Bridgerton Season 3 Review: ‘Polin’ Deliver Banter, Spice and Everything Nice

Directors: Tom Verica, Tricia Brock

Writers: Jess Brownell, Julia Quinn, Sarah L. Thompson, Eli Wilson Pelton, Lauren Gamble

Cast: Nicola Coughlan, Luke Newton, Claude Jesse, Jessica Madsen, Hannah Dodd, Jonathan Bailey, Simone Ashley

Episodes: 4 (part 1 of two)

Available on: Netflix

Gentle reader, forget Cinderella and her glass slipper because Penelope Featherington is here. In the very first episode of the third season of Bridgerton, Penelope takes charge of her own wardrobe and opts for cleavage-kissing necklines and glittery heels. As for magic, fairy godmothers would do well to take notes because turning a pumpkin into a carriage feels very passé once you see what ‘Polin’ get up to when they’re given a carriage in episode four. (This isn’t a spoiler as much as a public service announcement for fans of Julia Quinn’s Romancing Mister Bridgerton. Their mental health has been on razor’s edge ever since actor Nicola Coughlan dropped hints about how she and co-star Luke Newton threw themselves into filming this scene from the book).

Earlier this week, while wondering if mainstream Indian cinema is running low on young heroes, we doffed our hat at Bridgerton for being one of those rare properties that has created new stars rather than relying on famous names to grab eyeballs. Although Regé Jean-Page appears to have become Bridgerton’s He Who Shall Not Be Named — the official recap doesn’t mention the first season and focuses instead only on incidents from season two — Page was the first to get the Bridgerton glow-up and spotlight. Then came Jonathan Bailey, who redefined swoonworthiness as Anthony Bridgerton and distinguished himself as an actor who can make clunky dialogues sound romantic and a hero who delights in giving pleasure to his lover (so far, his appearances in season three are entirely fan service, like when Anthony looks up from between his wife’s legs and whispers, “What’s happening out there cannot be as important as what’s happening down here”). Newton, who plays Colin, is next in line and the actor has done off-screen what Penelope does in the story — emerged with a new look that’s made jaws drop.

However, if part one of season three is any indication, there is only one hero of Bridgerton, and her name is Penelope. For those who have seen Coughlan in Derry Girls, the actor’s gift for drama and comedy will come as no surprise. However, Bridgerton requires Coughlan to do something she hasn’t had the opportunity to do so far in her career: Enter the spotlight as a romantic heroine. Coughlan’s Penelope is also new territory for Bridgerton as a show. Although its colour-blind casting was in defiance of convention, Bridgerton has been respectful of the unspoken rule of romantic comedies on screen — the leads must be tall, slim and subscribe to prevailing concepts of beauty. With Coughlan, for the first time we get a heroine who is proudly chubby.

Ahead of the Curve

Bridgerton doesn’t saddle Penelope with body image issues and instead uses her glow-up to hint that clothes do not change how society views you if you’re already on its wrong side. The revamped wardrobe and new hairstyles do wonders for Penelope’s appearance and Coughlan plays this change to show Penelope as a woman who believes in herself, rather than as a Cinderella character. In Quinn’s book, Penelope needs Colin to see her as beautiful before she can feel confident about herself, but it is not so in the series. Coughlan’s Penelope knows she’s a stunner. It can’t be a coincidence that the show has multiple shots of Penelope looking at herself in the mirror and smiling, literally reflecting upon how lovely she looks. Coughlan sparkles as Penelope, layering the character with tenderness, defiance and lots of gentle wit. You see how gifted she is as an actor in the scene where Penelope asks Colin if he will kiss her. It could have been a moment that felt abject because on paper, Penelope is feeling pathetic. Yet Coughlan weaves rage into Penelope’s hurt and frustration so that she pleads as much as she roars, demanding her due from the universe — Penelope will know how it feels to be desired by the man she loves, even if she has to beg for it.

While Penelope keeps her clothes on in the first four episodes and Polin do contribute to Bridgerton season three’s spice rating, the weight of serving wickedly-graphic sex scenes falls on the rest of the cast. Most of it is gratuitous, which isn’t something we’re complaining about when it comes to Kanthony (Bailey and Simone Ashley). However, Colin’s threesomes feel like awkward insertions that were made only so that all the actors on screen could be filmed topless. It’s vaguely reminiscent of how Game of Thrones would often keep naked women in the background (often with the frame cutting their heads off) even though their bare breasts contributed exactly nothing to either plot or ambience. Unfortunately for Newton, his awkwardness is not limited to the throwaway sex scenes that he has in the show. Colin fumbles his way through Bridgerton, with his hair blow-dried to resemble swirls of frozen yoghurt and with very little else to justify the heart-eyed adoration that London’s elite bestow upon him. Some of his best scenes are with Penelope, but next to Coughlan’s star turn, Newton’s Colin feels mostly insipid. It’s obvious that Colin’s newfound swagger is entirely artificial, but there’s too little sense of who Colin is under this facade. We can only hope this is by design and Colin will blossom in part two — as much for Newton’s sake as Penelope’s because she deserves better than what Bridgerton has given her so far. If not anything else, Coughlan and Newton have hinted at something scandalously spicy involving Colin, Penelope and a mirror. Here’s looking at you, kids. 

Packing and Padding

Had Bridgerton just focused on Polin’s romance and their individual stories of being writers in secret, there probably would be just enough plot to fill four episodes, but there would have been fewer grounds to grumble. With seven more storylines jostling for space alongside the central romance, there is arguably too much going on in the first four episodes of season three. We’re introduced to Francesca (a stunningly beautiful Hannah Dodd), who is the only docile Bridgerton we’ve seen so far, and Lord Kilmartin (Victor Ali), who is very literally the strong, silent type. Then there’s the story of Eloise Bridgerton’s (Claudia Jesse) friendship with Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen), which is the net result of Eloise turning her back on Penelope after she discovered Penelope is Lady Whistledown. Former boxer and the proud owner of a genteel gentleman’s club, Will Mondrich (Martins Imhangbe) finds his life changed when his son inherits an aristocratic title and a vast estate. Portia Featherington (Polly Walker) desperately nudges her married daughters to become pregnant so that they don’t lose their family home. Violet, widow and mother of the Bridgerton brood, locks eyes with a dashing stranger who turns out to be Lady Danbury’s brother. Meanwhile, Benedict locks limbs with a sassy widow. Plus, there’s the tangent of Queen Charlotte and her wigs, as well as the friendship she shares with Lady Danbury.

It’s a lot and too much of it feels like padding. Few of these supporting characters make an impact, but if there is one subject Bridgerton does as well as it does its sex scenes, it’s friendship between women (or spinsters as the Ton calls them). Whether it’s in comedic moments, like when Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury stare dubiously at a golden pineapple, or through home truths of the sort Cressida and Eloise give each other, Bridgerton excels at showing women’s friendships. Eloise and Cressida’s relationship is one of the show’s highlights, with Madsen doing a wonderful job at playing the bully but with sensitivity. Also achingly tender is the emotional thread that connects Penelope and Eloise even after their break-up at the end of the second season.

In times as dark as the ones we’re living through this year, the weight of responsibility upon shows like Bridgerton is mighty and it’s a relief to find Shondaland up to the task of delivering a story that can distract us from the real world while conforming to the new norm of breaking a season up into two parts. The first part of season three ends on a cliffhanger and the point at which the story breaks offers a masterclass in story structure. These four episodes are a set up for the various conflicts upon which season three’s plot and sub-plots will pivot, but as far as the Polin love story is concerned, it’s a neat moment to pause. The notorious carriage scene — it’s a little different from the book in details, but no one should complain — marks the completion of Polin’s friends-to-lovers plot. In the coming episodes, Penelope and Colin will have a whole new set of problems to deal with, not the least of which is that Colin doesn’t know Penelope is Lady Whistledown.   

And so, as everyone settles down to watch and rewatch Bridgerton while waiting for part two of season three, it is time to give thanks to Shondaland for serving up picturesque escapism that we can rely upon for its blend of sharp intelligence and silly fantasy. Factual accuracy should be the least of anyone’s concerns with this show — this writer is still traumatised by the memory of how Kathani Sharma made tea to establish her Indianness in the second season — but even while Bridgerton tosses out historicity, the show is committed to its social politics. Subtly but effectively, Shondaland’s writers have used a fictional London to explore themes like race, class, gender constructs, mental health challenges, conservatism, rebellion, women’s empowerment and desire within the comforting frame of an imagined past. The storytelling may not always hit the mark and sometimes, like in the ‘resolution’ of Daphne and Simon’s story, the treatment is messy. However, to quote one of Colin’s best lines from the book, “But you’re my mess.”