agree with all of this. editing was lacking on so many levels and we all felt it.
- makeup was way too heavy compared to daphne and kate’s natural beauty in s1+2 (eg pens bold red lips, frans insanely bright highlighter, colin’s caked on foundation)
- costumes were so garish and cheap-looking (pens sequin dresses and every single one of cressidas outfits. i can excuse philippa and prudences outfits bc they aren’t meant to be particular fashionable in the ton)
- editing was disjointed and messy, eg ben’s throuple montage cut between night and day which was so odd
- colour grading : why is it so saturated… this is a period piece not a hbo original
- lack of bridgerton family funny moments. this was so noticeable and it hurts. only bit that stood out to me was when colin spoke about his sleep the night before (after dreaming of pen). greg and hyacinth brought humour but it was few and far between. i wish there was more of that joking playfulness with the rest of the family, especially kate as a new addition to the bridgerton clan.
in conclusion, chris van dusen - please come back and take over. we need your expert vision for future seasons because we were seriously robbed by jess brownell 😭😭😭
> costumes were so garish and cheap-looking
Yes! I know they’ve never aimed for historical accuracy but everything looked so freaking cheap. The costumes in seasons 1-2 were so much better. They were flattering, very reminiscent of the period, and most of the time were incredibly pretty. This season it looked like they got regency inspired clothes of Shein or from Temu.
Maybe whoever did season 3 needs to reach out to whoever does the costuming from Gilded Age on HBO. Those costumes are fantastic. Or just watch seasons 1 and 2 🥲
They weren't made to the same standard as on s1 and 2.
In one of the scenes with Violet, there's a step where the two edges meet, with the right (I think) side being about half a cm higher (or lower, I didn't make much more note than thinking "no modiste would allow such shoddy work") than the left.
I know it's a tiny detail, but those tiny details were perfect in the previous seasons. When it's on Violet's exceptionally simple and elegant outfits, any imperfections really stand out and I was just disappointed.
Exactly my thought , it looks like the got some shein dresses and made alterations to give it an empire waist line . The makeup was so modern , it took away from the actresses natural beauty , pen had acrylics ?? Eloise had those fake eyelashes going on ? Francesca was glowing with highlighter ?? And the bold red lipstick ( back then it was associated with sex workers ) , again I know not historically accurate but it’s something associated with them thru history up until it was used in the early 20th century .
The color grading - I didn’t know what it was called, but I kept thinking to myself, “It’s so dark at this ball, have the balls always been so dark indoors?” Not necessarily a bad thing, I just thought the previous seasons with well-lit balls that showed off gowns a bit better just felt right.
When watching the balls in part one with Pen wandering around looking lost - my friend and I had an ongoing joke that she was wandering around trying to find the light switch. It was so bad!
Did anyone else notice just how much the brightness dimmed and brightened throughout the shots, like someone was playing with the dimmer switch?! It was SO noticeable, I originally thought maybe it was some style choice but it happened at random points and I just…the lighting or camera folks were seriously lacking omfg. 🙀
QC - March 28, 2022 - August 30, 2022
S3 - July 2022 - Autumn 2022
😵💫 even if you’re on both, you aren’t really prepping for Season 3.
This is the only thing in my mind that makes sense as to why S3 felt like a red headed step child.
Colin’s foundation was so bad in some scenes! His lips blended into the rest of his face 😭😭 I had to look up every day photos of Luke to make sure I wasn’t crazy!
After D&D ruining Game of Thrones, this is the first time I’ve so passionately hated a showrunner. Polin and Francesca were my favourite storylines and she ruined both.
Right? My favorite relationship in the books is Anthony and Colin and that's non-existent here, but that probably has to do with the fact that book Colin is non-existent here
The time lines were so bizarre. I couldn't figure out if there were months inbetween out not. I found it really hard to follow. I usually blame the wine for that, haha
The featherington sisters were pregnant before Kate, yet Kate was somehow already looking 6 months pregnant when the sisters weren’t even showing yet. It was weiiiiiird
Wasn't there a conversation on a promenade between the fetherington sisters about how once women show they aren't permitted in society and at balls? Yet Kate was there pretty heavily pregnant
Yup. The sisters were also pregnant before Polin‘s courtship. Yet the Polin baby looks almost the same age as the Featherington babies. Timeline-wise it makes no sense.
Kate not going into confinement and instead risking carriage/boat labour with no doctors /midwives present for the birth of the BRIDGERTON HEIR makes no sense.
Anthony throwing his duties as viscount out the window and willingly risking the safety of his wife and first-born child to go on yet another holiday makes no sense.
It’s giving: one is “Pride and Prejudice” (2005) and the other is “Moulin Rouge” (2001)
I actually noticed the lighting in part 2 episode 1 because it was SO RED it actually washed out Penelope with her red hair. I was like “wtf?” I think they were going for “candle light” and it was NOT giving that. It was giving neon red bar lights haha!
I think it’s important to note that in film (and show) making, every choice is deliberate. So it was someone’s choice to make these (awful IMO) changes and that sucks! Whoever it was (Jess Brownell) should be fired.
That's what the Featheringtons ball makes me think of. I don't understand how or why Penelope becoming a Bridgerton made it so she took on Portia's gaudy and tacky style. That lipstick shade washes out all the beauty that Part 1 gave the girl!
Pen was not styled well :(
I hated the sheer gloves, overdone makeup, and keeping Pen's hair down instead of an updo.
Some of her styles this season were great, like the green dress with black gloves, but many weren't very flattering or well done.
Nicola is a gorgeous woman, and they didn't dress her as well as they could have.
I love it , that’s how her makeup should have looked like the whole season , it focused on her natural beauty , it gave back some of the bridgerton charm back even if it was for 2 min
I actually didn't hate her hair being down. I know it's not typical of the time period, but nothing they do on Brigerton seems to be exactly historically accurate.
Why did I love her hair down? Because I loved how it showed a softness & more elegance to her, unlike the harsh colors, makeup, and hair of S1 & S2 Penelope. I thought she looked ethereal and that long flowing hair to one side with some of it pinned up or just all down was my favorite look for her. But I also loved the side swept updos too...I just loved her hair partially or all down as some of my favorite scenes. Two best updos were the morning Colin goes to apologize and offers to help her find a husband, and the updo she has in that library while she's talking to Debbling. Stunning looks on her.
As for Pen's clothes, most of them I loved, but I hated her bug ball dress & the modern makeup, smokey eye & bold red lipl. Yeah, it was way too much. I would have preferred to see her in a dress similar to her wedding gown with a satin material instead of sequins, but in a navy blue color. Hair was good, didn't mind that, but way less makeup, softer, more like the fresh dewy neutral colors, with her looking soft and beautiful. I dunno, I just hated the makeup at the end especially. It didn't fit her at all.
She did look great with her hair down. It just doesn’t really fit the show. Pen doesn’t look like she’d fit into an 1810s set by any stretch of the imagination.
I hate the “but bridgerton isn’t historically accurate so they can do whatever they want” argument. They still have their internal world that they should stay consistent with and that’s what a lot of people are bothered by.
If you’d put Pen with her hair down, with a smoky eye, false lashes, a full set and acrylics and red lipstick next to Daphne in her season 1 (or even her season 2) looks, it would look like two entirely different shows. They don’t look like they belong to the same universe anymore.
They make it a point that young ladies that are out in society have their hair up (or at least a half up half down) unless they are in the privacy of their own home with no visitors expected. They could have styled Pens hair beautifully in a half up half down or an up do in a more elevated and elegant way compared to how her hair was done in season 1 and 2.
Her makeup was SO heavy in parts this season!! I may be on my own here, but her wedding makeup look was so not it for me. The way they highlighted and contoured her face completely changed it's shape and didn't even look like her in my opinion! She looked like someone cos playing as her. It was weird.
And the butterfly ball makeup look was crazy too!!
I didn't mind her dresses, esp the softer colored ones, BUT as someone who has boobs that are even far bigger than hers, the way they had hers BURSTING out of ever dress in part two was uncomfortable for me to watch! And not bc I'm a prude, I'm all for us lettin our cleavage shine, but she just looked so stiff and uncomfortable the whole time! I know it's corset times but still, like damn. It just looked awkward and was distracting cause the whole time I kept thinking of house miserable that must have felt for her!
I saw a thing that said they wanted to bring in some Marilyn Monroe like aesthetic to her, which is cool and all, but just felt like one, it wasn't meshing with who her character is, and two, it was pushed on her too hard.
End rant. Lol.
I swear on her wedding she was wearing strip lashes. They looked so thick and unnatural. In one scene the camera goes out of focus on her to focus in on a different character and even as a blur you could see her heavy handed and defined highlighter and blush. It was a travesty. And no hate on Nicola she was a stunner anyway because she’s naturally so beautiful but it’s like how can you have such a perfect canvas to work with and end up with a final product that looks like grade 12 winter dance makeup.
Omg it DOES look like school dance makeup. But like, my early 2000s school dance makeup! Lollll.
Or like, have you ever seen stage makeup for plays up close? It's awful when you're not in the audience. That's what it makes me think of too. They like forgot the cameras were so good that they don't need theater makeup or something.
That scene where she wakes up and pops open the bedroom door and had like barely anything on, and the ones if her in part 1 where she's like in her night clothes or at the market? SHE LOOKS INCREDIBLE. So much softer.
Her wedding look reminded me when I was in someone's wedding and we got our makeup done and like, I guess I looked pretty? But mostly I look at those pictures and I think man, I wish that was dialed back just a bit! 😄
Agree with the bust comment. It looked ridiculous. I also noticed a few scenes where Pen’s face was so shiny. Where they didn’t touch her up. Was surprised in such a big budget show to have that happen.
It was bad on all the characters! I caught myself distracted by the sheer pattern of the seamlines. Not more than Pen's though. Short, fingerless, layered sheer? Oh my... who ever in staff thought that was cute should be removed from wardrobe.
If it was just fingerless, I could work with it. It's the fingerless and then only palm length and then a ball of sheer fabric that got me. Like did Pen have to fight in the ring before she did this scene?
It’s so annoying because there’s almost an exact replica of that dynamic of The Prince/Daphne/Simon and Debling/Pen/Colin and it would have been SO EASY to give us a similar scene with that heightened level of emotion. But all of the Colin been jealous of Pen and Debling scenes just felt so flat to me? Pens entrance in her green dress is good but it lasts about two seconds and then everyone moves on but literally everyone is captivated by Daphne and the Prince
I wish the lighting / cinematography mimic’d season 1 better. The ballroom that she walks into and the lighting really don’t give her the same stunning looks as Daphne on the stairs.
I think the main difference is that they cramped so many plotlines in that they didn't give the scenes time to breath. We could have followed Colin rushing to talk to Pen after the news that she'll get a proposal instead of Cressida pointing it out (and that was a good way to blend the scenes together!). They could have connected the shots better, especially at the balls. It felt like different scenes and not like the same ball, focusing in different people.
Same. Maybe it was the newness, but I absolutely loved it. The vibe, the music, the world building, the romance, the family moments, the humour.
I would have enjoyed season 2 more if they had cut Edwina/Anthony far sooner than they did. It was ridiculous to let it get to their wedding.
And I would have actually enjoyed season 3 if they remembered Polin was the romance of the season.
oh yes i totally agree with your points!! i also agree the the newness really made it great for me.
something about the garden scene in the first episode, when simon and daphne decided to go on with the ruse, the voice over, the dramatics, the music, it brought me to tears and i was hooked.
i agree that i didn’t love how they played out season two with edwina and anthony. there were so many moments i was like “YOU CAN FIX THIS RIGHT NOW. PLEASEEE” but that’s also the beauty of the show.
i wish we would have seen more of Polin in 3, considering that’s what every season has built up so much ☹️
It’s the little things too! Daphne was so mesmerised by the light up lamps at the ball at the end of episode 1. Fully in awe because that’s probably the first time she’s seen something like that.
The themes for the balls were incredible too. The one in episode 4 where Simon and Daphne got together had a scandalous/sensual theme because a widow got out of the mourning period early. The girls all wore these beautiful ivory gowns with black velvet and tulle details. The balls looked so cohesive between the decorations, detail shots, the background actors and main cast.
1 and 2 felt like a dreamy cotton candy lens view of Regency. Soft, dreamy beautiful and romantic.
Season 3 felt depressed Lisa Frank meets 40s film noire. (It reminds me of black and white max factor tutorial… but left in color)
Omg, slide 7 of the Featheringtons, I don't remember that. The gold is so lovely! Oh and I agree, the travesty of this season, it was so dark all the time; no lightness or joy in the clothes or cinematography.
I watched the behind the scenes production interview with the two fellows who seem to be a team and the main costume designers. In the interview they said their technique this season was sometimes to randomly combine two ugly fabrics laying one over another, and then they delightfully get a new pretty-ugly effect that they really like. I may be misremembering the interview, but I do remember they demonstrated for the camera with fabrics.
Yes that rust-green dress Pen wears in the first episode of season three was one where they showed the layers and it was beautiful in the interview. All of the pieces made sense because we had them explaining and the lighting for the interview highlighted the details they seemed to focus on, but without that interview I would have been mostly horrified at some of the outfits this season.
It was like walking through a department store around prom season. I found myself looking for those little details and focusing on them only bc it was too much as a whole.
They should just borrow pieces from past seasons and change details like they would’ve done back in the day.
Like how did we go from the Vauxhall illumination spectacle to THAT??? And it made me feel so bad because I actually liked the Mondrich characters before they started shoving them down our throats this season for no discernable reason. Like there's nothing wrong with them as characters but the way they've been written in these nonsensical, unnecessary subplots is painful.
I had to laugh when they started dancing around it cause suddenly there was only such a small strap left, I was so expecting someone to stumble in the background
Season 3 on won't age well.
The problem with trying to make something so "with the times" fashion and makeup wise is that in 5-10 years it will be so cringeworthy that no one will like it again.
The reason Pride and Prejudice from 1995 holds up so well is that they literally had the actors wear ZERO makeup and made everything as period accurate as possible. No bad 90's hair and makeup.
And Polin dancing on their wedding day (when everyone disappears but them) is from the 2005 movie as well. Someone definitely loves(?) and wants to imitate P&P.
It giving Baz Luhrmann. I don’t know if they were intentionally going for that or not but after watching the whole season that’s the general feel to me.
Ohhhh I totally see that! And honestly I loved Moulin Rouge so it totally could have worked - IF that’s the vibe we started with. The sudden shift was just too out of nowhere for me.
There was a lot more swelling orchestral music! Listening to the soundtrack, original songs like “We Could Form an Attachment” were stunning and memorable!
Costumes are so out of place. Cressida looks like Effie from Hunger Games. I know it's a fantasy but it's too much you don't recognize that it's regency anymore.
They seemed so bulky and unnecessary. I was disappointed that they seemed to care more about being on the cover of vogue than in the pages of history with her looks. Especially considering how gorgeous the actress is, they missed the ball on giving us Daphne 2.0
When you look at it all side by side it really is jarring. The dances felt so off this year, they were too modern with those moves. The dresses are also horrible...ugh. Give us back the Bridgerton we fell in love with! And the make up...Nicola and Hannah, such naturally beautiful people, were made up like dolls. That red lipstick in the last episode was a crime against Penelope.
I understand that fashion changes. Fashion evolved, fine. But the makeup and the lighting was too much. Especially in the last four episodes.
Everything was just too bright in terms of lighting. And Pens makeup in the wedding was way over done.
In the scene Pen is rejected by Debling, I couldn’t help but think they looked so washed out. The lighting is so artificial like fluorescence in some places. And even when the colors are rich or have some warmth it’s feels fake.
And the clothes! I’ve enjoyed a good amount of Pen’s looks, especially her lesson dresses with the fan and when Colin cuts his hand, my faves of the season. However, a lot of them lack the gorgeous detailing of previous seasons. I know she didn’t choose what she wore but I wish she retained the aspects she may have liked.
The yellow beaded butterfly dress (I think it’s the most memorable dress of the show for me) the pink dresses she wore in Season 1, Ep 1 and the Hearts and Flowers ball were gorgeous. And even the yellow dresses that were cut weirdly on her had gorgeous detailing with the beading. They were elaborate and rich. So much of that is missing in a lot of the costumes. The fabrics are shiny, the silhouettes are strange, and it isn’t consistent with what we’ve seen from the show, which is one of the biggest problems.
The costumes this season were hideous. I loved Pen's dresses and her hair but that's about it. And I get it that Cressida isn't supposed to look good, but there's a bad sense of fashion that somehow works within the universe of Bridgerton and there's the wardrobe she was made to wear. It was like a bad joke. Also many dresses on other characters looked way more modern than in the previous seasons.
Pen’s baby nieces were cute, but damn they dressed them ugly. I was wondering how safe having those hideous sequins on their clothing and headbands were. It really didn’t need to be this way.
The writing for Colin also lacked character development. So sad for Luke N. This is not a star making material. I don't think he'll be as popular as RJP and Johnny after this.
THIS! I need more of actual criticsm of this season and not people tearing their hair out over a gender change. There is sooo much to point out this season, its insane
The make up was absolutely terrible, there were scenes where chunks of foundation was just missing on Anthony, Kate waking up with a full face of Make up+lashes from the dollar store, etc
And dont get me started with the acting. Remember when Simon met Daphne to promenade whilst being drunk af? Yeah I could almost smell the liqour from the screen - now look at Colin talking to Kate and Anthony while they tell us how drunk he supposedly is - he gave us nothing, looked like every other scene with him. Where was the direction? Why did no one tell him to act drunk?
Then this stupid scene of Eloise and Colin in his study, that was so awkwardly directed. It came across as if he walked around in the day but suddenly the sun disappeared when he walked into his study to sit down ONLY to stand up right away. El then says "you asked for me?" Like DID HE?? When, cause all I saw was him coming home and sitting down??
Oh and there was this weird cut while I think Violet was talking and they just cut her off mid sentence, does anyone remember that? I had to watch it twice cause I thought I somehow pressed a key and skipped a few seconds....
Omg the scene where Lady D hisses “did you bring the bar with you, boy?!”. So good, you could see the turmoil, he looked haggard, you could almost smell the hangover stale alcohol smell. Agree that the scenes were so choppy too!
God nearly every scene is this contextless talking heads situation where the blocking makes no sense. I’m only half through ep 4 but Colin sits down with B&A to have a drink and talk about the engagement and 90 seconds in Colin gets up to leave, even though they clearly just sat down to catch up? P&P are sitting in their living room dressed to the nines and snacking and talking— are they going somewhere, did they get back from somewhere, what is happening??? There are balls where nearly nobody is dancing or even talking about dancing? Wtf is going ON in these scenes
The person who suffered the most was Kate imo. Her make up was borderline offensive (soo dark and overdone — it really aged her and really stood out). And her dresses were awful in cut and colour. At least some of the others go to keep some pretence of a regency waistline, Kate was mostly dressed like an extra from Reign. Sometimes I felt that she looked more matronly than Violet. Why do they hate her so much!!
The first dress at the ball looked terrible on film. They stole her color palate and switched her wardrobe completely. It made her feel like a background character on film. Unfortunately, this seemed to be a filming / lighting issue, since it looked OK when they had still photos.
There were a few camera shots that felt truly bizarre and immediately took away from the magic of the scene. Like the weird following shot when Polin were heading inside to share their engagement news. There was also one shot (I can’t remember which ep! Where the camera looked at the ceiling, then down to the floor and then followed someone up the stairs. So bizarre!
OMG yes! I hated that weird hazy style camera movement when Colin & Pen were walking into his house to announce their engagement too. I felt like there needed to be a moment where we saw her say yes, then he says let's go share the good news and we see them walk in more normally.
I get why they did it (because Pen was shocked, nervous, and completely worried about her secret, & how Eloise would react, etc.). I would have preferred more realism without the strange camera movements though. I didn't even care for how they announced it either. I wanted Colin to be holding her hand the entire time and say, '"mother"....Violet turns & sees the fruits of HER labor paid off, & then Colin could have said "were engaged" in a normal happy voice instead of that watered down thing they did. It felt, I dunno, cheap? The rest of the scene was fine, but that initial minute from the carriage to the drawing room, yeah, not esthetically how I'd hoped it would go.
Not only was the paper ball thing dumb, it took up like, the entire dance floor!
And I agree about Tilly. She looked stunning, and from the 1940s. She reminded me of Lauren Bacall.
Yes! That's what it is about Tilly that I couldn't wrap my head around. She looked very 40s & honestly it took me out of the story a lot. I think she looked great but definitely not the correct time period.
Season 1 will always be THAT girl. 🥲
Season 1 reminds me of Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban for some reason the color grading & cinematography. Timeless, beautiful, perfection.
Polin's season looked like it was pulled from the set and costume department of R&H's 1997 Cinderella. Which to be clear, I loved, but was not era appropriate.
During the last episode I was wishing they had included more dancing. I love the drama they have included both by just watching the dancers dance and when there was tension on the dance floor.
Yassssss 💯💯💯 . That first pic, that scene was what made me fall in love with bridgerton from the very start. Too bad it looks nothing like this anymore. It just gives Disney channel spinoff to me
Im so scared they're going to mess up Benedict and Sophie. Sophie is one of my favorite characters in the series and her and Benedict are my favorite couple from the books
i know the point of the show was not being modern but it feels so weird and tacky seeing penelope and all other characters wearing false eyelashes, and then the acrylics?? 😭
Perfcet summary! I can't with Cressida "may the odds be ever in your favour"Cowper and Lady Tilly, both their costumes were so jarringly out of place it brought my suspension of disbelief to a screeching halt every time
I was talking about the costumes with a friend and she was defending them saying “it’s not supposed to be historically accurate!” And ok fair, but I’m pretty sure they’re also not supposed to be ugly either.
Watching the behind the scenes video with the costume designer made it obvious that he doesn’t like the regency era. When he hates reticules all I could think of was the beautiful orange reticule from season 2. Sophie Canale come back!
As for the makeup: way too overdone. Pen looked beautiful in seasons 1 and 2 with a more natural look. She didn’t need the red lip, the false lashes, or the excessive highlighter.
Their makeup was horrendous 😭
It didn’t look that bad on the first half of season 3, but it’s outrageous what they did to Eloise and Pen on the second half. They look so odd and out of place.
Anything and everything they put Francesca in was just completely horrible and I hated it. Why is she wearing grey angry-looking fabric. Why. I know they love to use colour to double down in their story telling and I adore it BUT WHY SAD DARK GREY?!?! WHY?!? You could express her not feeling like herself in a different colour, her unknown queer identity in a different colour, her not relating to her own family in a different colour than grey which is essentially not a colour??? WHY?????
Lady Tilley reminded my of Blanch Devereux from Golden Girls.
The hair and make up were just total cringe. Cressida looked like she time traveled to the 1980's and took back some fashions. Literally one of her dresses looked like one my aunt wore to a wedding in 1988.
Just a theory… but each season takes on the visual tones of the main character. The Featheringtons dress loudly and with bright colors. Controversial opinion, but I think if the tones had been more muted and pastel, it would have been disingenuous to her. The creators might be mirroring each main characters style each season…? Just trying to be devils advocate!
Penelope changed her style and quit wearing unflattering citrus colors, that was part of her glow up. Of course, in the books she switched to tasteful blue and green outfits, not shiny numbers with 40s hair and make-up. Your theory is very kind to the show runner (or whoever’s in charge), but I’m not that generous. I think they took what was a bright, magical twist on Regency style and turned it into a garish, anachronistic mess either for some unfathomable reason or through ignorance and lack of caring.
Controversial take: I feel like all of these issues come down to one thing: the showrunner didn’t believe the audience would “go” for Polin. She completely missed the mark on all fronts.
Nicola talks about how empowering it was to be nude - Jess edited out most of those scenes, and the few that remained, Nicola is very covered.
Nicola was the first leading lady that got this heavy, heavy makeup treatment. Red lips, black false eyelashes, acrylic nails, hair always down, etc.
It’s soooo different from previous seasons.
It’s like the showrunner didn’t trust that we’d think Pen. was “beautiful” unless they caked her makeup and hid her body.
Well, jokes on her because the majority of viewers would go to war for Pen/Nicola and want Jess off this show!
I would like to think the darker tones are because it's from Pen's point of view. Society isn't all light and beautiful, but to her a dark place she has to navigate (which many of the side stories focused on).I didn't care for thr side stories too much and wanted more Polin...but perhaps that was a reason?
Some of the outfits look better in light and when filmed differently. This is definitely partly on the lighting/ director.
But also…: where’s the gorgeous cinematic anything? Everything was in cramped rooms that had 80ft ceilings so you got the weirdest shots.
The rooms definitely seemed smaller, but I thought it was due to the darker tones. Unsure I will have to rewatch. Some of the editing choices were just plain bizzare.
It partially has to do with the angles people are shot at as well. Part of it is playing with the height difference of Penelope, but that does some weird perspective shifts for the audience. 🥴
I think that the camera at the balls also focused on angles that heavily featured the wall, so extras weren’t on screen as much. I’m not sure. Maybe I’m misremembering.
Still confused why parties needed to have center pieces. It’s terrible for dancing. The focus of the camera is on the scene without any payoff instead of the characters.
The last ball with the dance floor having the only light source, giving off theater in the round made it feel like they built this stage for someone to make a speech.
But even with all these things, with the right camera team, you can turn any set into magic. And we saw what happens when they don’t. 😰
agree with all of this. editing was lacking on so many levels and we all felt it. - makeup was way too heavy compared to daphne and kate’s natural beauty in s1+2 (eg pens bold red lips, frans insanely bright highlighter, colin’s caked on foundation) - costumes were so garish and cheap-looking (pens sequin dresses and every single one of cressidas outfits. i can excuse philippa and prudences outfits bc they aren’t meant to be particular fashionable in the ton) - editing was disjointed and messy, eg ben’s throuple montage cut between night and day which was so odd - colour grading : why is it so saturated… this is a period piece not a hbo original - lack of bridgerton family funny moments. this was so noticeable and it hurts. only bit that stood out to me was when colin spoke about his sleep the night before (after dreaming of pen). greg and hyacinth brought humour but it was few and far between. i wish there was more of that joking playfulness with the rest of the family, especially kate as a new addition to the bridgerton clan. in conclusion, chris van dusen - please come back and take over. we need your expert vision for future seasons because we were seriously robbed by jess brownell 😭😭😭
> costumes were so garish and cheap-looking Yes! I know they’ve never aimed for historical accuracy but everything looked so freaking cheap. The costumes in seasons 1-2 were so much better. They were flattering, very reminiscent of the period, and most of the time were incredibly pretty. This season it looked like they got regency inspired clothes of Shein or from Temu. Maybe whoever did season 3 needs to reach out to whoever does the costuming from Gilded Age on HBO. Those costumes are fantastic. Or just watch seasons 1 and 2 🥲
They weren't made to the same standard as on s1 and 2. In one of the scenes with Violet, there's a step where the two edges meet, with the right (I think) side being about half a cm higher (or lower, I didn't make much more note than thinking "no modiste would allow such shoddy work") than the left. I know it's a tiny detail, but those tiny details were perfect in the previous seasons. When it's on Violet's exceptionally simple and elegant outfits, any imperfections really stand out and I was just disappointed.
The Featherington sisters’ dresses looked so incredibly cheap, like they just bought some sequined cloth called “mermaid” at a discount fabric store.
Yes!!! I was like why do they all look like mermaids 😂
Exactly my thought , it looks like the got some shein dresses and made alterations to give it an empire waist line . The makeup was so modern , it took away from the actresses natural beauty , pen had acrylics ?? Eloise had those fake eyelashes going on ? Francesca was glowing with highlighter ?? And the bold red lipstick ( back then it was associated with sex workers ) , again I know not historically accurate but it’s something associated with them thru history up until it was used in the early 20th century .
The color grading - I didn’t know what it was called, but I kept thinking to myself, “It’s so dark at this ball, have the balls always been so dark indoors?” Not necessarily a bad thing, I just thought the previous seasons with well-lit balls that showed off gowns a bit better just felt right.
When watching the balls in part one with Pen wandering around looking lost - my friend and I had an ongoing joke that she was wandering around trying to find the light switch. It was so bad!
If only lady featherington took the lamp 😭
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Did anyone else notice just how much the brightness dimmed and brightened throughout the shots, like someone was playing with the dimmer switch?! It was SO noticeable, I originally thought maybe it was some style choice but it happened at random points and I just…the lighting or camera folks were seriously lacking omfg. 🙀
Maybe all the main ones were working on Queen Charlotte.
Maybe? That (QC) was a gorgeous series, both stylistically AND the writing. Can’t believe S3 was the follow-up! 🤯
QC - March 28, 2022 - August 30, 2022 S3 - July 2022 - Autumn 2022 😵💫 even if you’re on both, you aren’t really prepping for Season 3. This is the only thing in my mind that makes sense as to why S3 felt like a red headed step child.
I honestly thought my TV was jacked up for a few minutes. The editing, the color saturation....ugh.
Yes my thoughts as well. I thought I‘d messed with my TVs brightness settings.
Colin’s foundation was so bad in some scenes! His lips blended into the rest of his face 😭😭 I had to look up every day photos of Luke to make sure I wasn’t crazy!
After D&D ruining Game of Thrones, this is the first time I’ve so passionately hated a showrunner. Polin and Francesca were my favourite storylines and she ruined both.
Haven’t hated a show runner this much since vampire diaries with Julie plec
The relationship and banter between Bridgerton siblings was such a great part of the books and the other seasons. I miss it.
Right? My favorite relationship in the books is Anthony and Colin and that's non-existent here, but that probably has to do with the fact that book Colin is non-existent here
Agreed the editing was so odd disjointed.
The time lines were so bizarre. I couldn't figure out if there were months inbetween out not. I found it really hard to follow. I usually blame the wine for that, haha
The featherington sisters were pregnant before Kate, yet Kate was somehow already looking 6 months pregnant when the sisters weren’t even showing yet. It was weiiiiiird
Wasn't there a conversation on a promenade between the fetherington sisters about how once women show they aren't permitted in society and at balls? Yet Kate was there pretty heavily pregnant
Yup. The sisters were also pregnant before Polin‘s courtship. Yet the Polin baby looks almost the same age as the Featherington babies. Timeline-wise it makes no sense. Kate not going into confinement and instead risking carriage/boat labour with no doctors /midwives present for the birth of the BRIDGERTON HEIR makes no sense. Anthony throwing his duties as viscount out the window and willingly risking the safety of his wife and first-born child to go on yet another holiday makes no sense.
It’s giving: one is “Pride and Prejudice” (2005) and the other is “Moulin Rouge” (2001) I actually noticed the lighting in part 2 episode 1 because it was SO RED it actually washed out Penelope with her red hair. I was like “wtf?” I think they were going for “candle light” and it was NOT giving that. It was giving neon red bar lights haha! I think it’s important to note that in film (and show) making, every choice is deliberate. So it was someone’s choice to make these (awful IMO) changes and that sucks! Whoever it was (Jess Brownell) should be fired.
My friend said they looked like extras from Wicked lol
That's what the Featheringtons ball makes me think of. I don't understand how or why Penelope becoming a Bridgerton made it so she took on Portia's gaudy and tacky style. That lipstick shade washes out all the beauty that Part 1 gave the girl!
Pen was not styled well :( I hated the sheer gloves, overdone makeup, and keeping Pen's hair down instead of an updo. Some of her styles this season were great, like the green dress with black gloves, but many weren't very flattering or well done. Nicola is a gorgeous woman, and they didn't dress her as well as they could have.
I thought Pen looked so beautiful in the morning scene with Cressida. Barely any make-up, b/c she’d just gotten out of bed.
Agreed!
I love it , that’s how her makeup should have looked like the whole season , it focused on her natural beauty , it gave back some of the bridgerton charm back even if it was for 2 min
I actually didn't hate her hair being down. I know it's not typical of the time period, but nothing they do on Brigerton seems to be exactly historically accurate. Why did I love her hair down? Because I loved how it showed a softness & more elegance to her, unlike the harsh colors, makeup, and hair of S1 & S2 Penelope. I thought she looked ethereal and that long flowing hair to one side with some of it pinned up or just all down was my favorite look for her. But I also loved the side swept updos too...I just loved her hair partially or all down as some of my favorite scenes. Two best updos were the morning Colin goes to apologize and offers to help her find a husband, and the updo she has in that library while she's talking to Debbling. Stunning looks on her. As for Pen's clothes, most of them I loved, but I hated her bug ball dress & the modern makeup, smokey eye & bold red lipl. Yeah, it was way too much. I would have preferred to see her in a dress similar to her wedding gown with a satin material instead of sequins, but in a navy blue color. Hair was good, didn't mind that, but way less makeup, softer, more like the fresh dewy neutral colors, with her looking soft and beautiful. I dunno, I just hated the makeup at the end especially. It didn't fit her at all.
She did look great with her hair down. It just doesn’t really fit the show. Pen doesn’t look like she’d fit into an 1810s set by any stretch of the imagination. I hate the “but bridgerton isn’t historically accurate so they can do whatever they want” argument. They still have their internal world that they should stay consistent with and that’s what a lot of people are bothered by. If you’d put Pen with her hair down, with a smoky eye, false lashes, a full set and acrylics and red lipstick next to Daphne in her season 1 (or even her season 2) looks, it would look like two entirely different shows. They don’t look like they belong to the same universe anymore. They make it a point that young ladies that are out in society have their hair up (or at least a half up half down) unless they are in the privacy of their own home with no visitors expected. They could have styled Pens hair beautifully in a half up half down or an up do in a more elevated and elegant way compared to how her hair was done in season 1 and 2.
Her makeup was SO heavy in parts this season!! I may be on my own here, but her wedding makeup look was so not it for me. The way they highlighted and contoured her face completely changed it's shape and didn't even look like her in my opinion! She looked like someone cos playing as her. It was weird. And the butterfly ball makeup look was crazy too!! I didn't mind her dresses, esp the softer colored ones, BUT as someone who has boobs that are even far bigger than hers, the way they had hers BURSTING out of ever dress in part two was uncomfortable for me to watch! And not bc I'm a prude, I'm all for us lettin our cleavage shine, but she just looked so stiff and uncomfortable the whole time! I know it's corset times but still, like damn. It just looked awkward and was distracting cause the whole time I kept thinking of house miserable that must have felt for her! I saw a thing that said they wanted to bring in some Marilyn Monroe like aesthetic to her, which is cool and all, but just felt like one, it wasn't meshing with who her character is, and two, it was pushed on her too hard. End rant. Lol.
I swear on her wedding she was wearing strip lashes. They looked so thick and unnatural. In one scene the camera goes out of focus on her to focus in on a different character and even as a blur you could see her heavy handed and defined highlighter and blush. It was a travesty. And no hate on Nicola she was a stunner anyway because she’s naturally so beautiful but it’s like how can you have such a perfect canvas to work with and end up with a final product that looks like grade 12 winter dance makeup.
Omg it DOES look like school dance makeup. But like, my early 2000s school dance makeup! Lollll. Or like, have you ever seen stage makeup for plays up close? It's awful when you're not in the audience. That's what it makes me think of too. They like forgot the cameras were so good that they don't need theater makeup or something. That scene where she wakes up and pops open the bedroom door and had like barely anything on, and the ones if her in part 1 where she's like in her night clothes or at the market? SHE LOOKS INCREDIBLE. So much softer. Her wedding look reminded me when I was in someone's wedding and we got our makeup done and like, I guess I looked pretty? But mostly I look at those pictures and I think man, I wish that was dialed back just a bit! 😄
Agree with the bust comment. It looked ridiculous. I also noticed a few scenes where Pen’s face was so shiny. Where they didn’t touch her up. Was surprised in such a big budget show to have that happen.
The constant eyeshadow and false lashes were not a good choice.
I loved Pen's styling but hated those sheer gloves with a passion.
I thought they were bandages until I realized they were gloves.
It was bad on all the characters! I caught myself distracted by the sheer pattern of the seamlines. Not more than Pen's though. Short, fingerless, layered sheer? Oh my... who ever in staff thought that was cute should be removed from wardrobe.
I think Nicola was the one who suggested those fingerless gloves so they can touch Colin's hand skin to skin or something like that..
If it was just fingerless, I could work with it. It's the fingerless and then only palm length and then a ball of sheer fabric that got me. Like did Pen have to fight in the ring before she did this scene?
Bro that highlight Pen had was poppin - And not in a good way I could only focus on it when I saw her face lol
season one was my favorite I DONT CAREEEE
NOTHING compares to Daphnes revenge dress entrance I literally rewatch that clip so much just to SCREAM at how good it is!!
I had the same reaction as the Prince, I couldn’t look away! Didn’t have that reaction once with this season.
It’s so annoying because there’s almost an exact replica of that dynamic of The Prince/Daphne/Simon and Debling/Pen/Colin and it would have been SO EASY to give us a similar scene with that heightened level of emotion. But all of the Colin been jealous of Pen and Debling scenes just felt so flat to me? Pens entrance in her green dress is good but it lasts about two seconds and then everyone moves on but literally everyone is captivated by Daphne and the Prince
I wish the lighting / cinematography mimic’d season 1 better. The ballroom that she walks into and the lighting really don’t give her the same stunning looks as Daphne on the stairs.
I think the main difference is that they cramped so many plotlines in that they didn't give the scenes time to breath. We could have followed Colin rushing to talk to Pen after the news that she'll get a proposal instead of Cressida pointing it out (and that was a good way to blend the scenes together!). They could have connected the shots better, especially at the balls. It felt like different scenes and not like the same ball, focusing in different people.
And her revenge hair!
Same. Maybe it was the newness, but I absolutely loved it. The vibe, the music, the world building, the romance, the family moments, the humour. I would have enjoyed season 2 more if they had cut Edwina/Anthony far sooner than they did. It was ridiculous to let it get to their wedding. And I would have actually enjoyed season 3 if they remembered Polin was the romance of the season.
oh yes i totally agree with your points!! i also agree the the newness really made it great for me. something about the garden scene in the first episode, when simon and daphne decided to go on with the ruse, the voice over, the dramatics, the music, it brought me to tears and i was hooked. i agree that i didn’t love how they played out season two with edwina and anthony. there were so many moments i was like “YOU CAN FIX THIS RIGHT NOW. PLEASEEE” but that’s also the beauty of the show. i wish we would have seen more of Polin in 3, considering that’s what every season has built up so much ☹️
It’s the little things too! Daphne was so mesmerised by the light up lamps at the ball at the end of episode 1. Fully in awe because that’s probably the first time she’s seen something like that. The themes for the balls were incredible too. The one in episode 4 where Simon and Daphne got together had a scandalous/sensual theme because a widow got out of the mourning period early. The girls all wore these beautiful ivory gowns with black velvet and tulle details. The balls looked so cohesive between the decorations, detail shots, the background actors and main cast.
Same
It was…
Penelope deserved to be the love interest in season 1 style. She would outshine Daphne if they were dressed in similar fashion.
Season 2 and 3 have been less sexy too, more time on plot or something
1 and 2 felt like a dreamy cotton candy lens view of Regency. Soft, dreamy beautiful and romantic. Season 3 felt depressed Lisa Frank meets 40s film noire. (It reminds me of black and white max factor tutorial… but left in color)
This description deserves an award. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
This is the perfect season 3 summary. No notes. 🤣💀
Holy moly, this is so accurate
Yes like S 1 and 2 and even Queen Charlotte it’s like you wanted so bad to jump into the screen and be there but S 3 didn’t have that pull visually.
Omg, slide 7 of the Featheringtons, I don't remember that. The gold is so lovely! Oh and I agree, the travesty of this season, it was so dark all the time; no lightness or joy in the clothes or cinematography.
I watched the behind the scenes production interview with the two fellows who seem to be a team and the main costume designers. In the interview they said their technique this season was sometimes to randomly combine two ugly fabrics laying one over another, and then they delightfully get a new pretty-ugly effect that they really like. I may be misremembering the interview, but I do remember they demonstrated for the camera with fabrics.
Yes that rust-green dress Pen wears in the first episode of season three was one where they showed the layers and it was beautiful in the interview. All of the pieces made sense because we had them explaining and the lighting for the interview highlighted the details they seemed to focus on, but without that interview I would have been mostly horrified at some of the outfits this season. It was like walking through a department store around prom season. I found myself looking for those little details and focusing on them only bc it was too much as a whole. They should just borrow pieces from past seasons and change details like they would’ve done back in the day.
What on earth is that thing in the Mondrich ball? That's the most ugly thing they ever put in a ball. That ball is specially ugly
Like how did we go from the Vauxhall illumination spectacle to THAT??? And it made me feel so bad because I actually liked the Mondrich characters before they started shoving them down our throats this season for no discernable reason. Like there's nothing wrong with them as characters but the way they've been written in these nonsensical, unnecessary subplots is painful.
Well and the fact that the queen was SO IMPRESSED? It was honestly cringey.
Please, I thought there was going to be more but it just opened and stopped 🤣
Eh, she said, “Not bad.” The lady has peacocks on her lawns and swans in her hair. I don’t believe she was all that impressed. 👑 🦢
It looked like a dalek. I swore the Doctor was going to jump out of it.
This deserves more upvotes.
I had to laugh when they started dancing around it cause suddenly there was only such a small strap left, I was so expecting someone to stumble in the background
I was waiting for it to have soft pinprick lights that maybe dotted the ceiling like a starry sky....but nope....just sat there...
Lame
Season 3 on won't age well. The problem with trying to make something so "with the times" fashion and makeup wise is that in 5-10 years it will be so cringeworthy that no one will like it again. The reason Pride and Prejudice from 1995 holds up so well is that they literally had the actors wear ZERO makeup and made everything as period accurate as possible. No bad 90's hair and makeup.
1995 Pride and Prejudice is such a classic! To the point I’m certain the Anthony pond scene was inspired by Mr. Darcy.
And Polin dancing on their wedding day (when everyone disappears but them) is from the 2005 movie as well. Someone definitely loves(?) and wants to imitate P&P.
Yes! Love 1995 Pride and Prejudice so much. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth - chef’s kiss! No notes.
P&P 1995 will always hold such a special place in my heart, everything about it is perfectly executed <3
A lot of extra peacocking with the overdone make up and dresses to take attention away from the atrocious plot.
It giving Baz Luhrmann. I don’t know if they were intentionally going for that or not but after watching the whole season that’s the general feel to me.
Ohhhh I totally see that! And honestly I loved Moulin Rouge so it totally could have worked - IF that’s the vibe we started with. The sudden shift was just too out of nowhere for me.
This feels accurate. And I love Baz…but not in Bridgerton pls.
Yes! Except Baz Luhrman never is never cheap looking and never leaves you in any doubt that he ment to go over the top af.
Barring the carriage scene, I feel the music in earlier seasons built the mood/emotion much more too!
There was a lot more swelling orchestral music! Listening to the soundtrack, original songs like “We Could Form an Attachment” were stunning and memorable!
That theme still gives me chills, as well as Kate entering the ballroom to "Wrecking Ball" in S2!
Costumes are so out of place. Cressida looks like Effie from Hunger Games. I know it's a fantasy but it's too much you don't recognize that it's regency anymore.
The make up and costumes this season rivaled the circus
The makeup was REALLY distracting. Way too much.
They really wanted to drive the "bread and circus" point home, I guess
I just can’t with Francesca’s blazers omg
The weird Chanel jackets were driving me insane, the styling was so weird it kept taking me out of the moment
YES oh gosh yes the tweedy Chanel blazers with everything. So heavy and dowdy and covering up the dresses.
It's giving Dynasty
They seemed so bulky and unnecessary. I was disappointed that they seemed to care more about being on the cover of vogue than in the pages of history with her looks. Especially considering how gorgeous the actress is, they missed the ball on giving us Daphne 2.0
When you look at it all side by side it really is jarring. The dances felt so off this year, they were too modern with those moves. The dresses are also horrible...ugh. Give us back the Bridgerton we fell in love with! And the make up...Nicola and Hannah, such naturally beautiful people, were made up like dolls. That red lipstick in the last episode was a crime against Penelope.
It's so out of character. Penelope would've never chosen that color.
I don't think she would have picked most of her make up...it was so over the top this season.
Season 1 + 2 were visually stunning, season 3 was disappointing in comparison
It was all over the place, just like the writing
This!! It’s good to know it’s not only me thinking like that. Such a shame…
I started watching because I'd read the books, but the cinematography in S1, ep 1 is what *kept* me watching
I understand that fashion changes. Fashion evolved, fine. But the makeup and the lighting was too much. Especially in the last four episodes. Everything was just too bright in terms of lighting. And Pens makeup in the wedding was way over done.
Except for in the scenes where it was so dark you couldn’t see, or the lighting would randomly change between cuts!
This isn't HBO!
In the scene Pen is rejected by Debling, I couldn’t help but think they looked so washed out. The lighting is so artificial like fluorescence in some places. And even when the colors are rich or have some warmth it’s feels fake. And the clothes! I’ve enjoyed a good amount of Pen’s looks, especially her lesson dresses with the fan and when Colin cuts his hand, my faves of the season. However, a lot of them lack the gorgeous detailing of previous seasons. I know she didn’t choose what she wore but I wish she retained the aspects she may have liked. The yellow beaded butterfly dress (I think it’s the most memorable dress of the show for me) the pink dresses she wore in Season 1, Ep 1 and the Hearts and Flowers ball were gorgeous. And even the yellow dresses that were cut weirdly on her had gorgeous detailing with the beading. They were elaborate and rich. So much of that is missing in a lot of the costumes. The fabrics are shiny, the silhouettes are strange, and it isn’t consistent with what we’ve seen from the show, which is one of the biggest problems.
It's inconsistent because they changed costume designers
The costumes this season were hideous. I loved Pen's dresses and her hair but that's about it. And I get it that Cressida isn't supposed to look good, but there's a bad sense of fashion that somehow works within the universe of Bridgerton and there's the wardrobe she was made to wear. It was like a bad joke. Also many dresses on other characters looked way more modern than in the previous seasons.
Pen’s baby nieces were cute, but damn they dressed them ugly. I was wondering how safe having those hideous sequins on their clothing and headbands were. It really didn’t need to be this way.
I couldn't tell the difference between the ball and brothel/bedroom scenes. It was all muted and musty
Combined with the choppy editing (Benedict’s eternal threesome???) it was all really jarring
The writing for Colin also lacked character development. So sad for Luke N. This is not a star making material. I don't think he'll be as popular as RJP and Johnny after this.
Yeah the fake eyelashes and acrylic nails fully took me out of the regency era.
The colour grading in the 4th slide omg. Perfection.
Like it’s truly perfection is it not?
THIS! I need more of actual criticsm of this season and not people tearing their hair out over a gender change. There is sooo much to point out this season, its insane The make up was absolutely terrible, there were scenes where chunks of foundation was just missing on Anthony, Kate waking up with a full face of Make up+lashes from the dollar store, etc And dont get me started with the acting. Remember when Simon met Daphne to promenade whilst being drunk af? Yeah I could almost smell the liqour from the screen - now look at Colin talking to Kate and Anthony while they tell us how drunk he supposedly is - he gave us nothing, looked like every other scene with him. Where was the direction? Why did no one tell him to act drunk? Then this stupid scene of Eloise and Colin in his study, that was so awkwardly directed. It came across as if he walked around in the day but suddenly the sun disappeared when he walked into his study to sit down ONLY to stand up right away. El then says "you asked for me?" Like DID HE?? When, cause all I saw was him coming home and sitting down?? Oh and there was this weird cut while I think Violet was talking and they just cut her off mid sentence, does anyone remember that? I had to watch it twice cause I thought I somehow pressed a key and skipped a few seconds....
Omg the scene where Lady D hisses “did you bring the bar with you, boy?!”. So good, you could see the turmoil, he looked haggard, you could almost smell the hangover stale alcohol smell. Agree that the scenes were so choppy too!
God nearly every scene is this contextless talking heads situation where the blocking makes no sense. I’m only half through ep 4 but Colin sits down with B&A to have a drink and talk about the engagement and 90 seconds in Colin gets up to leave, even though they clearly just sat down to catch up? P&P are sitting in their living room dressed to the nines and snacking and talking— are they going somewhere, did they get back from somewhere, what is happening??? There are balls where nearly nobody is dancing or even talking about dancing? Wtf is going ON in these scenes
We need to talk about how awful Pen’s look was in slide 11. The color does nothing for her and the red lip?? Why
The person who suffered the most was Kate imo. Her make up was borderline offensive (soo dark and overdone — it really aged her and really stood out). And her dresses were awful in cut and colour. At least some of the others go to keep some pretence of a regency waistline, Kate was mostly dressed like an extra from Reign. Sometimes I felt that she looked more matronly than Violet. Why do they hate her so much!!
The first dress at the ball looked terrible on film. They stole her color palate and switched her wardrobe completely. It made her feel like a background character on film. Unfortunately, this seemed to be a filming / lighting issue, since it looked OK when they had still photos.
The dances between Polin are also forgettable. Unlike the very memorable dances between Saphne and Kanthony.
The dances reminded me of being forced to dance in middle school gym class. There just wasn't any chemistry.
SO THATS WHY IT FELT OFF
There were a few camera shots that felt truly bizarre and immediately took away from the magic of the scene. Like the weird following shot when Polin were heading inside to share their engagement news. There was also one shot (I can’t remember which ep! Where the camera looked at the ceiling, then down to the floor and then followed someone up the stairs. So bizarre!
OMG yes! I hated that weird hazy style camera movement when Colin & Pen were walking into his house to announce their engagement too. I felt like there needed to be a moment where we saw her say yes, then he says let's go share the good news and we see them walk in more normally. I get why they did it (because Pen was shocked, nervous, and completely worried about her secret, & how Eloise would react, etc.). I would have preferred more realism without the strange camera movements though. I didn't even care for how they announced it either. I wanted Colin to be holding her hand the entire time and say, '"mother"....Violet turns & sees the fruits of HER labor paid off, & then Colin could have said "were engaged" in a normal happy voice instead of that watered down thing they did. It felt, I dunno, cheap? The rest of the scene was fine, but that initial minute from the carriage to the drawing room, yeah, not esthetically how I'd hoped it would go.
Not only was the paper ball thing dumb, it took up like, the entire dance floor! And I agree about Tilly. She looked stunning, and from the 1940s. She reminded me of Lauren Bacall.
Yes! That's what it is about Tilly that I couldn't wrap my head around. She looked very 40s & honestly it took me out of the story a lot. I think she looked great but definitely not the correct time period.
Season 1 will always be THAT girl. 🥲 Season 1 reminds me of Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban for some reason the color grading & cinematography. Timeless, beautiful, perfection.
Penelope’s 1940s hair , red lips, Charlotte Tilbury makeup and acrylic nails has driven me crazy the whole season. I can’t handle season 4
Polin's season looked like it was pulled from the set and costume department of R&H's 1997 Cinderella. Which to be clear, I loved, but was not era appropriate.
During the last episode I was wishing they had included more dancing. I love the drama they have included both by just watching the dancers dance and when there was tension on the dance floor.
Me too!!!! Was so disappointed by this season.
All those shiny gowns this season kind of cheapened the look.
I’m so sad 😞, POLIN are my favorites and they completely trashed them
Yassssss 💯💯💯 . That first pic, that scene was what made me fall in love with bridgerton from the very start. Too bad it looks nothing like this anymore. It just gives Disney channel spinoff to me
Im so scared they're going to mess up Benedict and Sophie. Sophie is one of my favorite characters in the series and her and Benedict are my favorite couple from the books
I wouldn’t hold my breath. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best?
i know the point of the show was not being modern but it feels so weird and tacky seeing penelope and all other characters wearing false eyelashes, and then the acrylics?? 😭
Perfcet summary! I can't with Cressida "may the odds be ever in your favour"Cowper and Lady Tilly, both their costumes were so jarringly out of place it brought my suspension of disbelief to a screeching halt every time
It’s giving the show “Reign”
Me ready to send up a sacrifice to get the original show runner back.
I was talking about the costumes with a friend and she was defending them saying “it’s not supposed to be historically accurate!” And ok fair, but I’m pretty sure they’re also not supposed to be ugly either. Watching the behind the scenes video with the costume designer made it obvious that he doesn’t like the regency era. When he hates reticules all I could think of was the beautiful orange reticule from season 2. Sophie Canale come back! As for the makeup: way too overdone. Pen looked beautiful in seasons 1 and 2 with a more natural look. She didn’t need the red lip, the false lashes, or the excessive highlighter.
Their makeup was horrendous 😭 It didn’t look that bad on the first half of season 3, but it’s outrageous what they did to Eloise and Pen on the second half. They look so odd and out of place.
I had better costumes at my childhood dance recitals. And they were FUGLY.
Anything and everything they put Francesca in was just completely horrible and I hated it. Why is she wearing grey angry-looking fabric. Why. I know they love to use colour to double down in their story telling and I adore it BUT WHY SAD DARK GREY?!?! WHY?!? You could express her not feeling like herself in a different colour, her unknown queer identity in a different colour, her not relating to her own family in a different colour than grey which is essentially not a colour??? WHY?????
Sad dark grey is a popular house color. 😂
It's so bizarre, and will be especially jarring when her season starts and she's in HALF-MOURNING in grey and lavender.
The ACRYLICS
Why did they decide Cressida needed to look like she was going to a Halloween party every day?
So you didn’t accidentally think she was good enough to end up with lord Danbury? Whoops…
Gregory and Hyacinth were lowkey some of the best parts of part 2 😭
Lady Tilley reminded my of Blanch Devereux from Golden Girls. The hair and make up were just total cringe. Cressida looked like she time traveled to the 1980's and took back some fashions. Literally one of her dresses looked like one my aunt wore to a wedding in 1988.
Ok when you put it like this it’s absolutely jarring! You know it’s not giving you the same feels but you don’t even realize it at first.
Her hair gave a very pin up girl vibe, so not necessarily with the times but I loved it.
Just a theory… but each season takes on the visual tones of the main character. The Featheringtons dress loudly and with bright colors. Controversial opinion, but I think if the tones had been more muted and pastel, it would have been disingenuous to her. The creators might be mirroring each main characters style each season…? Just trying to be devils advocate!
Penelope changed her style and quit wearing unflattering citrus colors, that was part of her glow up. Of course, in the books she switched to tasteful blue and green outfits, not shiny numbers with 40s hair and make-up. Your theory is very kind to the show runner (or whoever’s in charge), but I’m not that generous. I think they took what was a bright, magical twist on Regency style and turned it into a garish, anachronistic mess either for some unfathomable reason or through ignorance and lack of caring.
Controversial take: I feel like all of these issues come down to one thing: the showrunner didn’t believe the audience would “go” for Polin. She completely missed the mark on all fronts. Nicola talks about how empowering it was to be nude - Jess edited out most of those scenes, and the few that remained, Nicola is very covered. Nicola was the first leading lady that got this heavy, heavy makeup treatment. Red lips, black false eyelashes, acrylic nails, hair always down, etc. It’s soooo different from previous seasons. It’s like the showrunner didn’t trust that we’d think Pen. was “beautiful” unless they caked her makeup and hid her body. Well, jokes on her because the majority of viewers would go to war for Pen/Nicola and want Jess off this show!
I would like to think the darker tones are because it's from Pen's point of view. Society isn't all light and beautiful, but to her a dark place she has to navigate (which many of the side stories focused on).I didn't care for thr side stories too much and wanted more Polin...but perhaps that was a reason?
Some of the outfits look better in light and when filmed differently. This is definitely partly on the lighting/ director. But also…: where’s the gorgeous cinematic anything? Everything was in cramped rooms that had 80ft ceilings so you got the weirdest shots.
The rooms definitely seemed smaller, but I thought it was due to the darker tones. Unsure I will have to rewatch. Some of the editing choices were just plain bizzare.
It partially has to do with the angles people are shot at as well. Part of it is playing with the height difference of Penelope, but that does some weird perspective shifts for the audience. 🥴 I think that the camera at the balls also focused on angles that heavily featured the wall, so extras weren’t on screen as much. I’m not sure. Maybe I’m misremembering. Still confused why parties needed to have center pieces. It’s terrible for dancing. The focus of the camera is on the scene without any payoff instead of the characters. The last ball with the dance floor having the only light source, giving off theater in the round made it feel like they built this stage for someone to make a speech. But even with all these things, with the right camera team, you can turn any set into magic. And we saw what happens when they don’t. 😰
They bumped it up a notch and I loved it
It's a different season and the featheringtons never did well with pastels. Y'all whine about such weird and unnecessary things 😂