Bridgerton
Lady Whistledown is ready to take the stage, and this time with her cards up. After the great success of the first two seasons of Bridgerton, in fact, we are already talking about what will happen in the next episodes, which will start shooting this summer. And all eyes are on Nicola Coughlan, who in the series not only plays the exuberant Penelope Featherington but is also the voice (and pen) that hides behind the mysterious figure who, with his pamphlets, spreads the gossip of the London of Regency era. In a Netflix promotional event held in Los Angeles these days it was revealed that the young woman will play an even more central role in season three.Coughlan has indeed revealed that the new stories will focus on a couple named "Polin", implying that the friendship born between Penelope and Colin Bridgerton (played by Luke Newton) could lead to something more. It is unclear how Lady Whitledown will handle these rumors that concern her firsthand. We will certainly see a divergence from the books by Julia Quinn from which the series is taken: in fact, the love story of this couple is only explored in the fourth novel in the saga, while the first two seasons had broadly followed the plots of the first. two novels. Therefore, the third will be skipped, at least for now, and it is not even the first time that the production of Shondaland has taken literary liberties: precisely the identity of the gossip Lady had been revealed at the end of the first season, even if this in the grand books. occurs before the fourth book.
In recent days, among other things, a further novelty was announced regarding the third season: the character of Francesca Bridgerton, in fact, will change her face. It will no longer be the actress Ruby Stokes to play her, as she preferred to leave the cast to enter, as the protagonist, in a new Netflix series entitled Lockwood & co. ; she will be replaced by actress Hannah Dodd, recently seen in Anatomy of a Scandal. In the seasons seen so far Francesca has been an elusive and not very central character, very different from the rest of the family, decidedly more extroverted. The change of actress could mean the intention to invest more in her character, which by the way should be really central when adapting Quinn's sixth novel. Meanwhile, fans are eagerly awaiting to see how these novelties translate to screen when Bridgerton is likely to return to air in early 2023.
‘Bridgerton’ Season 3 Will Follow Penelope and Colin’s Love Story (Not Benedict and Sophie’s!)
It seems Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) will have to wait a little longer to meet his seductive Cinderella-esque muse, Sophie. Lady Whistledown herself, Nicola Coughlan, confirmed last night that Bridgerton Season 3 will focus on Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). While that news might come as a surprise to some Bridgerton book readers, we at Decider have been calling this storyline shake up for a while now. None other than Shonda Rhimes herself teased that the show would be going out of order from the books going forward and the romance with the most set up already in place already is #Polin. And now Netflix has officially confirmed that Bridgerton Season 3 will be the “Romancing Mr. Bridgerton” season…
So yes, Bridgerton Season 3 will be about Penelope and Colin. (Duh.) But what does this mean for the show going forward? How much will the overall Bridgerton saga have to change? And does this mean we won’t meet the sublime Sophie Beckett next season??? Here’s everything you need to know about Bridgerton Season 3 in light of this big, obvious announcement…
So Bridgerton Season 3 will focus on Penelope and Colin??While the first two seasons of Bridgerton stuck pretty close to Julia Quinn’s novels — focusing first on Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and then on Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) — Season 3 is officially going to leapfrog past Benedict’s Book 3 love story straight into Penelope and Colin’s romance in Book 4.
Now this shake up shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to hardcore Bridgerton fans. Not only did producer Shonda Rhimes tease in a March interview that the show would be playing fast and loose with the story order going forward, but also the show itself has basically given us the whole first act of Colin and Penelope’s book already. Sure, we haven’t seen the exact moment when Pen fell hard for Colin, but everything from their friendship to his horrific slight has been dramatized on screen.
So, yeah, get ready for Colin to finally see the obvious next season: that Pen is hot and hot for him.When Decider spoke to Bridgerton stars Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan recently, they were both excited (but nervous) about the prospect of becoming the show’s key couple.
“Having that call [about Bridgerton‘s renewal for Seasons 3 and 4] felt like one of the most life-changing phone calls, actually. To be like, we’re definitely doing it,” Newton said. “For me, it was like, ‘Wow, this is the first time I’ll be leading a show of this scale. That’s mental!'”
“It’s terrifying the prospect of it being about Penelope and Colin because we’ve been there since the beginning and we’ve always known it was gonna be their relationship,” Coughlan said. “I’m very grateful it’s Luke that I’m going on that journey with. He’s so sweet. And I think that this season they’ve progressed their relationship so beautifully that I’m really rooting for them to get together. So I hope the audience will be, too.”
Okay, but what about SOPHIE?
Photo: NetflixWill Sophie Beckett Be in Bridgerton Season 3?The one downside to the news that Bridgerton is fast-tracking Penelope and Colin’s love story is it means that sweet, artsy Benedict will have to wait to meet his one true love. While the show left Benedict in a rut at the end of Season 2, it seems he will not meet his mysterious silver goddess at a masquerade in Season 3…or will he?
While Bridgerton Season 3 is officially Pen and Colin’s story, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t meet the incredible Sophie Beckett. Book readers will know that Sophie is an Earl’s bastard, raised as his ward until his death. Then her (honestly evil) stepmother keeps her as a maid, abusing her to fulfill a stipulation in the Earl’s will. (The Earl imagined that Sophie would continue to live as a ward and not a servant, but wicked stepmothers be wicked.) So Sophie exists in the background of Bridgerton‘s Regency world until the night of a masked ball at Bridgerton house. The servants who know and love Sophie dress her up in her grandmother’s old 18th century attire, which makes her look like a silver-clad princess. Benedict is immediately besotted with Sophie, but never gets her name. Their love story picks up a few years later when Benedict saves a nice maid from the unwanted attentions of her asshole employer…
So I guess what I’m getting at is don’t necessarily expect to meet Sophie in Bridgerton Season 3. Yet it’s totally possible the show will introduce a super cool maid character who gets to shine in a season finale masked ball?? Thereby setting up Season 4?? Hey, it’s not wild to assume Bridgerton is going to be juggling storylines in Season 3. We’ve already met the man Eloise (Claudia Jessie) is destined to marry and the Francesca (Ruby Stokes/Hannah Dodd) recasting means we might meet her suitors sooner rather than later.
But the long and short of it is Bridgerton Season 3 is going to be based on Bridgerton Book 4, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. Sophie will have to wait a little longer in the scullery.