Gossip Girls, Carriages, and Why Self Discovery is the Real Lead In “Bridgerton” Season 3
So, here’s the breakdown dear reader…the Ton is abuzz with the arrival of a new season.
Well, this writer is happy to be back about town. Part one of the third season of “Bridgerton” hit Netflix yesterday after a lengthy delayed release following the SAG-AFTRA/WGA Strike, and the ton (the internet) cannot stop whispering about it. This season was the moment for fans of the friends-to-lovers trope in romance, but it also goes much deeper than that.
Fans of the show know all too well that the show follows a formula of pairing two romantic leads per season, with each composed of one half Bridgerton family sibling. This season followed world traveler (and apparently lost soul, we’ll get into that) Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and girl-across-the-street Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), who unbeknownst to him is anonymous gossip columnist Lady Whistledown.
Quick backtrack for those of you who are new here: season one featured eldest daughter Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and her rocky road to romance with Simon the Duke of Hastings (Regé Jean Page), and season two followed first-born Bridgerton Viscount Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and his enemy-to-lover Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). Additionally, last year, a prequel series about the based-on-a-true-story love of Queen Charlotte (India Amarteifio) and King George III of England (Corey Mylchreest) delved deeper into the origins of the show’s beloved drama queen (who’s grown-up version is played by Golda Roshuevel).
Anywho, back to season three–since Colin has taken it upon himself to travel the world and the seven seas, he remains aloof to the fact that Penelope is absolutely, positively, in love with him (though she has become wise enough to not wait around for him). Throughout the show, Penelope has been close friends with Colin and his younger sister Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), and the pair of girls masqueraded their way through the campy historical fiction of the London social scene by way of being bookish wallflowers with sharp wit.
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