After watching all of season 3 of Bridgerton, I decided to go back and time the amount of time that Penelope and Colin were seen. I felt as though they weren’t seen nearly enough, even though it was meant to be their season.
Below I have broken down each episode, and have how much time they spent on screen out of how many minutes the episode was. I have then done a percentage of how much time we saw them on screen (I have rounded it).
Season 3 Part 1
Episode 1: 26.03 out of 54.10 = 48%
Episode 2: 24.58 out of 48.18 = 51%
Episode 3: 25.57 out of 51.02 = 50%
Episode 4: 25.38 out of 51.10 = 50%
Part 1:
101.56 out of 204.40 = 50%
Season 3 Part 2
Episode 5: 31.02 out of 54.50 = 57%
Episode 6: 26.33 out of 63.30 = 42%
Episode 7: 27.48 out of 57.30 = 48%
Episode 8: 31.18 out of 67.01 = 47%
Part 2:
116.01 out of 242.11 = 48%
Season 3
Total: 217.57 out of 446.51 = 49%
As you can see, even though it was their season, Penelope and Colin, weren’t even really on screen for half of it!
I went back and read all of the letters you have sent me. Your letters have always been the ones I am most eager to read.
Bridgerton 3.08 - “Into the Light”
as much as i adored the beautiful moments in part two, i think i will forever be partial to part one. it had awkwardness, playfulness, the first kiss, the yearning, jealousy, joy, protectiveness, flirting, confessions of love, desire, intimacy, the proposal —
and that sweet, glorious moment when the friends actually did become lovers.......
it has a lot to do with my personal feelings of fluff over angst. i just love the way part one felt. it was so pure and innocent, and dramatic and tense. i just really loved watching these two fools dance around each other in the beginning <3
As an anxious and curious person, I couldn’t help but check every now and then to see what the vibe was for P2 before watching it myself. After all the excitement during the wait between P1 and 2, nothing could have prepared me for the whiplash I felt reading disappointed and equally ecstatic posts from reactions to Eps 5 to 8.
Now that I’ve seen the episodes myself I’m trying to make sense of how I felt so I’m putting the figurative pen to paper and hope anyone as confused as I am can ruminate with me.
To put simply - I think we were all swept up in the excitement of Nic and Luke’s press tour (a whole other can of worms for some) and the many spoilers, speculations, and info from cast interviews during the wait between P1 and 2 that appeared to have been Polin positive. This energy then ballooned our expectations. I personally forgot that although Bridgerton is endearing and fun, it’s ultimately not a BBC or HBO production (I love Bridgerton but it’s no Pulitzer Prize winner in writing). So I think we expected more and are crashing from our collective highs.
Then there’s Polin and Penelope. As someone who didn’t personally enjoy S1 and 2 stories, S3 was going to be one I could truly enjoy and romanticize, and experience that Bridgerton brainrot everyone keeps taking about. Admittedly, it took me listening to some discourse and a second watch to truly appreciate P1. I’ve come away with so much love for Polin and their unfolding love story as well as Pen’s journey. The friends to lovers trope is beautiful, sweet, endearing, romantic, with a lot of history between two people. It had me singing along at the top of my lungs to Taylor Swift in the car even though it’s not my usual type of music. I was swooned and romanced.
But Part 2 was…. rough…. (Ramblings below)
At least after episode 5. It felt like I wasn’t watching the same season. I knew the weight of LW was going to put Penelope through the wringer before we can ultimately move on in peace. I expected the angst, it didn’t bother me, even if it meant seeing the worst of Colin’s anger temporarily.
I think what bothers me is the wasted potential of Polin’s season brought on by unnecessary side plots that could have given more time to Colin, Penelope and Eloise’s complex relationship and individual feelings. It was a season that absolutely needed to flesh out these characters alongside LW’s plot. Instead we got lengthy scenes of side characters with no payoff or stories that could have waited to be told next season. Polin felt like side characters in their own stories, their scenes so cruelly cut between other people’s dramas - I was swooning one second to wondering why we’ve jumped to sideplot A and B, then back to swooning over Polin again (their wedding dance for example 😭).
Then there’s the question of intimacy and how we would have loved to see more - probably brought on by a rumored missing montage. Instead after all the pain, the culmination of intimacy between Polin was the 5 second scene towards the end that looked like one of Anthony or Ben’s random brothel end-of-episode montage scenes in S1. I didn’t need plenty of intimacy scenes, I just wanted there to be growth in their intimacy evolving beyond what they had in Ep 5 and after all that drama.
Part 2 should have focused on how Colin, Penelope and Eloise came to terms with the LW revelation and the aching healing process it took to overcome that because the love they have for one another was stronger. I found myself thinking how in hell they could resolve all of this and it became progressively clear that the resolution was going to feel underwhelming and rushed. Especially, when the last episode alone had another wedding, Colin and Penelope still not communicating, and like 4-5 scenes of Ben and his mistress and their lover. We sat there in complete shock at how we kept going back to those scenes when the season had bigger fish to fry.
Although the show attempted to delve into Colin’s journey post revelation, the process of overcoming his sadness/jealousy was not fleshed out satisfactorily. I’m not saying it isn’t there (the very quick scenes of him looking through Penelope’s letters, listening to her speech at the end, his speech to Cressida, interactions with Kanthony/Eloise etc) but it lacked…something. Maybe it needed just a beat longer, a few more words, a bit more time. I don’t need it to drag, I just needed more within the depth of the scenes. Funnily, some of the side plot scenes lasted longer, which was so evil. Colin deserved a concise arc like Penelope’s. I hope Luke Newton’s back wasn’t hurting from carrying all the weight of Colin’s journey through his delivery and face acting because the writers were not giving him much to work with.
And so, the ending of the season felt odd. On one hand I was happy Polin got their happy ending and in theory their progression made sense, but on the other I felt like the show did a disservice by not taking us carefully and deliberately on that progression journey we wonderfully started in S1 and 2. I will always have ep 1-5 to look back on fondly and I was teary eyed when Colin delivered his ep 8 love speech to Pen. It felt like a glimpse of what we could’ve had and what they did have in P1. However, there’s this feeling of anti-climax that is so palpable given how impactful the press tour was. Am I still walking away from this season loving Polin and enjoying the scenes we did get of them? YES. Am I satisfied with it? NO.
This is 70% an emotional rant that may subside once the excitement dies down. I have thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s input and analysis and may have just been swept up in expectations.
I am going to be complainy for a second and say that my personal opinion on part 2…
Is that we only got what 10 minutes of happy married polin at the end of episode 8. Yes we had episode 5 and episode 6, but there wasn’t a lot of polin content and there was still Whistledown ruining this moment, especially in episode 6! Even the happiness of the wedding was ruined for me after the scene where Colin storms out.
For me, there is only episode 5 and ten minutes of episode 8 that are truly polin being in love and happy. I felt like there was too much angst for a couple that has been set up in two previous seasons.
I just wanted happy married polin with no Whistledown for entire episode
pixelskylines
2087
stormborns
areudirty
dailybridgerton
