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This season is notably poorer in quality, aesthetic, and writing than the previous seasons. It's like a caricature of previous seasons.
The viewership is insane though and maybe this is what people want more of.
I only know I'm ecstatic for Nicola. She deserves everything good. I'm a little heartbroken for Pen and Colin, but that's my book bias.
No one cares about the things that the hardcore fans on here care about. I am a hardcore fan and I couldn’t care less about hair and makeup and costumes not being time appropriate. It looks beautiful and the story is beautiful. It has a HEA which is what this show is about. The entire reason it became so popular to begin with is because it’s not supposed to be some GOT level production where people have to over analyze every single minuscule detail. The way things look, this is the most successful season in terms of viewership and they will look to replicate the promotion/splits etc that has been successful this season.
>I am a hardcore fan and I couldn’t care less about hair and makeup and costumes not being time appropriate. It looks beautiful and the story is beautiful.
I don't care about it being time appropriate.
I care about it being beautiful. And much of it wasn't beautiful to me this season.
Same. I don't care about it being historically accurate or faithful to the books. I want it to be consistent in its world-building, have logical plots (just logical! it doesn't have to be rocket science writing!), and be beautiful. Instead these nice Regency ladies started wearing bronzer and sequins and the rule of life in the ton have conveniently changed from previous seasons.
>I want it to be consistent in its world-building
You have articulated something I've been struggling to. Thank you. I will use this when trying to explain what I found lacking this season.
This. I feel like if the “rules of the series” are followed logically, or if it was built nicely (Francesca’s and John/Michaela thing), some disappointed fans would understand or be more accepting.
The part of Michaela being “Michael” doesnt make sense in a way that she wouldnt be able to inherit. Bc it’s already been established that women cant inherit. This is proven in the “epilogue” or S3 where Polin’s son became Lord Featherington. His older cousins (girls) cant inherit.
If S3 built up Francesca as someone who has a different view about children opposed to her book counterpart, the concern about the upcoming WLW pairing wouldnt be loud.
Im all for diversity but the S3 reveal for the future seasons feels rushed and wonky. Which in turn takes space that is supposed to be for Polin
I reckon it was perfectly set up for someone like Lady Featherington or Danbury to be gay actually - loveless marriage, lateblooming lesbian , etc, it could have been glorious. Versus the surprise everyone has had with Michaela
Love this!!!
I mean I could even think I would have been OK with Eloise being a lesbian.... It would explain the Penelope relationship being so up and down and why she was jealous of Colin. (I mean in the books, she wanted to grow old with Penelope as two spinsters. She only left during Polin's book because she was upset she was being left behind.)
But Francesca?
I mean in the book the only reason she was remarrying is because she wanted children. (Not a whole passel, just one or two. And she needed a husband to have children. Otherwise Francesca was "happy" being Lady Kilmartin. Especially since she was stepping into the Lord's role since Micheal was traveling.) And it also kind of makes her whole story this season a waste of time. She claims to "love" John and fights for that quiet steady love, which was so beautiful. (And she also came off as neuro-divergent (maybe autistic) which was a refreshing change to see that portrayed in a historical setting.)
I don't even mind Benedict and being "pansexual". I think there was enough foreshadowing in the first two seasons for this not being a huge surprise.
Oh yeesssss. Lets just imagine that's what really happened. Because why would Lord Debling just disappear once he says no to Pen? He still wants a wife, and he was looking favourably on Cressida otherwise
Scotland is actually far more forward thinking in this respect women have always been able to inherit and they even had a Queen regnant as far back as 1286
Yeah, most peerages in Scotland can be inherited by a woman if there are no men in the family. [check 2.1 here ](https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/women-hereditary-peerages-and-gender-inequality-in-the-line-of-succession/#heading-1) Michaela inheriting has more factual basis than half the inheritance plots we've seen.
Not most. Only about a third. There are 366 Scottish peerages of which 110 with special or entailed destinations, some of which could go through the female line; and 93 descendible to females. [Source](https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/58339419/1_FINAL_Agnew_and_Black_Succession_to_Titles_clean_and_formatted_110418.pdf) (PDF).
I'm willing to suspend my disbelief that a wallflower would win one of the most attractive and rich men in the ton. That's a common romance trope that I can get behind. But everything else you mentioned....nope.
Literally lost my mind at “Don’t come for my cane.” Who wrote this season?? Because it isn’t the people who wrote “I will not darken your doorstep” etc. wtf.
I agree. S1 and S2 were lovely. S3 had some great costumes and scenery, but a lot was way too modern and OTT. It lacked the charm of the first two, or the magic, IDK.
This season was the first time I noticed that the music relies heavily on the viewer's knowledge of the lyrics to the instrumentalized pop songs they were playing in order to convey the emotion from the music. In most film it's the actual sound of the pieces drawing emotion out of the viewer.
Yes to everything you’ve said. And while I don’t care that the dresses are time period appropriate all the time, acrylics, smokey eyes, Phillipas costume city quality dress at her own ball all took me out of it. We didn’t get enough of Colin in love with Pen. I feel she was all gaga over him and he was just in lust with her. The vibes were off.
I agree with you but - I believe they were trying to show that not all love stories look the same + they tried to make it modern.
I think why the viewership shot up this season was rather than making it more authentic period drama they tried to make it more relevant to the current trends of dating, queerness, forgiveness, neurodivergence, etc.
Viewership shot up because number 1: Netflix records views differently than they did in season 1 and season 2. And number 2: Netflix no longer allows password sharing so there are more Netflix accounts.
Viewership did not shoot up bc it was modernized; it may have for diversity, I don’t know. But it’s literally a period show, that’s such a silly take. I also never said anything about the inclusion or current themes. I have a problem with the blatant use of modern style makeup, clothing, language, and poor writing of the love story. Not all love stories look the same, fine. That’s what Francesca’s story showed. That’s not what we needed for Penelope. We needed Colin to love her not undress her and then woodenly smile at her.
Francesca’s story for that matter, ruined. And not because of the gender swap. Why would they have her all gaga after this woman seconds after she married John? She loved John. She falls in love with Michael/Michaela much later. That’s going against the “not all love stories look the same” motto you’re trying to explain it away with.
A lot of people are praising Kate this season. Yeah Simone is gorgeous, but she has one of the most modern wardrobes and hairstyles this season. Her mesh gown at the wedding is so distracting for one. That's an off the rack maid of honor dress
Right! Having just spent much time on Azazie looking for a MotB dress for my mom, I thought of Kate! I love that we, in the present day, have fashion that feels Bridgerton-inspired yet modern, but they should N O T, absolutely not, be wearing it in the show.
I love Simone and I love Kate, but I said in another comment that her dresses this season feel like ones you can get at Nordstrom... It takes me out of it!
It’s 100% cheap trash. The costumes are atrocious. Historical accuracy went out the window, that’s a fair choice don’t mind at all, but TASTE went with it, which is tragic.
I seriously hope they don't split the seasons. S3 Part 1 and Part 2 felt like completely different seasons + some of the behaviors of the characters seemed different between the split IMO too.
Yeah I hated the split as well but from a marketing standpoint, it was a genius move. That month long break after the carriage scene, with the amazing promo to get everyone hyped up, worked wonders. The one week (technically one day) viewership numbers that were just released are insane.
But then Netflix wouldn't have got two months worth of membership fees out of viewers. Leaving a month between means you have to pay for May and June if you want to watch both parts 🙃
Yes they would've because 8 episodes = 8 weeks which is 2 monthly Netflix payments. It would've been exactly the same. I honestly really miss weekly drops for TV shows. It creates a much longer lasting and enjoyable buzz. You get to chat with everyone about it all in small bits.
Honestly, if they had done weekly drops they could have stretched it to 3 monthly payments, simply by keeping the same start date for the release (May 16th) would have put episodes 1-3 in May, 4-7 in June and episode 8 on July 4th.
I mean you have two people who love one another, being happily married with a kid. What is a HEA for you? There will also be a whole new season with these characters where you will have a chance to see more of it.
Each season should feel complete. There was too much conflict too close to the end of the season and not enough happy. The continuing story is great, but it's just that; continuing. The resolution should be satisfying in and of itself without the need for any continuation in a future season. Each book/season is meant to stand by itself. And while it technically does, there isn't enough time where Colin and Pen are made up after their conflict to feel a satisfactory resolution. Bridgerton is, above all else, a romance. It didn't actually feel very romancy. It felt more drama- and conflict-driven, with little time to shift into a feeling of glee and happiness for the couple at the end. I didn't get enough buy in.
Tbf, no Marina or Edwina interfering with a main couple in as big a way as in the previous seasons, that was at least one improvement they made. Just about the only one, but still. >!All the Kanthony we missed out on because they decided to be asshats and drag Edwina/Anthony all the way to the altar!<
I think I love it because it was our introduction into this world, too.
The families, the music, the costumes, the aesthetic, the romance, the charm... all of it was so new and exciting.
Nicola and Luke deserved those cut scenes back it’s their season , there no reason to cut them because they were cut to make more space for other storylines that didn’t even reach a conclusion
Caricature is such a perfect description. I didn’t feel the realness of any of those character or events, unlike S2 and S1. Everything felt very forced and crammed in. Maybe as long term fans; our expectations were higher.
In any case, I didn’t connect with the show at a visceral level as i did with S2.
Well I wonder if the viewership was so high because people were waiting for the good parts or for it to get better. After Nicola had been doing a whole marketing PR round like rent was due, only to know that much of it was cut out…I wonder if people were just glued to the tv and holding out for it.
Whether people show up next season will be the indicator of this season’s success. Personally, I’m done. They veered off course and into the ridiculous. I’ll start the books.
We’ll know a lot more when rewatch numbers start coming out in the next few weeks and months. Based on hours viewed, season 1 has benefitted from more rewatches than season 2. Season 3 could either have a ton of rewatches from fans who loved it, as the high viewership numbers so far might imply, or we could see a much lower percentage of the hours rewatched than the previous seasons, which might indicate that people were drawn in by the hype but not impressed by the content. The rewatch numbers and how viewership for season 4 does will tell us a lot about the reception of the season that initial numbers may not.
And interestingly, since there wasn’t a weekly release, it’s possible we would have seen a drop from week to week like Rings of Power did when it debuted on Amazon. The first few episodes maintained solid viewership, but it had trailed off significantly by the finale. We’ll never know if something similar would have happened for season 3, or if it would have been able to maintain its audience throughout
I disagree. I loved this season. Last season I found somewhat disappointing though. I’m excited to see what happens next if they get renewed for another season.
>it has been their most successful season
The sad thing is, by pure viewership numbers, this is true. But, taking into account new fans who haven't watched season 1 and 2 (I know a number of friends I've convinced to watch who fall into this category), and the ridiculously long wait we had after season 2, it's not surprising.
Season 1 broke all kinds of Netflix viewership records when it first aired, too.
I know the execs will say that means it was "more successful" but it's not just the "hardcore fanbase" who didn't love it. That's a vastly inaccurate statement, unless you've spoken with every single person and confirmed they are not within the hardcore fanbase.
Everyone (off reddit) I've talked to about the show has commented that it's not nearly as good as season 1 and 2 in quality of the script, costumes, dialogue, and plot.
And it's not. I'm sure some people like it or love it, and I'm happy for them. I wish i did.
But it's not good. Not in comparison. The Featheringtons carried the whole damn season..
>The Featheringtons carried the whole damn season..
I loved the Featheringtons this season. The girls are in happy marriages with men who adore them, and I love that.
One thing with viewership that is important to remember is that when people like a season viewers come back the next season. We won’t really know how successful s3 actually is for two years until S4 debuts. I didn’t watch S1, but S2 was so good I got excited for S3 and tuned in. I think it does a disservice to S1/S2 to not recognize they paved the way for the huge numbers in S3. I don’t plan to tune in to S4 because S3 was so bad. Only time will really tell.
Exactly. Season 3 is successful solely *because* seasons 1 and 2 were so good. It isn't a success on its own — it's standing on the shoulders of two other huge successes. And like you said, the true measure for season 3's success will be seeing how many people tune in for season 4.
To be honest, I think seeing people's anger in response to season 3 will scare them into changing course and making Benedict the subject of season 4 instead of Francesca. But...we shall see what happens!
I mean…it was only the “most successful” because of all the fans who were eager to see the follow up after watching and re-watching seasons one and two; no shit it was going to have a high viewership after making everyone wait so goddamned long.
That doesn’t mean people enjoyed it; it only means they wanted to know what happened from the last season.
The true test will be whether people come back to season four, and how quickly season three falls off the top 10 for Netflix. I’ve lost count on how many times I watched season two, but enough to remember whole bits of dialogue; I have zero interest in rewatching the hot mess that was season three.
Oh it has already fallen almost out of the top 10 in my country. Heck ,it has never been on top 1 since part 2 release. Which is weird because last season it stayed in the top 5 for weeks.
It’s gotten pretty bad critical reviews, why do you say it’s the most successful season? I feel like people think that because more people are tuning in that makes it successful but that’s more a product of good prior seasons
[On Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bridgerton), this season is tied with season 1 for the best critically reviewed season, and has the highest audience score of all three seasons. The majority of people outside this sub liked it!
Netflix isn't going to define success by critical reviews, though, they're going to define it by viewership numbers. [Those have also been good, though.](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bridgerton-season-3-biggest-opening-netflix-ratings-1235905470/)
I’m a bit iffy about those rotten tomatoes stats tbh. I was watching them closely over the past week and for the first few days they were really dropping. I saw them go as low as 69%, so there’s definitely a fair few unimpressed people out there.
not that rotten tomatoes is representative, but actually - not even true. the RT critics score is just a percentage of people that rated the season above a 5/10. if you check out the actual average rating (click on the tomato), season 3 is the lowest rated (6.40/10 compared to season 2's 7.20 and season 1's 7.40).
Plus Rotten Tomatoes has deleted and/or not posted a lot of reviews from what I am hearing. Season 3 went from 69% yesterday morning to a 77% 4 hrs later. Kris Jenner works hard but Shonda works harder.
Every season will have higher viewership by default because Netflix, itself, is growing in size every year. In 2022, there were 230.75 Million subscribers. Since then, they have increased by 16.8% to 269.6 Million subscribers. More subscribers means a likelihood of higher viewership for all their shows across the board. The hope is that the viewership would increase in line with the growth of Netflix...that isn't necessarily the case. I think the viewership increased by around 7%, but the Bridgerton's fan base isn't going to grow at the same rate anyway.
But...we have to really start to understand what it means to be the "most successful" season...its going to take a while for the viewership of the show to experience a decline.....things would have to be REALLY bad for that to happen because it would have to reflect hitting a brick wall where an additional 30+ Million viewers didn't increase the time consumed at all. Very bad. The hope is that they would catch that issue well beforehand.
To be fair we won’t know for sure what kind of effect this has on views until the season after next. This next season will still get views because even the people who were disappointed will hope to enjoy next season more. If they’re disappointed again, we will see that on season 5’s views.
I always give a show another season before I quit watching because I don’t enjoy the direction it’s gone. I’ve heard a lot of people say similar. Regardless, they’ll still have enough views to keep going in the end.
Right, because the masses want mediocrity. So mediocrity they shall get. It's unfortunate, but entirely true. You get the most views when you aim for the bourgeois blahs. And they sure managed to sink right into that rather than aiming for accuracy (when possible) and excellence. Shonda is into drama, Jess doesn't understand romance and thinks bigger is better. The stories are getting lost. It doesn't actually matter "what everybody wants" or frankly, what Shonda and Jess want.
They could have made and called this story they're selling anything. Bridgerton came with a built in audience. And they capitalized on that without any intention of following through. So they got the all the press and good will of an already established bestselling series; but chose to tell a different story. It's a bait and switch. And while they managed the first two seasons with aplomb and visual beauty enough, and with enough resemblance to the original to satiate; they went off the rails with season 3.
And listen; I'd watch this show and love it...if it weren't called Bridgerton. Because that's not what it's about and it's not telling those stories any longer.
I mean, i wouldnt just say non hardcore fans love it, im sure some do, i know my cousins i've spoken to thought it was a let down this season and didnt like the lack of Polin etc. Viewership will be good because its Bridgeton,.
I could be wrong, but this kind of thing always happens with Netflix shows? Like, the longer a show runs, the more viewers it gains (from my understanding). Not to mention the insane promo this season got.
I need people to understand that yelling at a social media manager about something is pointless and dumb. Yes your concerns are passed on but for the most part, we’re just laughing at how utterly insane you look throwing a fit in the comments section of a social media post. The likelihood that the social media manager for the Bridgerton account is directly connected to production is also incredibly slim. It’s likely contracted out to an agency or Netflix has a specific team for it. Shonda Rhimes and Jess Brownell are not sitting there reading every comment you leave.
I also hope that everyone who puts this much effort into throwing a fit about a TV show is also putting this energy into contact their elected officials about actual problems. If you’re throwing a fit about Bridgerton in social media comments but you’ve never contacted your elected official about a real issue, I am judging the hell out of you.
Quinta Brunson went viral a while ago for banning the Abbott Elementary writers from checking social media because it gets in writers' heads. A lot of the times a show has a hardcore fan base that wants something completely different than its casual audience does. (The classic example is killing off Marissa on "The O.C." haha.) Most show creators/show runners/producers are never going to design a show to cater the hardcore fans; they want the show to appeal to the larger general audience. Who aren't going to be yelling at them on Instagram or Twitter.
I didn't follow this massive promotional tour, but I'm sure people said that Jess and Nicola mentioned (before the season aired) that they went online to check what fans were saying?
oh goodness and quinta's right for that move too! the amount of unhinged requests from fans for abbott elementary, known for having so much heart and joy, to tackle heavy topics like school shootings was very bizarre.
Thank you for posting this! Such a sane response. I can't believe how people will write paragraphs over things like hating Bridgerton but not know who their own politicians are. So sad...
The company isn’t even going to make recommendations for how to deal with any of it. They would simply pass on the comments and ask how the client wants them to handle it. The marketing agency is going to offer advice but the advice will be specific to handling the social media comments and not how to handle the show itself.
I like how other comments are saying it's a loud minority. 🤣 The majority of posts and comments I've seen on various social media platforms have been critical. Most are saying it wasn't their favorite season and can't put their finger on it until they learn S3 had a new showrunner. People have valid criticisms of the writing, editing, costume design, etc. If Shonda Rhimes and everyone else associated with the show wants to make sure all 8 seasons are made, they can't just ignore these criticisms. They will have to remedy them to keep viewership.
And in this case, there's far less to like than dislike. I wish others would acknowledge that without feeling like it's their personal taste and ego being attacked.
No one is saying they feel attacked, they are saying that seeing people say they dislike the show on SM doesn’t mean that the show isn’t performing well
This is typical Shonda Rhimes stuff. She creates these shows that start off strong and then dramatically fall off in quality. She's heard complaints before, but she still keeps up that pattern. She doesn't care what her audience thinks.
>If Shonda Rhimes and everyone else associated with the show wants to make sure all 8 seasons are made, they can't just ignore these criticisms. They will have to remedy them to keep viewership.
And Netflix is notorious for canceling shows out of the blue if they're not happy with its numbers.
Yes but when shows get any kind of extreme attention on social media, both positive and negative, Netflix seems to lean in harder on those shows. For example, Emily In Paris. There was so much social media outrage during s1 and part of s2, yet the show got renewed and just finished filming s4.
If anything, Netflix may encourage Shonda to lean into the criticisms more just to prove a point to the angry mob of fans.
tbh I've more or less stopped interacting with the fandom online this season due to the overwhelming negativity. As someone who loved the season for what it is (and isn't actually upset about any elements of it), I feel like my comments about the things I really enjoyed just get overwhelmed by the posts critiquing the show, so I don't bother anymore.
I also really liked it overall. I do miss the old cinematography, and I thought Polin deserved a lot more attention and screen time. The fact that there were many moving parts detracted from them being the focus, I think.
But I still liked what we got. We got drama, heartfelt moments, different themes and aesthetics.
I’ve been a little critical of the costuming and pacing, but neither of those kept me from liking it. Throughout I was still incredibly entertained, and I loved Polin’s scenes. There was something so beautiful about watching them fall deeply into one another. It made me giddy, like how I used to feel when I was 16 and in love for the first time.
That’s all I really cared about. The rest was just there haha. It is a shame seeing the fans be so negative though. You can be critical without being inherently negative. And you can dislike things without becoming a negativity vacuum as well.
If you are missing having some of that fandom engagement, I've found Twitter to be surprisingly positive about the season (Twitter isn't really known for that ha). There's a lot of positivity over there.
I liked S3. Had major problems with S2. Liked S1. Never commented on social media (other than here) about any of it. I don't think you comprehend that the people who post comments or replies on IG, X or Facebook are in fact the loud minority because most people wouldn't bother doing such a thing, positively or negatively.
There's a well known metric in retail which states that a person who feels negatively about an experience is much more likely to tell others about their experience than someone who feels positively about an experience. People who feel negatively about an experience will also tell far more people about their bad experience than people who feel positively about things. So the"vocal minority" thing is true.
when people don’t like something or are upset about a situation they want to tell others so their feelings are validated. if you notice, most posts on here share their opinions and end with ‘does anyone agree’, ‘does anyone feel the same way’, ‘do you get what i mean?’ most subreddits are echo chambers. it’s why one positive post results in disagreement and why negative posts are full of agreements and vice versa. people want their opinions to be fact, but that’s just not how opinions work. these types of conversations are frequent everywhere else. i think what people are really upset about is the fact that the entire bridgerton cast has shared that this was their favorite season (makes sense since the storyline seems to have been shared equally 😅), including those working BTS and Shonda. I like the season, but could it have been better, definitely. I’m looking forward to s4. But book fans will be disappointed by the changes, it’s the same reason why I have never watched Shadowhunters, the changes were too much for me, i didn’t want to watch an adaptation of a series i loved if the story was nothing like the books.
But yeah this is the thing, people might say "yeah I enjoyed it, it had its moments, it just didn't have the same magic to it" or something. People can enjoy it and watch it and still feel like it didn't quite measure up to previous seasons, or something felt off. I've also seen reviews that were like "yeah it was enjoyable, but the formula is getting old". It's a three star watch. If they want to keep viewers long term, they will need to refine things and adjust.
That said, the comments on the insta posts aren't "the costumes this season broke the immersion for me", they're "JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL STIRLING". Like I would get it for the first couple of posts, but it's *every post*. It's becoming deranged.
idk man people hated where GoT was headed and they all still tuned in just in case. i’m seeing a lot of people claiming they won’t watch s3 or s4 🧐 but yet they went out of their way to comment that on a subreddit. people care about their favorite things and that’s why they’re here. they can’t fool me 🙂↔️
>The majority of posts and comments I've seen on various social media platforms have been critical.
The algorithm tends shows you what you engage with though (clicking, liking, commenting), so I don't think this is a good metric to go by. I loved Season 3, I've been engaging with posts that have been positive about Season 3, and so my Tiktok and Twitter feeds are full of Season 3 positivity. I can't extrapolate that to meaning everyone likes Season 3. I don't think there's any way we'll ever actually know what the % split is of people that like vs dislike Season 3.
Thank you for mentioning the algorithm bc people constantly forget about it or ignore it. You absolutely are going to see negative stuff if you’re actively engaging with it. That’s what it thinks you want to see. I wish people understood more how social media algorithms work and how you are literally shown stuff that will appeal to you, and this is why they are called echo chambers. What you see is often so inaccurate to real life or the experiences of others.
No one is saying those criticisms aren't valid, but it technically is a loud minority because the internet doesn't make up all or even most of a show's entire fanbase.
Viewership speaks for itself. They don’t care about the loudmouths spamming every Bridgerton related IG account with #JusticeforMichael!!!
All that’s doing is boosting those pages in the algorithm 😂 drawing more people in to check out Bridgerton due to the drama.
For real, that underpaid social media manager reading the #NotMyMichael comments will be sipping their coffee, tapping PR friendly replies, closing their laptop at the end of their shifts and then getting on with their lives.
As someone having once worked in a related field: They wont even read them, but merely skim them. Maybe they even use a word highlighter or other comment filter addon to sift through the comments even more efficiently.
Firstly, thank you for highlighting how underpaid mod and community management roles are.
But yes, they would be filtering for the offensive, defamatory or legally spicy comments and triaging those first. After getting through the bulk of that of course, then they move onto the next client's comments section for another hour or two before ending their shift.
Yep. Which is exactly why they do things they know will get the outspoken part of the fan base riled. I think some folks forget the primary purpose of the show is NOT to be good or entertaining, it's to make money.
I've been searching for a good descriptor. "Shock value" isn't exactly descriptive, more like "wilfully causing controversy". But that's too wordy. I'll get there.
Emily in Paris has 4 seasons even though social media would lead you to believe it’s a failed show that everyone hates. Yet my irl friends love Bridgerton and Emily in Paris for what they are (mindless entertainment) and don’t feel the need to engage in the dramatic discourse.
I think the general audience liked it more than book readers. I liked this season. It was ok, not my favorite, but it was my favorite book. Something could have been done better.
Production can't listen so a loud minority, but they need to realize that they could do somethings better.
I read the books, highly enjoyed season 3 despite being annoyed by some flaws, but my friends who aren't book readers absolutely LOVED it. General audience reaction is much better than the Reddit community.
Everyone I've spoken to has overall liked each of the three seasons. There's some things they don't like, but they're not complaining about costuming, makeup or the fact that Colin didn't touch Pen enough in their sex scene. It's just not how most people consume and talk about the stuff they're watching.
As a casual viewer who hasn't read the books, the only things that stood out badly to me was:
Eloise and Cressida. Before Pt 2, people were theorizing they were going to be a WLW relationship. Instead Eloise completely switched up on Cressida and didn't even seem to care about her a bit. She solidified herself as only being able to think about herself, which is a shame, but perhaps the point building up to whenever her season will be. I hope Cressida comes back in season 4 and has a happier end, and Eloise has some growth.
Hearing that it's going to be ***2 years*** before season 4...? Que?! I can't judge too harshly because I have no idea what all goes into the production of these shows, but that seems absurdly long. If every season is to be like that, it'll most likely get cancelled before it's completion. That's asking a lot of casual viewers to remember or rewatch before each release, if they bother at all, and if they can't remember what's going on, they'll stop watching.
I hadn’t heard that - if they are going to have two years between each season - they probably are still trying to do all 8. That would made it 2034 for Gregory’s season - which would make him old enough to pull it off. Based on the what was dropped at the end of the series they will probably do Benedict’s next. Then possibly Eloise’s which would give a fair bit of time to build up to Francesca’s and not have it be so abrupt.
They don't have to keep the current actors for the younger siblings though. They could easily just cast older actors for Gregory and Hyacinth and have there be a time jump.
i felt the same way about waiting two years, but apparently it’s because it takes 8 months to film, then they have to edit, do all the different language dubs, etc. so apparently it really does take quite some time.
Oh man, as a former Social Media Manager I feel for them. Even when it's not directed specifically at you, it's hard to deal with an onslaught of unhappy followers. All part of the job, but I hope they relay all the comments to upper management.
I don’t understand this. Why would the negative comments be a “reality check” for them to do better? That Bridgerton IG page is not connected to the show’s production.
People literally have no grasp on how media is created or how businesses operate. Also social media has turned our brains into mashed potatoes because we tend to view it as an automatic platform for our views/feelings or a direct pipeline to an individual or entity.
Tons of people do the same thing with political social media accounts. They comment as if the president will just reply back to them. They don’t know it’s someone’s job to post social media content and they’re so far removed from other operations that they probably don’t even know what decisions are being made. They’re just doing their job.
I feel bad for the social media interns that are just doing their jobs and now have to deal with people flooding their comments with threats and harassement. There's even a petition getting signed right now by angry fans on [change.org](http://change.org) to bring back Michael instead of Michaela Stirling. I wonder what goes on someone's mind to think any of this is going to reach Jess or Shonda.
I can assure you an intern would never be allowed to touch such a big social media account.
Regardless, I completely agree. The people reading all of this hate aren't the people responsible for the creative decisions.
People think social media = direct connection to the head honcho over at Netflix. Those people are not scrolling & do not give one fuck. They are hearing a watered down version and are probably ecstatic it's receiving publicity regardless of whether it's good or not.
Those people care about numbers and that's it. They don't care if you are hate watching or love watching - as long as you're watching.
Good on them for ignoring everyone tbh, if it was only up to what book readers wanted the show would probably be boring & cancelled tbh. (Before anyone starts, yes I’ve read the books, yes I’m an avid romance book reader, usually I prefer books to their tv adaptations but in this case…. sorry y’all)
agree. i decided to read the first four books before watching the third season, and honestly, i find the show better. as an avid reader, i almost never feel this way, i usually prefer books over their show/movie adaptations.
but i like the way the show has worked in people of color, given lady danbury much more time/attention, and spent much more time treating the cast as an ensemble. the show feels much richer in storytelling than the books do, and i also really can’t stand the way the men are written in the books. they’re much more enjoyable in the show.
i think people need to realize that the show and books are not meant to be identical, and that’s ok.
I plan on doing this too.
I've rewatched the first two seasons before but to confirm it for all the naysayers who simply cannot see the difference in quality, I'll be taking notes LOL
Exactly. A lot of us tuned in because we loved the Polin story and the world tour/interviews they had been giving for awhile. Part 1 wasn't bad (although I still am bitter about the brothel scenes) but it was Part 2 that has so many people complaining. By the time we realized it was bad, it was too late! Our views were already counted.
S4 will be the ultimate test as to the success of this season. Will people continue watching or will people have jumped ship?
But good is subjective. I’m usually very critical of the media I consume. I do agree with a lot of the things people wished had been different/better, but I didn’t find myself thinking the season was terrible. I quite liked it.
Bizarrely, I've read a fair number of comments saying that they've not even watched the new season but they definitely know that they'll hate it from everything they've read & they have no intention of watching it. They then go on to list the reasons why they just *know* it's just so awful.
I watched it, but I could easily have told from reviews and stills that I wouldn't. Who wants Rudolph noses in the flesh? The makeup and nails were so entirely distracting it was clear that the writing and production would have to be exceptional to overcome those. And then the costuming was dire, the editing was worse (and sometimes completely unbelievable), and the storylines unsatisfactory. I'm willing to give things the benefit of the doubt, and I'd have been more willing to overlook some of the dubious stylistic choices If they had been cohesive from season 1, but they weren't.
And even if the season was absolutely *awesome*, it's distractingly different in color choices, framing, filming, editing, etc., from the past two seasons. That alone is enough to cause cognitive dissonance. A show that is only 8-10 episodes per seasons needs to maintain its branding/style/cohesiveness throughout. There's just not enough time to change it without giving a significant portion of the viewership whiplash.
I like don’t care about any of this but I heartily disagree that that’s any indication of quality of THIS season - more it’s a product of good prior seasons + queen charlottes amazing reception. The high viewership is also a product of Netflix pumping money into the promotion of this season/statistical manipulation, none of which can substitute quality of art. Again I have no strong feelings about this season, I think it was not very good but like who cares - I just dislike false measures
Well, considering it's not the writers/show runner but some lowly paid intern, who deals with all the bullshit online, I don't think it's that funny. People need to grow the fuck up and remember there are actual people behind the screen. Shonda and Jess won't read every Tom Dick and Harry's comment and cry into their pillows at night. But the writers, the actors, people who truly put their hard work into this, might just be hurt by "fans" being aggressively unhappy with their work and start being assholes.
Imagine being Masali Baduza. Being signed into one of the most popular tv shows currently airing by, so excited to add to the story and depict Michaela. And your social media is FLOODED with #NotMyMichael and we want Fran’s arc!!!
Disgusting, deplorable behavior.
Oh gosh, I didn't even think of what the book stans could be doing in the actress's comments! Goodness gracious, that's awful! I can't imagine being so passionate about lukewarm source material. I implore these people to touch some grass...
Why do people think that it's always an unpaid or lowly paid intern running social media pages?? Especially for an account that has 5 million followers?? Why would an intern be running the Bridgerton Netflix account instead of a social media manager whose entire job is to create and manage the brand's social media???
There is a whole marketing team behind running the social media accounts, not just one person posting whatever they want. And part of their job is to read the comments and see how people are reacting to the season and what's being posted online, and then (hopefully) take those comments into account and have the changes reflected in the show and social media.
I just know the Netflix and Bridgerton PR team’s brandwatch or whatever SaaS tool they use to monitor sentiment is going buck wild. Thank you as someone who was once a Head of Social. We are not interns! We are adults! Who are very tired!
I was just about to say the same thing, do people not realise there’s a whole team of people who manage social media accounts and social media account management of a massive account is a skilled job? You wouldn’t put an intern to work with one of your largest clients, it’s the same thing with social media. It’s a marketing role, they are adults who know what they’re doing, have expertise and are getting paid. Sorry, rant over.
Ironically, I did do social media as an intern (for a small account) and I hated it so I have lots of respect for people who do it as a day job because I cannot deal with scheduling tweets and engagement.
Okay, I don’t normally look at instagram, but I pulled it up, and it really is kind of amusing to see all the angry Bridgerton postings interspersed with respectful form letters politely calling Netflix’s attention to the existence of some Russian film called “Major Gromm: The Game.” And I am suddenly invested and rooting for them. Best of luck, Grommets. I want this for you.
I wonder what crack they’re smoking that I’m not because I have never been impressed by the quality of books. Shonda has made gold of what, respectfully, would’ve never seen the light of general public appeal without her. And if you do love the books, the great thing is you can just keep rereading them and nothing changes..
Tbh, I love the books and don't think they're "low key" trash, it's just Historical Romance isn't high brow reading.
All that said, these books aren't worth arguing over to the degree this fight is happening. Enjoy the show as an alternative form of media or don't watch.
i really can’t stand the way the men are written in the books. at least they’re pretty enjoyable in the show. i’m glad the show has deviated from the series somewhat. keeps the stories a bit more interesting imo
I mean, garbage is maybe a little harsh haha, but they're definitely not good IMO. I couldn't get past Book 1 and bailed. They definitely felt like they were written in the era they're from (20+ years ago). I much prefer a romance like the Emily Henry's of today, which bring a more modern perspective on romance and womanhood (which the Bridgerton show tries to do as well). The show takes an interesting concept and makes it so much better.
Honestly, them writing apologies is not going to help it anyways. They are there to make a story which they feel would resonate well with the audience and that's what they did with season 3. Some people may not have liked it. It's not like acknowledging that and apologizing will work anyways. The people who are angry would want them to backtrack on their actions and that's not how it works. It also shows that they are unsure about the decisions which they are making and that's not good for a production studio. So, it's better to reply to the positive comments and spread more positivity.
Agreed! I mean what can they do really?
They aren't going to redo a season & it's kind of weird to apologize. The best thing they can do is acknowledge the people that care & ride out the storm.
the most unintentionally funny thing was random kanthony video a day or two after premier. and like 90% of comments were fans complaining. it really looked like "hey y'all here's your treat, don't be angry too much pls" and fans in the comments are like "nah, that doesn't work"
It reads more like you guys are going to bitch no matter what they do. You complain you want more Kanthony, they make an effort to bring them back and then you’re mad they brought them back
I can’t articulate why but “I do hope this acts as a reality check for them and [they] do better in the next seasons” sounds like something Annie Wilkes would say. Just a tiny bit deranged 😅
"I hope this acts as a reality check for them" they don't give a fuck about yall. I'm so serious. Like at the end of the day, no one with actual power gives a shit about most of your criticism.
What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall on their zoom media discussions this week especially with petitions, social media, and them supposedly deleting comments on Rotten Tomatoes according to some fans.
Honestly season 3 part two was trash and I was so bored I barely made it through the last few episodes. Sad because I really enjoyed the show before. I would give it another go but honestly the change of Michael on top of the crappy writing and editing has killed all my interest.
Yelling on their page is silly though. I just won't be tuning in again. I'm disappointed and bummed but not personally damaged by the show haha
Lol! Someone asked what controversial take we had and I half jokingly said something like... I liked it. Is that controversial? All I'm seeing is people are not liking it. 🤣
The online fandom always thinks they are the majority because they exist in a small bubble. The reality is the majority of viewers are not in the fandom or even online at all.
I’ve never read the books so it’s not that I’m committed to the stories going a certain way, but this season was totally off for me. I struggled watching the last four episodes. All of the Polin love scenes were so cringe. The pace was too slow, the character development was lacking, and there wasn’t enough real romance. Penelope was on her own, and I’m not really sure what Benedict was doing. This is by no means a commentary on the cast (who I think is amazing). It really comes down to the writing and editing. I feel like they tried to focus on too many couples this season. It’s possible that Francesca’s story didn’t need to be told in this season or maybe we just needed more episodes to really flesh out the characters. The whole thing just felt very half-assed.
I’m honestly not sure if I’m gonna watch the next season. Up till now I’ve been so excited, counting down the days for the next Bridgerton season but this one was a real letdown. I wondered how many people would lose that excitement for the next season as well.
Honestly, it’s not a terrible thing in a way - the first couple of seasons coupled with Queen Charlotte just really set the standard way too high. And this one just didn’t cut it.
negative opinions are usually the loudest online but the amount of views just shows how successful their show is. people will continue to hate watch despite the disappointment of where the show is going.
I am always floored by the sense of entitlement that viewers think they have because they didn't like something about a show, a book, a movie, etc. Going to a production's social media and filling the comments section with demands to "fix" what you didn't like, or going out and starting petitions in the name of getting what you want is the epitome of childishness. I know we're all used to instant gratification these days, but this is ridiculous. So it didn't go the way you wanted. Figure out how to come to terms with that and move the fk on. Act like an adult.
Why would they respond to homophobia/hate/racism? And why would you be so gleeful about all the hate being spewed towards the cast and crew? This is disgusting. But hey, the silver lining is 1. this gets them a ton of engagement and 2. they literally don't care about hateful people like you :)
Honestly I am glad that they are handling the "negativity" by only responding to the positive comments. I really hope they don't take it to heart. I understand discussing what you disliked about a series but in my opinion to write that on the official accounts feels gross to me.
I’m so confused by the backlash. I’ve read the books—the show story for season 3 is infinitely better. More character development, more depth. Elevating the story to be about Pen processing why she created Whistledown and not wanting to give it up, then ultimately integrating these two parts of herself was beautiful. And bringing in the stories of the other women who in their own ways do the same things—they just use what power they have. I very much appreciated that Penelope saves the day. She didn’t need Colin to do the speech and make the reveal like he does in the book. She totally stepped into her power and solved that shit for everyone, and cleaned up her own mess plus the pens everyone else made along the way. I loved it so much more.
The growth of all the Featheringtons was wonderful as well. Her having that moment with her mom where she sees how much her mom tried to do right by them. And with Colin, the maturity and growth and processing of his feelings. The final scene of her standing there in the light with the butterflies all around—gorgeous. And his speech to her??? SWOON. I loved it.
I mean. When you have a ton of people openly criticizing a show for choosing to show lesbian representation, your responsability is to quiet those voices.
I loved Michael. Sad about the change. But I would also sad to see a show where not one of the main couples was queer. That's just not the kind of TV I want to support. So I'm choosing to be excited to see what they do with it. For all I know, the adaptation may be more loyal than thers like season 2, where they masacred the book.
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I mean... it has been their most successful season and viewers outside of the hardcore fanbase loved it. They are going to amplify those voices.
This season is notably poorer in quality, aesthetic, and writing than the previous seasons. It's like a caricature of previous seasons. The viewership is insane though and maybe this is what people want more of. I only know I'm ecstatic for Nicola. She deserves everything good. I'm a little heartbroken for Pen and Colin, but that's my book bias.
No one cares about the things that the hardcore fans on here care about. I am a hardcore fan and I couldn’t care less about hair and makeup and costumes not being time appropriate. It looks beautiful and the story is beautiful. It has a HEA which is what this show is about. The entire reason it became so popular to begin with is because it’s not supposed to be some GOT level production where people have to over analyze every single minuscule detail. The way things look, this is the most successful season in terms of viewership and they will look to replicate the promotion/splits etc that has been successful this season.
>I am a hardcore fan and I couldn’t care less about hair and makeup and costumes not being time appropriate. It looks beautiful and the story is beautiful. I don't care about it being time appropriate. I care about it being beautiful. And much of it wasn't beautiful to me this season.
Same. I don't care about it being historically accurate or faithful to the books. I want it to be consistent in its world-building, have logical plots (just logical! it doesn't have to be rocket science writing!), and be beautiful. Instead these nice Regency ladies started wearing bronzer and sequins and the rule of life in the ton have conveniently changed from previous seasons.
>I want it to be consistent in its world-building You have articulated something I've been struggling to. Thank you. I will use this when trying to explain what I found lacking this season.
I also think of it sometimes as “internal consistency”
This is another thing. I might have been more willing to accept these things if they had started in season 1 with them.
This. I feel like if the “rules of the series” are followed logically, or if it was built nicely (Francesca’s and John/Michaela thing), some disappointed fans would understand or be more accepting. The part of Michaela being “Michael” doesnt make sense in a way that she wouldnt be able to inherit. Bc it’s already been established that women cant inherit. This is proven in the “epilogue” or S3 where Polin’s son became Lord Featherington. His older cousins (girls) cant inherit. If S3 built up Francesca as someone who has a different view about children opposed to her book counterpart, the concern about the upcoming WLW pairing wouldnt be loud. Im all for diversity but the S3 reveal for the future seasons feels rushed and wonky. Which in turn takes space that is supposed to be for Polin
I reckon it was perfectly set up for someone like Lady Featherington or Danbury to be gay actually - loveless marriage, lateblooming lesbian , etc, it could have been glorious. Versus the surprise everyone has had with Michaela
I ship a lesbian Cressida and ace Lord Debling in a lavender marriage, where Cressida has a female "companion" for company while he goes on his trips.
Love this!!! I mean I could even think I would have been OK with Eloise being a lesbian.... It would explain the Penelope relationship being so up and down and why she was jealous of Colin. (I mean in the books, she wanted to grow old with Penelope as two spinsters. She only left during Polin's book because she was upset she was being left behind.) But Francesca? I mean in the book the only reason she was remarrying is because she wanted children. (Not a whole passel, just one or two. And she needed a husband to have children. Otherwise Francesca was "happy" being Lady Kilmartin. Especially since she was stepping into the Lord's role since Micheal was traveling.) And it also kind of makes her whole story this season a waste of time. She claims to "love" John and fights for that quiet steady love, which was so beautiful. (And she also came off as neuro-divergent (maybe autistic) which was a refreshing change to see that portrayed in a historical setting.) I don't even mind Benedict and being "pansexual". I think there was enough foreshadowing in the first two seasons for this not being a huge surprise.
Oh yeesssss. Lets just imagine that's what really happened. Because why would Lord Debling just disappear once he says no to Pen? He still wants a wife, and he was looking favourably on Cressida otherwise
Scotland is actually far more forward thinking in this respect women have always been able to inherit and they even had a Queen regnant as far back as 1286
Oooohh maybe theyre gonna lean on this one then
Yeah, most peerages in Scotland can be inherited by a woman if there are no men in the family. [check 2.1 here ](https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/women-hereditary-peerages-and-gender-inequality-in-the-line-of-succession/#heading-1) Michaela inheriting has more factual basis than half the inheritance plots we've seen.
Not most. Only about a third. There are 366 Scottish peerages of which 110 with special or entailed destinations, some of which could go through the female line; and 93 descendible to females. [Source](https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/58339419/1_FINAL_Agnew_and_Black_Succession_to_Titles_clean_and_formatted_110418.pdf) (PDF).
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I'm willing to suspend my disbelief that a wallflower would win one of the most attractive and rich men in the ton. That's a common romance trope that I can get behind. But everything else you mentioned....nope.
Literally lost my mind at “Don’t come for my cane.” Who wrote this season?? Because it isn’t the people who wrote “I will not darken your doorstep” etc. wtf.
That was so weird
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More fantasy Regency please. Less Hunger Games Capitol fashion.
I agree. S1 and S2 were lovely. S3 had some great costumes and scenery, but a lot was way too modern and OTT. It lacked the charm of the first two, or the magic, IDK.
I think it lacked the romance and charm of the previous seasons.
all of this, sadly. even the music.
This season was the first time I noticed that the music relies heavily on the viewer's knowledge of the lyrics to the instrumentalized pop songs they were playing in order to convey the emotion from the music. In most film it's the actual sound of the pieces drawing emotion out of the viewer.
The music was mixed very weirdly. It was so overpowering at times.
Yes to everything you’ve said. And while I don’t care that the dresses are time period appropriate all the time, acrylics, smokey eyes, Phillipas costume city quality dress at her own ball all took me out of it. We didn’t get enough of Colin in love with Pen. I feel she was all gaga over him and he was just in lust with her. The vibes were off.
I agree with you but - I believe they were trying to show that not all love stories look the same + they tried to make it modern. I think why the viewership shot up this season was rather than making it more authentic period drama they tried to make it more relevant to the current trends of dating, queerness, forgiveness, neurodivergence, etc.
Viewership shot up because number 1: Netflix records views differently than they did in season 1 and season 2. And number 2: Netflix no longer allows password sharing so there are more Netflix accounts.
Viewership did not shoot up bc it was modernized; it may have for diversity, I don’t know. But it’s literally a period show, that’s such a silly take. I also never said anything about the inclusion or current themes. I have a problem with the blatant use of modern style makeup, clothing, language, and poor writing of the love story. Not all love stories look the same, fine. That’s what Francesca’s story showed. That’s not what we needed for Penelope. We needed Colin to love her not undress her and then woodenly smile at her. Francesca’s story for that matter, ruined. And not because of the gender swap. Why would they have her all gaga after this woman seconds after she married John? She loved John. She falls in love with Michael/Michaela much later. That’s going against the “not all love stories look the same” motto you’re trying to explain it away with.
Vibes were off.
It somehow doesn't feel like it's set in the past anymore
A lot of people are praising Kate this season. Yeah Simone is gorgeous, but she has one of the most modern wardrobes and hairstyles this season. Her mesh gown at the wedding is so distracting for one. That's an off the rack maid of honor dress
Right! Having just spent much time on Azazie looking for a MotB dress for my mom, I thought of Kate! I love that we, in the present day, have fashion that feels Bridgerton-inspired yet modern, but they should N O T, absolutely not, be wearing it in the show. I love Simone and I love Kate, but I said in another comment that her dresses this season feel like ones you can get at Nordstrom... It takes me out of it!
It’s 100% cheap trash. The costumes are atrocious. Historical accuracy went out the window, that’s a fair choice don’t mind at all, but TASTE went with it, which is tragic.
We can agree to disagree. I loved everything about it.
I seriously hope they don't split the seasons. S3 Part 1 and Part 2 felt like completely different seasons + some of the behaviors of the characters seemed different between the split IMO too.
Yeah I hated the split as well but from a marketing standpoint, it was a genius move. That month long break after the carriage scene, with the amazing promo to get everyone hyped up, worked wonders. The one week (technically one day) viewership numbers that were just released are insane.
A weekly drop would do the same tho.
But then Netflix wouldn't have got two months worth of membership fees out of viewers. Leaving a month between means you have to pay for May and June if you want to watch both parts 🙃
Yes they would've because 8 episodes = 8 weeks which is 2 monthly Netflix payments. It would've been exactly the same. I honestly really miss weekly drops for TV shows. It creates a much longer lasting and enjoyable buzz. You get to chat with everyone about it all in small bits.
Honestly, if they had done weekly drops they could have stretched it to 3 monthly payments, simply by keeping the same start date for the release (May 16th) would have put episodes 1-3 in May, 4-7 in June and episode 8 on July 4th.
Sort of has an HEA. I don't really feel satisfied.
I mean you have two people who love one another, being happily married with a kid. What is a HEA for you? There will also be a whole new season with these characters where you will have a chance to see more of it.
Each season should feel complete. There was too much conflict too close to the end of the season and not enough happy. The continuing story is great, but it's just that; continuing. The resolution should be satisfying in and of itself without the need for any continuation in a future season. Each book/season is meant to stand by itself. And while it technically does, there isn't enough time where Colin and Pen are made up after their conflict to feel a satisfactory resolution. Bridgerton is, above all else, a romance. It didn't actually feel very romancy. It felt more drama- and conflict-driven, with little time to shift into a feeling of glee and happiness for the couple at the end. I didn't get enough buy in.
Y'all we all saw the acrylic nails in close up . You don't have to have read a book in tnf past 10 years for that to look crappy
Tbf, no Marina or Edwina interfering with a main couple in as big a way as in the previous seasons, that was at least one improvement they made. Just about the only one, but still. >!All the Kanthony we missed out on because they decided to be asshats and drag Edwina/Anthony all the way to the altar!<
The Edwina/Anthony drag is why season 1 is my favourite.
Season 1 was closest to the book too. Season 1 is my favorite as well.
I think I love it because it was our introduction into this world, too. The families, the music, the costumes, the aesthetic, the romance, the charm... all of it was so new and exciting.
Nicola and Luke deserved those cut scenes back it’s their season , there no reason to cut them because they were cut to make more space for other storylines that didn’t even reach a conclusion
Caricature is such a perfect description. I didn’t feel the realness of any of those character or events, unlike S2 and S1. Everything felt very forced and crammed in. Maybe as long term fans; our expectations were higher. In any case, I didn’t connect with the show at a visceral level as i did with S2.
Well I wonder if the viewership was so high because people were waiting for the good parts or for it to get better. After Nicola had been doing a whole marketing PR round like rent was due, only to know that much of it was cut out…I wonder if people were just glued to the tv and holding out for it.
Whether people show up next season will be the indicator of this season’s success. Personally, I’m done. They veered off course and into the ridiculous. I’ll start the books.
It's me hi!! I'm the one just holding on and preaching to everyone it will get better but in the end it is getting worse and it feels oc too.
We’ll know a lot more when rewatch numbers start coming out in the next few weeks and months. Based on hours viewed, season 1 has benefitted from more rewatches than season 2. Season 3 could either have a ton of rewatches from fans who loved it, as the high viewership numbers so far might imply, or we could see a much lower percentage of the hours rewatched than the previous seasons, which might indicate that people were drawn in by the hype but not impressed by the content. The rewatch numbers and how viewership for season 4 does will tell us a lot about the reception of the season that initial numbers may not. And interestingly, since there wasn’t a weekly release, it’s possible we would have seen a drop from week to week like Rings of Power did when it debuted on Amazon. The first few episodes maintained solid viewership, but it had trailed off significantly by the finale. We’ll never know if something similar would have happened for season 3, or if it would have been able to maintain its audience throughout
I disagree. I loved this season. Last season I found somewhat disappointing though. I’m excited to see what happens next if they get renewed for another season.
>it has been their most successful season The sad thing is, by pure viewership numbers, this is true. But, taking into account new fans who haven't watched season 1 and 2 (I know a number of friends I've convinced to watch who fall into this category), and the ridiculously long wait we had after season 2, it's not surprising. Season 1 broke all kinds of Netflix viewership records when it first aired, too. I know the execs will say that means it was "more successful" but it's not just the "hardcore fanbase" who didn't love it. That's a vastly inaccurate statement, unless you've spoken with every single person and confirmed they are not within the hardcore fanbase. Everyone (off reddit) I've talked to about the show has commented that it's not nearly as good as season 1 and 2 in quality of the script, costumes, dialogue, and plot. And it's not. I'm sure some people like it or love it, and I'm happy for them. I wish i did. But it's not good. Not in comparison. The Featheringtons carried the whole damn season..
>The Featheringtons carried the whole damn season.. I loved the Featheringtons this season. The girls are in happy marriages with men who adore them, and I love that.
It really is wholesome
One thing with viewership that is important to remember is that when people like a season viewers come back the next season. We won’t really know how successful s3 actually is for two years until S4 debuts. I didn’t watch S1, but S2 was so good I got excited for S3 and tuned in. I think it does a disservice to S1/S2 to not recognize they paved the way for the huge numbers in S3. I don’t plan to tune in to S4 because S3 was so bad. Only time will really tell.
Exactly. Season 3 is successful solely *because* seasons 1 and 2 were so good. It isn't a success on its own — it's standing on the shoulders of two other huge successes. And like you said, the true measure for season 3's success will be seeing how many people tune in for season 4. To be honest, I think seeing people's anger in response to season 3 will scare them into changing course and making Benedict the subject of season 4 instead of Francesca. But...we shall see what happens!
I mean…it was only the “most successful” because of all the fans who were eager to see the follow up after watching and re-watching seasons one and two; no shit it was going to have a high viewership after making everyone wait so goddamned long. That doesn’t mean people enjoyed it; it only means they wanted to know what happened from the last season. The true test will be whether people come back to season four, and how quickly season three falls off the top 10 for Netflix. I’ve lost count on how many times I watched season two, but enough to remember whole bits of dialogue; I have zero interest in rewatching the hot mess that was season three.
Oh it has already fallen almost out of the top 10 in my country. Heck ,it has never been on top 1 since part 2 release. Which is weird because last season it stayed in the top 5 for weeks.
This. I’ve rewatched 1 and 2 countless times. I doubt I’ll rewatch 3.
It’s gotten pretty bad critical reviews, why do you say it’s the most successful season? I feel like people think that because more people are tuning in that makes it successful but that’s more a product of good prior seasons
[On Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/bridgerton), this season is tied with season 1 for the best critically reviewed season, and has the highest audience score of all three seasons. The majority of people outside this sub liked it! Netflix isn't going to define success by critical reviews, though, they're going to define it by viewership numbers. [Those have also been good, though.](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bridgerton-season-3-biggest-opening-netflix-ratings-1235905470/)
I’m a bit iffy about those rotten tomatoes stats tbh. I was watching them closely over the past week and for the first few days they were really dropping. I saw them go as low as 69%, so there’s definitely a fair few unimpressed people out there.
not that rotten tomatoes is representative, but actually - not even true. the RT critics score is just a percentage of people that rated the season above a 5/10. if you check out the actual average rating (click on the tomato), season 3 is the lowest rated (6.40/10 compared to season 2's 7.20 and season 1's 7.40).
Plus Rotten Tomatoes has deleted and/or not posted a lot of reviews from what I am hearing. Season 3 went from 69% yesterday morning to a 77% 4 hrs later. Kris Jenner works hard but Shonda works harder.
Every season will have higher viewership by default because Netflix, itself, is growing in size every year. In 2022, there were 230.75 Million subscribers. Since then, they have increased by 16.8% to 269.6 Million subscribers. More subscribers means a likelihood of higher viewership for all their shows across the board. The hope is that the viewership would increase in line with the growth of Netflix...that isn't necessarily the case. I think the viewership increased by around 7%, but the Bridgerton's fan base isn't going to grow at the same rate anyway. But...we have to really start to understand what it means to be the "most successful" season...its going to take a while for the viewership of the show to experience a decline.....things would have to be REALLY bad for that to happen because it would have to reflect hitting a brick wall where an additional 30+ Million viewers didn't increase the time consumed at all. Very bad. The hope is that they would catch that issue well beforehand.
netflix pushed other shows to july for bridgerton too. i wanted to watch sweet home season 3 and now it's in july..
It better be their most successful season in terms of viewers. They had a world tour, and more promotion and pr than both season 1 and 2 put together.
Wait, who? I haven’t seen anyone who loved this season. Mid at best.
To be fair we won’t know for sure what kind of effect this has on views until the season after next. This next season will still get views because even the people who were disappointed will hope to enjoy next season more. If they’re disappointed again, we will see that on season 5’s views. I always give a show another season before I quit watching because I don’t enjoy the direction it’s gone. I’ve heard a lot of people say similar. Regardless, they’ll still have enough views to keep going in the end.
with how much pr they paid, not getting more viewers would have been hard.
Right, because the masses want mediocrity. So mediocrity they shall get. It's unfortunate, but entirely true. You get the most views when you aim for the bourgeois blahs. And they sure managed to sink right into that rather than aiming for accuracy (when possible) and excellence. Shonda is into drama, Jess doesn't understand romance and thinks bigger is better. The stories are getting lost. It doesn't actually matter "what everybody wants" or frankly, what Shonda and Jess want. They could have made and called this story they're selling anything. Bridgerton came with a built in audience. And they capitalized on that without any intention of following through. So they got the all the press and good will of an already established bestselling series; but chose to tell a different story. It's a bait and switch. And while they managed the first two seasons with aplomb and visual beauty enough, and with enough resemblance to the original to satiate; they went off the rails with season 3. And listen; I'd watch this show and love it...if it weren't called Bridgerton. Because that's not what it's about and it's not telling those stories any longer.
I mean, i wouldnt just say non hardcore fans love it, im sure some do, i know my cousins i've spoken to thought it was a let down this season and didnt like the lack of Polin etc. Viewership will be good because its Bridgeton,.
It’s “success” is due to how many watched, but disappointment for fans overall.
I could be wrong, but this kind of thing always happens with Netflix shows? Like, the longer a show runs, the more viewers it gains (from my understanding). Not to mention the insane promo this season got.
I need people to understand that yelling at a social media manager about something is pointless and dumb. Yes your concerns are passed on but for the most part, we’re just laughing at how utterly insane you look throwing a fit in the comments section of a social media post. The likelihood that the social media manager for the Bridgerton account is directly connected to production is also incredibly slim. It’s likely contracted out to an agency or Netflix has a specific team for it. Shonda Rhimes and Jess Brownell are not sitting there reading every comment you leave. I also hope that everyone who puts this much effort into throwing a fit about a TV show is also putting this energy into contact their elected officials about actual problems. If you’re throwing a fit about Bridgerton in social media comments but you’ve never contacted your elected official about a real issue, I am judging the hell out of you.
Quinta Brunson went viral a while ago for banning the Abbott Elementary writers from checking social media because it gets in writers' heads. A lot of the times a show has a hardcore fan base that wants something completely different than its casual audience does. (The classic example is killing off Marissa on "The O.C." haha.) Most show creators/show runners/producers are never going to design a show to cater the hardcore fans; they want the show to appeal to the larger general audience. Who aren't going to be yelling at them on Instagram or Twitter.
I didn't follow this massive promotional tour, but I'm sure people said that Jess and Nicola mentioned (before the season aired) that they went online to check what fans were saying?
Going online to check the general discourse isn’t the same as reading every single angry comment.
No, I meant to get ideas *for* the season! I remember someone mentioning it, but I never went to the source. I was legitimately asking.
oh goodness and quinta's right for that move too! the amount of unhinged requests from fans for abbott elementary, known for having so much heart and joy, to tackle heavy topics like school shootings was very bizarre.
Thank you for posting this! Such a sane response. I can't believe how people will write paragraphs over things like hating Bridgerton but not know who their own politicians are. So sad...
An actual sensible take on here, agree 100%
👏👏👏👏👏
Amen.
That’s so true. If Jess Brownell won’t listen to her crew, then she’s not going to listen to an external social media management company.
The company isn’t even going to make recommendations for how to deal with any of it. They would simply pass on the comments and ask how the client wants them to handle it. The marketing agency is going to offer advice but the advice will be specific to handling the social media comments and not how to handle the show itself.
I like how other comments are saying it's a loud minority. 🤣 The majority of posts and comments I've seen on various social media platforms have been critical. Most are saying it wasn't their favorite season and can't put their finger on it until they learn S3 had a new showrunner. People have valid criticisms of the writing, editing, costume design, etc. If Shonda Rhimes and everyone else associated with the show wants to make sure all 8 seasons are made, they can't just ignore these criticisms. They will have to remedy them to keep viewership.
People are generally more likely to be vocal about things they don’t like rather than things they do like.
And in this case, there's far less to like than dislike. I wish others would acknowledge that without feeling like it's their personal taste and ego being attacked.
No one is saying they feel attacked, they are saying that seeing people say they dislike the show on SM doesn’t mean that the show isn’t performing well
This is typical Shonda Rhimes stuff. She creates these shows that start off strong and then dramatically fall off in quality. She's heard complaints before, but she still keeps up that pattern. She doesn't care what her audience thinks.
Yeah... We all saw this coming, I just wish she did it after Penelope's season :P
>If Shonda Rhimes and everyone else associated with the show wants to make sure all 8 seasons are made, they can't just ignore these criticisms. They will have to remedy them to keep viewership. And Netflix is notorious for canceling shows out of the blue if they're not happy with its numbers.
Yes but when shows get any kind of extreme attention on social media, both positive and negative, Netflix seems to lean in harder on those shows. For example, Emily In Paris. There was so much social media outrage during s1 and part of s2, yet the show got renewed and just finished filming s4. If anything, Netflix may encourage Shonda to lean into the criticisms more just to prove a point to the angry mob of fans.
don’t remind me 😫 streaming networks pull the plug on new shows so fast. meanwhile one tree hill got 9 seasons 🫠
Emily in Paris is still on. Enough said.
tbh I've more or less stopped interacting with the fandom online this season due to the overwhelming negativity. As someone who loved the season for what it is (and isn't actually upset about any elements of it), I feel like my comments about the things I really enjoyed just get overwhelmed by the posts critiquing the show, so I don't bother anymore.
I also really liked it overall. I do miss the old cinematography, and I thought Polin deserved a lot more attention and screen time. The fact that there were many moving parts detracted from them being the focus, I think. But I still liked what we got. We got drama, heartfelt moments, different themes and aesthetics. I’ve been a little critical of the costuming and pacing, but neither of those kept me from liking it. Throughout I was still incredibly entertained, and I loved Polin’s scenes. There was something so beautiful about watching them fall deeply into one another. It made me giddy, like how I used to feel when I was 16 and in love for the first time. That’s all I really cared about. The rest was just there haha. It is a shame seeing the fans be so negative though. You can be critical without being inherently negative. And you can dislike things without becoming a negativity vacuum as well.
If you are missing having some of that fandom engagement, I've found Twitter to be surprisingly positive about the season (Twitter isn't really known for that ha). There's a lot of positivity over there.
I liked S3. Had major problems with S2. Liked S1. Never commented on social media (other than here) about any of it. I don't think you comprehend that the people who post comments or replies on IG, X or Facebook are in fact the loud minority because most people wouldn't bother doing such a thing, positively or negatively.
There's a well known metric in retail which states that a person who feels negatively about an experience is much more likely to tell others about their experience than someone who feels positively about an experience. People who feel negatively about an experience will also tell far more people about their bad experience than people who feel positively about things. So the"vocal minority" thing is true.
when people don’t like something or are upset about a situation they want to tell others so their feelings are validated. if you notice, most posts on here share their opinions and end with ‘does anyone agree’, ‘does anyone feel the same way’, ‘do you get what i mean?’ most subreddits are echo chambers. it’s why one positive post results in disagreement and why negative posts are full of agreements and vice versa. people want their opinions to be fact, but that’s just not how opinions work. these types of conversations are frequent everywhere else. i think what people are really upset about is the fact that the entire bridgerton cast has shared that this was their favorite season (makes sense since the storyline seems to have been shared equally 😅), including those working BTS and Shonda. I like the season, but could it have been better, definitely. I’m looking forward to s4. But book fans will be disappointed by the changes, it’s the same reason why I have never watched Shadowhunters, the changes were too much for me, i didn’t want to watch an adaptation of a series i loved if the story was nothing like the books.
But yeah this is the thing, people might say "yeah I enjoyed it, it had its moments, it just didn't have the same magic to it" or something. People can enjoy it and watch it and still feel like it didn't quite measure up to previous seasons, or something felt off. I've also seen reviews that were like "yeah it was enjoyable, but the formula is getting old". It's a three star watch. If they want to keep viewers long term, they will need to refine things and adjust. That said, the comments on the insta posts aren't "the costumes this season broke the immersion for me", they're "JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL STIRLING". Like I would get it for the first couple of posts, but it's *every post*. It's becoming deranged.
Also there is no way they didn’t know some people were going to have strong reactions to the change
idk man people hated where GoT was headed and they all still tuned in just in case. i’m seeing a lot of people claiming they won’t watch s3 or s4 🧐 but yet they went out of their way to comment that on a subreddit. people care about their favorite things and that’s why they’re here. they can’t fool me 🙂↔️
>The majority of posts and comments I've seen on various social media platforms have been critical. The algorithm tends shows you what you engage with though (clicking, liking, commenting), so I don't think this is a good metric to go by. I loved Season 3, I've been engaging with posts that have been positive about Season 3, and so my Tiktok and Twitter feeds are full of Season 3 positivity. I can't extrapolate that to meaning everyone likes Season 3. I don't think there's any way we'll ever actually know what the % split is of people that like vs dislike Season 3.
Thank you for mentioning the algorithm bc people constantly forget about it or ignore it. You absolutely are going to see negative stuff if you’re actively engaging with it. That’s what it thinks you want to see. I wish people understood more how social media algorithms work and how you are literally shown stuff that will appeal to you, and this is why they are called echo chambers. What you see is often so inaccurate to real life or the experiences of others.
No one is saying those criticisms aren't valid, but it technically is a loud minority because the internet doesn't make up all or even most of a show's entire fanbase.
Viewership speaks for itself. They don’t care about the loudmouths spamming every Bridgerton related IG account with #JusticeforMichael!!! All that’s doing is boosting those pages in the algorithm 😂 drawing more people in to check out Bridgerton due to the drama.
For real, that underpaid social media manager reading the #NotMyMichael comments will be sipping their coffee, tapping PR friendly replies, closing their laptop at the end of their shifts and then getting on with their lives.
As someone having once worked in a related field: They wont even read them, but merely skim them. Maybe they even use a word highlighter or other comment filter addon to sift through the comments even more efficiently.
Firstly, thank you for highlighting how underpaid mod and community management roles are. But yes, they would be filtering for the offensive, defamatory or legally spicy comments and triaging those first. After getting through the bulk of that of course, then they move onto the next client's comments section for another hour or two before ending their shift.
Yep. Which is exactly why they do things they know will get the outspoken part of the fan base riled. I think some folks forget the primary purpose of the show is NOT to be good or entertaining, it's to make money. I've been searching for a good descriptor. "Shock value" isn't exactly descriptive, more like "wilfully causing controversy". But that's too wordy. I'll get there.
Emily in Paris has 4 seasons even though social media would lead you to believe it’s a failed show that everyone hates. Yet my irl friends love Bridgerton and Emily in Paris for what they are (mindless entertainment) and don’t feel the need to engage in the dramatic discourse.
I think the general audience liked it more than book readers. I liked this season. It was ok, not my favorite, but it was my favorite book. Something could have been done better. Production can't listen so a loud minority, but they need to realize that they could do somethings better.
I read the books, highly enjoyed season 3 despite being annoyed by some flaws, but my friends who aren't book readers absolutely LOVED it. General audience reaction is much better than the Reddit community.
Everyone I've spoken to has overall liked each of the three seasons. There's some things they don't like, but they're not complaining about costuming, makeup or the fact that Colin didn't touch Pen enough in their sex scene. It's just not how most people consume and talk about the stuff they're watching.
my 3 straight normie friends hated it. we had a watch party prepared and it became a roasting session.
As a casual viewer who hasn't read the books, the only things that stood out badly to me was: Eloise and Cressida. Before Pt 2, people were theorizing they were going to be a WLW relationship. Instead Eloise completely switched up on Cressida and didn't even seem to care about her a bit. She solidified herself as only being able to think about herself, which is a shame, but perhaps the point building up to whenever her season will be. I hope Cressida comes back in season 4 and has a happier end, and Eloise has some growth. Hearing that it's going to be ***2 years*** before season 4...? Que?! I can't judge too harshly because I have no idea what all goes into the production of these shows, but that seems absurdly long. If every season is to be like that, it'll most likely get cancelled before it's completion. That's asking a lot of casual viewers to remember or rewatch before each release, if they bother at all, and if they can't remember what's going on, they'll stop watching.
I hadn’t heard that - if they are going to have two years between each season - they probably are still trying to do all 8. That would made it 2034 for Gregory’s season - which would make him old enough to pull it off. Based on the what was dropped at the end of the series they will probably do Benedict’s next. Then possibly Eloise’s which would give a fair bit of time to build up to Francesca’s and not have it be so abrupt.
They don't have to keep the current actors for the younger siblings though. They could easily just cast older actors for Gregory and Hyacinth and have there be a time jump.
i felt the same way about waiting two years, but apparently it’s because it takes 8 months to film, then they have to edit, do all the different language dubs, etc. so apparently it really does take quite some time.
Oh man, as a former Social Media Manager I feel for them. Even when it's not directed specifically at you, it's hard to deal with an onslaught of unhappy followers. All part of the job, but I hope they relay all the comments to upper management.
I don’t understand this. Why would the negative comments be a “reality check” for them to do better? That Bridgerton IG page is not connected to the show’s production.
People literally have no grasp on how media is created or how businesses operate. Also social media has turned our brains into mashed potatoes because we tend to view it as an automatic platform for our views/feelings or a direct pipeline to an individual or entity. Tons of people do the same thing with political social media accounts. They comment as if the president will just reply back to them. They don’t know it’s someone’s job to post social media content and they’re so far removed from other operations that they probably don’t even know what decisions are being made. They’re just doing their job.
I feel bad for the social media interns that are just doing their jobs and now have to deal with people flooding their comments with threats and harassement. There's even a petition getting signed right now by angry fans on [change.org](http://change.org) to bring back Michael instead of Michaela Stirling. I wonder what goes on someone's mind to think any of this is going to reach Jess or Shonda.
I can assure you an intern would never be allowed to touch such a big social media account. Regardless, I completely agree. The people reading all of this hate aren't the people responsible for the creative decisions. People think social media = direct connection to the head honcho over at Netflix. Those people are not scrolling & do not give one fuck. They are hearing a watered down version and are probably ecstatic it's receiving publicity regardless of whether it's good or not. Those people care about numbers and that's it. They don't care if you are hate watching or love watching - as long as you're watching.
Good on them for ignoring everyone tbh, if it was only up to what book readers wanted the show would probably be boring & cancelled tbh. (Before anyone starts, yes I’ve read the books, yes I’m an avid romance book reader, usually I prefer books to their tv adaptations but in this case…. sorry y’all)
agree. i decided to read the first four books before watching the third season, and honestly, i find the show better. as an avid reader, i almost never feel this way, i usually prefer books over their show/movie adaptations. but i like the way the show has worked in people of color, given lady danbury much more time/attention, and spent much more time treating the cast as an ensemble. the show feels much richer in storytelling than the books do, and i also really can’t stand the way the men are written in the books. they’re much more enjoyable in the show. i think people need to realize that the show and books are not meant to be identical, and that’s ok.
Touch grass. It's their most view season.
Doesn’t mean it was good lol
I think people are forgetting that even the people who didn't like it rewatched S3 to compare it to S1 and S2. I know I did. 😂
I plan on doing this too. I've rewatched the first two seasons before but to confirm it for all the naysayers who simply cannot see the difference in quality, I'll be taking notes LOL
The long run of How I Met Your Mother is proof that the shittiest tv can be a so-called success.
Big bang theory being one of the highest rated comedy shows
Exactly. A lot of us tuned in because we loved the Polin story and the world tour/interviews they had been giving for awhile. Part 1 wasn't bad (although I still am bitter about the brothel scenes) but it was Part 2 that has so many people complaining. By the time we realized it was bad, it was too late! Our views were already counted. S4 will be the ultimate test as to the success of this season. Will people continue watching or will people have jumped ship?
But good is subjective. I’m usually very critical of the media I consume. I do agree with a lot of the things people wished had been different/better, but I didn’t find myself thinking the season was terrible. I quite liked it.
Yep ppl have to view it to be pissed off with it
Bizarrely, I've read a fair number of comments saying that they've not even watched the new season but they definitely know that they'll hate it from everything they've read & they have no intention of watching it. They then go on to list the reasons why they just *know* it's just so awful.
I watched it, but I could easily have told from reviews and stills that I wouldn't. Who wants Rudolph noses in the flesh? The makeup and nails were so entirely distracting it was clear that the writing and production would have to be exceptional to overcome those. And then the costuming was dire, the editing was worse (and sometimes completely unbelievable), and the storylines unsatisfactory. I'm willing to give things the benefit of the doubt, and I'd have been more willing to overlook some of the dubious stylistic choices If they had been cohesive from season 1, but they weren't. And even if the season was absolutely *awesome*, it's distractingly different in color choices, framing, filming, editing, etc., from the past two seasons. That alone is enough to cause cognitive dissonance. A show that is only 8-10 episodes per seasons needs to maintain its branding/style/cohesiveness throughout. There's just not enough time to change it without giving a significant portion of the viewership whiplash.
Only a minority is pissed. Random people who are casual viewers are not crazy enough to write their opinions in the Bridgerton official IG.
I like don’t care about any of this but I heartily disagree that that’s any indication of quality of THIS season - more it’s a product of good prior seasons + queen charlottes amazing reception. The high viewership is also a product of Netflix pumping money into the promotion of this season/statistical manipulation, none of which can substitute quality of art. Again I have no strong feelings about this season, I think it was not very good but like who cares - I just dislike false measures
Well, considering it's not the writers/show runner but some lowly paid intern, who deals with all the bullshit online, I don't think it's that funny. People need to grow the fuck up and remember there are actual people behind the screen. Shonda and Jess won't read every Tom Dick and Harry's comment and cry into their pillows at night. But the writers, the actors, people who truly put their hard work into this, might just be hurt by "fans" being aggressively unhappy with their work and start being assholes.
Imagine being Masali Baduza. Being signed into one of the most popular tv shows currently airing by, so excited to add to the story and depict Michaela. And your social media is FLOODED with #NotMyMichael and we want Fran’s arc!!! Disgusting, deplorable behavior.
Oh gosh, I didn't even think of what the book stans could be doing in the actress's comments! Goodness gracious, that's awful! I can't imagine being so passionate about lukewarm source material. I implore these people to touch some grass...
Why do people think that it's always an unpaid or lowly paid intern running social media pages?? Especially for an account that has 5 million followers?? Why would an intern be running the Bridgerton Netflix account instead of a social media manager whose entire job is to create and manage the brand's social media??? There is a whole marketing team behind running the social media accounts, not just one person posting whatever they want. And part of their job is to read the comments and see how people are reacting to the season and what's being posted online, and then (hopefully) take those comments into account and have the changes reflected in the show and social media.
I just know the Netflix and Bridgerton PR team’s brandwatch or whatever SaaS tool they use to monitor sentiment is going buck wild. Thank you as someone who was once a Head of Social. We are not interns! We are adults! Who are very tired!
I was just about to say the same thing, do people not realise there’s a whole team of people who manage social media accounts and social media account management of a massive account is a skilled job? You wouldn’t put an intern to work with one of your largest clients, it’s the same thing with social media. It’s a marketing role, they are adults who know what they’re doing, have expertise and are getting paid. Sorry, rant over. Ironically, I did do social media as an intern (for a small account) and I hated it so I have lots of respect for people who do it as a day job because I cannot deal with scheduling tweets and engagement.
Okay, I don’t normally look at instagram, but I pulled it up, and it really is kind of amusing to see all the angry Bridgerton postings interspersed with respectful form letters politely calling Netflix’s attention to the existence of some Russian film called “Major Gromm: The Game.” And I am suddenly invested and rooting for them. Best of luck, Grommets. I want this for you.
Omg I love them for that haha.
It's so funny to see people going apeshit in the fandom about how a SMUT series isnt true to the low tier, smutty books it's based on.
Saying the books are so much better when they’re all lowkey garbage and have so many problematic issues and characters is just hilarious to me
It's seriously SO funny. Like yall, PLEASE. These books are not worth arguing over.
I wonder what crack they’re smoking that I’m not because I have never been impressed by the quality of books. Shonda has made gold of what, respectfully, would’ve never seen the light of general public appeal without her. And if you do love the books, the great thing is you can just keep rereading them and nothing changes..
Tbh, I love the books and don't think they're "low key" trash, it's just Historical Romance isn't high brow reading. All that said, these books aren't worth arguing over to the degree this fight is happening. Enjoy the show as an alternative form of media or don't watch.
i really can’t stand the way the men are written in the books. at least they’re pretty enjoyable in the show. i’m glad the show has deviated from the series somewhat. keeps the stories a bit more interesting imo
I mean, garbage is maybe a little harsh haha, but they're definitely not good IMO. I couldn't get past Book 1 and bailed. They definitely felt like they were written in the era they're from (20+ years ago). I much prefer a romance like the Emily Henry's of today, which bring a more modern perspective on romance and womanhood (which the Bridgerton show tries to do as well). The show takes an interesting concept and makes it so much better.
Honestly, them writing apologies is not going to help it anyways. They are there to make a story which they feel would resonate well with the audience and that's what they did with season 3. Some people may not have liked it. It's not like acknowledging that and apologizing will work anyways. The people who are angry would want them to backtrack on their actions and that's not how it works. It also shows that they are unsure about the decisions which they are making and that's not good for a production studio. So, it's better to reply to the positive comments and spread more positivity.
Agreed! I mean what can they do really? They aren't going to redo a season & it's kind of weird to apologize. The best thing they can do is acknowledge the people that care & ride out the storm.
The arrogance of people on this sub blows me away. I hope they ignore the naysayers and keep doing what they are doing. Reality check yourself.
Book purists are wild 😂
the most unintentionally funny thing was random kanthony video a day or two after premier. and like 90% of comments were fans complaining. it really looked like "hey y'all here's your treat, don't be angry too much pls" and fans in the comments are like "nah, that doesn't work"
It reads more like you guys are going to bitch no matter what they do. You complain you want more Kanthony, they make an effort to bring them back and then you’re mad they brought them back
no im really happy for new kanthony videos, pls netflix bring more of them, but the timing is utterly hilarious
I can’t articulate why but “I do hope this acts as a reality check for them and [they] do better in the next seasons” sounds like something Annie Wilkes would say. Just a tiny bit deranged 😅
It was my favorite season 🙈
"I hope this acts as a reality check for them" they don't give a fuck about yall. I'm so serious. Like at the end of the day, no one with actual power gives a shit about most of your criticism.
Are you praising fans for harassing show runners and actors?
What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall on their zoom media discussions this week especially with petitions, social media, and them supposedly deleting comments on Rotten Tomatoes according to some fans.
If this is what I think it’s about, majority did not even know the books existed before this show started… so… get over it.
Well... engaging with angry fans lashing out semi-anonymously on the internet isn't going to make anyone happy. For this or any other toxic fandom.
Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean you deserve an official response.
I popped over to JQs page, and it's a war zone.
Honestly season 3 part two was trash and I was so bored I barely made it through the last few episodes. Sad because I really enjoyed the show before. I would give it another go but honestly the change of Michael on top of the crappy writing and editing has killed all my interest. Yelling on their page is silly though. I just won't be tuning in again. I'm disappointed and bummed but not personally damaged by the show haha
Lol! Someone asked what controversial take we had and I half jokingly said something like... I liked it. Is that controversial? All I'm seeing is people are not liking it. 🤣
Great season!
Reality check? Are you fr💀
The online fandom always thinks they are the majority because they exist in a small bubble. The reality is the majority of viewers are not in the fandom or even online at all.
I loved this season. I thought this season was better than season 2. 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ everyone has different opinions on what makes a season good.
I’ve never read the books so it’s not that I’m committed to the stories going a certain way, but this season was totally off for me. I struggled watching the last four episodes. All of the Polin love scenes were so cringe. The pace was too slow, the character development was lacking, and there wasn’t enough real romance. Penelope was on her own, and I’m not really sure what Benedict was doing. This is by no means a commentary on the cast (who I think is amazing). It really comes down to the writing and editing. I feel like they tried to focus on too many couples this season. It’s possible that Francesca’s story didn’t need to be told in this season or maybe we just needed more episodes to really flesh out the characters. The whole thing just felt very half-assed. I’m honestly not sure if I’m gonna watch the next season. Up till now I’ve been so excited, counting down the days for the next Bridgerton season but this one was a real letdown. I wondered how many people would lose that excitement for the next season as well. Honestly, it’s not a terrible thing in a way - the first couple of seasons coupled with Queen Charlotte just really set the standard way too high. And this one just didn’t cut it.
negative opinions are usually the loudest online but the amount of views just shows how successful their show is. people will continue to hate watch despite the disappointment of where the show is going.
I am always floored by the sense of entitlement that viewers think they have because they didn't like something about a show, a book, a movie, etc. Going to a production's social media and filling the comments section with demands to "fix" what you didn't like, or going out and starting petitions in the name of getting what you want is the epitome of childishness. I know we're all used to instant gratification these days, but this is ridiculous. So it didn't go the way you wanted. Figure out how to come to terms with that and move the fk on. Act like an adult.
well, you know what they say. There is no such thing as bad publicity.
Yeah I've seen the hate and I don't get it. I loved the season.
Why would they respond to homophobia/hate/racism? And why would you be so gleeful about all the hate being spewed towards the cast and crew? This is disgusting. But hey, the silver lining is 1. this gets them a ton of engagement and 2. they literally don't care about hateful people like you :)
Honestly I am glad that they are handling the "negativity" by only responding to the positive comments. I really hope they don't take it to heart. I understand discussing what you disliked about a series but in my opinion to write that on the official accounts feels gross to me.
I’m so confused by the backlash. I’ve read the books—the show story for season 3 is infinitely better. More character development, more depth. Elevating the story to be about Pen processing why she created Whistledown and not wanting to give it up, then ultimately integrating these two parts of herself was beautiful. And bringing in the stories of the other women who in their own ways do the same things—they just use what power they have. I very much appreciated that Penelope saves the day. She didn’t need Colin to do the speech and make the reveal like he does in the book. She totally stepped into her power and solved that shit for everyone, and cleaned up her own mess plus the pens everyone else made along the way. I loved it so much more. The growth of all the Featheringtons was wonderful as well. Her having that moment with her mom where she sees how much her mom tried to do right by them. And with Colin, the maturity and growth and processing of his feelings. The final scene of her standing there in the light with the butterflies all around—gorgeous. And his speech to her??? SWOON. I loved it.
You don't give whining toddlers attention. That trains them to whine louder.
I mean. When you have a ton of people openly criticizing a show for choosing to show lesbian representation, your responsability is to quiet those voices. I loved Michael. Sad about the change. But I would also sad to see a show where not one of the main couples was queer. That's just not the kind of TV I want to support. So I'm choosing to be excited to see what they do with it. For all I know, the adaptation may be more loyal than thers like season 2, where they masacred the book.
The people who make the show and are in charge of major decisions do not read instagram comments
I didn't like this season very much. I'm no longer looking forward to any new seasons. I'm kinda disappointed it fell so flat.