'Bridgerton' Season 3 Shines When It Focuses On Female Friendship

“Who needs fresh air when there is fresh gossip?” quips Lady Danbury in the opening minutes of the second half of “Bridgerton” Season 3. It’s a sentiment to which both members of the ton ― that is, the upper stratum of society depicted in “Bridgerton” ― and fans of the show can relate, especially those who have been waiting four long weeks to hear Penelope’s answer to Colin’s post-carriage marriage proposal.

It spoils nothing to reveal that Penelope (played by Nicola Coughlan) says yes, or that she shares her news with the ton in her next installment of her gossip column, Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers: “Dearest Reader, while most seasons of our fair marriage mart follow a predictable pattern, this author likes it most when there is a surprise.”

Their engagement may be a shock to members of the ton, but both it and the progression of Colin (Luke Newton) and Penelope from friends to lovers will not surprise the viewer. The tension of Colin not knowing Penelope’s hidden identity, the threat her writing poses, and the implied social dangers of this revelation are predictable.

Instead, the true surprise of this season’s final four episodes is not the friends-to-lovers romance but the way “Bridgerton” highlights friendships, especially those between women, and the way it follows in the tradition of spinoff “Queen Charlotte” to explore what marriage really means.

While the first two seasons largely focus on why people get married (whether for love, duty or stability), this season follows in the footsteps of “Queen Charlotte” to examine what marriage means for a woman. How does it grant agency? How does it constrain it? What do you do if, like Penelope, you’ve managed to find independence and are now faced with the