There are a lot of reasons to be excited about Bridgerton Season 3: the Lady Whistledown drama, the glow-up of favorite characters, and the speculation over whose story will come next. Most of all, though, I’m excited because the season centers on a trope that doesn’t get enough love in historical romance. I’m talking, of course, about friends to lovers.
Historical Romance Has Too Few Friends to Lovers Arcs
There’s something uniquely joyful about a friend-to-lovers romance. Watching the relationship between two characters slowly evolve can be downright giddy. The slow realization, the fear of messing things up, and the ultimate payoff — it’s just so emotionally satisfying.
It also doesn’t appear nearly enough in historical romance. That’s what will make Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin (Luke Newton)’s romance in Bridgerton Season 3 so delightful.
To some degree, it makes sense. Historical romance almost always takes place in an era where society had very different rules for interactions between men and women. At the risk of oversimplifying labyrinthine social rules, it’s fair to say that men and women didn’t have the same opportunities to form genuine friendships as their modern counterparts now have. Social spaces were largely segregated by gender; men and women couldn’t usually spend one-on-one time together. Forming the intimacy required for a satisfying friends-to-lovers arc would be difficult indeed. (The exception, of course, would be queer romances).
When I think about my favorite historical romances and period dramas, I realize just how few male-female friendships there are. There’s plenty of hate-to-love, second-chance romance, and arranged marriage/marriage of convenience. Some of those plots include friendship as a step in the journey, but rarely as the starting point.
It requires skillful plotting to lay a realistic foundation for a historical romance friends-to-lovers story. Think, for instance, of another current TV period drama: HBO’s The Gilded Age. It, like Bridgerton Season 3, manages the rare feat of building a real friendship long before romance sparks. The would-be lovers already can laugh together and trust each other. Finding the exact set of circumstances to make this realistic can be tricky within the bounds of history. For The Gilded Age, it’s neighborly proximity and shared knowledge of each other’s secrets. For Bridgerton, it’s growing from teenagers to adults together and sharing a connection through Eloise.
How Bridgerton Season 3 Can Lean Into the Trope
We already know that Bridgerton Season 3 will be noticeably different from Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. The book plot takes place a decade later, has Penelope as a resigned wallflower, and is the first to reveal Pen’s identity as Whistledown. In contrast, the third season of the Netflix show will be set immediately following Season 2 and will center on a totally original plotline of Colin agreeing to help Penelope reinvent herself in order to secure a husband and a future.
That new storyline, while certainly raising eyebrows among book purists, has the potential to open up a clearer “friends to lovers” arc. Colin will go from being Penelope’s friend (one who unknowingly insulted her, that is) to falling in love with her. Penelope, having forced herself to put Colin back in the “friend” category after having her heart broken, will realize that her feelings can’t be so easily tucked away after all.
I’m looking forward to the yo-yo-ing intimacy that I already expect from this duo. In previous seasons, Simon and Daphne, and Kate and Anthony, start from a first meeting that we witness. They are always acutely aware of the formality required in society. In contrast, Colin and Penelope have a habit of informality and friendly intimacy already. They speak privately and affectionately; they have closer physical proximity than is strictly proper. Watching them slip between old habits and forced formality is going to be an angsty treat!
Most of all, I want Bridgerton Season 3 to remember that Polin are friends first. That’s a different kind of tension from the disdain to love that we’ve seen twice now. They have an unusual relationship for their society, and that existing closeness means the stakes are already high. I want to see Colin convincing himself that he’s jealous out of friendly protectiveness, and then realizing that he’s just plain jealous. I want to see Pen’s repressed feelings finally come to light. Polin has always been one of my favorite Bridgerton couples, in large part because of their friends-to-lovers dynamic, and I hope the new season truly does them (and all of us fans) justice.
What do you think about this dynamic? Do you love friends-to-lovers? Share with us in the comments below!