Julia is basically the only person I want to hear talk about Bridgerton because she's so right that the Bridgerton fandom is not a safe space. It's like the more of this television show (they claim to love so much) they get, the angrier they become. Julia brings the correct level of thoughtful critique, levity, and pure enjoyment that is sorely missing from twitter.
it’s so crazy because I like Bridgerton a pretty normal amount I’d say but anytime I try to see what other people are saying about it online (not many of my irl friends are fans) it’s so stressful and negative! I thought this show was about having fun!
@@roguecodes right? its fluffy and funny and every single main couple is guaranteed an entire season dedicated to them (which doesn't happen in any other show) and yet they're all having a terrible time.
I really didn’t like season 3, but the fandom is being genuinely terrible. Attacking the showrunner and saying she needs to be fired, calling John ugly, being homophobic about Francesca and Michaela… it’s just toxic and gross.
@@SoVeryNiamh it’s wild how much time people will dedicate to trashing something they don’t like instead of like…watching something else but such is life on the internet I guess
i feel pretty strongly that this show wouldn't work half as well without the subplots. why should anyone care about the characters if they're just vehicles for romances without any meaningful/developed passions or connections with other characters?
Also, this season proves that no matter how much they cry for "We want Kanthony blissful moments galore" they'd hate it because Polin was by the far the most emotionally stable couple even with the angst of LW and people can't accept a lack of conflict as motivation.
I think also the reason why Daphne and Simon have more screentime together is because their trope is kind of based on that. They are fake dating, to make that believable you have to spend time together. They had to make the side characters believe their love even before they were aware of it themselves, which is not the case for the others pairings, since they have other romantic interests that, in theory, have to look like they might make it
I was thinking this especially when you compare it to Kanthony cause their whole trope is not spending time together lol so these numbers make hella sense.
32:00 Thank you for mentioning the Modrich’s! I definitely understand that they’re integration in season 3 was a bit messy without Simon, but being able to see that all of Lady D’s work making sure POC (in this case black families) could still inherit their titles, and was able to pass down all the wisdom she learned to another black family was so satisfying, but people don’t think about that because they wanted more sex scenes 😭
Watching Mina Le's video, she mentioned that the show might be leaning towards an ensemble because it's constantly cycling through leads which may have varying fanbases. And with Daphne's actress leaving in S3, they need more ever-present characters
Well that is what it should do but by source material alone- the show is going to be an anthology (and even in the books, the siblings that appear multiple times have varying degree of necessity for the plot in terms of they NEED to be there). I really dont understand why people are mad about a show having an ensemble because by platform alone it needs it to succeed but in order for the adaption to work, it will need multiple characters cause no show has succeeded with only focusing on the main two.
I feel crazy that everyone is now saying s2 is the best season when at the time people were mad there were too many subplots especially too much time dedicated to the Featherington's. The complaint was Kate and Anthony didn't get enough screentime and especially them in married life. Lo and behold s3 comes and everyone complains about the same thing but this time it's about the Mondrich's. I think the only thing I would've added is maybe more flashbacks to Pen and Colin as kids, especially them meeting! It genuinely bummed me out that we only heard of it and didn't see it
I actually liked the know flashback. There was something so sweet about how they looked reminiscing how they met, they in fact looked like kids again thinking about it which I thought made it so much better.
even though s2 has always been my personal fav (even beating qc in romance alone - ik that is unpopular but although charlotte and george had some strong moments, i just think they lacked crucial development, their angst and yearning FOR EACH OTHER right from start to finish without much actual interaction just didn’t feel quite earned - i preferred the other aspects the spinoff brought), i hate this too. i think the set expectations julia mentioned lead to unending greediness on the fandom‘s behalf. i have some gripes with this season mainly bc, again, i feel like colin lacked development, but overall, this season delivered everything people have been asking for. it just doesn’t live up to how they pictured it and so they immediately reject and insult the artists behind it, the creative vision replacing theirs.
off topic but i really appreciated penelope and her mothers developing relationship. i know that a few scenes here and there are not gonna absolve her mother of a lifetime of trauma but I appreciate seeing how alike they both are and see why her mother might have been harsher on her cause she sees so much of herself in penelope
I dont think people realise John and Fran had what you call "killer moments" vs "filler'. Their every interaction was made to be super romantic and both of them are charismatic so people are mad lmfao
Also the leads together conversation is ridiculous without considering what the main tension is for the couple. For Daphne and Simon it’s, they can’t stay away from each other and they’re forced to get married by the middle of the season and live together. Kanthony is all about how they HAVE to stay away from each other because he’s supposed to be marrying edwina and they don’t get together till the last 2 episodes. Polin is a mix in that they get married in the middle of the season after doing s1 dating lessons, but the main tension is lady whistledown and penelope having to reveal that to everyone in her life, and then also Colin who she’s hiding it from. So like obviously Daphne and Simon would have the most physical couple time together and kanthony the least?
I really like this point. It also makes one think that the Whistledown plot is just too big for it too be combined with the Polin plot when there are only the same amount of episodes as the other couples. The Polin slow burn could last multiple seasons and it would make so much sense.
when it comes to lead couple screen time, i'd take the complaints more seriously if it was a movie bc of the more limited time; but in a tv show you kinda need a strong supporting cast to keep interest going, and that means dedicating time to them (esp in the case of the bridgertons, where we essentially get a season per sibling). and i will always have the opinion that a lead couple's individual characters are only as interesting as their relationships with other people. if they replaced e.g. scenes of penelope and her family developing and reconciling with more polin scenes, that wouldve taken something away from her character.
That's very true but what about Colin💀? I barely know him. We needed a flashback. They did that previously in the other seasons and it added so much character to Anthony and Simon. I needed to grasp this because Colin felt like a prop in his own season. Yes, it is about Penelope and her family, but what about Colin as well? He felt very surface level and I always felt like they were telling us about him and not showing us. I didn't need Colin and Penelope together as a couple alone for the entire season. I needed balance and I didn't get that from season 3
Just a thought on why they didn’t cast a non-white Penelope, which I think has less to do with her and more about the Featheringtons as a family. I think if they cast the Featherington family as non-white the optics of them as the silly, shallow, money-seeking foil to the loving, moral, kind Bridgertons would be a bad look overall. The contrast would feel more pointed racially, especially with the kind of clumsy race revisionist history route they went with s1 rather than color blind casting, so I see why they didn’t go that route. It would be interesting to see though, I was thinking why they didn’t cast one of the main families as non-white as well, I think it just boils down to not serving the positive diversity depictions Shondaland is going for with the Featherington overall vibe lol
I think some of Benedict’s scenes should’ve been cut and given to Colin. All of his development was off screen. I would’ve loved to actually see flashbacks of him abroad and see how he changed. It would’ve added so much to his character and I think made the audience feel more for him and understand him a little more. Also, I would’ve liked to see flashbacks of him and Penelope together. The only one we got is when he decides to go after her, which is a perfect place to put it, but it’s of something we’ve already seen on screen.
I think we should also include how much side characters discuss a relationship and add that to the screen time of each main couple. What would Francesca and John’s screen time be if we included how much Violet and Lady Danbury discussed their relationship versus how much side characters discussed Colin and Penelope? Maybe that would account for the vibe of the show feeling like there were 2 main couples in season 2 and 3
i agree! i think “scenes ABOUT the couple/character” are important to factor in too, however i do feel like it would be IMPOSSIBLE (or take FOREVER LOL)
it's crazy how many people hated penelope last season and now it's her season they're mad she's not getting enough screentime......like i adore her so i'm glad they don't hate her anymore but make it make sense.
i also feel in a lot of ways it makes sense that we are getting more into introductions of other lead pairings at this point. if i remember the books correctly it almost seems like books 3-6 have a lot of events that are overlapping just told from different perspectives. for example it makes sense that francessca and michaela are introduced way before their season as there is years of build up in that story that is happening in the background of other siblings books. on the other hand the first two books almost feel like they were written more as stand alones before converting to a series and the show reflects that? (but also i am biased bc francesca's story is my favorite by far)
Yes actually you are right! In the case of the show its flipped a bit, but the book wise, 4-6 took place at relatively the same time so in the show Ben/El/Fran are all in the same period! That being said regardless, a time skip suits all of them pretty well!
Personally, after seeing a wonderful analysis of Ben, Ben's lack of development is deveopment (as said during the swing scene) and the Mondrichs initially were jarring but them being a "normal couple" really puts things in perspecive.
thank you for all your hard work. 👏 your statistics aligned with my impression of the seasons in term of screentime, so it's nice to know that my impression wasn't wrong. idk why i expect any different, but everytime i watch a bridgerton season i usually end with "i enjoyed that, had a few problems, but overall i enjoyed it" and then go online to see dumpster fire discourse that's going on and i'm taken aback by wild ppl are acting.
Dude my friend and I got finished binging it and we were like “omg that was awesome” and then my UA-cam recs were suddenly full of people shitting on the show! It’s so wild out here
I stood up and ran around screaming with the 2 queer representation moments and then, had a moment of realisation that I was prob in the minority doing that. I think they should have held off revealing Michaela, hopefully that isn't offensive to say because I was so excited. I really loved what they did but I think it was maybe one big change too many for one season for this stupid fandom.
@@goober479totally agree! I wish someone had filmed my reaction to both Ben and Fran because I was so excited. I legit love what they did. But of course see the reaction online was super disappointing
@@fourthdimensionaltraveller it was so exciting to see! I read an interview with the showrunner where she talked about feeling that Francesca’s book really connected with her as a queer woman (always feeling “out of place” with everyone around her) and I’m genuinely so excited to see what they do with her and her story after seeing how thoughtfully she spoke about it. Fingers crossed we actually get to her season (you never know with Netflix and canceling shows lol)
the best thing about being on tumblr and not twitter is that i can literally just avoid the bullshit. like have i heard that people are mad about screen time? yes, but mostly i've just seen nice gifs and everyone screaming about how we now have TWO CONFIRMED QUEER BRIDGERTONS!!!!!!!!!!!
I wonder if - because Simons actor quit after the first season - the show runner/ writer? Realized they needed to focus more on building the other story lines each season so it wouldn't be insane if a character didn't come back. BECAUSE it's freaking weird that Simon and Daphne just don't exist anymore.
I just wish we had a line about Daphne (like she's pregnant and can't make it). I don't need characters to stay on especially cause this is an anthology by premise, but acknolwedgement of them would be nice.
I think your comment about the content of the screen time really gets to the heart of my issue with Polin this season; after finishing the show my gut reaction was that they didn't have enough screen time together, but on further reflection I realized that it was the content of that screen time that felt hollow enough for it to feel like it "didn't count" in the screen time lineup. To me, Penelope was the star of this season for better and worse, so much so the star (and not their relationship) that Colin felt like he could've been anyone. Their relationship only reflected her perspective and felt like the "reward" at the end that's usually written for men (when a guy does something valiant enough for the plot, it often rewards him with a relationship at the end). I wish I felt a knew anything about him beyond the context of Lady Whistledown, anything about his personality beyond the ways he changed abroad.
Even if s4 doesn’t get the screen time complaints, I hope you still continue this. I really enjoy being analytical about things lol. Fun fact: the Girl Meets World fandom also had a war about screen time among characters and I did something very similar back in the day because I was tired of all the discourse lol
@patiencekillz people were arguing whether or not that Maya was getting more screen time than Riley (the titular girl lol) and I was so fed up, I took a stopwatch and said "we are doing this the analytical way". In an ironic turn of events, it was Farkle, a character who wasn't even a main at the time of the writing of said episode, who first passed up Riley for more screen time in an episode lol. I made it about halfway through s2 before the show finished airing
I did feel we got time with them, but I was already used to getting them in the previous season so I missed the kick of 'ok we're in THE polin season now', it just felt like any other season until pt2 then it felt all about Whistledown. I also think that in previous seasons, since their time together was limited, their scenes together felt more packed with "content" like their conversations had more meaning. Even after a whole season of them, the conversations they had in the park and the wedding reception in S2 are still my favorite interactions they've had. I'm not even mad bc I hate the show but bc they had so much potential and it was a mid final product after such long wait and promises.
I love this take. It felt very discombobulated for a season that is supposed to be about them and when real normal fans are talking about showing Polin more, we don't mean to discredit or get rid of the side plots, we just wanted balance and better utilisation of the scenes between Colin and Penelope. We were led to believe that Polin would be at the centre of it all and it didn't feel that way. It felt flat and unsatisfactory. When they gave us the scenes of them it felt like they were forced to throw them together, yk? Like giving a stray dog some bones. Idk
What you said about the quality of screentime a couple has together is my primary issue with season 3, because they might be around each other a lot but for the bulk of their together screentime in part 2, polin seemed miserable. The LW drama took up so much of their time together that we didn’t get a lot of just seeing them being dorks in love, which is what the friends to lovers trope is SUPPOSED to be. I have a similar issue with season 2 and kanthony as well, I just want there to be payoff for the angst that the couples go through. Part two was kinda depressing to watch just because of how stressed out and angsty everyone was all the time, and there wasn’t enough good vibes to make up for it at the end
THANK YOU! I hate that the way this fandom basically gets into a pseudo oppression olympics (my fave fat character wasn't treated as well as your fave brown character) etc. Like its shonda rhimes ppl. all these characters will eventually get their time to shine. Also i will defend the mondrich subplot and michaela to my last dying breath. That being said I do think that the new showrunner seems a bit less focused. I condemn the way people are talking about her, but I also think there are valid critiques of the choices she made this season
Can I ask what you liked about the Mondrich subplot? I've been really confused by it, and curious why they wanted to make them upper class when we follow few lower class characters (like the modiste, who I'd like more scenes of), and why the Mondrich subplot wasn't saved until season 4 which will likely explore class dynamics more.
The Mondrichs come from such a unique standpoint and I wish their plot could have had more mirrors in their themes with the bigger plot of the story, or that it could have just been fleshed out more. Imagine having a normal life and then suddenly joining the incredibly wealthy. There's so much to do with that feeling, especially given the time period. New resources but also a new group you have to belong to and rules to learn. Their conversation with Benedict was wonderful. I wanted them to have been framed together with old characters in more shots as the episodes progressed to show that even though they are still awkward to the new setting, they are becoming part of the group.
this! i didn’t mind their side plots, i just thought they could have been better done. all their issues seems quite frivolous and i would’ve enjoyed seeing a little different of a conflict for them
The problem with the Modriches isn't that they exist, its that they are the earlobe story-line. No connection to anything or anyone else. You need to build some reason for them to be part of it all otherwise it becomes them naked and alone. Also, the Bridgerton subreddit is scary! I just wanna talk shit and gawk at pretty clothes. Why am I being drawn into drama??
I iniitially found their storyline to be the least relevant in the season, but to be honest, if you view them in relation to the Ton aka "new money" coming into "old money" it really adds layers to the show especially the Bridgertons and privilege (and I will FOREVER be mad Mondrich had to give up his bar after Pen gets to do both but I guess that is needed to show how things work in the world). Also they are *potentially* hinting to the fact that the Mondrich family may have a love interest to Greg/Hy down the road so stay tuned.
I think the mondriches were useful for illustrating some character stuff with Benedict, and I imagine they're going to be relevant later when other characters are introduced
It fascinates me how obsessed the Bridgerton fandom is with numbers. The only other show that's this obsessed is Doctor Who, but that's somewhat understandable given it has been cancelled in the past due to poor ratings. I've no idea where it comes from for Bridgerton!
The subreddit is literal garbage fire but to be fair it was that way in S2 with Charithra and all the incredibly gross hate to Edwina for no reason. The fandom is super racist and homophobic and always has been, speaking as someone arguing for bi Benedict since S1 on there. I had to leave before S3 came out. I was so beyond excited with the choice with Michaela but as soon as I finished my squealing, I went, "oh the fans are going to be PISSED" and yup! I wonder if the showrunner anticipated the backlash and decided to push diversity anyway, hope the actress was prepared...
They say that they’re not homophobic, but the amount of people that I saw saying that they’ll have to drop the infertility subplot from Fran’s story because she’s a lesbian….
@@goober479 Please also don’t forget that Simone had been getting hate since even before S2 came out. People were hating on her Indian accent and saying she looked like a man since that 1 minute Tudum clip. She is still getting racist attacks from racist Penelope/Nicola stans who seem to be extremely jealous of her popularity as a dark skinned woc.
@@EvangelinaGreythe fact that they seem to think this automatically means she’s lesbian and don’t even consider bisexuality as an option tells you exactly the kind of person we are dealing with here!
The fandom were so entitled when I used to lurk on their main subreddit. They had their QC spinoff series (regardless of whether you like her as a character or not - and I don't - it's proof of the Bridgerton world being expanded on and invested in) a spin off novel, a behind the scenes book and renewal for a fourth season and the fans would be like "The marketing team are incompetent, they should be fired" because they didn't get any new material on the anniversary of S2 last March. Jfc, be grateful for what you've been given. Some people never see the books they want adapted (books which, btw, depict much healthier behaviour)
me while observing bridgerton twitter/tik tok discourse: Julia Cudney if you can here me please save me right now. Please lay your hands on me right now. Julia-
im always clicking your vids every time you drop. ill hold my deep dive into how much i appreciate your bridgerton content when you post your full review of the season but also like just putting it out there, if you were to have a patreon i would be one of the first person to sign up.. okay this was rlly garbled but hype for this vid!
I have had to mute/block whatever you call it the Bridgerton subreddit because I hate everyone there. I now only watch Julia’s commentary only. Thank you for uploading I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS 🧡🧡
Ive only completed season 2 but i follow the fandom and i totally agree with your issues with it. Its one thing to have issues with structure pacing storyline, hell costumes and set design. But people are straight up like accusing the showrunner of "self inserting" and "not being serious" and all kinds of weird stuff. Like i have plenty of critiques for the show even my beloved s2 but it should be left at that. "This should have been done differently, this should have been cleaned up, shortened, made to relate better to the main storyline" ANYTHING but "i hate this character because they take up time! Im a mind reader and this decision was made because such and such writer hates the fandom!" Like grow up
Yes! Love me some math. In all seriousness though, I feel like in this situation your real, cold, hard numbers are important and appreciated. Thank you for your service. ❤ I personally find this interesting, especially in the context as someone who doesnt know how they feel about the latest season, especially the second half where I felt they didnt interact as much. I think it will be interesting to see how much of that is real and how much is just my perception.
After having watched all the videos you made on Bridgerton (well, almost, not the QC one because I still have to catch up on the series!) I'd say that my excitement for the future updates of the spreadsheet is on par with my anticipation for the next seasons of the show! XD Anyway, thank you for this! It must have been a pain to go through all of this data but it is nice to actually see the numbers and make informed comparisons based on them, instead of believing that the showrunners just hate the main couples lol. I fear that this discourse might be far from over and that it will resurface when the next season. Nonetheless I agree with you when you say that the quality of the scenes focused on a pairing is more important than the quantity. And yes, Bridgerton is an ENSEMBLE series with a rotating lead cast, complaints about the general format of the show at this point in the game do not make much sense. What I've always had issue with is the number of the episodes. One episode or two more would have helped the plot breath and avoid having a rushed resolution (which happended in all three seasons IMHO). Anyway, I look forward to your thoughts on season 3!!
13:11 i have some info about this! what they do in s3 is actually the original form of charades (which is still common in the french speaking world, which is why i recognized it immediately as a french speaker). it's the same principle of making people guess a word by making them guess components of the word phonetically, the original version was just through riddles, but the in the english speaking world it turned into miming the words instead. According to wikipedia that change occurred in the early 20th century so it makes sense for the Bridgerton cast to be doing the original version!
I really agree with you that "fairness" isn't a good argument when talking about screen time. In fact, I argue for the opposite in that even though Colin and Penelope had roughly the same amount of time as other couples, I actually think they needed MORE time considering how their long friendship history and how big of a story the Whistledown reveal and dealing with the aftermath /should/ have been. Even though the time is roughly the same, it FELT super rushed.
They did have more time, in season 1 and season 2. The foundation of their relationship had already been established even before season 3 episode 1 began.
@@karouakiva592no, their friendship was since childhood, but where's the flashbacks like in the previous seasons that definitely added character to Anthony and Simon? I barely know Colin as an individual. They kept telling us and not showing us. Like the scene in the market with him talking about their first meeting. It's ironic how the couple with the most history has zero flashbacks and I needed that for Colin more than Penelope because we know so much about her and he just felt like a prop in his own season. It's not about screen time either because that's not the real issue, it's the utilisation of their scenes. It just was poorly executed
@@pettybee3860 People asking for things like they're squares on a bingo card they want to check. Just because something was in a previous season, doesn't mean it'll be in all of them. They have been showing us who Colin is from the first scene of season 1. He uses humor to deflect or diffuse a situation. He's perceptive when it comes to his siblings' and his mother's feelings, he often tries to adjust to their moods. He's always trying to help, like Daphne with the duel, and encouraging Benedict to enroll in art school. He's insecure because even his family kept dismissing him, like when he used to talk about his travels. He wants to be seen as an adult, but his family kept treating him like a kid; they even showed us this with his costumes in seasons 1 and 2, he used to dress just like Gregory. He also has a hero complex, he's always trying to save people, like Penelope when Cressida dumped her drink on her, Marina from dancing with that old man, and the Featheringtons from Jack's ruby mine schemes. Both of these traits, wanting to be seen as a man, and his hero complex, are what allowed Marina to manipulate and take advantage of him, and even then, he'd have married her if she'd just told him. We can see how much that whole situation affected him in season 2, from the way he's always drinking from a flask, and the way he talks about lacking a purpose. So he's insecure, he's a people pleaser, he wants to be seen as a man, not a boy, and people (season 1 Anthony) tell him men go to brothels. He decides to come back as season 3 part 1 Colin, and people love it. His peers tell him his new "personality" is more fun, the debutantes fawn all over him, even Anthony congratulates him. But he realizes that's not who he really is, and it doesn't make him happy. He notices his own feelings for Penelope, but he's still insecure about himself, because of everything that happened in seasons 1 and 2. He takes a while to figure it out, but then he finally decides to go for it. And the rest is history.
@@pettybee3860 You don't need flashbacks to establish history and in some instances its lazy to use them for that purpose (and I'd rather them reminisce about being young than showing it cause it shows how much joy they have remembering when they first met AND Colin being the one to retell it mainly was important for his character). The showing was there since, compared to a book platform, actors can show a lot more than words. Viewing S3 as a vacuum aka season on its own is an inherent flaw, but you need to view it with previous seasons to really see but no, Colin wasn't a prop and I'd argue part 1 was all him.
Yesss! Saw the discourse online and immediately thought of you and was just waiting for this video to be uploaded! Was also curious on your thoughts of this season since you said in the last video Penelope is your favourite character
I think its less that people don't want subplots or side charachters, and more that fans want them to be worth it, or mean something. We went through this whole cressida arc for her just to be seemingly dropped at the end, granted they could explore more with her next season. Benedicts scenes seemd to be a bunch of senseless sex scenes, the number of these scenes vould have easily been reduced and they would still tell the smae story. I like the Montriches, but again we could have been told the same story, but with less scenes. I think a good example of charachters that panned out really well as side charachters this season are Penelope's sisters. I felt like each scene with them in it propelled each of their storylines and helped us genuinely learn more about them, and ended in this culmination of them even having charachter growth and development. Supposedly benedict's season is next, and he had all these side scenes while having significantly less development happening throughout each of them, so a few of them were really just him having sex for no reason. Which i get that having sex for no reason can be a growth point, i'm just saying we need less of it to tell the same story. I just think most people notice these things and have it bother them, but cant really put to words the exact issue for them, so they chalk it up to ammount of screentime rathern than the quality of said screentime, as you were saying.
The backlash the new showrunner is getting for “using Francesca as a self insert” feels so insidious. I’ve literally seen people go “it’s because she’s /queer/ :/“ like, congrats, everyone! This is homophobia, repackaged!
I never got the whole “there’s not enough of the main couple” movement. Anytime the main leads for the season were just on screen, that’s what I counted as screen time for that couple. And I’ve been satisfied with that screen time every season they’ve put out, Including the limited series.
It's more about the utilisation of that screen time as opposed to the amount of time they were on screen. Think Quality over Quantity. It just didn't feel like quality and that's my criticism of it
Finally a video I want to watch! I watched so many after pt 1 bc I wasn't sold, and was worried how it would end. And then I loved the 2nd pt, and everyone was still negative. So I don't want to watch them. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t love Francesca not enjoying kissing John, but I thought the rest was good. Idk, I guess I'm just a casual Bridgerton enjoyer, and I love Nicola.
I have been WAITING for your thoughts on this season. I went back to your first bridgerton video and there were so many changes you'd suggested that were adopted in part that I've been looking forward to how you liked it
i watched the last two videos without watching a single episode of bridgerton, watched them again when i finally caved and watched s1-3, and have been patiently waiting for the new bridgerton vid ever since!!! so excited
Thank you for filming this! I know this took so much time. I agree with you, I think my issues with season 3 didn't stem from Colin and Penelope having less screen time. I think that argument (like you proved) about how much screentime isn't really relevant compared to the quality of that screen time. I think most people feel that way, but get a bit lost in the statistics of it all. I also agree that the fandom does get nasty, I like to stay away from that even though I do agree that season 3 had some glaring issues. I'm excited to hear your nuanced takes on everything!
I know this isn't the review but I'm really excited to hear your thoughts on the Michaela/Michael discourse if you get into it! It was my least favorite season over all but I'm crediting that to a lot of different things. Looking back at season 2 I'm like-- okay so that was peak. I think the screentime with Kanthony was better spent than the screentime with Polin, what they (polin) had felt rushed, which is weird considering we've known them longest out of any couple. I also wish they'd actually had the flashback to their first meeting rather than Colin just recounting it
As i was watching it i avoided hearing any reviews and while watching i really thought they had fixed the pacing and the balance between the lead's screen time and the subplots was done so much better than last season. I was confused when i found out people were complaining about it. To be honest my biggest issue with the season is: although i love Penelope more than anything I'm not really crazy about Colin (his writing not the actor). The idea that the season is missing more of him and less of the Francesca and other Bridgerton stuff! The Michaela twist was a delight, i have never been more excited for a season of bridgerton than Francescas!!! Also it makes perfect sense why the other leads had more screen time since season 1 we only just met Daphne and in season 2 Anthony was being repaired from season 1 (and well i think kate should of got more substantial screen time) but Penelope and Colin have had two seasons of us getting to know them and their dynamic! Also as an Irish person I'm so proud to see Nicola Coughlan handling all this with so much grace and doing using her voice and platform for good! This video is incredible work!!! This is the kind of insanity that comes from playing sims obsessively as a child!
Yes. I do like show Colin better than book Colin. But his characterization could be better... I didn't mind the Michaela twist. It's interesting and don't drastically change the theme of her season. It might even be used to reinforce it. But I didn't like that Fran fell in love at first sigh with Michaela (or was implied to). To me, it ruins what Francesca and John were standing in this season and I loved them for it.
@@elisa4620I don't think it'll be quite that simple, but i get what you mean. I felt similarly going into Anthony's season but i trust the writers to make it interesting
Wow thank you so much for this, can’t imagine the amount of effort it took 😭💖. Btw when I first watched your video for s2 I wasn’t in the fandom so I thought you were exaggerating with the amount of complaints but now that I’m in I see how insane people are lmaoo. And Simon’s lack of screen time didn’t really suprise me, since I actually felt that compared to other seasons we don’t really see him falling in love with Daphne meanwhile she has like 2 dream sequences plus the spoon and boxing scenes 🤷♀️
These stats were a sad reminder that yes, Mary ( mother of Kate and one of the main, pivotal characters in her book) had less screen time then Jack, the guy who showed up for a season in order to steal some money. That really sums up the level of creativity from the show. Edwina's full time on the show and half of Kate's screen time was spent in a love triangle. I don't even know what Kate did for the other 90 minutes , but is sure wasn't having meaningful conversations with her mother, spending any time on her backround and delving into her motivations.
If anything this just proves that yes, Polin did have less screen time in comparison to supportive characters. And in comparison to previous seasons. But the difference that makes everyone mad is that while in the first 2 seasons the supportive character's plotlines actually served a purpose to the characters development or the story in the future. But in Polin, the side storylines were The Mondrich family having unnecessary drama that was already resoleved in Queen Charlotte and Benedict being bi for fan service. The Francheska stuff was good and maybe should've focused more on that, so that you know we would believe at the end how she is suddenly gay. And since it is connected to the main characters family (same as Penelope's family drama, that is also acceptable for the same reason- side storyline connected to the main characters family). And I think Daphne leading on Simon is not at all an issue. Because Simon is still the lead with most screentime even though he was only in one season (which is a reason more that Daphne has a lead on him as well.) The other reason could be that SHE IS the Bridgerton. The point of view should always be from THE Bridgerton hence more screen time should go to the Bridgerton of the pair. Which was even more disappointing in Colin's season when they gave him no point of view and no character development. The first part was actually promising, with far more Polin in focus and a hint of development, hint of sexy scences that people were waiting for, since they got together only halfway though the season. But they just pushed it all aside in part 2 and literally I feel like not much happened. Which is why the numbers for views are still high - the hype was real and people wanted to watch. They just don't want to anymore, after they saw it.
i literally watched all of your bridgerton videos in one sitting today and im so happy to finally have found someone yap about bridgerton (bc my god the bridgerton fandom on reddit is VILE!!!) and have me agreeing with EVERYTHING they say.. can't wait for your s3 analysis
I started watching Bridgeton right around when s3 dropped though I had watched your video before. I rewatched all three after the first set of s3. Ready to hear your s3 opinions.
This might be a discussion best left for the actual review but imo if Pen and Colin's season suffered, I think it was the book's fault more than the show's. What the show created to fill in the blanks and gaps was the content everyone liked (the mirror scene, the reading of the bann, the dance int he church and at their wedding), and where they hewed too closely to the books I think it created pacing issues that people want to chalk up to a screen time disparity that actually factually doesn't exist (they're not continuously cutting to Benedict in the last episode because they hate Penelope, they're doing it because in the books they're just WAITING AROUND FOR THE PARTY TO HAPPEN). There wasn't LESS Polin, it's just as per the books there's a stretch of time where all he does is sit and sulk on the couch because he's mad he's not Lady Whistledown dfjkhs. The translation from book to show was inefficiently similar but it's kind of a devil's bargain where even now people are claiming the book did them more justice even though the back half of the show was worse for having to hew to the timeline of the book.
Yeah. It's not about the amount of scenes; it's how you utilise them and I just think they didn't do a very good job pacing them out and adding the necessary stuff to really sell them as a couple
I truly only pay attention to Bridgerton discourse because it's the homeowork for Julia Cudney videos. The moment i first saw the season 3 trailers had dripped I thought "Gotta watch that so I'll know what Julia's talking about 6 months from now!"
I wonder if Simon's diminished role compared to other characters played a part in Renee Jean Pagé choosing not to come back to the series. I too wouldn't put my career on hold for that
I've been waiting for your reviews ever since finishing the season, I just find that I agree with you on almost everything! I'm here for the Michaela stanning in this video, that's even possibly the number 1 criticism I see in comments section more than "polin was sidelined"/complaining about side characters (why is it usually people complaining about the Mondriches in particular, hmm??) but personally I am SO excited about Michaela!
i like the point you made about there being soo many shipwars especially because the pairings for bridgerton are already set from the novels like simon & daphne, kate and anthony, penelope and colin. Just goes to show the mad chemistry the cast have with each other, especially seen in their tour interviews! personally, my favourite rare pairing is Benelope (Benedict & Penelope) because they're both artists and i feel that their relationship could be complementary of one another haha~ also Luke Thompson and Nicola Coughlan together? the writers knew that if these two interacted on screen more then it would be chaoticccc among fans 🤣
First time viewer and so impressed with your work. Also how is no one talking about overall series length in timings. S2 is 32 mins longer than S3. There is a lot they could've done with even another 20 mins never mind 30 mins more of time across 8 episodes. S3 is the shortest season, might explain why stuff felt rushed in comparison to S2
I want Marina to be happy so bad, let her runaway or fake her death or something. It would be so cruel for her to have her canonical ending. Let Marina be happy please 🙏🏾🙏🏾.
I don't even watch bridgerton and probably never will but boy howdy do I love a Julia Cudney Saying Things Video
sometimes compliments are phrased in a way that will stick with me, thank you
This except, I watched Queen Charlotte because I wanted to rewatch her video with a bit more understanding. And because it was shorter
39:55 39:55 39:55 39:55 39: 39: 39:57 39: 39:57
Julia is basically the only person I want to hear talk about Bridgerton because she's so right that the Bridgerton fandom is not a safe space. It's like the more of this television show (they claim to love so much) they get, the angrier they become. Julia brings the correct level of thoughtful critique, levity, and pure enjoyment that is sorely missing from twitter.
also i love that she just commits to bringing hard cold mathematical data to a discussion that is often so full of hyperbole and mistruths!
it’s so crazy because I like Bridgerton a pretty normal amount I’d say but anytime I try to see what other people are saying about it online (not many of my irl friends are fans) it’s so stressful and negative! I thought this show was about having fun!
@@roguecodes right? its fluffy and funny and every single main couple is guaranteed an entire season dedicated to them (which doesn't happen in any other show) and yet they're all having a terrible time.
I really didn’t like season 3, but the fandom is being genuinely terrible. Attacking the showrunner and saying she needs to be fired, calling John ugly, being homophobic about Francesca and Michaela… it’s just toxic and gross.
@@SoVeryNiamh it’s wild how much time people will dedicate to trashing something they don’t like instead of like…watching something else but such is life on the internet I guess
07:58 "Looking at each other, talking to each other, sniffing each other" - the three pillars of Bridgerton romance
i feel pretty strongly that this show wouldn't work half as well without the subplots. why should anyone care about the characters if they're just vehicles for romances without any meaningful/developed passions or connections with other characters?
Also, this season proves that no matter how much they cry for "We want Kanthony blissful moments galore" they'd hate it because Polin was by the far the most emotionally stable couple even with the angst of LW and people can't accept a lack of conflict as motivation.
I think also the reason why Daphne and Simon have more screentime together is because their trope is kind of based on that. They are fake dating, to make that believable you have to spend time together. They had to make the side characters believe their love even before they were aware of it themselves, which is not the case for the others pairings, since they have other romantic interests that, in theory, have to look like they might make it
I was thinking this especially when you compare it to Kanthony cause their whole trope is not spending time together lol so these numbers make hella sense.
I think everything would be fixed if we just had more than 8 episodes in a season
even a 10 episode season would help so much
impossible, filming and editing would take months longer and people would complain even more
32:00 Thank you for mentioning the Modrich’s! I definitely understand that they’re integration in season 3 was a bit messy without Simon, but being able to see that all of Lady D’s work making sure POC (in this case black families) could still inherit their titles, and was able to pass down all the wisdom she learned to another black family was so satisfying, but people don’t think about that because they wanted more sex scenes 😭
Have I seen a single episode of Bridgerton? No. Will I watch every Bridgerton video you make, no matter how esoteric? Absolutely.
Exactly how I feel about your videos, I'd never even heard of teen wolf
omg hey queen
Omg Jane’s here too
Watching Mina Le's video, she mentioned that the show might be leaning towards an ensemble because it's constantly cycling through leads which may have varying fanbases. And with Daphne's actress leaving in S3, they need more ever-present characters
Well that is what it should do but by source material alone- the show is going to be an anthology (and even in the books, the siblings that appear multiple times have varying degree of necessity for the plot in terms of they NEED to be there). I really dont understand why people are mad about a show having an ensemble because by platform alone it needs it to succeed but in order for the adaption to work, it will need multiple characters cause no show has succeeded with only focusing on the main two.
I feel crazy that everyone is now saying s2 is the best season when at the time people were mad there were too many subplots especially too much time dedicated to the Featherington's. The complaint was Kate and Anthony didn't get enough screentime and especially them in married life. Lo and behold s3 comes and everyone complains about the same thing but this time it's about the Mondrich's.
I think the only thing I would've added is maybe more flashbacks to Pen and Colin as kids, especially them meeting! It genuinely bummed me out that we only heard of it and didn't see it
I actually liked the know flashback. There was something so sweet about how they looked reminiscing how they met, they in fact looked like kids again thinking about it which I thought made it so much better.
@@funkycrawler619 that's fair enough!
even though s2 has always been my personal fav (even beating qc in romance alone - ik that is unpopular but although charlotte and george had some strong moments, i just think they lacked crucial development, their angst and yearning FOR EACH OTHER right from start to finish without much actual interaction just didn’t feel quite earned - i preferred the other aspects the spinoff brought), i hate this too. i think the set expectations julia mentioned lead to unending greediness on the fandom‘s behalf. i have some gripes with this season mainly bc, again, i feel like colin lacked development, but overall, this season delivered everything people have been asking for. it just doesn’t live up to how they pictured it and so they immediately reject and insult the artists behind it, the creative vision replacing theirs.
off topic but i really appreciated penelope and her mothers developing relationship. i know that a few scenes here and there are not gonna absolve her mother of a lifetime of trauma but I appreciate seeing how alike they both are and see why her mother might have been harsher on her cause she sees so much of herself in penelope
benedict and tilley beating out francesca and john was not on my bingo card! excellent video!
I dont think people realise John and Fran had what you call "killer moments" vs "filler'. Their every interaction was made to be super romantic and both of them are charismatic so people are mad lmfao
Also the leads together conversation is ridiculous without considering what the main tension is for the couple. For Daphne and Simon it’s, they can’t stay away from each other and they’re forced to get married by the middle of the season and live together. Kanthony is all about how they HAVE to stay away from each other because he’s supposed to be marrying edwina and they don’t get together till the last 2 episodes. Polin is a mix in that they get married in the middle of the season after doing s1 dating lessons, but the main tension is lady whistledown and penelope having to reveal that to everyone in her life, and then also Colin who she’s hiding it from. So like obviously Daphne and Simon would have the most physical couple time together and kanthony the least?
I really like this point. It also makes one think that the Whistledown plot is just too big for it too be combined with the Polin plot when there are only the same amount of episodes as the other couples. The Polin slow burn could last multiple seasons and it would make so much sense.
when it comes to lead couple screen time, i'd take the complaints more seriously if it was a movie bc of the more limited time; but in a tv show you kinda need a strong supporting cast to keep interest going, and that means dedicating time to them (esp in the case of the bridgertons, where we essentially get a season per sibling). and i will always have the opinion that a lead couple's individual characters are only as interesting as their relationships with other people. if they replaced e.g. scenes of penelope and her family developing and reconciling with more polin scenes, that wouldve taken something away from her character.
That's very true but what about Colin💀? I barely know him. We needed a flashback. They did that previously in the other seasons and it added so much character to Anthony and Simon. I needed to grasp this because Colin felt like a prop in his own season. Yes, it is about Penelope and her family, but what about Colin as well? He felt very surface level and I always felt like they were telling us about him and not showing us. I didn't need Colin and Penelope together as a couple alone for the entire season. I needed balance and I didn't get that from season 3
Just a thought on why they didn’t cast a non-white Penelope, which I think has less to do with her and more about the Featheringtons as a family. I think if they cast the Featherington family as non-white the optics of them as the silly, shallow, money-seeking foil to the loving, moral, kind Bridgertons would be a bad look overall. The contrast would feel more pointed racially, especially with the kind of clumsy race revisionist history route they went with s1 rather than color blind casting, so I see why they didn’t go that route. It would be interesting to see though, I was thinking why they didn’t cast one of the main families as non-white as well, I think it just boils down to not serving the positive diversity depictions Shondaland is going for with the Featherington overall vibe lol
At this point I don't even know if there is such a thing as a safe fandom anywhere in the internet lands
Agreed but lord Bridgerton is truly rough (and I've read the books).
This is the Bridgerton video I’ve been waiting since the premiere. Julia’s at it again!
I think some of Benedict’s scenes should’ve been cut and given to Colin. All of his development was off screen. I would’ve loved to actually see flashbacks of him abroad and see how he changed. It would’ve added so much to his character and I think made the audience feel more for him and understand him a little more. Also, I would’ve liked to see flashbacks of him and Penelope together. The only one we got is when he decides to go after her, which is a perfect place to put it, but it’s of something we’ve already seen on screen.
I think we should also include how much side characters discuss a relationship and add that to the screen time of each main couple. What would Francesca and John’s screen time be if we included how much Violet and Lady Danbury discussed their relationship versus how much side characters discussed Colin and Penelope? Maybe that would account for the vibe of the show feeling like there were 2 main couples in season 2 and 3
i agree! i think “scenes ABOUT the couple/character” are important to factor in too, however i do feel like it would be IMPOSSIBLE (or take FOREVER LOL)
that's a really good point. it felt like people should have had a bigger reaction to penelope and colin getting together very suddenly
it's crazy how many people hated penelope last season and now it's her season they're mad she's not getting enough screentime......like i adore her so i'm glad they don't hate her anymore but make it make sense.
One does not simply make sense in the Bridgeton fandom.
😂😂😂 Unfortunately true@@EviePontecorvo
i also feel in a lot of ways it makes sense that we are getting more into introductions of other lead pairings at this point. if i remember the books correctly it almost seems like books 3-6 have a lot of events that are overlapping just told from different perspectives. for example it makes sense that francessca and michaela are introduced way before their season as there is years of build up in that story that is happening in the background of other siblings books. on the other hand the first two books almost feel like they were written more as stand alones before converting to a series and the show reflects that? (but also i am biased bc francesca's story is my favorite by far)
Yes actually you are right! In the case of the show its flipped a bit, but the book wise, 4-6 took place at relatively the same time so in the show Ben/El/Fran are all in the same period! That being said regardless, a time skip suits all of them pretty well!
Finally, the only person whose Bridgerton opinions I want to hear!
I liked the side plot of the Mondrich’s and Benedict, but these were the 2 side plots that seemed to be totally unrelated to the plot
Personally, after seeing a wonderful analysis of Ben, Ben's lack of development is deveopment (as said during the swing scene) and the Mondrichs initially were jarring but them being a "normal couple" really puts things in perspecive.
thank you for all your hard work. 👏 your statistics aligned with my impression of the seasons in term of screentime, so it's nice to know that my impression wasn't wrong. idk why i expect any different, but everytime i watch a bridgerton season i usually end with "i enjoyed that, had a few problems, but overall i enjoyed it" and then go online to see dumpster fire discourse that's going on and i'm taken aback by wild ppl are acting.
Dude my friend and I got finished binging it and we were like “omg that was awesome” and then my UA-cam recs were suddenly full of people shitting on the show! It’s so wild out here
I stood up and ran around screaming with the 2 queer representation moments and then, had a moment of realisation that I was prob in the minority doing that. I think they should have held off revealing Michaela, hopefully that isn't offensive to say because I was so excited. I really loved what they did but I think it was maybe one big change too many for one season for this stupid fandom.
@@goober479totally agree! I wish someone had filmed my reaction to both Ben and Fran because I was so excited. I legit love what they did. But of course see the reaction online was super disappointing
@@fourthdimensionaltraveller it was so exciting to see! I read an interview with the showrunner where she talked about feeling that Francesca’s book really connected with her as a queer woman (always feeling “out of place” with everyone around her) and I’m genuinely so excited to see what they do with her and her story after seeing how thoughtfully she spoke about it. Fingers crossed we actually get to her season (you never know with Netflix and canceling shows lol)
the best thing about being on tumblr and not twitter is that i can literally just avoid the bullshit. like have i heard that people are mad about screen time? yes, but mostly i've just seen nice gifs and everyone screaming about how we now have TWO CONFIRMED QUEER BRIDGERTONS!!!!!!!!!!!
I wonder if - because Simons actor quit after the first season - the show runner/ writer? Realized they needed to focus more on building the other story lines each season so it wouldn't be insane if a character didn't come back. BECAUSE it's freaking weird that Simon and Daphne just don't exist anymore.
I just wish we had a line about Daphne (like she's pregnant and can't make it). I don't need characters to stay on especially cause this is an anthology by premise, but acknolwedgement of them would be nice.
I think your comment about the content of the screen time really gets to the heart of my issue with Polin this season; after finishing the show my gut reaction was that they didn't have enough screen time together, but on further reflection I realized that it was the content of that screen time that felt hollow enough for it to feel like it "didn't count" in the screen time lineup. To me, Penelope was the star of this season for better and worse, so much so the star (and not their relationship) that Colin felt like he could've been anyone. Their relationship only reflected her perspective and felt like the "reward" at the end that's usually written for men (when a guy does something valiant enough for the plot, it often rewards him with a relationship at the end). I wish I felt a knew anything about him beyond the context of Lady Whistledown, anything about his personality beyond the ways he changed abroad.
Julia, 40 minutes, and Bridgerton? I am sat
I was waiting for you to come back and be loud and right about Bridgerton
Even if s4 doesn’t get the screen time complaints, I hope you still continue this. I really enjoy being analytical about things lol. Fun fact: the Girl Meets World fandom also had a war about screen time among characters and I did something very similar back in the day because I was tired of all the discourse lol
i didn’t know this fact about gmw! pls tell me more!
Did you post it to a fan-space like "Here! You're ALL wrong!"?
@patiencekillz people were arguing whether or not that Maya was getting more screen time than Riley (the titular girl lol) and I was so fed up, I took a stopwatch and said "we are doing this the analytical way". In an ironic turn of events, it was Farkle, a character who wasn't even a main at the time of the writing of said episode, who first passed up Riley for more screen time in an episode lol. I made it about halfway through s2 before the show finished airing
@-Desire I was just sick of people arguing so I was like "well there's one way to figure out the answer lol"
@@bookmovietvworm fascinating!
I did feel we got time with them, but I was already used to getting them in the previous season so I missed the kick of 'ok we're in THE polin season now', it just felt like any other season until pt2 then it felt all about Whistledown. I also think that in previous seasons, since their time together was limited, their scenes together felt more packed with "content" like their conversations had more meaning. Even after a whole season of them, the conversations they had in the park and the wedding reception in S2 are still my favorite interactions they've had. I'm not even mad bc I hate the show but bc they had so much potential and it was a mid final product after such long wait and promises.
I love this take. It felt very discombobulated for a season that is supposed to be about them and when real normal fans are talking about showing Polin more, we don't mean to discredit or get rid of the side plots, we just wanted balance and better utilisation of the scenes between Colin and Penelope. We were led to believe that Polin would be at the centre of it all and it didn't feel that way. It felt flat and unsatisfactory. When they gave us the scenes of them it felt like they were forced to throw them together, yk? Like giving a stray dog some bones. Idk
That blouse is LOVELY! I am in awe. Also finally mother has finally gifted us with Bridgerton content
queen of mathematics and spreadsheets
What you said about the quality of screentime a couple has together is my primary issue with season 3, because they might be around each other a lot but for the bulk of their together screentime in part 2, polin seemed miserable. The LW drama took up so much of their time together that we didn’t get a lot of just seeing them being dorks in love, which is what the friends to lovers trope is SUPPOSED to be. I have a similar issue with season 2 and kanthony as well, I just want there to be payoff for the angst that the couples go through. Part two was kinda depressing to watch just because of how stressed out and angsty everyone was all the time, and there wasn’t enough good vibes to make up for it at the end
THANK YOU! I hate that the way this fandom basically gets into a pseudo oppression olympics (my fave fat character wasn't treated as well as your fave brown character) etc. Like its shonda rhimes ppl. all these characters will eventually get their time to shine. Also i will defend the mondrich subplot and michaela to my last dying breath. That being said I do think that the new showrunner seems a bit less focused. I condemn the way people are talking about her, but I also think there are valid critiques of the choices she made this season
Can I ask what you liked about the Mondrich subplot? I've been really confused by it, and curious why they wanted to make them upper class when we follow few lower class characters (like the modiste, who I'd like more scenes of), and why the Mondrich subplot wasn't saved until season 4 which will likely explore class dynamics more.
The Mondrichs come from such a unique standpoint and I wish their plot could have had more mirrors in their themes with the bigger plot of the story, or that it could have just been fleshed out more. Imagine having a normal life and then suddenly joining the incredibly wealthy. There's so much to do with that feeling, especially given the time period. New resources but also a new group you have to belong to and rules to learn. Their conversation with Benedict was wonderful. I wanted them to have been framed together with old characters in more shots as the episodes progressed to show that even though they are still awkward to the new setting, they are becoming part of the group.
this! i didn’t mind their side plots, i just thought they could have been better done. all their issues seems quite frivolous and i would’ve enjoyed seeing a little different of a conflict for them
I think people’s real problem with Bridgerton screen time is that we want more episodes!
Man im so glad im not on bridgerton twitter, tumblr hasnt had any of that madness that ive seen
The problem with the Modriches isn't that they exist, its that they are the earlobe story-line. No connection to anything or anyone else. You need to build some reason for them to be part of it all otherwise it becomes them naked and alone.
Also, the Bridgerton subreddit is scary! I just wanna talk shit and gawk at pretty clothes. Why am I being drawn into drama??
I iniitially found their storyline to be the least relevant in the season, but to be honest, if you view them in relation to the Ton aka "new money" coming into "old money" it really adds layers to the show especially the Bridgertons and privilege (and I will FOREVER be mad Mondrich had to give up his bar after Pen gets to do both but I guess that is needed to show how things work in the world). Also they are *potentially* hinting to the fact that the Mondrich family may have a love interest to Greg/Hy down the road so stay tuned.
I think the mondriches were useful for illustrating some character stuff with Benedict, and I imagine they're going to be relevant later when other characters are introduced
@@PoopHobbit Damn...Kinda depressing if that's all they were written for or perceived as though.
I’m unironically more excited for this video then I was for Bridgerton season 3
Thank you for exhaustively documenting how absurd the screentime discourse is.
It fascinates me how obsessed the Bridgerton fandom is with numbers. The only other show that's this obsessed is Doctor Who, but that's somewhat understandable given it has been cancelled in the past due to poor ratings. I've no idea where it comes from for Bridgerton!
This is insane. Like literally so impressive I wish this video was like doubly or triply monetized for your effort
I unsubscribed from the Bridgerton subreddit after this season because the only Bridgerton discourse that isn't obnoxious comes from Julia
The subreddit is literal garbage fire but to be fair it was that way in S2 with Charithra and all the incredibly gross hate to Edwina for no reason. The fandom is super racist and homophobic and always has been, speaking as someone arguing for bi Benedict since S1 on there. I had to leave before S3 came out.
I was so beyond excited with the choice with Michaela but as soon as I finished my squealing, I went, "oh the fans are going to be PISSED" and yup! I wonder if the showrunner anticipated the backlash and decided to push diversity anyway, hope the actress was prepared...
They say that they’re not homophobic, but the amount of people that I saw saying that they’ll have to drop the infertility subplot from Fran’s story because she’s a lesbian….
@@goober479 Please also don’t forget that Simone had been getting hate since even before S2 came out. People were hating on her Indian accent and saying she looked like a man since that 1 minute Tudum clip. She is still getting racist attacks from racist Penelope/Nicola stans who seem to be extremely jealous of her popularity as a dark skinned woc.
@@EvangelinaGreythe fact that they seem to think this automatically means she’s lesbian and don’t even consider bisexuality as an option tells you exactly the kind of person we are dealing with here!
The fandom were so entitled when I used to lurk on their main subreddit. They had their QC spinoff series (regardless of whether you like her as a character or not - and I don't - it's proof of the Bridgerton world being expanded on and invested in) a spin off novel, a behind the scenes book and renewal for a fourth season and the fans would be like "The marketing team are incompetent, they should be fired" because they didn't get any new material on the anniversary of S2 last March. Jfc, be grateful for what you've been given. Some people never see the books they want adapted (books which, btw, depict much healthier behaviour)
me while observing bridgerton twitter/tik tok discourse: Julia Cudney if you can here me please save me right now. Please lay your hands on me right now. Julia-
THE Julia of Bridgerton (step aside, Ms. Quinn)
im always clicking your vids every time you drop. ill hold my deep dive into how much i appreciate your bridgerton content when you post your full review of the season but also like just putting it out there, if you were to have a patreon i would be one of the first person to sign up.. okay this was rlly garbled but hype for this vid!
i do have a patreon! feel no pressure to join, but just so you know! lol thank you
as a fervent polin fan and someone who has been in the fandom for five years, if any of you shit on julia I will fight you. ty julia you are a queen❤
I have had to mute/block whatever you call it the Bridgerton subreddit because I hate everyone there. I now only watch Julia’s commentary only. Thank you for uploading I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS 🧡🧡
Ive only completed season 2 but i follow the fandom and i totally agree with your issues with it. Its one thing to have issues with structure pacing storyline, hell costumes and set design. But people are straight up like accusing the showrunner of "self inserting" and "not being serious" and all kinds of weird stuff. Like i have plenty of critiques for the show even my beloved s2 but it should be left at that. "This should have been done differently, this should have been cleaned up, shortened, made to relate better to the main storyline" ANYTHING but "i hate this character because they take up time! Im a mind reader and this decision was made because such and such writer hates the fandom!" Like grow up
This probably was not intentional but I love the little easter egg of your shirt from the season 2 video being seen from your closet in this one.
totally unintentional, but fun!
I don't dare to watch any reviews of season 3 that aren't yours I feel like you would have the most nuance
I love how you spare no expense in your Bridgerton videos, can’t wait for the S3 review
Yes! Love me some math. In all seriousness though, I feel like in this situation your real, cold, hard numbers are important and appreciated. Thank you for your service. ❤
I personally find this interesting, especially in the context as someone who doesnt know how they feel about the latest season, especially the second half where I felt they didnt interact as much. I think it will be interesting to see how much of that is real and how much is just my perception.
YES YES YES. I have been ANXIOUSLY checking UA-cam for this every day since the Part 2 premiere.
After having watched all the videos you made on Bridgerton (well, almost, not the QC one because I still have to catch up on the series!) I'd say that my excitement for the future updates of the spreadsheet is on par with my anticipation for the next seasons of the show! XD
Anyway, thank you for this! It must have been a pain to go through all of this data but it is nice to actually see the numbers and make informed comparisons based on them, instead of believing that the showrunners just hate the main couples lol.
I fear that this discourse might be far from over and that it will resurface when the next season. Nonetheless I agree with you when you say that the quality of the scenes focused on a pairing is more important than the quantity. And yes, Bridgerton is an ENSEMBLE series with a rotating lead cast, complaints about the general format of the show at this point in the game do not make much sense. What I've always had issue with is the number of the episodes. One episode or two more would have helped the plot breath and avoid having a rushed resolution (which happended in all three seasons IMHO).
Anyway, I look forward to your thoughts on season 3!!
13:11 i have some info about this! what they do in s3 is actually the original form of charades (which is still common in the french speaking world, which is why i recognized it immediately as a french speaker). it's the same principle of making people guess a word by making them guess components of the word phonetically, the original version was just through riddles, but the in the english speaking world it turned into miming the words instead. According to wikipedia that change occurred in the early 20th century so it makes sense for the Bridgerton cast to be doing the original version!
I really agree with you that "fairness" isn't a good argument when talking about screen time. In fact, I argue for the opposite in that even though Colin and Penelope had roughly the same amount of time as other couples, I actually think they needed MORE time considering how their long friendship history and how big of a story the Whistledown reveal and dealing with the aftermath /should/ have been.
Even though the time is roughly the same, it FELT super rushed.
They did have more time, in season 1 and season 2. The foundation of their relationship had already been established even before season 3 episode 1 began.
@@karouakiva592no, their friendship was since childhood, but where's the flashbacks like in the previous seasons that definitely added character to Anthony and Simon? I barely know Colin as an individual. They kept telling us and not showing us. Like the scene in the market with him talking about their first meeting. It's ironic how the couple with the most history has zero flashbacks and I needed that for Colin more than Penelope because we know so much about her and he just felt like a prop in his own season. It's not about screen time either because that's not the real issue, it's the utilisation of their scenes. It just was poorly executed
@@pettybee3860 People asking for things like they're squares on a bingo card they want to check. Just because something was in a previous season, doesn't mean it'll be in all of them.
They have been showing us who Colin is from the first scene of season 1. He uses humor to deflect or diffuse a situation. He's perceptive when it comes to his siblings' and his mother's feelings, he often tries to adjust to their moods. He's always trying to help, like Daphne with the duel, and encouraging Benedict to enroll in art school. He's insecure because even his family kept dismissing him, like when he used to talk about his travels. He wants to be seen as an adult, but his family kept treating him like a kid; they even showed us this with his costumes in seasons 1 and 2, he used to dress just like Gregory. He also has a hero complex, he's always trying to save people, like Penelope when Cressida dumped her drink on her, Marina from dancing with that old man, and the Featheringtons from Jack's ruby mine schemes.
Both of these traits, wanting to be seen as a man, and his hero complex, are what allowed Marina to manipulate and take advantage of him, and even then, he'd have married her if she'd just told him. We can see how much that whole situation affected him in season 2, from the way he's always drinking from a flask, and the way he talks about lacking a purpose.
So he's insecure, he's a people pleaser, he wants to be seen as a man, not a boy, and people (season 1 Anthony) tell him men go to brothels. He decides to come back as season 3 part 1 Colin, and people love it. His peers tell him his new "personality" is more fun, the debutantes fawn all over him, even Anthony congratulates him. But he realizes that's not who he really is, and it doesn't make him happy. He notices his own feelings for Penelope, but he's still insecure about himself, because of everything that happened in seasons 1 and 2. He takes a while to figure it out, but then he finally decides to go for it. And the rest is history.
@@pettybee3860 You don't need flashbacks to establish history and in some instances its lazy to use them for that purpose (and I'd rather them reminisce about being young than showing it cause it shows how much joy they have remembering when they first met AND Colin being the one to retell it mainly was important for his character). The showing was there since, compared to a book platform, actors can show a lot more than words. Viewing S3 as a vacuum aka season on its own is an inherent flaw, but you need to view it with previous seasons to really see but no, Colin wasn't a prop and I'd argue part 1 was all him.
Yesss! Saw the discourse online and immediately thought of you and was just waiting for this video to be uploaded! Was also curious on your thoughts of this season since you said in the last video Penelope is your favourite character
I think its less that people don't want subplots or side charachters, and more that fans want them to be worth it, or mean something. We went through this whole cressida arc for her just to be seemingly dropped at the end, granted they could explore more with her next season. Benedicts scenes seemd to be a bunch of senseless sex scenes, the number of these scenes vould have easily been reduced and they would still tell the smae story. I like the Montriches, but again we could have been told the same story, but with less scenes. I think a good example of charachters that panned out really well as side charachters this season are Penelope's sisters. I felt like each scene with them in it propelled each of their storylines and helped us genuinely learn more about them, and ended in this culmination of them even having charachter growth and development. Supposedly benedict's season is next, and he had all these side scenes while having significantly less development happening throughout each of them, so a few of them were really just him having sex for no reason. Which i get that having sex for no reason can be a growth point, i'm just saying we need less of it to tell the same story. I just think most people notice these things and have it bother them, but cant really put to words the exact issue for them, so they chalk it up to ammount of screentime rathern than the quality of said screentime, as you were saying.
The backlash the new showrunner is getting for “using Francesca as a self insert” feels so insidious. I’ve literally seen people go “it’s because she’s /queer/ :/“ like, congrats, everyone! This is homophobia, repackaged!
I never got the whole “there’s not enough of the main couple” movement. Anytime the main leads for the season were just on screen, that’s what I counted as screen time for that couple. And I’ve been satisfied with that screen time every season they’ve put out, Including the limited series.
It's more about the utilisation of that screen time as opposed to the amount of time they were on screen. Think Quality over Quantity. It just didn't feel like quality and that's my criticism of it
Finally a video I want to watch! I watched so many after pt 1 bc I wasn't sold, and was worried how it would end. And then I loved the 2nd pt, and everyone was still negative. So I don't want to watch them.
Sure, it wasn’t perfect, and I didn’t love Francesca not enjoying kissing John, but I thought the rest was good. Idk, I guess I'm just a casual Bridgerton enjoyer, and I love Nicola.
I have been WAITING for your thoughts on this season. I went back to your first bridgerton video and there were so many changes you'd suggested that were adopted in part that I've been looking forward to how you liked it
The thing with fandom is that I find that no matter what, people really do hate the thing they voluntarily and continually consume.
i watched the last two videos without watching a single episode of bridgerton, watched them again when i finally caved and watched s1-3, and have been patiently waiting for the new bridgerton vid ever since!!! so excited
Thank you for filming this! I know this took so much time. I agree with you, I think my issues with season 3 didn't stem from Colin and Penelope having less screen time. I think that argument (like you proved) about how much screentime isn't really relevant compared to the quality of that screen time. I think most people feel that way, but get a bit lost in the statistics of it all. I also agree that the fandom does get nasty, I like to stay away from that even though I do agree that season 3 had some glaring issues. I'm excited to hear your nuanced takes on everything!
Oh I've been WAITING for your bridgerton content since season 3 finished. Hell yesss thanks for the feast Julia!! Excited for the next one!
I’ve never watched a single episode of Bridgerton but this was still so interesting
I know this isn't the review but I'm really excited to hear your thoughts on the Michaela/Michael discourse if you get into it! It was my least favorite season over all but I'm crediting that to a lot of different things. Looking back at season 2 I'm like-- okay so that was peak. I think the screentime with Kanthony was better spent than the screentime with Polin, what they (polin) had felt rushed, which is weird considering we've known them longest out of any couple. I also wish they'd actually had the flashback to their first meeting rather than Colin just recounting it
As i was watching it i avoided hearing any reviews and while watching i really thought they had fixed the pacing and the balance between the lead's screen time and the subplots was done so much better than last season.
I was confused when i found out people were complaining about it. To be honest my biggest issue with the season is: although i love Penelope more than anything I'm not really crazy about Colin (his writing not the actor).
The idea that the season is missing more of him and less of the Francesca and other Bridgerton stuff! The Michaela twist was a delight, i have never been more excited for a season of bridgerton than Francescas!!!
Also it makes perfect sense why the other leads had more screen time since season 1 we only just met Daphne and in season 2 Anthony was being repaired from season 1 (and well i think kate should of got more substantial screen time) but Penelope and Colin have had two seasons of us getting to know them and their dynamic!
Also as an Irish person I'm so proud to see Nicola Coughlan handling all this with so much grace and doing using her voice and platform for good!
This video is incredible work!!! This is the kind of insanity that comes from playing sims obsessively as a child!
Yes.
I do like show Colin better than book Colin. But his characterization could be better...
I didn't mind the Michaela twist. It's interesting and don't drastically change the theme of her season. It might even be used to reinforce it.
But I didn't like that Fran fell in love at first sigh with Michaela (or was implied to).
To me, it ruins what Francesca and John were standing in this season and I loved them for it.
@@elisa4620I don't think it'll be quite that simple, but i get what you mean. I felt similarly going into Anthony's season but i trust the writers to make it interesting
Our certified bridgerton historian
Wow thank you so much for this, can’t imagine the amount of effort it took 😭💖. Btw when I first watched your video for s2 I wasn’t in the fandom so I thought you were exaggerating with the amount of complaints but now that I’m in I see how insane people are lmaoo. And Simon’s lack of screen time didn’t really suprise me, since I actually felt that compared to other seasons we don’t really see him falling in love with Daphne meanwhile she has like 2 dream sequences plus the spoon and boxing scenes 🤷♀️
These stats were a sad reminder that yes, Mary ( mother of Kate and one of the main, pivotal characters in her book) had less screen time then Jack, the guy who showed up for a season in order to steal some money. That really sums up the level of creativity from the show. Edwina's full time on the show and half of Kate's screen time was spent in a love triangle. I don't even know what Kate did for the other 90 minutes , but is sure wasn't having meaningful conversations with her mother, spending any time on her backround and delving into her motivations.
love to see women in stem using their skills to make a true difference in our society like this
If anything this just proves that yes, Polin did have less screen time in comparison to supportive characters. And in comparison to previous seasons.
But the difference that makes everyone mad is that while in the first 2 seasons the supportive character's plotlines actually served a purpose to the characters development or the story in the future. But in Polin, the side storylines were The Mondrich family having unnecessary drama that was already resoleved in Queen Charlotte and Benedict being bi for fan service. The Francheska stuff was good and maybe should've focused more on that, so that you know we would believe at the end how she is suddenly gay. And since it is connected to the main characters family (same as Penelope's family drama, that is also acceptable for the same reason- side storyline connected to the main characters family).
And I think Daphne leading on Simon is not at all an issue. Because Simon is still the lead with most screentime even though he was only in one season (which is a reason more that Daphne has a lead on him as well.)
The other reason could be that SHE IS the Bridgerton. The point of view should always be from THE Bridgerton hence more screen time should go to the Bridgerton of the pair.
Which was even more disappointing in Colin's season when they gave him no point of view and no character development.
The first part was actually promising, with far more Polin in focus and a hint of development, hint of sexy scences that people were waiting for, since they got together only halfway though the season. But they just pushed it all aside in part 2 and literally I feel like not much happened. Which is why the numbers for views are still high - the hype was real and people wanted to watch. They just don't want to anymore, after they saw it.
i literally watched all of your bridgerton videos in one sitting today and im so happy to finally have found someone yap about bridgerton (bc my god the bridgerton fandom on reddit is VILE!!!) and have me agreeing with EVERYTHING they say.. can't wait for your s3 analysis
I started watching Bridgeton right around when s3 dropped though I had watched your video before. I rewatched all three after the first set of s3. Ready to hear your s3 opinions.
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SEVENTY YEARS
I LOVE MATH
The top, the hair, you look gorgeous, Julia!
This might be a discussion best left for the actual review but imo if Pen and Colin's season suffered, I think it was the book's fault more than the show's. What the show created to fill in the blanks and gaps was the content everyone liked (the mirror scene, the reading of the bann, the dance int he church and at their wedding), and where they hewed too closely to the books I think it created pacing issues that people want to chalk up to a screen time disparity that actually factually doesn't exist (they're not continuously cutting to Benedict in the last episode because they hate Penelope, they're doing it because in the books they're just WAITING AROUND FOR THE PARTY TO HAPPEN). There wasn't LESS Polin, it's just as per the books there's a stretch of time where all he does is sit and sulk on the couch because he's mad he's not Lady Whistledown dfjkhs. The translation from book to show was inefficiently similar but it's kind of a devil's bargain where even now people are claiming the book did them more justice even though the back half of the show was worse for having to hew to the timeline of the book.
Yeah. It's not about the amount of scenes; it's how you utilise them and I just think they didn't do a very good job pacing them out and adding the necessary stuff to really sell them as a couple
return of the queen 👑
I truly only pay attention to Bridgerton discourse because it's the homeowork for Julia Cudney videos. The moment i first saw the season 3 trailers had dripped I thought "Gotta watch that so I'll know what Julia's talking about 6 months from now!"
I wonder if Simon's diminished role compared to other characters played a part in Renee Jean Pagé choosing not to come back to the series. I too wouldn't put my career on hold for that
I've been waiting for your reviews ever since finishing the season, I just find that I agree with you on almost everything! I'm here for the Michaela stanning in this video, that's even possibly the number 1 criticism I see in comments section more than "polin was sidelined"/complaining about side characters (why is it usually people complaining about the Mondriches in particular, hmm??) but personally I am SO excited about Michaela!
waiting patiently for the season 3 review 😭
very cute to watch u just enjoy spreadsheets
i like the point you made about there being soo many shipwars especially because the pairings for bridgerton are already set from the novels like simon & daphne, kate and anthony, penelope and colin. Just goes to show the mad chemistry the cast have with each other, especially seen in their tour interviews! personally, my favourite rare pairing is Benelope (Benedict & Penelope) because they're both artists and i feel that their relationship could be complementary of one another haha~ also Luke Thompson and Nicola Coughlan together? the writers knew that if these two interacted on screen more then it would be chaoticccc among fans 🤣
I have nothing to say about this video, the topic doesnt interest me but you're pretty, funny and have a soothing voice.
First time viewer and so impressed with your work. Also how is no one talking about overall series length in timings. S2 is 32 mins longer than S3. There is a lot they could've done with even another 20 mins never mind 30 mins more of time across 8 episodes. S3 is the shortest season, might explain why stuff felt rushed in comparison to S2
Michaela may have had the least screentime but she did have the best screentime making her the most meaningful bridgerton character #RootingForHer
I was unreasonably overjoyed when I saw you uploaded about Bridgeton
It’s me, Julia, and Michaela with her :45 seconds of screen time against the world 😂
I am a simple woman, i see Julie upload, i watch
I literally have been waiting for you to upload something bout this bc EVERYONE ONLINE won’t stop whining about the time spent on each couple RAHHHH
BEEN WAITING for this video since s3 dropped, at this point I'm more excited for Julia's videos than for the actual new seasons
Go off girl, we love a queen in her statistics era
I want Marina to be happy so bad, let her runaway or fake her death or something. It would be so cruel for her to have her canonical ending. Let Marina be happy please 🙏🏾🙏🏾.
it is currently the last hour of my birthday and this is the highlight thank you!!!
yessssss julia cudney bridgerton video!!!!!!!!!!!!1 truly the only online person whose bridgerton opinions I want to hear