If you were one of the 45.1 million viewers who tuned into "Bridgerton" season 3 in its opening weekend on Netflix (the new season hit the streamer on May 16), then you already know that the first four episodes end on a bit of a cliffhanger. (No spoilers but, frankly, we'll never look at carriage rides quite the same way.)
Alas, we'll have to wait nearly a month to see exactly how things transpire between Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), as the final four eps of the season won't premiere on Netflix until June 13. Even readers of Julia Quinn's "Bridgerton" novels, on which the romantic drama series is based, will likely be surprised by the season's back-half, seeing as how there's already been several big differences between "Bridgerton" season 3 and the book "Romancing Mister Bridgerton."
But while we have a few weeks before we'll get to visit the Ton again, "Bridgerton" showrunner Jess Brownell gave us gentle viewers some teasing insights into what we can expect from the second half of season 3. “The back half is really an upside-down world of the front half,” Bronwell teased to Yahoo Entertainment, adding that there’s “plenty of plot” for them to still cover.
“If the front half is rom-com and lightness, playfulness and awkward banter, the back half is a steadily rising arrow of tension. That little bit of chaos that you saw at the back of Episode 4, it keeps on ramping up in the back half,” she said.
Though leaving things on a cliffhanger might be frustrating to some viewers, Bronwell said that splitting the season's episode order in two batches was "a nice way for people to be able to have some time to regroup after the first four episodes and also to savor the season. There’s definitely a little bit of organized chaos at the end of Episode 4, so people might need a little break after that.”
The split also helped things "narratively," Bronwell added, especially when it comes to that big Lady Whistledown reveal. "It was really useful for us because it is this giant secret that’s hanging over this new romantic pairing, but what that allows us to do in the back half — as viewers will see — is spend more time in the love bubble between Colin and Penelope,” Brownell said.
"In past seasons, we’ve had to create direct conflict between the couple, but we didn’t have to do that as much this season, because as soon as that secret lands, it’s going to upend everything.”
The third season of "Bridgerton" is the show's first to be split into two parts à la other top Netflix shows like "Stranger Things," "You," "Ozark" and "The Witcher." Tom's Guide will keep you up to date on all intel about the back half of "Bridgerton" season 3 (especially that still-to-come furniture-breaking love scene). In the meantime, you can rewatch the first two seasons of the show, as well as the first half of season 3 if you're feeling so inclined, on the streaming platform.
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