Bridgerton Bonus Ep Life According to Nikki

Nikki's friend Ashley is providing insights and opinions on Bridgerton Season 3. They discuss various aspects of the show, including the actors' appearances, character development, costumes, and scenes. They agree on some points, such as Francesca's actress looking older than her character, and disagree on others, like Colin's sideburns. They also discuss Lady Danbury's cane and Penelope's makeover. Overall, they express mixed opinions about the season, highlighting both positive and negative aspects. Welcome to a special bonus episode of Life According to Nikki. This is Nikki's friend Ashley coming at you with both of our insights, hot takes and opinions on Bridgerton Season 3. For a little context, she and I had a 45 to 50 minute phone call the day after it came out and we shared all of these hot takes, all of our opinions. She recorded it for the pod and it didn't record the audio. So I told her that I would record a bonus episode and that's what you are listening to now. So first things first, if you haven't watched Bridgerton Season 3, pause this and go watch it because this bonus episode is going to be full of spoilers. Second, if you haven't gone to Instagram to watch Nikki's live reactions to Season 3, go watch that first because our girl put in work. She started at 1am and ended at 5am. She did the work so you didn't have to. Personally, I went to bed and I watched it the following day after work because I had to leave early to commute. So I give her props for the work she put in as a single girly living her best life. And now, without further ado, let's spill the tea on Season 3. Like I said, spoilers ahead, but I will be adding my thoughts to Nikki's. I wrote each of her points down from her Instagram highlight and I will weigh in on whether I agree or disagree and why while adding in a few of my own. So, point one, she said that she started out with saying Francesca is pretty. I agree, but I think the actress, while I love her, looks too old for the part she's playing. She's 29 in real life and I think she just looks older than some of the siblings that she's supposed to be younger than in terms of storyline. But that's my only critique. Otherwise, she did a fabulous job. Next point was Colin's sideburns are too long. I disagree. I was actually digging Pirate Colin. But I know that it's not everybody's cup of tea, so I understand that one. The next point was that Colin was acting like a pick-me-boy throughout the entire four episodes. I agree somewhat. I told her for Episode 1 and 2, I agree, and then it got better. But even as I was talking to my sister, who has also watched the four episodes, she said it only got slightly better, which I do agree with. I just felt like he was a little cringy this season, which is a bummer because he's been one of my favorite characters for Season 1 and Season 2. So, we'll see if it gets better in the next four. Her next point was she hated Colin's hair. I disagree. Along with the sideburns, I loved it. It kind of contributed to the pirate look and I was here for it. Her next point was Eloise and Penelope not being besties anymore. So, besties, not besties. I don't like it. I just feel like they both need to get over it. They're both wrong. They both hurt each other's feelings and it's kind of petty at this point. And I think they just need to, you know, pick up and get over it and start loving each other again. I don't know. Okay, her next point was Eloise being buddies with Cressida. I don't like it. I don't. I want to give Cressida a chance, but she has been terrible in the previous seasons. She has been terrible in parts of this season, but it's growing on me 10% because of the story they're giving to Cressida in the meantime. And I do feel a little bad for her, but we'll get to that point a little bit later. She also pointed out Lady Danbury's hat. The white one with the red ribbon. You all know the one. She looks fabulous in everything she wears. I loved it. What an epic statement. The next point was Colin getting the ick. I said yes and no. While I don't think he's as cool as he thinks he is, he's cooler than anyone else in the ton at present, at least in my opinion, because he has had the worldly experience that a lot of them haven't had, and I think that does set him apart somewhat. But he does give the ick in some scenes. I will give her that. Penelope's makeover. We both loved it. She looked stunning. Her hair was great. The dresses were all great. They did wonderful color matching, and her makeup was flawless. It just looked so much better. I know season 1 and season 2 had higher headlines for her to make her look younger, and the strategy behind the costuming in the show I think was genius, especially with Penelope, because they just made subtle changes that made her look of marriage age, and it looked great. Nikki pointed out Shonda's drone shots, and, yes, there were many of them. They were plentiful. The thing I also realized is that the Bridgerton house, or at least the outside of the Bridgerton house, is actually an art museum in London, but every time you see it in the show there's always a carriage riding past it or something to set it apart so it sets the scene. I understand why they do that, but it has to be CGI, at least in some aspect. So not only are we getting drone shots, but we're getting CGI drone shots, which now that I know it I won't be able to unsee it, but they're fine. Shonda loves them, and Shonda gives us a good show, so we'll let her get away with it. Nikki and I were talking about Lady Danbury with her cane. It doesn't actually bother me. Nikki was saying that it kind of grinds on her nerves a little bit, but I think it's funny. I think she uses the cane as an emphasis piece, and I think she earns the pretentiousness behind it. However, Nikki did point out that she shouldn't have a cane if she doesn't need a cane, and I somewhat agree. She does not use it for walking purposes. She just uses it as an emphasis piece or a fashion statement, which I think is funny, but it doesn't bother me. And Penelope's reveal at the ball, we love it. She looked stunning. The only thing we had a problem with was in the trailer and the teaser, they made her reveal at the top of the stairs where she, you know, embarks on her new journey and sheds her cape and the whole dramatic scene. It seemed as though that was going to be the talking point for the guests at the ball that evening, and it just wasn't. They kind of looked at her for two seconds, and then it was done, and that's all it was. But it was still great. It was flawless. She looked stunning. My sister did add that she wishes Colin's reaction would have been in that scene, and I totally agree. But instead, we go on to her next point, which is the fact that it's kind of her, like, ABCDFU moment because that is the song that was playing in the background. Nikki caught that. I did not, and I just thought that was a clever slip-in from the show creators, and props to Nikki for catching that because some of the songs are more obvious to me than others. That one I didn't catch, and I just thought that was a clever piece that they kind of snuck in there for that scene. The next point was in that same scene, Penelope's social skills. My goodness, they were painful. I just, I understand that she's an introvert. I understand that she's a wallflower, but they were bad. They were painful to watch, and I know that it was setting the scene for the lessons that she was going to get from Colin and how she wanted to get a husband, but she wasn't at a starting point. But she's such an eloquent writer, and she's never had a problem talking to Colin or to Eloise or anyone else, so I just feel like the social skills were a little bit pushed. But maybe that's just my opinion. Let us know what you think in the comments for sure. The next point was the first impression that we got from Debling. Now, here's the thing. He was better than I thought he'd be. However, for me, he gives Beauty and the Beast vibes, kind of like the Beast when he becomes human. I don't know. It's hard for me to explain. I can't explain it, but he just gives me Beast vibes, and I have just accepted that. But he was better than I thought he'd be. The next point was Cressida ripping her dress, Penelope's dress, by stepping on it. So Cressida's the worst. This is why I only feel 10% bad for her, because she still pulls moves like this where she thinks it's okay to just be nasty to people, and it's not. But the funny thing about this scene, me and Nikki had the same thought, my sister had the same thought, is Cressida ripped the hem of the dress, right? Maybe a couple inches up. Wouldn't have gone much more than that. However, when Penelope reacts and runs out of the ballroom and up the stairs and past Colin, the dress is ripped up to, like, halfway up her thigh, and I just don't think that's realistic, and it was distracting because the rip just realistically wouldn't have been that big. There's no possible way it could have been. But the point to this point is Cressida is the worst and was super mean and ripped her dress, and we don't like it. But that takes us into the next point, which was the scene where Colin was offering to give Penelope lessons. You know the one. If it is a husband that you seek, let me help you, right? I think that they both had bad acting. Both Nicola and Luke had bad acting in that scene, and I love both of them, and I know that they are supreme actors, and I just adore them, but it was just cringy. It was forced, and I don't know. Even the setting that they were in, a lot of it seemed like it was digitally animated. It just didn't seem real enough to me on either of their parts or the scenery. I just didn't love it. Her next point was Colin being a whore, and honestly, I was not here for this one. Look, in season one, we see that Anthony is with a constabine, right? We kind of set the premise that that's just how Anthony is. Then in season one and two, we kind of get Benedict being that way, and okay, fine, I'll accept it, whatever. But what set Colin apart for me was always the fact that he wasn't like that, and the fact that they flipped it in just to flip it in to kind of make him act like a playboy, I just didn't like it. It was unnecessary, and I will say that when I watch Bridgerton, I do watch it raw and skip all of the spicy scenes, but there was just a lot of unnecessary nudity in these scenes as well. Even when you're skipping them, you know what you're skipping. It just, I was not a fan. However, if you have not watched the series and you want to, VidAngel does offer Bridgerton, so they will cut out those scenes for you, and you won't have to worry about it, but I was definitely not a fan of that storyline at all. The next point she had was all of Penn's dresses. I've touched on it a little bit. The color matching, the tailoring, the detail, they were just so pretty, and they all looked so good on her, and I loved the fact that they didn't just stick with one color, right? They didn't stick with navy blue or mint green or, you know, it was a variety. We got to see her whole wardrobe change rather than I stopped wearing yellow and now I wear blue, and I just thought that was refreshing. Her next point was how much Colin talks about his travels. Listen, I know that he traveled between season one and season two also. We get it. You love it. I'm happy for you. Make it not be your only personality trait. I think that was what was bothering me most this season is every time he opened his mouth, it was about traveling, and I travel and Nikki travels. We've traveled the world. We love it. But we have other personality traits, and I know that Colin is deeper than that, and that's what I wanted to see and didn't get any of it. The next point was Penn reading Colin's diary and the hand cut scene, and I hesitate even reading the next point because it was just terrible. It was terrible acting mainly on Nicola's part, and you can disagree with me and say that Luke had terrible acting too, or maybe you thought they both had great acting in this scene. It's okay if we disagree, but here's why I say what I say. If you're going to cut his hand, make it a big piece of glass, okay? They already had a cut scene in there where the candle was hitting the ground or the lantern was hitting the ground, and we see the glass break, so use that opportunity to put large pieces of glass there because he was picking up teeny pieces of glass with his fingertips, and then all of a sudden we're pretending that he cut his palm? And what was the wrapping from Penelope? She barely touched his hands with the cloth, and where did it come from? Okay, I cannot be the only one who caught the fact that there was not a cloth to grab on that table, at least from first glance, that I saw because it wasn't her glove that she was using, and when there was the scene of the diary on the table, I didn't see a piece of cloth that she could have grabbed, and I know she picked it up from the desk, but I don't know where it was earlier. I didn't see it. So she's just, you know, okay, magician, making cloth appear out of thin air, but my other reaction was, your name is not Rapunzel, and you don't have magic hair, so let's not pretend like you healed his hand because you did not. It was just silly to me that in the next scene, she asks him, how's your hand? And he said, oh, much better, thanks to you. Like, she has healed him. She barely touched him. It just, I don't know. That whole scene is cringy. I didn't like that she read his diary, and if she was going to read the diary, let's be honest, she could have been tactful about it. She could have just read it while it was sitting on the table. The fact that she picked it up is what got her in trouble, because when he walked into the study, she could have just looked up at him and brushed it off much easier than she did because she was holding it. She incriminated herself by touching it. I don't know. Okay, Nikki and I went on to our next point, which is the Montridge's side plot, and our thoughts were kind of, okay, and? You were the Duke's friend in season one, great. Unless you play a huge part later in the season, why are you here? I understand that in season two he opened the bar and he intervened in Colin and Featherington's little deal that Featherington was trying to make with Colin and get all of his money. I just don't totally understand why they're here. I'm going to leave this right into the next point, which was the bad acting with the scene with Montridge and Benedict when he's asking him what their rights are and what they can and cannot do now that their son is a lord. Listen, I'm happy for them. I'm happy that their son is a lord. They get to be part of society now, but I feel like they're trying to skirt the rules in ways that other people don't, which I understand is the storyline. It's the plot line they're trying to give us. I just don't like it. I think they're boring, and I think it takes time away from the actors that we are here to see, which is Colin and Penelope or Luke and Nicola. But in that scene specifically, Benedict is explaining kind of what the rules are, and Benedict has always been, of the three main Bridgerton brothers, sorry, Gregory, you're not old enough to catch my attention yet, but Benedict has always been my least fave. He is not a great actor. He has his funny moments, and he has his good moments, but they're inconsistent. A couple of them that I really love is season one when Eloise is trying to figure out how one gets pregnant, and she alludes to the fact that Colin and Benedict know how it works, and Benedict just says, do not look at me. I thought that was funny. And there is the carriage scene at the beginning of season three where he asks Colin, under what foreign sun did you get so sturdy? He has his moments. They're just so inconsistent, and he makes a face in this scene that is just too long. It was cringey. No one knew what to do with it, but it's fine. Our next point was the kiss scene between Colin and Penelope. Our biggest critique here was where was the chemistry we've been seeing on the press junket? I liked it, but I did think that it was going to stop at the first peck, and I was very underwhelmed. So when they went back in for more, I was like, okay, great. But I just don't feel like the chemistry we have been seeing between Luke and Nicola is playing out on screen. I don't know where the disconnect is, but it left both of us wanting something, anything, really. The beginning of the next episode is the dream about the kiss. Immediately, I knew it was a dream. Everything was too staged, too committed, and my sister even pointed out that it was a different lighting situation. It was much more light, blah, blah, blah. So you can definitely tell it's a dream. However, I did think it was going to be Penelope's dream and not Colin's, so I thought that was an interesting take because it's the beginning of his love or infatuation with her. But when he wakes up from that dream, Nikki did point out in her Instagram highlight that there are bad blurs all around him because he's supposed to be the focal point of that scene, but the cinematography was just not great in accomplishing that. It was not executed well because all they did was essentially blur the background, and it just didn't look great. I didn't initially catch this, but when I was watching her Instagram highlight, I definitely agree on that one. The next point was when they are, when Colin and Penelope are standing under the tree, and she says, our lessons have to stop. Thank you for what you've done, but this needs to stop. What lessons, though? Like, what did you actually learn? What did he actually teach you? You had one short discussion about how to converse or flirt with eligible gentlemen, but it got interrupted by Eloise coming home, and then you had to hide in the study and read his diary. So what did you actually learn? What lessons were there? That kind of bothered us. Now, the next point is the hot air balloon scene. This is where we both agree and disagree. We both agree that it was super cheesy, but I was here for it. Nikki wasn't so much. She didn't love it, but I was here for the cheese. And the only problem I had with it was the premise of the hot air balloon basket running over Penelope and Dublin having to come in and shield her from it. He didn't actually shield her from anything. He kind of hid behind her, and his arm was on top, so I guess his arm would have gotten a little scraped or scratched, but he didn't actually protect her. There was no real connect of Colin realizing that it was going to hit Penelope, therefore he jumped in. He just jumped in, which we love. We love Pirate Colin. We love the bravery and all the men following him. That part was great. I was here for it. But there was no this is going to happen, therefore this is going to happen in joy. It was just kind of Colin sees the thing moving, grabs the rope, and heroically saves the day, but there was no concept of saving Penelope in the process. I thought there was a big disconnect there. Okay, the next point, Nikki asked me if Francesca's season is going to be next. Now, before I watched season three, my theory was that Eloise is going to be next, followed by Benedict, followed by Francesca. And this is coming from someone who has not yet read the books. I did go by Colin's and Eloise's the other day because those are the ones I am most excited to read, but my thought process was we have already been introduced to Philip Crane in season two. And that, spoiler alert, but that is who Eloise does marry in the books. So everyone was super excited to see him introduced, and that's why I thought Eloise was going to be next. But I think that they are setting it up to be, see, I go back and forth. It's either going to be Francesca or Benedict next, then followed by Eloise. I think Eloise is going to be season six because it will give audiences something to look forward to. We've all fallen in love with Eloise, or at least admit that she is the comic relief of the series, but they have gone from having her under a microscope and giving her a bunch of attention in season one and two to not really giving her any in season three. And I'm not a huge fan of that, but it does make me think that they are going to put her in season six to give audiences something to look forward to because Colin and Penelope's season was the something to look forward to in the first three, and then she will be the something to look forward to in the next three. That's my theory. Because Gregory and Hyacinth aren't old enough yet to have theirs be in the running. But I think they're setting up Francesca because we've already met John, and for those that have read the books, we know that John is who she marries first in the books and then ends up falling in love with his cousin after, spoiler alert, John passes away. So I think they're fabulously setting that up. However, I wish that it wasn't getting so much airtime because I tuned in to watch Colin and Penelope and that's just not what I'm getting. We also are getting a side plot for Benedict, but who we have been introduced to, Miss Tilly, is not who he ends up with. Do I think that we will get introduced to Benedict's love interest before the end of the season? I do. There was a theory online going around that in the teaser for the rest of season three, when Eloise says you have till midnight, some people think that she is not talking to Penelope and saying that she has to tell Colin that she is Lady Whistledown. But instead that it's hinting at something for Benedict's season because Benedict's trope is Cinderella. So we will see how that goes. But along the same note, our next point was they are spending too much time on subplots. I 100% agree with Nikki here because you've got the Mondridges, you've got Benedict, you've got Francesca, you've got Eloise and Cressida, you've got Anthony and Kate who are doing their extended honeymoon, and then we've met Danbury's brother who we don't know what his deal is yet, but he'll probably have a subplot with Violet, Lady Bridgerton. And I just think it's going in too many directions. It's giving me Marvel vibes, for those that understand and get it. They get it. Because there's just so many storylines open right now, none of which are being tied up with a bow, and it's kind of hard to follow. Like, okay, so we're Colin and Penelope this scene, and then we're Francesca the next scene, and Benedict the next scene, and then the Mondridges. It's just hard to follow. And again, I'm tuning in for Colin and Penelope, and that's not what I'm getting. So I'm not a fan of that. But the reason I'm not a fan of that is because I feel as though there is no courtship between Colin and Penelope. It just went from we're friends, you're helping me get a husband, to you're no longer helping me get a husband, will you marry me? And it just went super fast, and I don't really feel like there are any courting scenes. I don't feel like he's trying to express his love at all until he says, will you marry me? And Nikki's point to this was that there are too many staring scenes where they're at balls, and she is dancing with Debling or talking to someone else, and he's just staring at her across the room. In a sense, some people have said that this is Colin's way of courting her, but listen, he's not actually doing anything, and she doesn't know that he's staring at her. So in his own way, he's coming to it, which I get. But there's just a huge lack of romance, because one, there were too many staring scenes. He needs to actually do something. And two, it just doesn't give me the romantic love story that I want. The book is literally entitled Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, but where's the romance? Her next point was that Colin was unattractive in a majority of the series. Now, I understand that people will disagree and agree on this point. I personally disagree. I don't think that Colin is unattractive, but in her Instagram highlight reel, she said that he gives her the animated baboon look. I don't agree for a majority of the season, but there was a specific scene where he tells Penn he has a question, and the filmmakers get a boo from me this time, because the camera angle they were at, it did give monkey. It really did. But since season one, I thought he and Anthony were super attractive. So I'm willing to overlook it, but it did have that one scene that gave monkey. And I think it was entirely camera angle. I really do. Her next point was that Francesca's guy is cute. I don't agree. I just, I don't know. I pictured her with someone younger. I don't know what I expected for John, to be honest. But I expected someone a little bit younger, and I think a lot of my distaste with him so far is that he is kind of rude. I don't know. He, not inherently, right? He hasn't said anything disrespectful. But he kind of just brushes her off, and their main romance point right now is that they both just stand there and say nothing, and she's digging it, because she grew up with seven siblings and never got an ounce of peace. And I get that she's loving that, but as a viewer, I'm not loving that. So I don't know. Maybe he'll grow on me in the following four episodes. My sister did point out that he is an introvert, so there's not going to be tons of romance and proclamation of love because he doesn't really want to or know how. I get it. I just, I don't know. He's not it for me right now, and we'll see if that changes in the following four episodes. I am curious, though, to see who will play Michael, his cousin, who she has her love match with. I want to see, you know, are they going to, this show doesn't really dive deep into what the characters look like necessarily as much as their personalities. So I'm curious to see who will play him, what kind of chemistry they will have, because I do agree that Francesca and John have chemistry a little bit, just because they're very similar, right? They're both kind of wallflowers. They don't love talking and presenting and being the center of attention. So I don't know. We'll have to see when her season comes around who plays Michael and how that all plays out. Her next point was that we finally got chemistry, but it did take a while. And I agree. I do. And even the chemistry that we did get, it wasn't astounding. I have been watching the press junket for months, right, all of their interviews and their photo shoots, and the chemistry I thought we would definitely get in this season we're just not getting. And I don't know if that will change in the following four episodes, but we did get a little chemistry in the carriage scene. But was it enough, and was it realistic? Nikki said in her highlight on Instagram that she did have some questionable things in the carriage scene. I agree. Historically, what they were alluding to and what was historically accurate do not match up. However, I did skip a majority of that scene, because like I said, I don't love the spicy scenes. But I got enough of a gist of what was happening to understand the problems that she has with it. And I will let you all judge that scene individually. You may love it. You may not love it. You may kind of be indifferent like I am. It was fine. Uh, let's see. Our next point was the Whistledown hatred. Okay, but where did it come from, though? I understand that everyone in the Ton does not like Lady Whistledown. I get it. I do. But what set it apart this season was Colin's newfound desire to burn down everything Whistledown loves and everyone she loves. And he just, he wants to destroy her life. And I just want to know where that came from. I understand that Whistledown kind of outed Marina and he was mad about that. And I understand that Whistledown trash-talked his sister and he was mad about that. But I don't really understand where this I must destroy her attitude is coming from. It was a little jarring, in a sense. Our next point was she asked if the Bridgerton season was kind of a dual season. Honestly, it's giving us all sorts of things like I kind of mentioned before. We're getting a story about Benedict. We're getting a story about Francesca. We're getting Colin and Penelope's story. We're kind of getting a story about Cressida. And I just think it's too much. I do. Our next point was is there interest in waiting a month? For us, it's not there. It's not. It left on a cliffhanger but not one that I was like I cannot go on for the next 30 days without knowing what happens. I totally can. I totally can. And will I watch the first day it comes out? Absolutely, I will. However, I don't feel something lacking in my life for the next 30 days. I just don't. She did say that the first four episodes were lame. I kind of disagree. It's kind of meh. But I agree in some scenes that they were lame. I just... I don't know. I enjoyed it. The entertainment factor is definitely there. And will I watch it again? Absolutely, I will. But it just didn't give what I thought it would give. And for that, I kind of agree that it was lame. But the entertainment factor was definitely there. Nikki's final point was that she thinks that Luke is probably a bad kisser. I think that Nicola is into it way more than he is. He is also an introvert and he may be uncomfortable with all the PDA on screen because think about it. I don't know that I would be super comfortable in that position watching myself on screen or thinking about the fact that the whole world will be watching me kissing someone else on screen. I don't know. Maybe I'd be fine with it. Maybe I wouldn't. But whatever the issue or disconnect here is, we are just not getting the chemistry that we were promised. And we feel the lack. We really do. My additional thoughts to Nikki's that she did not necessarily weigh in on are we love a supportive brother-in-law. Nikki's... Sorry, not Nikki's. Penelope's reveal at the ball was flawless. But the only one we really focused in on was Eloise was kind of shocked. And Finch, her brother-in-law, just gives this big smile and he's just this cute little supportive brother-in-law and he's just adorable. And I don't think I've ever not liked him in all honesty. And of the two sisters, I definitely like Philippa better than Prudence. I do. And that leads us into my next point which is the side plot with Philippa and Prudence trying to get pregnant. It's painful to watch. It really is. I don't like the pregnancy side plot at all. I understand why Lady Featherington set it up the way she did. And it does have its funny moments when she looks up at the ceiling and says why am I punished over and over, right? It is funny in parts of it. But I think overall it's just painful and it's an unnecessary subplot that takes time away from Penelope and Colin. The third point was why is Daphne not here? Listen, I understand that the actress just got engaged. She has her own personal things that she is working on, her project that she's working on. But this happened with Simon. In season one we had him, in season two we didn't. In season two we had Daphne, in season three we don't. And even Kate and Anthony disappeared after one episode, I think, and extended their honeymoon. And I understand, right? It's not your season. But you're the lord and lady of the house. Get your beautiful faces back here because I think those two give us a lot of comic relief. And maybe that's the thing. I'm just lacking comic relief this season. I don't think I laughed. Hardly at all. There were funny moments. But there was nothing really keeping me entertained in a comic way. I don't know. And I know we will get them back in the next four episodes. Maybe not all four episodes, but I know they do return. So I'm excited about that. But I don't think we're going to see Daphne show up this season. And it kind of makes me sad because in the books Colin and Daphne have the closest relationship and I really wanted to see that play out on screen. But, oh well. So Danbury's brother showing up. We don't like him? Lady Danbury doesn't like him. He's been pleasant to Violet. But obviously it was nothing bad enough for Danbury to have the queen banish him because there was an offer on the table and she said no. But I do like dish the teeth this because I need to know what happened with your brother and why we don't like him because I can't just not like a character and not know why. But if he is an unlikable character can we get him away from Violet? Because I just adore Violet and she deserves the world. And after her subplot in Queen Charlotte I just want to see her happy and I don't want to see her with a bad guy. So I hope it's not as bad as we're anticipating that it will be. The only Charlotte wig that I like so far is the Swan wig. I feel like the rest of them have missed the mark Season 1 and Season 2 wigs for Queen Charlotte have been beautiful. They, not all of them right there are a couple that we could have gone without but the Swan wig was definitely up to par. But there were some others that were just kind of ratty and they weren't super tall and they just looked odd. I just, I don't know. The Swan wig is a 10 out of 10. And I did find a video on the making of it I will try and send it to Nikki so we can link it on Instagram or something because it was great. I do think they're trying too hard to get Golda, who plays old Queen Charlotte to act like India, who plays young Queen Charlotte so much so that I think she's acting too different. It feels too forced. And the reality of it is you're not going to act at 60 years old what you acted like when you were 15. You're just not. You're not going to act the same. You're going to have similar personality traits obviously, but there is a lifetime of knowledge and life experience that comes with Golda's character that India's didn't have to have and I just don't want it to feel so forced anymore. Also, the Queen sucks at matchmaking. Can we all just admit that? They alluded to the fact that she sucks at it in the show because her season one match was Daphne and... Oh, I'm trying to remember. She tried to match Daphne with someone and it didn't work out. Oh, the prince. That's what it was. She tried to match Daphne and the prince and that didn't work out. And then she tried to match Edwina and Antony and that didn't work out. And now she's trying to match Francesca with this other lord that no one likes or knows anything about because he's just kind of there. And I'm like, okay. This needs to stop. Also, her naming a diamond in season one and two and then naming a sparkler in this season? I don't know. I don't know that I'm a fan. Let's just stay consistent. I understand that you're trying to outsmart Whistledown and all of that, but... I just... I don't know. You go from a diamond to a sparkler. I love both of them. They're both sparkly and pretty and we love it, but it's incomparable in my mind. I also want to know, where is Edwina? She's mentioned, but she's not seen. And I thought I saw her in behind-the-scenes pictures for season three, so maybe we'll get her in the next four episodes. But I want to know, did she try things with the prince and it didn't work? Because she mentioned that she's with, I think, some Marquis or something. And so I guess she's happy living her best life, but where is she? We need to see what happened with her. I also want to know why we haven't seen Lord Crane at all. We saw him in season two. Everyone was super excited, but it's kind of like what I said with Eloise. They were both kind of under the microscope and then it just stopped. There's no attention on them whatsoever, which makes me think that we won't see him this season and we'll see him in season four or five that kind of progress his storyline because certain events need to happen before he and Eloise can get married. I won't spoil that right now. If you want to know what happens with Philip Crane, Google it because you will definitely find out. Along that note, Dublin and Marina actually aren't in the books. Now, this is an arguable point because Marina is mentioned in the books, but she's a Bridgerton cousin rather than being a Featherington cousin, so in the show they kind of strayed for her storyline anyway. But she's more mentioned in the books than given an actual storyline, so I just feel like they're unnecessary side characters because they just seemed like distractions. And while that does serve a purpose, why? I would rather just meet the characters we need to meet when we need to meet them rather than having a distraction put in place? I don't know. I do feel a little bad for Cressida, but only a smidge. I'm proud of her for not gossiping. Well done on that note. And Eloise was completely tactless in that scene because she told Cressida but did not pay attention to the fact that there were like three or four other ladies sitting around them that were just going to spread the gossip that Cressida didn't. But the premise of Cressida being a caged bird and her dad treating her horribly and her mom treating her horribly and her house being unwelcoming, I do feel bad for her a little bit. But it leads me into my next point in that if Cressida and Dublin end up together, Cressida doesn't have enough interest to keep her occupied while he's gone for months at a time. I just don't think she does. And some have pointed out to me, namely my sister, that if she were to marry him, she does get his estate and she does get away from her parents. Maybe that's all she wants. Maybe she'd be totally fine being bored for three months while he's gone because she has her own estate. She can still go to the parties. She can still do the things. I just feel like she'd be bored and that's not a life I would want to live. Especially since Dublin basically said that there is no room for a love story. Penelope almost outright asked him, like, hey, could we fall in love though? And he was basically like, no. So that was kind of sad. And my final point I thought was funny. I was watching a clip from the Stephen Colbert show on TikTok and they said that Claudia, who plays Eloise, had a cast on her arm, which is why she was wearing kind of the summer shawl around her arms so that they could hide the cast even though historically that is not weather appropriate. They would not wear one of those in summer. So I thought that was funny. I also feel like Gregory, the actor that plays Gregory, may have gotten hurt in real life and they added the arrows from Colin as the reason because he shows up in his sling after he and Anthony take the arrows outside and you just kind of have to infer that he got hurt from them. But I feel like they may have been covering up an actual injury. Regardless, ultimately I did love this season. Did I love it as much as season one or two? I think I loved it more than season one but less than season two, which is shocking because I didn't think that I liked season two that much but apparently I did. I'm hoping that the last four episodes change my mind about this season and bring it up to my top but as of right now it's not my favorite of the three and I was really hoping it would be. Nikki did ask me what my rating would be because she gave it a two out of four personally and a, or sorry, two out of ten personally and a four out of ten for the public. I think this is where it falls on my rating scale. I have a rating scale of five categories. Each category gets one or two points and then I total them to get my rating out of ten. The first category is plot, story, and pacing. I would give this a one. The pacing was horrible. It felt rushed. There were too many plot lines honestly and they just weren't written out enough. I don't think they were developed so it gets a one. Acting, writing, and emotional impact. I think it's a one. I think the acting was okay but it could have been better on many, many people's parts so it gets a one. Cinematography and visual effects. I give it a two because apart from the scene where all of the background of Colin's bedroom is blurry I think they did pretty well. My first thought right as I turned it on episode one was that the colors were more vivid and everything was sharper this season. I thought visually it was very pleasing. So I give it a two. Sound and score. In this show, honestly, almost always we'll get a two because I think the score is brilliant. They can take songs like Wrecking Ball and ABCDEFU and turn them classical and they sound so good. I have been caught on more than one occasion listening to all of the Bridgerton soundtracks including Queen Charlotte because they're just good. They do it well. So that gets a two. Originality and creativity. I gave it a one because I don't think they're being very creative both the actors and the writers. It's not very original. They are straying from the book in a majority of it because we don't have the final Featherington sister. We don't have Dabling in the books but we do have him in the show. I mean, there are just strays from it. So they're trying. So I gave it a one. Ultimately, I give Bridgerton Season 3 a seven out of ten so far. Each individual episode would probably have a different rating but the four of them together will get a seven out of ten. So I'm hoping that the next four episodes change my mind and bring that score up a little bit but they may not. Well, everybody, that is the episode today. Thank you so much for listening to our thoughts on Bridgerton and of course, life in general because this has been a special bonus episode of Life According to Nikki.