Title: Bridgerton Season 3 Review: The Evolution of Colin and Penelope’s Relationship
Colin and Penelope: A Dynamic Duo
A Growing Romance Between Penelope and Colin
The Lingering Presence of Lady Whistledown
Colin and Penelope are an incredibly likable duo — it’s hard not to want the best for both of them. Luke Newton puts in a mature performance that allows him to step out of the limelight of his two older on-screen brothers, and Nicola Coughlan takes Penelope and allows her to blossom in a way that it’s almost difficult to believe that she’s the same person. What’s most impressive — and refreshing — is that the production team doesn’t go down the well-trodden path of having her lose weight so that she can suddenly be worthy of love. Penelope simply comes into her own, and that alone allows her to become the belle of the ball.
Intellectual Chemistry Between Colin and Penelope
Intellectually, we want these two to wind up together. But there are one or two aspects of their relationship that make it a little less satisfying — and yes, less steamy — than we saw in the first two seasons. First, Penelope and Colin are two introspective characters, with a tendency to be in their own heads a lot of the time. So when their relationship finally develops into something a little more carnal, you can see them thinking their way through it … a lot. Penelope’s vulnerability as she takes this giant step is incredibly poignant, and their romance certainly benefits from these quieter moments, but fans of the tawdry romance novels that inspired the “Bridgerton” series may find themselves a little disappointed. The other issue we have is that throughout the third season of “Bridgerton,” we’ve been sold a bill of goods that this is the friends-to-lovers trope. Except that this friendship has always been more than a little one-sided — we’ve seen plenty of evidence of Penelope being a friend to Colin over the years, but not so much the other way around. He’s always said what a good friend she is to him, but this whole arc would have been more rewarding if we had seen a genuine, mutual friendship between the two more often.
The Shadow of Lady Whistledown
It’s also hard to ignore the specter of Lady Whistledown weighing over the entire production. “Bridgerton” reminds us over and over again of the animosity between the Bridgertons and the prolific gossip-monger, so it’s occasionally difficult to enjoy their romance knowing that they have such a dramatic conflict hanging over their heads, just waiting to fall. And to be entirely honest, they’ve written themselves into such a corner with Whistledown that many audiences may not feel that their relationship should survive it. Furthermore, going into the third season, the Whistledown obsession feels played out, and it’s frustrating that it’s still getting so much screen time, holding back other characters who really should be moving on to other things. This is the first time where it feels like so many of the characters have little else to do than bide their time until they get their own season. It’s clear that the writers don’t know what to do with Benedict (Luke Thompson) and Eloise (Claudia Jessie), who continue to tread water, their character development stuck in a narrative quicksand.