Bridgerton

Be in no doubt, though, that this is Nicola Coughlan’s series. You are basically here for her. Without Coughlan’s luminous, showstopping performance as the shy, overlooked and underestimated wallflower Penelope Featherington, plus the frustrating will they, won’t they? dynamic between her and Colin, it would be a fairly shallow affair.

In their steamiest moments together, Coughlan and Newton emit a tenderness that instantly wipes away any doubts a viewer could possibly have about the characters’ ardor for each other. On the whole, however, this outing lacks the giddiness of earlier ones. .... The delicious yearning that has been Bridgerton‘s bread and butter is dulled, significantly, by the fact that there’s not much actually standing between the would-be couple.

Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton excel as the couple at center stage, beautifully portraying the knife’s edge balance on which Penelope and Colin’s relationship sits. The first four episodes' primary weakness is an overabundance of irrelevant side plots, crowding the stage of the romance itself.

Bridgerton has lost its charm, at least in part because Newton lacks the charisma of his male-hero predecessors. The sex scenes don’t evoke the same thrill they once did—and maybe, looking back, that was more the thrill of something new, not Bridgerton actually being good at depicting sex.

After watching the batch of episodes released as Part 1 of this new season, I—much like the “on-the-shelf” Penelope—confess myself exhausted by standing at the edges of all these endless ballrooms, watching these sumptuously dressed rich people do their dancing and exchange their speaking glances. After the fourth or so installment turning on the events at so-and-so’s musicale or so-and-so’s luncheon, I find myself thirsting for a different setting and different stakes.

With repetition setting in, the second half of Season 3 needs to surprise fans with some bigger swings if Bridgerton has any hope of remaining the belle of the ball.

The dialogue, the gossip, the ballroom dances to Billie Eilish songs: it’s all there, just the same as it ever was. The writers seem to have given up. .... Fans of #Polin will be beside themselves when the pair finally get steam. Curiously, though, they have almost zero chemistry.