Dearest Gentle Reader, it is with great displeasure that Colin and Penelope march forward with their season and yet fail to capture the hearts or intrigue that Bridgerton was formally known for. In the past romance stories of great variety and depth are shown, but this season, specifically the second part of the eight-episode drama, feels like a bad college production with a cast who have just received their roles and do not know each other. That is the case for this season's leads.
While Nicola Coughlan gave a great performance as Penelope in a central role for the third season in a row with her love story as the focus, part two reduces her role to various forms of heavy panting and hiding away from her own actions when she does not get her way. We do see a vicious petty side to Penelope teased in season one that would have made a more compelling story, but instead, the writers use it to try and show any crumb of urgency to this slow, stagnant plot. Many of Penelope’s lines in the script seem to be nothing more than heavy breathing and fluttering eyes at her male lead or scowling in a petty shallow rage when attention isn’t on her. Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) was the weakest part of the season and with less to do this part of the season, it is a relief not to see his stiff performance, pursed lips or hear his monotone voice that is incapable of doing anything other than one inflection or droll at the end of the sentence. Thankfully the cringe-inducing winking is gone but instead, we are tortured with a little strip tease as Colin and Penelope are about to have sex. The extreme close-ups of the camera, the heavy breathing, and the flat stare from the leads are meant to be sexy but the strip tease and what follows leaves you wondering how Bridgerton went from having its audience salivating at an almost-hand touch to this. The answer? A combination of a bad showrunner seemingly self-inserting their writer persona into the plot and a leading couple that have no familiarity with each other despite knowing each other for years.
Performances cannot save this as Newton particularly cannot move past his signature bland stares and open-mouthed gaping even when his character talks about how he is softer now that he is to be wed. The issue is, that he’s exactly the same.
The couple themselves have a more toxic light shown on them in this part that does not seem intentional. To trap Colin into marriage, Penelope frantically writes her Whistledown paper to announce their engagement the very next morning but not before she stops to catch glimpses of herself in the mirror. We know from season one that Colin is easily manipulated due to being a hollow shell with no personality, but we see that again. He never learns when it comes to Featherington's manipulation, but you don’t care enough about him to want to see this growth. Neither do the writers. It is telling that Marina in previous seasons was in a desperate situation and her life in jeopardy manipulated Colin but there seemed to be more affection there. It is telling that many fans will still gather pitchforks for the character but fawn over Penelope’s more duplicitous ways as if it is anything other than social climbing manipulation. Even Eloise ponders how Penelope used their friendship as a means to trap Colin. And it is evident that Penelope does not love him but rather the standing of the Bridgerton family. There comes a time when she has to choose between Colin and letting Cressida take the blame for Whistledown and she chooses Colin but when she sees attention shifting from her (and it isn’t really on her) to Cressida, her love for Colin quickly fades in her sinister grasp to maintain power.
There is so much exposition on Lady Whistledown facing consequences and as a viewer, you long to see it. Cressida is shunned by society, but she is relieved, it is her family that suffers and as a result, treats her crueler than before. However, Penelope faces none of this and it breaks away from anything interesting in the story.
Is there anything good about this new season of Bridgerton? Yes, that Polin season is over, but with the same showrunner and writers returning for its fourth season, one can only feel sorry for whichever lead is next and hope this season's leads take a much-suited place in the background.
Final Score- [2.5/10]
Reviewed by - Leigh Doyle
Publisher at Midgard Times