Bridgerton Season 3 Review: Colin Bridgerton's Charm & Lady Whistledown's Writing Couldn't Save The Worst Of All Seasons

'Bridgerton Season 3' is only glitter and no gold, reiterating in 2024 Austen's famous quote in a different tone, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession...'

New Delhi: ‘Bridgerton Season 3’ is out. This time revolving around the love story of Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, this ‘Bridgerton’ season , if one were to use Lady Whistledown's vocabulary, 'has a rather tardy start'. The first couple of episodes are more about detailing and framing than actually deep-diving into the story upfront. 'Bridgerton Season 3' begins to get better in episodes 3 & 4 but oh! by then the first half of the season is already over and fans have to wait until June for the rest of the Colin-Penelope (Luke Newton &  Nicola Coughlan) love story to run its course.

'Bridgerton Season 3' Review

It seems that this Shondaland production wanted to get back to the basics in 'Season 3'. Basics like courtship, poetic conversations, passions and thrills, Whistledown, fashion and culture,  romanticised notion of love and even replicating the Season 1 formula of helping find a suitable match for the lady in lead ( here, Colin helping Penelope like Simon helped Daphne in Bridgerton Season 1).

However, like the members of the ton, audiences have already seen enough controversy, similar templates of employing charm and proposals, passion, romanticism and like Penelope says, 'citrus colours in clothing'.

But, the makers of 'Bridgerton', it seems, intended to feed exactly what we have already seen and dusted.

It now seems that 'Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story' was a much layered text than this half-baked, over-utilised template of 'Bridgerton' in Season 3.

Alteast, that had some history, nuance and conversations about race and mental illness in the British monarchy.

In 'Bridgerton Season 3', there is barely any talk about class, obsession to get debutantes married, practical marriages vs love marriages, pressure to marry well and more.
 
All of this is also flung around while the entire focus rests on making a valid excuse to get Penelope and Colin together.

There are sub plots involving another Bridgerton's debut, Francesca, the music-loving daughter of the Viscountess Bridgerton, Cressida's friendship with Eloise, Will Mondrich's newfound fortune, and an underutilised Miss. Malhotra (Banita Sandhu), 'Bridgerton Season 3' uses all of these only as means to the main purpose.

And, yes intelligent viewers do get the inclusivist approach of Season 3 to address fat shaming, however that does not enter any conversation altogether.

While audiences will return to 'Bridgerton Season 3' from the expectation and anitipation set from the previous seasons, the first being fresh and the second being socio-politically layered and drawn from a chapter in the British monarchy, 'Bridgerton Season 3' will only serve as a disppointment.

'Bridgerton Season 3' is only glitter and no gold, reiterating in 2024 Austen's famous quote in a different tone, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."