Does Anyone Else Think Netflix’s Bridgerton Season 3 Split Was A Bad Idea?

Warning: SPOILERS for Bridgerton Season 3 are in play. If you haven’t experienced the all-strings cover of “Give Me Everything” just yet, you shouldn’t board this carriage just yet.

Dearest readers, something’s amiss in the world of Bridgerton. While we’re definitely getting all of Season 3 on the 2024 TV schedule, the decision was made to cleave this story in two. With what we know about Bridgerton Season 3 specifying that the second part will arrive almost a month after Part 1, it appears that the way we’ve seen this series released in the past has changed. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think this split was absolutely a bad idea. Let’s discuss.

Penelope And Colin’s Romance In Season 3 Peaked Too Soon

Bridgerton, in a nutshell, is a season-long romance where a new child of the titular family is eventually married. Skipping the book order a bit, Season 3 has been all about “Polin,” the portmanteau given to the betrothal of Penelope Feathrington (Nicola Coughlin) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). And while some of my colleagues have forgiven Colin’s Season 2 behavior, I’m not sold to this extent.

By the end of “Old Friends,” the “mid-season finale” to Season 3, Colin has already proposed to Penelope. After a spirited moment of romance on a carriage ride set to that Pitbull cover I mentioned in the warning, our lovers are apparently over that nastiness at the end of Season 2.

I don’t think the audience has forgotten, and Penelope certainly didn’t let it slip her mind, as seen in this clip from Season 3:

Apparently three episodes and change is all it took for Bridgerton to claim its latest romantic victims. Some fans even feel that Colin should have had to grovel a little more, and even though I’m not invested in this series past the sick burns of Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel), I’d agree. With Colin and Penelope’s romance now peaking in Part 1, what does that leave for Part 2?

The Teaser For Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 Felt Very Low Stakes

Promising that “the season’s best is still to come,” that teaser at the end of Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 indicated that Penelope’s secret identity as Lady Whistledown will be the huge test of this new pair’s love affair. So basically, the mystery that in itself kind of petered out in Season 2 when Eloise (Claudia Jessie) discovered the truth is now being shifted to Colin. You know, the person who was the first person to find out in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton novels.

If I wasn’t watching Bridgerton out of professional obligation, as well due to the fact that my wife is still a big fan, I honestly don’t know if I’d watch the next half. And if Season 3 was released like the first two seasons, as well as the Queen Charlotte spinoff, I wouldn’t have to make that decision. More importantly, diehard Bridgerton fans wouldn’t have to agonize over a typical season of their favorite show unjustly stretched out.

Bridgerton Season 3 Is A Standard Eight Episode Run

Netflix has been experimenting with new staggered scheduling with some of its programming. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Stranger Things’ final season was shifted to weekly drops, but that’s an agony to discuss another day. The fact still remains that this is the platform that programmed the pop culture world to binge watch, and now it’s trying to undo that behavior with popular shows like Bridgerton.

Now I can see Cobra Kai’s final season split into three parts, as Netflix has decided to beef that up to a 15 episode sendoff. I’d even give that Stranger Things hypothetical benefit of the doubt on the similar reasoning that it’s the final season. If you’re going to milk the crowd, give us a good reason to go through the pain of waiting. For Bridgerton Season 3 to be a standard eight-episode run after another two-year wait between seasons is not ideal.

Bridgerton Fans Now Have Double The Time To Pick Apart Season 3’s Issues

If you love, like or loathe a show like Bridgerton, it used to be that you binged the season in its entirety, picked apart your issues and waited for the next season in quick succession. That’s not the case with Season 3’s split, as there’s now roughly double the time for fans who aren’t on board with how this adaptation is changing to voice their opinions.

Did you think Penelope went too easy on Colin? Are you mad that Eloise is breaking bad with Cressida (Jessica Madsen) and the rest of the mean girls? Do you really think another attempt to out Lady Whistledown is enough of a dramatic tease to watch the rest of a season you’d normally see all at once? If not, you have plenty of time to have your say, and then light into the second half when it airs.

Can Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 Even Dream Of Topping That Pitbull Needle Drop?

When I was thinking about my reasons against Bridgerton’s Season 3 split, I initially joked about the fact that the season wouldn’t be able to top dropping the needle on Pitbull’s “Give Me Everything” being covered by violins. But the more that I think about this punchline, the more it becomes a serious concern.

Ok, if you’re reading this without having watched this program, and want to know what the angry man has been referencing this whole time, watch this Pitbull-approved clip:

Congratulations to those of you on the side of TikTok that doesn’t put that cover in your ears every ten seconds; you’ve just unlocked a new trend! As if Bridgerton’s Season 3 musical choices weren’t unhinged enough, this moment probably surpasses the “Wildest Dreams” love scene from Season 1 as the main attraction. So really, how do you expect me to believe that Season 3 Part 2 is going to even try to best this moment?

You’ve introduced Pitbull into a Regency-era drama, and there’s no coming back from this point. Unless the powers of alchemy, dark magic and Spotify are on your side, it’s not happening. Even the most valiant attempt is going to have trouble trying to make us forget that one of Mr. Worldwide’s greatest hits was playing when Colin and Penelope had that big moment.

I’m not trying to take away from anyone’s Bridgerton fun here, especially since the more amusing prospect has been tracking Nicola Coughlin and Luke Newton’s insane real-life chemistry. Seriously, if those two aren’t dating, this is the most sparks I’ve gotten from a “platonic” relationship since Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. But I can’t avoid the fact that after the first part of Season 3 debuting as it has, it’s going to be a rough climb to try and make the second part anything near as epic as it wants to be.

I could be wrong, and we’ll all have to wait and see! Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2, will debut for Netflix subscription holders starting June 13th. By that point, I may have to deliver a follow-up of some sort to prove my point by exorcising some other concern that springs forth. Until then, Gentlest Readers, take this final message as advice through your darkest times of doubt: "Dale!"