Kirsty

Looks like this hasn't aired in the States yet. I liked it but didn't love it. I thought the actressses in the older timeline, playing young Jane and young Cassandra, were fantastic. The woman playing young Jane Austen, especially, was so good I forgot it was a performance. And I really appreciated that they didn't cast a bombshell as Jane, but someone who looks normal. She looks like someone I went to school with. But, for the first time, I didn't think Keeley Hawes was great. Her performance struck me as overdone. I could see her putting it on. And then I sometimes felt the story was a little silly too. But I liked many things about it as well. It illustrated the limits of a lady's world back then very clearly, when men owned everything, you could just be turfed out of your home by a male relative, and when marriage was both your only escape route and your only means of getting money. In addition, I enjoyed the bond between the sisters. I thought Cassie was a complete fool for refusing Mr Hobday once, in favour of a promise to a dead man. But she was young, romantic, and still grieving, so it was forgivable. To knock him back a second time because she needed to look after her perfectly healthy sister was criminally stupid, and I could only assume she was a terrible martyr. But I realise that in real life Cassandra Austen never married after her fiancé died. So the writer, Gill Hornby, was stuck with that. And then, for most of the show, Isabella seemed to be pigheadedly going against her own interests too. So I felt I was watching Woman Makes Bad Decision For Reasons in two costumey timelines. With each character forcing a smile and insisting it's for the best. Like who *wouldn't* have been happy house-sharing with that gruff sister and her souvenirs from India? Aren't Cassie's two suitors cousins in real life?! I think both Max Irons and Calam Lynch belong to the Cusack acting dynasty.

V unfortunate for Cassandra to fall seriously ill in the one house in the locality where the resident believes herself to be in a tragic love triangle with the local doctor and her sister. 😆 Cassandra might have died! But no, let's not call the medic because fuck him for vibing with my sister! That'll teach him. Solid decision-making there, Isabella.

I enjoyed that. I haven't watched a Western for a while and this one was grim but pretty gripping. I like that it's only six episodes because that dark tone gets wearing over a longer series run. Heroes of the show? Isaac, Two Moons, Bridger, Edmund the army captain, Isaac's pimp coat, Edmund's magnificent moustache, and the make-up artist who had to keep Jacob looking like he'd been almost scalped for half the shoot.

I still find her annoying. Gilpin is a good actress so I have to assume Sara is intended to be a pain in the ass. And I find him and his silence and monosyllabic answers irritating too. So while I would usually enjoy a romantic relationship between the leads, I have no enthusiasm for this one. I wonder if it will just make them doubly annoying, together. 😄

Ah, another charming episode of sunshine and rainbows. I do love a road trip, and all the road trips on this show are going swimmingly, none moreso than Jacob's. The locals have given him a warm welcome; the views have been unforgettable; his new bride has found the Native people to be most friendly; a nice brother Mormon gifted him a pocket watch; and he's in fine spirits to continue on his merry way. I bet it's nothing but blue skies from here on out for Brother Jacob! All this time I thought Jacob's wife, Abish, was trying to escape the Shoshone. This episode she has realised that she's better off in their camp than alone in Fort Bridger, being used by the Army, or among the Mormon militia who want her dead. Also, I guess Abish/Red Feather is the closest this show has to a romance apart from like, Mr. Bridger's love for his fort, or maybe the writerly army captain's obsession with his nemesis, Wild Bill. 😄 Speaking of the army captain, the twist where his message never got out because his man is a spy for the Mormons was a good one.

Yay! Jacob figured it out. I was very distracted by the actor playing Jacob, because I couldn't work out where I had seen him before. But I think maybe it was that show The Staircase, where he plays one of the murderer's sons. So the writer has Sara lose the sympathy of every single viewer. And then he has her raped, regaining the sympathy of some viewers, I guess? And then she shoots the shit out of everyone including her rapist, which must be the first time Sara has been able to (physically) hold her own in the hellish environment of the show. It's the first time she has been as ruthless and violent as everyone around her, which also probably regains her some viewer sympathy, as she displays what passes for competence on this show ie. the competence to kill. They should adopt that Two Moons kid immediately. How many times has she saved them now?

Next time Tim Riggins tells you to wait in the car, maybe just wait in the car. 😄 They're very lucky they have Two Moons, because mother and son appear to be totally helpless. I'm not sure this show has enough violent death, what do you think? Personally I'm watching for the glamour.

That was a cute announcement video! I like Benedict and the actor playing him. So he's already got a massive advantage over Colin the dullest Bridgerton before the season ever airs. Fingers crossed this new showrunner can deliver a good season. 🤞 I wonder how far off it is? I guess 2026 is most likely. But possibly Christmas '26.

From the Media thread: I can totally understand that. Season 3 has lowered my expectations of the show in terms of production values, as the show looked cheaper this year. And, even though Bridgerton was never Shakespeare, this season has lowered my expectations in terms of the quality of the writing too. My guess is that Benedict will be the next lead. I enjoy Benedict and I like the actor playing him so that's good. But I enjoyed Benedict much more in Season 2 than in Season 3. In both seasons he was a side character with a few nice family moments. But in Season 2, he was given better and more enjoyable material. He got the art school plot and a comedy drug episode in addition to a new sexual relationship, and he stood in for Simon as a friend for Anthony. I felt like the show -- and as a result, the viewers -- had a much better handle on Benedict in Season 2. In Season 3 he got a boring relationship that turned into a boring threesome and ultimately his acceptance of his bisexuality. None of it was very well done or particularly enjoyable or gave me a strong sense of him. The most memorable thing about it was the never-ending threesome that the show kept cutting back to in ludicrous fashion in the season finale! It was like the show didn't know what to do with him this year. I get that perhaps Benedict is supposed to be aimless and lost when he meets his leading lady. But, even taking that into account, this season's lacklustre writing for Benedict is not very encouraging, particularly if it was supposed to be an on-ramp for a leading man. Season 2 was much stronger in that regard. It makes me doubt the new showrunner. Season 3 makes me suspect that the new showrunner is not as good as the old showrunner. I guess we'll find out!

This season was still fun to watch, but I didn't get the sugar-buzz from Penelope/Colin that I get from watching a good tropey romance. I attribute that to the fact that Colin is the dullest Bridgerton. Coming into this season, I knew both that Colin lacked charisma and that he was under-written. Your leading man can maybe get away with one of those issues, but not with both. So I expected the writers to give Colin a personality glow-up the way the show gave him a physical glow-up. I expected them to give him tons of good material -- like flashbacks to his travels or to his friendship with Penelope over the years -- to fill in the gaps. But they never did. In this episode, during his scene with Cressida, he has a monologue about himself and his loneliness, and then another about Penelope's invisibility in society. And I was like... Why has he never had scenes like this before? Why didn't we see this in Part One of the season? I needed the show to sell him to me as the leading man in the first part of Season 3. But I don't believe the writers were aware of that necessity. I guess they thought we had already got to know him and love him (the way Penelope does) in the first two seasons. What I needed in the first half of the season was to see what made him attractive and what made him tick, so I could see what Penelope is drawn to. Instead I saw him swaggering around in a slightly cringey way that was not attractive. In fact, the fandom seems to be split on whether winking Colin was supposed to be cringe-inducing or not! What a strange choice on the writers' part for their leading man. I will say that Colin grew on me a little in the back half of the season. I believed that he and Penelope loved each other. And they got some lovely scenes together. But, unfortunately, he was too blank and vacant for too long for the romance to work for me the way Anthony/Kate did or the way Daphne/Simon did. My ranking of the seasons is Season 2, then Season 1, then Season 3, based purely on how well the main romance worked for me.

Just like Season 2, then.

Yeah, one random "I've had an idea!" trip to get rid of Kate and Anthony is enough. Two of those in the same season is contrived and transparent. Was Penelope's wedding dress blush pink? She looked lovely. So I guess the way the show has chosen to resolve Penelope's double life is by deciding that the Whistledown gossip sheet is feminism now. Is there a handwave emoji? 👋👋👋 Moving on... Benedict is embracing his bisexuality. So much so that he had to rush out of his brother's wedding reception for some kind of emergency threesome 😆 It does feel like a do-over of an earlier storyline, but I suppose they're trying to do it right this time. I agree with people who say that Benedict looks older this year. Claudia Jessie, playing Eloise, is my favourite actor among the remaining unmarried Bridgertons. Her character is so lively! But if Benedict doesn't take the lead next then he's going to look like he's 45 in his season 😄 so I hope he's the romantic lead in Season 4. I've enjoyed the Cressida storyline this season and I have a huge amount of sympathy for her. That shot of her in the mirror, when she's sitting in her weird bedroom, surrounded by giant feathers and other mad costumery, with the only supportive person in her life giving her bad advice that will keep her friendless, was like something from a villain's origin story. I haven't watched the final episode yet, but I'm guessing she's going to out Penelope to win the prize money. Honestly, I find Cressida much more interesting than Colin. Still, Colin and Penelope got some lovely romantic scenes in the back half of this season. I liked their wedding dance in this one. Agreed.

I wonder why the showrunner is already talking about a two year wait for the next season. We know from Season 2 that it doesn't take two years. Not unless you have to deal with a pandemic or a big Hollywood strike or both. Christmas 2025 is a totally doable release deadline for them.

Well, I suppose he had to find out. They couldn't drag it out much longer. And Penelope and Colin had some sweet moments in this episode first. From the previous episode thread: You were right! But I'm very disappointed. The show and Eloise seem to have thrown Cressida under the bus. She is screwed, and she's lucky to have her mother fighting her corner because she just lost her only friend for... reasons? Eloise is now happier to be friends with the woman who wrote all the poisonous stuff than with a woman who didn't write any of it but who is pretending she did. I'm confused. I love Adjoa Andoh's voice. I wonder if she does any audiobook narration.

That's two good episodes in a row. I was waiting for Cressida to either overhear Eloise and Penelope, or else to figure it out herself, but I love this for her! I hope they can make this work and Cressida as Whistledown lasts beyond this episode. Maybe Penelope could pass the mantle to Cressida. Or they could work together. Perhaps Cressida could be the public face of Whistledown. I don't like that Eloise lied to Cressida's face about Whistledown. There's a kind of love triangle going on between Cressida, Eloise, and Penelope. Eloise and Pen still love each other, and you could see that Cressida was jealous of their connection during the after-dinner word game. All season it has been clear to Cressida that Eloise is still hung up on her ex-friend, and she has to keep reminding her that her friendship with Penelope is over. But a few things made me laugh in this episode: Lady Danbury's FILTHY look at her brother at the engagement party needs to be a meme immediately; the smart Featherington sister's crack at the stupider Featherington sister about their mother reading while pregnant with her; and Cressida 'Giant Sleeves' Cowper reacting to her future husband's line that sombre clothing is best and that as his wife she will wear grey or brown! The actor playing Colin lacks charisma, but his acting is perfectly fine when they bother to write for him. The writers have really done him a disservice by neglecting his character. Anyway, well played Colin for standing up to Portia on Penelope's behalf. That was his most heroic moment on the show. I haven't read the books so I don't know what the deal is with Francesca and John. I'm wondering if one or both of them is coded neurodivergent on screen. It was wrong of Penelope to have sex with Colin before telling him the truth about her secret identity. If the show was to stick strictly to historical romance rules, he can't back out of marrying her now because they have already slept together. The only excuse I can see for her on this score is her apparent ignorance about sex. I don't think that sleeping with him first was a calculated decision on her part, or intentionally manipulative, but it's terribly unfair to him.