I love the symbolism of the Butterflies being set free as it reflects Penelope.😊

As for the Polin love story, it's friends to lovers and they spent a decent part of the first two seasons building that if you paid attention. They've already known each other for years, so there is less of a need to introduce them like Kathony or Daphne and Simon.

Every time i hear the queen say 'i received a letter' my mind immediately hears the butler in the movie Clue saying 'and you got a letter and you got a letter and you got a letter'.

In the book, Colin is the one who revealed Penelope to the ton. No apologizing there. Just to be oroud that his wife is Lady Whistledown. I liked that a lot more. He was envious too there but never let her think he not loved her. he was overprotective over her and very passionate. I liked the season a lot. But I wished for more scenes between Penelope and Colin.

I think your complaint about Pen being outed by the Queen disregards the fact that Cressida was going to expose her anyway out of spite. It would’ve given her power and infamy. This way Pen had agency & control over who did it and how. And with the Queen essentially giving her blessing for Pen to continue their is less backlash from the ton. Also, while yes I wouldn’t have minded pen being a bit more snarky they needed to cast her in a different light than how Cressida handled her reveal as whistledown. Pen was never trying to be cruel with her writing & she never lied. She is also now married so it’s not just her & her family but also Colin and the bridgertons that are affected by her actions. She knows that while she may not have meant it there were ppl who were hurt by her actions so going in front of everyone to be smug and obnoxious would’ve shown a lack of caring & character growth. As far as ranking the seasons, I don’t include Queen Charlotte bc it was a separate thing. Season 1 set good ground work but the fact that we had lord Berbrook assaulting Daphne and Daphne assaulting Simon took away from that season for me. I have never rewatched it. And while I believe Anthony and Kat have the best chemistry of all the couples the way they dragged out the Edwina storyline in s2 for so long that we didn’t even get a wedding for Kate & Anthony was very disappointing. Not to mention the featherington storyline with cousin jack was annoying and Colin going to see Marina was just a waste of screen time bc I don’t think it really added anything to his character & made Marina seem cold & heartless. So out of the 3 for Bridgerton this one is my favorite. Colin and Pen had multiple seasons of buildup, they cemented a friendship, as well as conflict in s1 & 2. They had already set up affection between them they just needed to add in the lust, which they did wonderfully. They had romance and angst. We also got personal growth for both lead characters. There were too many secondary plots but at least they were enjoyable. Portia’s evolution ended up being one of my favorite parts of the season. They wrapped up everything so well it felt satisfying.

She gets outed in the books. Actually she stops writing completely in the books. LW isn’t in the last 4 books. I love the ending because Penelope isn’t a villain. She is a sweetheart. That is Penelope at heart. She wanted to be herself. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Butterflies are the Featherington emblem 🦋

"Imagine being so ignored you become invisible".... someone has watched Buffy, I see... ;)

I agree about staying in the shadows. I think it might be because Julie Andrews is like 90, and the next few books are sort of different as far as maybe not needing whistledown. Also, yeah too many characters a bit too much threesome. Good for Benedict, but it might have been nice to see more of the main pair.

Season 3 is my favourite season so far

Loved this season. Definitely my favourite so far. I thought it was a beautiful love story. It's not the same as s.1 and s.2 where we didn't know one half of the couple (or both in s.1), so had to introduce someone, have them meet, establish that before the love story starts to bloom. We know both Colin and Pen. We've seen them through two seasons, in which they had a decent part of the sideplots. We have seen how much they care for one another as friends, so none of that was needed to be established, hence we could get a first kiss by ep.2. For me it was a more mature, complex love story as they had to find their place as individuals and then grow together and even when they were not on the same page re: LW, they still loved one another and worked through it. Nicola and Luke did such a beautiful job and for me I'll take a Colin any day of the week - he worked out he wanted to be with her, went after it and then worked through his hurt and confusion while still loving and being there for her and that last speech about being proud to be beside her was gorgeous. Penelope never wrote LW to be nasty or a villain. It was the only thing she had control of in her life and I'm guessing she also saw that money as a possible escape plan in future if she ever needed it. I like that she was able to show all those people who mocked her as nothing that she's the person they've all been in awe of for years. Plus I loved the focus on female relationships too this year through sisters/mothers & daughter and friendships. It felt like there was a lot of emotionally depth in this one for many characters. I do think the editing of those threesome scenes was odd and felt jarring. They could've started the ep with it, following on from 7 and then come back to it later to wrap it up, but overall I loved season 3. But then friends to lovers is a trope I've always loved, more than enemies to lovers etc. It's just more emotional and romantic for me personally. Now we await news of season 4's lead - I was sure it was Benedict, but I'm becoming less sure now.

S2 also end with Penelope becoming the voice. I think they play safe because Julie Andrews is almost 90. As for the identity itself, i'm very happy she can embrace her true, feel loved and have confidence. Colin too having his confidence back. I had so wonderful time with them. They different with a more romantic softness and sweetness, of friends to lovers. And about loving yourself necessary to have love.

Thank you, Derek! 🦢

Poor John. I really wish they hadn't introduced Michael/Michaela yet. I love Penelope it's great seeing her happy.

Still watching (not done), but I can say this -- no way the Queen is giving a farthing to Cressida under any circumstances.

So you alluded to this, Francesca's book is the only bridgerton book that is a 2nd marriage because yes John dies and in the book she marries MICHAEL, John's cousin and best friend. They gender swapped Michael for Michaela. I think they may go completely off book for Benedict. I'm curious to see how his story will play out. And I think they reason Penelope is acting so humble is to make the queen look good, it's the only way she can continue to write without making the Queen look bad and she really wants to be the voice for the voiceless, like how she outed the DV husband in the last episode. I also think its funny you are not the only reactor who read into that introduction with the Mondriches, and I was starting to think I was the crazy one for not getting it 😂😂

I have the same ranking as you. QC was my favorite.

I will tell you my ranking. #1 Season 3 #2 Season 1 #3 Season 2 I found Season 2 pretty dull, and Kate and Anthony aren’t my favorites. Queen Charlotte I don’t rate with the show because it’s spin off and not really Bridgerton. I also only watched it once and I don’t really remember much about it. I have watched season 3 many times, and I am low key obsessed with it. I haven’t watched any other season as much as this one. 🤷🏾‍♀️ That includes all TV shows.

They didn't show the complete vows of anyone, so it makes sense they would showcase different lines.

I enjoyed watching this season of Bridgerton, but in my opinion I think season 2 was way more better. Also Justice for Cressida, she did bad stuff and that's only because what her home life is like, so I'm hoping on seeing a redemption arc for her in season 4.

As for what you said about the Queen learning her secret and then deciding to keep it a secret, I think that would've been better than what they did. Though I did envision the Queen saying something like not to write about her or the king in a bad light and making kind of a boss ladies deal. I didn't like the pleading for forgiveness part at all and didn't felt it fit with Penelope's character. In reading parts of the column on the show Lady Whistledown didn't come across as the pleading type. I just felt that part was overdone. And there were so many other ways it could've went better. I get that what Penelope wrote wasn't all kind, though nothing she said, that I saw, lacked truth. So perhaps if people didn't like what she said they should take Cressida's advice from Part 1 and 'get a looking glass'. Anyway it is what it is. Some parts about it I liked and other parts I felt strayed too far from their characters or just simply didn't make sense. Too many storylines and not enough episodes to fully explain or follow through.

I also found the Penelope/Whistledown exposé scene a bit underwhelming, though for slightly different reasons than you. I thought the queen doing a 180 on her based on that speech alone was a little blah and now I'm concerned how Penelope will be able to continue writing at all. Everyone's going to clam up the moment they see her from now on. They're always going to be super aware of her presence and will not let her overhear their business anymore. Either she will have to completely change what she writes about like she alluded to or she'll have to hire spies. I don't know what she could really write about that would still keep everyone's attention and respect if she can't expose people anymore, though.

✨🧢✨

It's okay for Eloise to hate balls and the ton. She doesn't need to change that.

Longest 3sum ever it span over the season 😂

The outing of Pen was better in the book. Colin knew from before he proposed and while he was still jealous he was on her side. She freaked out over Cressida's blackmail and he told her he would take care of it. Simon and Daphne had a ball and Colin worked it out ahead of time with Simon and Anthony to announce it from a balcony because he didn't care who knew anymore. And Cressida could be heard from the back of the crowd screaming 'nooooo' which I loved lol. Then Polin booked it out of town for an extended honeymoon until the gossip died down. The cousin genderswap is a horrible idea imo, simply because they chose the wrong story to use it for. Benedict being pan? Fits his character. It works. But of all the siblings to genderbend, Francesca is the worst choice. I don't know how closely they will follow the books, so I won't spoil anything, but her story requires a biological man. Gregory's story is perfect for a genderbend, there's even a canonical gay man in his book. It's perfect.

I'm not thrilled with how they've handled Eloise in the second part of the season, but at least she gets to go off to Scotland and get away from all these people.

Yeah, this would be a great villain arc but they couldn't commit to it.

Eh, I'm so tired of Whistledown. It would have been hilarious if Penelope had taken the deal the Queen offered Eloise last season instead of writing that article about her. Charlotte giving Penelope notes would have been comedy gold. I wouldn't like somebody who wrote gossip about me, so I wonder whether the ton is just keeping quiet at this ball but not really that accepting of Penelope. That will probably be dropped, though. I don't think Lady Whistledown is all that great a writer anyway.