The review of the highly anticipated third season of Bridgerton! The first four episodes are available on Netflix from May 16, 2024.
“Dear gentle readers, we have been apart far too long. London's high society has finally returned", thus begins the first episode of the first part of the third season of Bridgerton, a series created by Chris Van Dusen and produced by Shonda Rhimes, based on the novels by Julia Quinn. We return to tell the story of loves and betrayals, joys and sorrows, riches and poverty of the upper class that the viewer has learned to know for years.
After Daphne Bridgerton and the Duke, Anthony Bridgerton and Kate, it is time to narrate another type of relationship, that between Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). They have always been friends, or rather she has always felt an unconditional love for him, an unshakable esteem but everything changed in the finale of the second season, when Penelope heard Colin's poisonous words said to his friends: there could never have been anything among them. The first four episodes, on Netflix from 16 May 2024 - while the second part from the 5th to the 8th episode will be added on 13 June 2024 -, focus precisely on the aftermath.
Bridgerton 3: Penelope and Colin friends and/or, perhaps, something more
“I would never dream of courting Penelope Featherington”, these are the words that Penelope hears said by the boy she likes in the second season and this is why she tries to forget Colin and what she feels for him also helped by the journey that brings friend far from her but, as can be expected, his return is inevitable; this is where the problems arise.
This third season is built around the characters who have usually acted as "wallpapers" or those who have and still represent the hidden edge of the court world. Penelope, for example, the protagonist of this season, holder of a huge secret discovered by Eloise (Claudia Jessie) in the last season - she is Lady Whistledown -, is a slightly naive, strange girl and that is why she is never she has not been chosen by any man, it is now the third year that she has participated in the Queen's balls but she has still never been invited by anyone and no one has ever courted her. She looked at the world from the window as if in one of those slightly melancholy paintings, she never took her own place, she was silent and perhaps for this reason very fond of gossip as if living the lives of others filled the voids in her life.
Then there is Colin, another protagonist of Bridgerton 3, the viewer has not had the time or opportunity to get to know him in past seasons, but we have learned to appreciate him anyway: he is good, kind, he seems free from all those clichés and rigid rules with/ that other young people are full of, yet when his friends asked him about his relationship with Penelope, he gave an answer that showed shame and embarrassment. All the others revolve around them, friends and enemies, intrigues and mysteries, tensions and serenity, and the first four episodes focus on this.
We must change to grow
Bridgerton 3 narrates a particular moment in the history of individuals when it is decided that we need to change to overcome wounds and traumas, to, simply, move forward. Changing, becoming someone else, changing clothes, is what many of the young boys and girls in Bridgerton do, it is done by Penelope who decides not to think about Colin, to concentrate on finding a husband - who will give her the space to continue writing – and don't act as a wallflower, Colin does, returning from his summer trip with a new look and a sense of swagger that makes him, in many ways, much more like everyone else. Eloise has thrown away her feminist books and her thoughts of freedom and independence and in this way, she has created new friendships that keep her away from Penelope.
Shedding your skin also means being perceived differently by the rest of the world and above all by those who love you, this happens both to Penelope and Colin and to Penelope and Eloise. Nothing will be the same as before for any of them. The very close friendship between Penelope and Eloise, held together not only by both being different from most of their peers but also by a common feeling, is what almost defined them as people - in past seasons the two have rejoiced, yes they talked, they gossiped, they gave each other what the other lacked to survive the seasons during which the Queen was looking for her diamond - but when you are so close, a lie, an unspoken secret, an unexpected gesture can sever even the strongest bonds.
The situation of Penelope and Colin is different. They were friends despite the girl's feelings, they were each other's sidekicks, but it doesn't take much to make everything collapse and make the two just a man and a woman. Often in this type of relationship, we walk the thin line between friendship and attraction. How brave do you have to be to understand it, accept it, and talk about it? The first four episodes investigate the changes in the heart of the two, an alternative relationship compared to those of previous seasons but which uses the same stylistic features and grammar.
The right protagonists with whom one cannot help but empathize
The third season plays with human dynamics, with relationships between characters, with love and sexual tension and perhaps chooses the best characters to do so because one cannot help but empathize with Penelope who is so full of facets, and defects but also of merits, with Colin so convinced of his ideas that he doesn't realize that sometimes you just need to look at reality better to see things with greater clarity. Penelope is the candid and pure girl who, despite having almost given up on love, is also ready to throw herself headlong into things, yet she is also the sagacious and cynical Lady Whistledown, as we discovered last season, who delights her readers with spicy tales and incredible gossip. She's Bridgerton, she's her narrator, she's the one who sets the tone for the series. Penelope is not afraid to fight for both of her natures, for each of her voices, with a subtle and tenacious strength. She regrets what she writes, she often makes mistakes but she doesn't retreat, for her writing is the only thing that helps her exist in that world that rejects her, or at least until now has rejected her. Lady Whistledown is Penelope's hidden nature, it's what she can't bring out in reality, it's easier to have an alter ego but she probably won't be able to continue acting for much longer.
In the same way, Colin has built a new arrogant self, he boasts of his adventures and writes about them to remember them, but the viewer knows it well, the boy is sweet and thoughtful, he doesn't hold back, and he is ready to throw himself into the fray when things go wrong. Together Penelope and Colin are fine and perhaps they are the most authentic versions of themselves. They have fun, they look at each other - from near and far -, they think and worry. While the whole world runs towards the usual rules and clichés, they undermine and break them. They will have to decide, move, and speak, to be happy or stay still and watch life go on from the window.
Bridgerton 3: conclusion and evaluation
Bridgerton 3 tells about love, friendship, and the transition you go through in life to grow up and be happy, it is a typical story of the series full of suspense, romance, and misunderstandings, and it is, as Bridgerton wants, extremely sexy.
If you need a story that conquers and brings you to the court of a ruthless, cynical but heart of gold Queen, this is the right series. These four episodes shake, they open the doors of the hearts of two who have been in silence and "on the sides" of the room, hidden from others, in the second part the truths will probably come to light and the relationship between Penelope and Colin will have to be based on foundations still more solid – read in the sense of sincere. We eagerly await June 13th.