Bridgerton season three

It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for… a return to the Ton! Those well-known strings pluck us backwards in time as we are welcomed back into the lives of the Bridgertons. Daphne is with her Duke, Anthony and Kate are in wedded bliss, and this season is Colin’s for the taking.

Colin is back from gallivanting in Europe, a changed man. Confident, flirty and well-groomed, all eyes are on him as he returns. His eyes this season, however, are trained on one Miss Penelope Featherington. Penelope is in her third season in society and is desperate to appease her mother and secure herself a husband. So desperate, in fact, that she enlists the help of her old friend, Colin. Imagine the whispers.

With all its love and despair, this show hinges on the chemistry between the two leads. Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan are mesmerising. They convey restraint and desire in the smallest of touches, putting us on the edge of our seats with only a look; each scene with the both of them cracks with the unsaid and fizzes with the what-ifs. Not only together, but individually the two are compelling. Colin goes on his own reflective and genuinely quite moving journey, but it’s Penelope who really tugs on the heartstrings.

The emotional harm of the marriage mart, of “seasons” and of the demand to uphold society, is not something that Bridgerton has been scared to tackle. Focusing on a new character each season sheds a new light, and Penelope is wilting. Coughlan plays her devastatingly as she ignores her heart for the sake of others, and her performance, bolstered by a tantalising script, stresses the inner conflicts of heart versus head. This poignant point is strengthened by engaging subplots, particularly that of Cressida Cowper and her family, as well as Penelope’s friendship with Eloise.

At its centre, the show is about letting the heart want what it wants, despite the consequences. Season three is a hopeful triumph. It’s as immersive as ever, with innovative costume design, elements of authentic comedy blended with emotion and two leads who should never do a project separately again.

Bridgerton has its formula. It’s one of heart-racing confessions and decadent balls, of Taylor Swift on violin and the pressures to conform. The third instalment, with Newton and Coughlan at its forefront, is proof that it’s not tired yet. 

Talitha Stowell

Bridgerton season three is released on Netflix on 16^th May 2024, 

Watch the trailer for Bridgerton season three here: