Bridgerton Season 3 Almost Turned Its Leads Into Villains

Summary

• Fans find many flaws in Bridgerton Season 3, the main one being confusing writing.
• Thus, the main conflict of Part 2 was not at all what viewers expected.
• More importantly, it did the main characters dirty.

Bridgerton Season 3 has caused quite a storm on social media. Fans are disheartened by many creative choices in the new chapter, from the limited screen time for the romantic leads, Colin and Penelope Bridgerton, to the toned-down cinematography and modernized makeup styles.

The viewer's main concern, however, is the season's writing. The conversations feel empty, numerous subplots don't add anything to the main story and the central arc develops in fits and starts. Moreover, the main characters, although they have been in the show since Episode 1 and are beloved by the fans, have been made to look dirty.

When you think about it, they were basically turned into evildoers.

The Main Conflict of Part 2

While the relationship between Colin and Penelope was supposed to be the central part of the season, the last four episodes surprisingly focused on another character, Cressida Cowper, and her beef with Penelope.

The girls are peers (they both debuted in Season 1), and Cressida has been set up as Pen's main bully in previous entries. However, Season 3 suddenly reversed the roles by delving too deeply into Miss Cowper's backstory.

The new chapter proved that Penelope and Cressida are in fact very similar. Judge for yourself:

• Both come from toxic households with cold, domineering parents.
• Both chafe under their family's marital expectations. Pen is expected to end up a spinster, and Cressida - to marry an old man.
• Both feel powerless in a society that grossly underestimates them.
• Both take out their unhappiness on others. Cressida in the form of bullying, Pen in the form of Lady Whistledown.

In Part 2, however, Penelope's main conflict was that she refused to give up Lady Whistledown when the alternative was writing novels in her spare time with the support of her loving husband in a happy, wealthy marriage. At the same time, for her ‘enemy’, the situation was much more dire.

In a move that demonstrated the cruel reality of women in her time, Cressida was arranged to marry a nasty old man, be exiled to Wales, and become a child-bearing machine. How could the audience not sympathize with this? Many found themselves rooting for Cressida to get her money and run away.

From Heroes to Villains

Of course, the Bridgerton creators knew what they were doing. Lord Greer was meant to be nasty, Cressida's family - horrible, clothes and hairstyles - symbolic of powerlessness. It was done to craft a redemption arc. But it seems that they have overdone it with the redemption.

When Pen, the famous gossip writer, Colin, the Viscount's brother and pillar of society, Eloise, Cressida's best friend until a few days ago, and Portia, the main con artist of the ton, gang up on Cressida, the vulnerable girl trying to break out of her cage, it all feels more unsettling than satisfying. Not to mention Colin's pathetic attempt to talk to her.

The first two seasons of Bridgerton gave Pen and the viewers legitimate reasons to be upset with Cressida, but the writing for Season 3 took that away completely, almost setting up Penelope and Colin as the main villains instead.