Warning: spoilers for season three of Bridgerton
After two seasons of back and forth in the age of the English Regency, the third season of Bridgerton finally turns its gaze towards the high society characters who have until now acted as wallflowers: Colin and Penelope, played by Luke Newton And Nicholas Coughlan. Like the previous two, the third season of the Netflix series is also based on a novel by Julia Quinn, A man to conqueroriginally published in 2002.
The showrunner Jess Brownell previously stated at Vanity Fair not to follow the books to the letter, but to use them as a creative guide rather than as gospel. “My approach is to adapt the emotional spirit of the book, as well as some of the key moments,” she said. “Because TV is a different medium, we have to fill out the plot a little more and create more twists and turns.”
This also means creating compelling storylines for supporting characters from the large cast of Bridgerton. This season, the Featherington sisters (Harriet Cains, Bessie Carter) compete hilariously to produce a male heir, the Mondriches (Martins Imhangbe, Emma Naomi) learn a lesson about social life after their son comes into possession of a valuable inheritance, and even the series’ bad girl, Cressida Cowper, (Jessica Madsen) moves towards a redemption arc: all subplots invented by the series’ writers.
But fear not: several much-loved scenes from the books are also present in the series. “There are some moments in the book, like the carriage scene, that we felt were really important to keep,” Brownell says.
In the following lines, take a look at the most noticeable changes that have occurred this season of Bridgerton in the transition from page to screen, including intriguing new love interests and a hotly anticipated carriage ride.
Benedict’s book put on hold
The first major change from book to series occurred before production even began. Instead of focusing on the love story of the second son Benedict (Luke Thompson), addressed in the third Bridgerton book, A gentleman’s proposalthe series jumps to Colin and Penelope’s love story, which is the focus of Quinn’s fourth book. «The decision to move on to Colin and Penelope was made by me and Shonda» (that would be Shonda Rhimesco-creator of Bridgerton), Brownell tells us. «The second season hadn’t finished yet, so there was still time to change the ending and prepare it properly for the third. And we both had the clear feeling that we knew these characters very well. We saw this dynamic where Colin just can’t understand that Penelope likes him, and we thought we didn’t want to let it get stale.”
This change altered some of the book’s temporal reference points: most notably, Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) don’t have two children yet, while Colin and Penelope are 20 and 22 years old respectively, instead of 28 and 33.
Penelope’s transformation
In both the book and the series, Penelope abandons her acid-colored wardrobe and her little poodle curls for a new look, which makes her feel less like her oppressive Featherington family and more authentic. In the path of self-enhancement undertaken by Penelope, however, the novel inserts (rather frustratingly) a weight loss. Quinn writes that Penelope could now “define herself “pleasantly rounded” rather than “a horrible fat girl”». Remarks like this were mercifully cut from the series. “We think Penelope is beautiful, and I don’t think that’s really part of her story,” Brownell told Variety.
