Bridgerton thread (with spoilers)

[canbelto]

So ... what did everyone think of S3? I personally think there was a huge drop in quality between S1/2/QC and S3.

Things I really did not like in S3 (copied over from the general tv thread):

1. Colin, all season. Writing for Colin was just all over the place. First he's a rake, then he's the sweet Colin we all loved, but mostly, we didn't see him except when he was drinking and boning. Honestly, if it weren't for the relentless fanservicing during the promos, I forgot this was Colin's season. Luke and Nicola's chemistry was also lacking (for me). During the mirror scene all I was thinking was really "wow, Nicola does have nice boobs". It wasn't hot.
2. Benedict is Bi. Ok that's ... fine, if a little fanfic-like. But there was no development other than he saw Tilly kissing a hot guy, and he caught feelings. Honestly, all the scenes with Luke T felt exploitative. Like the writers couldn't come up with anything for Ben other than "he's hot, he's bi, look at his biceps."
3. The makeup and costumes. Omg. From Regency-fabulous in the first two seasons to the women being dressed in sparkly polyester prom gowns with clown makeup (the rouge in the wedding scene looked like two red blobs on the womens' faces) all season. It was ridiculous, and took me out completely.
4. The inconsistency regarding a woman's honor. So the first two seasons being alone with a man was A Big Deal, to the point where Simon was challenged to a duel and Kate felt like she had to run away to India, but in S3 Colin and Pen are just boning in an empty house and fingering in carriages without being married? That's not really swept away by passion, that's just disregarding the world-building.
5. The gender-bent Michael/Micaela. I think they absolutely need LGBT representation on the show, but the way they did it was so clunky. After a whole season of fans basking in the quiet romance of Francesca/John, all of a sudden it doesn't matter?
6. Kanthony. I am not one of those THEY DID KANTHONY DIRTY **** POLIN people, but I can't believe they swept them off for a second honeymoon, had them come back for a hot second bc Kate was pregnant, and then wrote them off AGAIN to a trip to India while Kate was pregnant? Does anyone realize how difficult trips to India would have been for a pregnant woman in those days? Anthony missed Francesca's wedding and the fallout from LW? Wtf? It really does seem like Jonny was only on set for maybe a week tops and they shot all the Kanthony scenes separately and greenscreened the rest.
7. Eloise. To build her up so much the first half of the season with that Cressida friendship, only to have her recede in the second half of the season. Bleh.
8. The fanservicing promos. Honestly, they felt icky after awhile. Now fans are melting down because Luke was seen with his gf. But Netflix seems to have gone out of its way to try to make it seem like Luke and Nic are dating. With the QC cast the promo wasn't nearly as exploitative, and fans still went crazy when they found out Corey had a gf. This is going to be rough.

 

[skategal]

Same.

Season 3 was a huge letdown after previous seasons and especially QC.

I wanted to smack Eloise in the face and she’s usually one of my favourites.

 

[canbelto]

I also really hated the continuity errors. A lot of the series was reshot and Colin's wig was completely different in the reshoot. He went from that curly mop in the initial shoot to the slicked back hair in the reshoot. Sometimes it would be "the same day" on the show, but a different wig.

Overall, there was just a cheap look to the entire show.

 

[vgerdes]

My biggest problem with S3 was that they seemed to try to shoehorn in too many plotlines. Maybe if they had left it at Penelope/Colin, with the quieter side romance of Francesca/John, and ditched the 16 other side plots, it wouldn't have felt quite so rushed.

For instance, I'm completely on board with Violet getting a love interest. But did it have to be this season? Also, agree with others that the threesome scenes were a bit much. I know they've hinted at Ben being bi in the past, but this just seemed so... abrupt.

Of course, with two years between seasons now apparently being the norm, it kind of makes sense that they'd feel they need to move as many characters forward as possible. But it's irritating.

 

[MsZem]

I read the Bridgerton books ~20 years ago, but haven't watched much of the show. From what I gather, they have been straying farther and farther away from the plotlines to the point of retaining character names and not much more than that. Now, the books aren't Serious Literature and some changes are needed in a TV adaptation. But at some point it's just too much - especially since there's plenty of good romance novels that are more inclusive and political than the source material, and would make for fabulous viewing.

 

[emason]

I give a split verdict to Season 3: first 4 episodes good, second 4 episodes bad. There are several problems at the moment: this was all shot 2 years ago and sending Kate and Anthony to India was a way for the showrunner to allow those actors to take advantage of the many offers they were getting for other work. Showrunner can and will bring them back when and if their very busy schedules permit.

Showrunner, in my opinion, did not read the room. She is hellbent on a queer storyline, which is fine, but picked the wrong character in Francesca. I haven’t read the books, but I do keep reading about how many readers relate to Francesca’s infertility story and Michael’s story of inadequacy and feeling he inherited a title that he didn’t deserve. All that goes out the window with the switching of Michael to Michaela. Give us more Brimsley and Reynolds from Queen Charlotte; all the fans, including me, seemed to have loved that storyline and wanted more.

I could care less if Benedict is straight, bi, or whatever, but I do not have any desire to be bored to death by that snooze of an irrelevant threesome. I turned the sound down and fast-forwarded through that.

 

[MacMadame]

In some ways, I find it to be a choice to have Francesca's and John's love story be a focus of any season because it happens between books in the books IIRC and the real Francesca love story happens after John dies.

As for Violet, I think it's important to her character that she doesn't think about her own love life until all her children are married (or close to it?). To me, it's out of character to be doing this now with only 3 kids married off.

I read the Bridgerton books a long time ago too. 15-20 years. I really enjoyed them and went on to read as many Julia Quinn as I could find in the library and Half-Priced Books. Now I look back and wonder what I saw in them as there are many problematic issues with the books. Maybe it's just because, if you read romance, you know there are going to be problematic elements so you just learn to ignore them.

I think it's interesting what is going on with the tv show because my recollection is that as the series progresses, the romances become less satisfying and way less believable. Maybe they are going to rush through those and do 8 books in something like 5 seasons and then concentrate on spinoffs which won't be tied to books at all.

Also, I still want Sophie to be Asian.

 

[MsZem]

In some ways, I find it to be a choice to have Francesca's and John's love story be a focus of any season because it happens between books in the books IIRC and the real Francesca love story happens after John dies.

No, John is not the focus of Francesca's romance novel but it is very much a real love story and she grieves for him. A lot of the tension in When He Was Wicked comes from Francesca and Michael figuring out how to be together and also honor what they felt and feel for John.

I liked that Violet never had another on-page romance in the books and was fulfilled by the life she built for herself and her family after she was widowed.

 

[canbelto]

I found the way they wrote an LGBT storyline into Queen Charlotte to be masterful, which is why this LGBT storyline seems so clunky.

 

[MacMadame]

No, John is not the focus of Francesca's romance novel but it is very much a real love story and she grieves for him.

That doesn't mean it has to happen on screen especially not in Season 3 which was packed.

Also, I agree with those who say changing Michael to Michaela and having Francesca be immediately attracted to her really diminishes the Francesca-John romance.

 

[Hedwig]

I am plebeian - I liked it
Have not read the books so I am less bound by expectations - I only hope that Eloise - my fave character - does not get the book storyline I read about. It sound so boring and so not her. I would have love a Theo Sharpe love story for her or even better her going to university or something like that. But that will likely not happen.

 

[MacMadame]

I am plebeian - I liked it
Have not read the books so I am less bound by expectations - I only hope that Eloise - my fave character - does not get the book storyline I read about. It sound so boring and so not her. I would have love a Theo Sharpe love story for her or even better her going to university or something like that. But that will likely not happen.

I hated her love story. It seemed unlike her and she was my favorite at that point too. (I'm less fond of the tv version.) But Gregory's love story is the literal worst.

 

[airgelaal]

My biggest problem with S3 was that they seemed to try to shoehorn in too many plotlines. Maybe if they had left it at Penelope/Colin, with the quieter side romance of Francesca/John, and ditched the 16 other side plots, it wouldn't have felt quite so rushed.

Yeees. Am I the only one who was annoyed by the Mondrich' story? It is completely unclear to me what this plotline is doing in this series. Besides the fact that it increases the length of the episodes, of course.
I'm also not really sure what they're going to do with Francesca and Eloise's seasons. If I remember correctly, the main action in them takes place separately and far from all the main characters. This was the main feature of these stories. I guess that all of them will be returned to the capital here.

 

[canbelto]

My favorite side characters this season were the Featheringtons, especially Philippa and Prudence.

"Insert himself? Insert himself where?" and "But it flattens my hair" are my two new catchphrases.

 

[airgelaal]

My favorite side characters this season were the Featheringtons, especially Philippa and Prudence.

"Insert himself? Insert himself where?" and "But it flattens my hair" are my two new catchphrases.

This storyline was very successful, but it is directly related to the main character of the season - Penelope.

 

[marbri]

That doesn't mean it has to happen on screen especially not in Season 3 which was packed.

Also, I agree with those who say changing Michael to Michaela and having Francesca be immediately attracted to her really diminishes the Francesca-John romance.

I have never read the books but I found myself wondering how accurate this season was in comparison because I found myself sitting there at the end wondering WTF was up with them wasting our time with this Franscesa/John story, the big speech she gives her mother about how right he is for her, that it doesn't have to be like when she met her husband bla bla bla... and I thought okay, this is nice, not everyone has to be ripping off their clothes on the back staircase or egaging in pre-marital foreplay in a horse driven wagon. Only to have it all end with her meeting his female cousin and "sparks" fly. What a waste of time. Because it comes off to someone who hasn't read the books that in the end Francesca wasn't into John after all because she was in the closet and just realised it when she met the cousin.

I think this show will be dropping off my watchlist because everything about this season felt like some high school assignment that someone left to the last moment, pulled an all nighter and finished an hour before it was due. Just shockingly bad. And I say that realising it's basically just a Harlequin romance in video form but I feel like the people behind the show just really disrespected their audience and phoned this crap in.

 

[peibeck]

I think it's interesting what is going on with the tv show because my recollection is that as the series progresses, the romances become less satisfying and way less believable. Maybe they are going to rush through those and do 8 books in something like 5 seasons and then concentrate on spinoffs which won't be tied to books at all.

Unless something has changed Netflix has only opted for 4 seasons as of now. Considering the actors are supposed to be (I assume) late teens/early twenties and are being played by actors in the mid/late 30s already I can't see how they'd drag this out another decade on tv (unless they literally recast everyone).

Never read, or desire to read, the books. I wholeheartedly admit I generally just watch for the costumes, wigs, sets and music. Penelope and Eloise are the two only interesting characters to me, and now that "the ton" knows who Whistledown is and Penelope is married, I think they have likely killed off a lot of the most interesting storyline for me.

I'm honestly surprised no ice dance or pairs haven't done a "Bridgerton" program though. I guess the music isn't emo enough.

 

[skategal]

My favorite side characters this season were the Featheringtons, especially Philippa and Prudence.

"Insert himself? Insert himself where?" and "But it flattens my hair" are my two new catchphrases.

The Featheringtons have always been
my favourite too.

I hear only Portia and Penelope will be back next season.

I hope they plus Eloise can at least get into some good shenanigans to keep
the story interesting and fun.

 

[sk9tingfan]

Unless something has changed Netflix has only opted for 4 seasons as of now. Considering the actors are supposed to be (I assume) late teens/early twenties and are being played by actors in the mid/late 30s already I can't see how they'd drag this out another decade on tv (unless they literally recast everyone).

Never read, or desire to read, the books. I wholeheartedly admit I generally just watch for the costumes, wigs, sets and music. Penelope and Eloise are the two only interesting characters to me, and now that "the ton" knows who Whistledown is and Penelope is married, I think they have likely killed off a lot of the most interesting storyline for me.

I'm honestly surprised no ice dance or pairs haven't done a "Bridgerton" program though. I guess the music isn't emo enough.

I've only heard excerpts from Daphne and Simon's last waltz used in ice dance

 

[canbelto]

I also found the chemistry between Nicola Couglan and Luke Newton to be lacking. This show is usually very good at pairing actors with great chemistry, but I didn't feel it with Polin.

 

[skategal]

Unless something has changed Netflix has only opted for 4 seasons as of now. Considering the actors are supposed to be (I assume) late teens/early twenties and are being played by actors in the mid/late 30s already I can't see how they'd drag this out another decade on tv (unless they literally recast everyone).

Never read, or desire to read, the books. I wholeheartedly admit I generally just watch for the costumes, wigs, sets and music. Penelope and Eloise are the two only interesting characters to me, and now that "the ton" knows who Whistledown is and Penelope is married, I think they have likely killed off a lot of the most interesting storyline for me.

I'm honestly surprised no ice dance or pairs haven't done a "Bridgerton" program though. I guess the music isn't emo enough.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

I think this music might be from Bridgerton or Queen Charlotte somewhere. lol.

It’s done by the same artists that did the Bridgerton soundtracks.

It’s in the Bridgerton style…


M/K SP Montreal Worlds

 

[MacMadame]

Never read, or desire to read, the books. I wholeheartedly admit I generally just watch for the costumes, wigs, sets and music. Penelope and Eloise are the two only interesting characters to me, and now that "the ton" knows who Whistledown is and Penelope is married, I think they have likely killed off a lot of the most interesting storyline for me.

That reminds me of another difference from the books. Here is a plot summary:

The end of Lady Whistledown in Romancing Mister Bridgerton is so fulfilling that it is natural for Penelope to put her column days behind her. In the books, it is never just about gossip; it is Penelope's way of sharing her voice while critiquing the ton. When she finally gives up Lady Whistledown, she does it for herself—Penelope is now confident enough to live boldly without hiding behind a pen name. So, she becomes a fiction writer and begins to craft novels.

I think that makes way more sense than that Pen continues as LW. How the heck is she going to continue that column when everyone knows who she is??

 

[peibeck]

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

I think this music might be from Bridgerton or Queen Charlotte somewhere. lol.

It definitely has the musical vibe, but certainly none of the interpretation (through movement or costume) to let you know it's "Bridgerton."

 

[Hedwig]

I wonder about the number of seasons as well because of the age of the actors. But then Bridgerton is widely succesful - I cannot imagine that Netflix would not milk it to the bitter end.

But then they also stopped producing Anne with an E which was hands down their best series ever and I will be bitter about that until my dying breath

I think I was mostly annoyed during the first season because Daphne's "Don't you love me enough to do xyz" was so annoying. I'd rather she used different arguments for instance- don't let your father define what you do with your life or something than always running off in a huff and argue with love.

here the next seasons are a bit more feminist IMO.

 

[MsZem]

And I say that realising it's basically just a Harlequin romance in video form but I feel like the people behind the show just really disrespected their audience and phoned this crap in.

Some Harlequin romances are very good but it doesn't seem like the show runner and the rest of creative team have much respect for the book readers in the audience, either. They certainly botched Francesca's story about as badly as they could have.

 

[skategal]

The show runner for season 3 and onwards is different than seasons 1 & 2 and Queen Charlotte.

Fans are not liking the changes this show runner is bringing.

They seem to be making plot changes that have nothing to do with the characters.

For example, do we really think Anthony would come up with the idea to drag a pregnant Kate to India?

I get the actors are busy but if they just had one small shot of them at Colin and Pen’s wedding they could have dropped that idea altogether.

I think Queen Charlotte is my favourite story of them all.

 

[airgelaal]

That reminds me of another difference from the books. Here is a plot summary:

I think that makes way more sense than that Pen continues as LW. How the heck is she going to continue that column when everyone knows who she is??

In the book she was LW for 10 years!!! And only then did her affair with Colin begin.
I understand why they changed not only the episode order but also the time frame, but there was a special meaning to the original order too.

 

[jadingirl]

I would love it for Eloise to get to travel perhaps with one of the unmarried brothers (since god help us she can't be unaccompanied) or even better with Colin and Penelope and have her find adventure and romance far away from the ton. That would be an awesome story line. I can see it one of those he's a prince but wants to be normal so he's traveling the continent. At some point they run into each other and can't stand each other and then it all turns like a Pride and Prejudice story.

 

[canbelto]

I think they;re going to have to double up seasons. It takes 8 months to film, and there's a two year gap between seasons. Although Claudia Jessie and Luke Thompson are gorgeous, they clearly are ... well, looking their age (mid-30s).