Lady Whistledown in one episode and when they make up and things are looking up, Cressida swoops in with the blackmail. Because now, it's not Pen fighting both fronts and spreading herself thin, it's Collin and Pen fighting together to figure out a way out of this. And, honestly, couldn't we have one LW voice over, just saying Lord Debling decided to move his travels forward, instead of just dropping off the face of the Earth, never to be seen again? And they did Eloise so dirty, because the way she dropped Pen, then Cressida, just makes her come across as a terrible friend. And I'm all for Cressida calling her out and holding a mirror to her hypocrisy, but she should've learned from it. Instead, she just drops Cressida when she needs her the most...

I get your view on Colin's reaction to LW in part 2, because I felt the same after my first viewing. However, someone recommended that I watch just the Pen and Colin scenes in part 2. Try that and you might change your views. All the crazy side scenes--I am looking at you Benedict--got in the way of seeing Colin's journey. Try this and let us know if your opinion changes, because mine did a complete 180.

I enjoyed the fact that John and Francesca’s love is more subdued. I understand that we probably would get more steamy scenes later, but still. Francesca is right in the show about there being different types of love, and I dislike attraction always being the center of it. Also, I’m all for sapphic/gay love stories. I am queer myself! Still, I agree that Benedict’s story felt…lackluster. I hope they take his bisexuality somewhere, too. And, I truly dislike the fact that John and Francesca’s love story is immediately dismissed at the end. In the books, they were in love. I think staying faithful to that is important! Why can’t she be bisexual too, at least? I can’t speak personally on the fertility issues Francesca faces, but I do think it’s possible to execute still, despite Michaela. Her wanting children with her whole heart, yet falling for another woman, grieving, and feeling like she has to choose would be interesting (and still somewhat respectful to the book, from what I know). Hopefully, they do something like that and try to be respectful of the source material. Also, there were other methods back in that time besides adoption. It’s no IVF, but maybe they could do something there.

I just didn’t really like Francesca’s story much. I think that’s a little forced at that last part where she seems to have an instant attraction to John’s sister . I also thought that they made queen Charlotte seem very, very, very petty and selfish and she’s not that way in the prequel of Queen Charlotte

I feel like we were so teased with everything they built between Cressida and Eloise. I know they had to do the blackmail thing eventually so maybe they wanted to get it out of the way? It can be nice when character growth isn’t linear but i’m worried they’ll just throw her back to square one

I’m cautiously optimistic about the Fran & Michaela storyline. In the books, Michael charms Fran but keeps his distance, and he totally overplays his “rake” reputation to her for amusement but more importantly, to distance himself from Fran as she is already married to John. Michaela can absolutely be attractive and outgoing and a little bit wicked and still be a woman. Perhaps her backstory allows for it a bit- look at Lady Cougar carrying on. I think they can do a good job. But I’m really disappointed in the fandom’s reaction to ANY gender swap. Some have outright said any gender swap in any story is unacceptable. But why? They can keep the essence of the character the same, and in fact could have a lot of fun showing an adventurous and secure lesbian or bi woman who knows she loves her cousin’s wife, but won’t act on it for obvious reasons, until Francesca is ready to discover that herself eventually. I don’t think their first meeting shows Francesca falling in love on the spot or anything, but I think it just struck her how intriguing she is, maybe even a hint of attraction. She is different in the books though- Francesca in the books would tease Michael and call him out for being a slut 😂 and he just played it off as oh, yeah, I’m just a player. John and Fran can still have a happy and calm life for now, and Fran can still devote herself to him. I hope they don’t change that. Or exactly as you say, it cheapens her marriage to John.

Oh my godness. I LOVE THIS VIDEO! It summarize all my thoughts (adding scenes and funny commentary). I can't add anything because it has all I can think about the show. I reckon that sometimes they show side plots to comment the big plot BUT what does it means that Colin and Pen can be aristocratics and work (writers) and Will doesn't? Why? The other thing: why is will at Fran's wedding? He is not part of the family. Seems that the Mondrichs took the role of Dafne and Simon (and now they will be Anthony and Kate substitute? Or will Polin be their substitute? Which actor will decide to remain? I don't get why the previous siblings gey kicked off!!!)

I liked "The Bugs!!"

See, I may be alone in this but I actually like the way they executed Colin's side of things here. We get to see his sweet, romantic nature at the start. We get to see him make up for snubbing pen last season by standing up for her against her mother, trying to go to bat for her with Eloise. The reveal of Lady Whistledown worked for me. Even with the best of intentions (which she did not always have) Pen still did harm with her collum. She keeps on apologizing, but those apologies really don't mean a whole lot when she keeps publishing things that are hurtful. Colin has a right to be mad about what pen wrote about his family. He has a right to be hurt about what she wrote about him, just as she had the right to call him out for how he was acting. And then the whole thing with the queen (whose involvement I didn't enjoy this season but it is what it is) at their wedding breakfast, and now his family is in danger. I get him being angry that pen would choose to keep writing as whistledown, even though at that point its damned if she does and damned if she doesn't.

EVERYTHING YOU SAID IS RIGHT!!! I was almost going to do my own video but thank God you've said everything I feel. Every darn point and and thought and sad feeling had over this season. I've counted at least 11 scenes that can be deleted and filled with more Polin. At this point Ive championed for a Featherington spinoff.

I'm confused by their choice to hint at gender-swapping Francesca's love story. Especially when so many people (myself included) thought Eloise could have the perfect wlw story arc. Either way, I think choosing to introduce Francesca's next love interest early on cheapens her love for her husband. The whole point of her story is that she has two great loves and they are very different but no less important. I thought it was so weird that Cressida got half a redemption arc. Cressida could have gotten the prize money and kept the Whistledown identity a secret for a while longer. Instead, she went back to being a mean girl and seemingly forgot everything Eloise had taught her about friendship. Half the plot lines this season were crazy. I think the only plot lines that stood up for the whole season were the Featherington's.

Respectfully, I feel that Benedict can say no to exclusivity (and therefore yes to continuing to explore his attraction to men after years of not exploring that) but still be sad that all his adult siblings are leaving home at about the same time. Also just because he chose not to stay with Lady Arnold bc it wasn’t right for him right now, doesn’t mean that he doesn’t still care for her and miss her. He could also be grieving the lost connection that was growing with suaveguy and the thrupple dynamic they were creating together.

And another thing - Colin isn't worthy of Pen (tv Colin I mean) she should have ended up with Debling. Bottom line: seasons 1 and 2 were great. Trying to pretend this one never happened and just keep rewatching the first 2, and Queen Charlotte. Can't believe we waited 2 years for this rubbish.