Bridgerton Fandom: Shipping of actors leading to bullying, harassment and toxicity

As a romance show Bridgerton requires the viewers to 'ship' the couples, however, occasionally some will take this outside the show and fictional characters, projecting their desire to see the fictional couple's romance play out in real life for the actors. This can go too far, however, with the most extreme of these fans harassing, bullying and stalking the actor or their partners, something that we have seen play out within a subsection of the Bridgerton fandom. 

Image Credit: Netflix

'Shipping' is the act of enjoying, creating, or supporting a particular romantic relationship. The term shipping in this context is derived from the word relationship. Within the world of Bridgerton the viewers and fans need to be invested in, and support the relationships onscreen in order for the success of the show to be sustained, however, as mentioned above, this has gone much further for a small subsection of the more extreme fans of Bridgerton, or at least one couple in Bridgerton. Instead of keeping their focus on the characters, and romance, of Penelope and Colin a small section of fans have projected their desires for Penelope and Colin onto the actors, resulting in some concerning online behaviour.  It is important that we note this is not a consequence of the PR for season 3, but is something that has been prevalent for several years in the fandom, but has been exacerbated by the PR strategy for season 3.

The idea of wanting to see favourite actors date, and have a relationship in real life is not new, it has been around as long as the movies themselves, however, sometimes this goes beyond just thinking that the actors look great together or have amazing chemistry. The behaviour that has been invading a small subsection of the Bridgerton fandom is toxic and dangerous for the actors and for those people closest to them in their lives.  The shipping of Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan is one such example of toxic behaviour by fans that ship the actors in real life with some fans chronically stalking Luke and his girlfriend online, as well as following and stalking his friends and family online and the friends and family of his partner online.  These fans are so deep in their belief that Luke should be with Nicola some have moved their obsession from online spaces into real life spaces as well. 

I first became aware of this behaviour during the filming of season 3 when I learned of a small group of fans who were involved in online harassment and bullying of Luke's girlfriend at the time.  The bullying of her became so bad that the fans were harassing her at her work. Jade, his girlfriend at the time, is a singer and musical theatre actress, and during the winter of 2022/2023 she was in a Christmas musical show in London.  During the promotion for the production each of the cast took turns to do a 'Social Media takeover' where they would take control of the official social media accounts for the show. Jade was one of the cast members to do a Social Media Takeover for the show, but during the time she was in control of the account some Bridgerton fans went onto the account and harassed and bullied her for no reason other than she was Luke Newton's partner. This incident led to her shutting down her social media for a time, and it was at this that Luke Newton left twitter. 

Whilst this incident with Jade was awful for her, it was by no means the first, nor was it the last instance of Bridgerton fans harassing and bullying her.  In fact Jade had been targeted by some extreme Polin fans prior to this incident.  There are reports that a small group of the more extreme fans had a WhatsApp group to make fun of her and mock her medical condition (I won't disclose that as I don't know how open she is about it). In addition to this, there were those that would comment on her social media with trolling comments, and make TikToks to bully and mock her. Despite Luke and Jade having broken up she continues to be mocked and bullied online by a small subsection of Bridgerton fans. In one comment I saw the other day one fan suggested that Jade was overreacting to the bullying and harassment she had received and was doing it to try and 'play victim'. This behaviour is nasty and toxic, and this subsection of the Bridgerton fandom are repeating the toxic and bullying behaviour online. 

Luke Newton has a new partner, and like Jade, she is targeted by those in the fandom who see her as an obstacle to Luke and Nicola being together.  Whilst she has not yet been targeted in her professional capacity as Jade was, she is still bullied and harassed on her own social media accounts.  But it is not just on her own accounts that she is targeted, some fans hold lives on X and TikTok that can last for hours where they discuss Luke's girlfriend and make up conspiracies about her, they also dissect every social media post she makes and blame her for any negative press about Luke or Nicola.  The bullying, harassment and nastiness goes further as some on X use derogatory and misogynistic language when talking about her, such as 'slut' or 'cockroach'.  There are fans that have openly stated they will hate on Luke's new girlfriend because she is with Luke and they believe he should be with Nicola, and then there are the ones that believe Luke and Nicola are in a secret relationship and Luke is cheating on Nicola with his girlfriend. Outside of this online toxic bullying, one fan boasted how she tracked down a hotel that Luke was staying in on holiday and called them up to demand information on whether his girlfriend was with him, another stalked him at another hotel he was at in LA and covertly took photos of him and his girlfriend. 

This behaviour shows a disturbing lack of boundaries by fans, as well as a lack of respect for the actors, all so that this small group of fans can project their own fantasies onto Luke and Nicola.  However, this lack of respect and lack of boundaries also extends to the families, partners and friends of Luke especially, to the point that these fans have harassed and bullied two young women because they ship two actors. There are also reports that members of Luke's family have been doxxed, as well as the family of his girlfriend - people who are not in the entertainment industry, not in the spotlight and who don't seek to be so. 

Over the recent months as information about Nicola's relationship has leaked it has been interesting to note that neither Nicola, nor her partner, have received a fraction of the bullying, harassment and toxicity that Luke and his girlfriend has. The anger and hatred of these people appears to be directed solely at the female partner, not the male partner. It is sad that the actors, and those close to them, have to deal with this from those that claim to be their fans. 

Bridgerton: Where the show's writers failed Kate and Anthony

For a show that prides itself on diversity, Bridgerton has repeatedly failed in providing good writing and storytelling for its more diverse characters, something that I plan to look into in more depth at a later date, however, today I am going to do a short overview post on one such situation.  This post will look at the failures in the storytelling for Kate, and by extension Kate and Anthony as a couple, predominantly looking at the missed opportunities on the part of the writers, both in season 2 and in season 3.  

Image Credit:  Netflix

Kates Past

I believe this is one of the biggest failings in storytelling from the production. 

Whilst we see some very good character development for Kate in her season, mostly due to the incredible acting of Simone Ashley as opposed to good writing for her character, we are still none the wiser about what actually shaped her and made her become the character we see in the beginning of the season, whilst we see what shaped Anthony through the use of flashbacks telling his story.  I realise that some may argue that we learned of Kate's past through dialogue, but whilst we learned a few snippets in this manner we didn't see the impact the big life events had in moulding her character. This is a huge failing in my opinion.  

Season 2 set up Kate and Anthony to be mirrors of each other, with their experiences in life meant to reflect each others.  However, this mirroring was never fleshed out in the storytelling.  We saw one side of the mirror that was Kate and Anthony, almost as if the mirror was blacked out and there was no reflection, leading to the situation where the viewer had to infer the reflection (something which social media discourse tells us many failed at). As indicated above, brief mentions of Kate past were present, and we could see the way that Kate was treated by her half sister, her stepmother, and her stepmother's parents, however, nothing showed us how they got to that point.  We were told about their perceived relationships, but this was rarely done from Kate's perspective, and so it was set up for Kate to be a bit part in her own season whilst they focused on other characters.  

One thing that highlighted the way that Kate's past was treated in her own season, compared to other characters, was the flashback given to Penelope, who would be the protagonist of season 3.  This flashback for Penelope gave us a glimpse in to her recent past and was perhaps something that could have been saved for Penelope's season instead of including it in Kate's season when we didn't find out anything about Kate's past - recent or otherwise.  In fact we know more about Penelope's past BEFORE her season than we ever found out about Kate's past DURING her season.   The line in episode 5 where Kate says "My mother had a name" resonates, of course her mother had a name - but what was it?  We never find out that name, in fact we know nothing about Kate's mother except that she was dead and that Kate had her wedding bangles.  We know Penelope's mothers name, we know Simon's mothers name, so why is Kate the only Bridgerton spouse (so far) that we don't know the name of?  

It isn't just Kate's mother's name, there is a lot about Kate's mother, and Kate's father, that shaped who she was as a character, but the show failed to tell us for the sake of melodrama, and spending more time than was needed on the Featherington family.  By the end of season 2 it feels like we knew more about Penelope's background, history and family life than Kate's and this is unacceptable for a lead of a season.  

What makes this worse for many is that Kate is a dark skinned South Asian woman of colour, she has been used by the production to highlight the diverse casting and position themselves with this point of difference in the world of historical romance, but in the season when she was the female lead the writers gave more prominence to telling the background of the white season 3 lead.  I feel that this is one of the most egregious failures of the Bridgerton production. 

Wedding

The very first post I wrote and posted on Tumblr spoke about why a wedding for Kate and Anthony made sense.  I discussed why a wedding made sense for Kate and Anthony's story, and this is something that I still believe to be the case. A wedding to bring these two characters together towards the end of their season would not have been only about providing fan service, nor would it have been about showing a wedding in a romance, but it could have shown a very important aspect of the relationship between Kate and Anthony going forward, cementing their commitment to each other, as well as to themselves, after spending so much of their lives living for other people. 

Over and above the idea of this commitment, a wedding for Kate and Anthony would be a chance to show, and not only tell us, Anthony's promises from throughout the season.  In episode 2 at Lady Danbury's soiree we see Anthony say to Edwina that 'pretty words are well and good, but they are useless unless backed by action', and then in episode 8 we see Anthony say to Kate that he wants a life that suits them both.  A wedding for Kate and Anthony could link those two statements, giving action to Anthony's words and showing us his intent and promise as opposed to just telling us about them.  Whilst for some fans a wedding may not be seen as important, or something that is needed in the show, I would argue that for Kate and Anthony's story it was important to show that Anthony truly wanted to see them have a life that suited them both through action.  How better to do that than show them beginning their life together with a culturally fused wedding that included Indian elements with a traditional Church of England wedding.  So, a wedding for Kate and Anthony that included Indian elements as well as traditional English elements would, in my view, be putting action to Anthony's 'pretty words' of wanting a life to suit them both.  

Whilst a wedding would be putting the action to words, there is one other reason for why not having a wedding was a failure for Kate and Anthony (and their fans) that wasn't included in my first post.  I see that a wedding for Kate and Anthony would show the viewer them committing to each other with love, which would be a completion to their season 2 arc, showing how each of them opened themselves to love and chose something - and someone - for themselves instead of them both just doing what they believed was right for everyone else.  A wedding would also show us that Kate has let go of her trauma and know that she is loved unconditionally and does not need to be useful to anyone to be loved, and similarly we could see Anthony let go of some of his trauma and see him marrying not out of duty but because he was in love.  

So far in this series Kate and Anthony are the only couple that have gone to the altar completely open with their love and their lives, and this was their story arc - learning to become open with themselves and their love of themselves and each other.  This is why I reject the premise that a wedding for Kate and Anthony had no narrative purpose, I truly believe that a wedding for them would close their season 2 arc, and allow for their post marriage story to begin in season 3.  

Image Credit: Netflix

Baby

This is something that is unforgivable in my opinion, and though there are some in the Bridgerton fandom who don't understand (or care) and are saying 'but we saw Kate pregnant' as a reason that us actually seeing the baby wasn't important shows a lack of media literacy in some, as for Kate and Anthony, I would argue, it was very important for us to see a baby at the end of season 3 - more so than seeing one for Penelope and the Featherington girls.  

The first, and most obvious, reason that not seeing Kate give birth and have a baby in season 3 was a failure is the way it exposes the ineptness of the writer's room in being unable - or unwilling - to complete a story arc they started.  The show runner and the writers had Kate and Anthony's whole season 3 story revolve around Kate getting - then being - pregnant, but then they failed to follow that storyline though, basically there was no pay off for the viewers.  I briefly mentioned this as one of the failures of season 3 in a previous post here.  

Kate and Anthony's story in season 3 ended with them travelling to India, however the story arc that was begun for Kate and Anthony was never completed. This exposed the writers, and show runner as failing in the most basic aspects of storytelling that most primary school children know - that a cohesive story has a start, a middle and an ending.  Whether this failure in the storytelling was as a result of contempt for the characters, laziness or incompetence is hard to know, but whatever the reason the show runner has not only failed the characters, but also the viewers, with this incomplete storyline.  

The missed opportunity for storytelling by failing to show Kate having a baby is immense and could have gone beyond showing an impact for Kate and Anthony as characters.  With the obvious use of a birthing scene being used for Anthony's healing, this scene could have also been used to progress Eloise's growth and work towards preparing her for her own season by providing a contrast between Edmund's birth and Hyacinth's birth.  Most importantly an expanded pregnancy storyline, and a birthing scene could have been used to show us some of Kate's past through the use of flashbacks to Kate's birth (and maybe even Edwina's birth), but the storyline itself could have been a way to provide context to Kate as a character, bringing in her mother and showing us more of Kate's past.  For two seasons there has been discussion around Anthony requiring an heir, with emphasis on this in season 2, and the writers just ignored all of that by showing no imagination and using lazy storytelling.  

Aside from the storytelling aspects, by failing to follow through with Kate and Anthony's storyline in season 3 and not showing us their baby, the show runner and writers have solidified the negative perception that many have of the production, especially in relation to the commitment that Shondaland, Netflix and the Bridgerton production truly have to diversity in the show.  It is becoming clearer to many that the characters of Kate and Anthony are being given less, and treated as lesser, than other couples, and it has not escaped their notice that they are the characters played by an openly gay man and a dark skinned South Asian woman.  When a couple that had no indication of a baby in their story arc in season 3 finishes the season with a baby, but the couple whose entire story arc was about having a baby doesn't get a baby, it shows an inequality and a distinct disparity in the way that the showrunner, the producers and the writers see the characters.  

One pairing appear to be loved by the production, with the production appearing to have bent over backwards to have the viewers love them as well, whilst ensuring they get everything that is expected and anticipated in a romance, whilst the other couple have had their major life moments as a couple relegated to being offscreen.  This is something that rankles many fans, and as noted above it hasn't been missed that the couple that are being treated as lesser are the couple played by an openly gay man and dark skinned South Asian woman, whilst the couple that is loved by the production are played by straight white actors.  

Bridgerton Promotion: The Covid Excuse

UPDATE:  I did not have the source for my first image, I have now updated with the source for that image.  

Bridgerton has begun its season 4 era with a small promotional blitz - not too unlike what they did for season 3, but whilst many are welcoming the promotion that the season 4 leads are getting it has also raised questions again around why the season 2 leads did not gain the same level of promotion.  Within the fandom the most common excuse that is given for why there was very little promotion of the season 2 leads is covid, but does this stand up as an excuse, or is it a lazy way for some to ignore the obvious disparity in the treatment of the season 2 leads?  Personally I do not believe that the covid excuse does stand up, and I do believe that it is an easy (and lazy) way for many to dismiss the very real concerns surrounding the perception of homophobia and colourism from Netflix.  

Image Credit: @penguinempress8 on X 

The main complaint - and biggest issue - with the promotion of season 2 is how the leads were not promoted properly as leads when compared to the leads of season 1 and season 3 - and even season 4. Yes, covid meant that they couldn't have the big world tour that season 3 got, but covid wasn't the reason the leads were not promoted together as a leading couple in a romance, that every interview with the leads included a third party indicates covid was not a consideration. Also, we have to remember that covid didn't stop other cast members from being promoted together, and it didn't stop there constantly being a third person present in the promotion of the leads. 

Image Credit: Ben Weller for British Vogue

Season 1 began filming in 2019, completing production in early 2020, and was released Christmas 2020.  Lockdowns in the UK began in March 2020, so Covid didn't impact the filming of Season 1, but as the lockdowns continued through 2020 including one over Christmas 2020, this situation was the perfect storm for Bridgerton to take off and become a sensation, but it wasn't the perfect timing for a lot of more traditional promotion with much having to be done remotely.  Whilst the timing of the release meant that all the press was done via Zoom, there was a good mix of press with some interviews involving all the cast and some with just the leads, and the leads themselves were promoted as a leading couple in a romance show.  But noticeably among all the media and promotion were a number of BTS interviews with Phoebe Dynevor and Rege Jean Page done during their filming, in these they played trivia games, talked about their characters, talked about scenes and other interactions.  In addition to the interviews and BTS interviews Phoebe and Rege also did a British Vogue photoshoot for the December 2020 issue of Vogue.  It is likely that the photoshoot was done during the ease on restrictions during the summer of 2020, however, whilst some things were opened up it was still in the midst of Covid and some activities were restricted.  This is important to note, as some of the arguments as to why the season 1 leads had a photoshoot but the season 2 leads did not is that season 1 was filmed before covid. The fact it was filmed before covid explains having more BTS interviews, but the covid argument does not take into account that season 1 was released at the height of covid in late 2020 and they still managed to have interviews and a photoshoot with the leads of the season. 

Yes, season 2 was filmed predominantly through the Covid period, there were Covid protocols in place, and to an extent that could explain the lack of couple BTS interviews. Well covid could explain the lack of BTS interviews with the leads if there were no BTS interviews with multiple cast members together. It seems strange that the romantic leads were unable to be together for BTS interviews but Nicola Coughlan and Claudia Jessie could do some BTS content at the beginning of filming.  The BTS interviews are not the only things that show a disparity in how each of the seasons leads have been promoted, the main poster for season 2 was one of the two romantic leads and a supporting cast member, not a lead, but a second woman appearing on the poster (this is another issue that will be dealt with separately). Posters of the season are the main promotional image for the season, and to not have the romantic leads on the main promotional material for the season is a failure for Netflix. Not only did it send the wrong message regarding the season, it also caused a lot of fan backlash, and is now one of many factors that has contributed to the negative perception that many fans have of the production. 

When it comes to season 2 promotion, the suggestion is not that it should have had a world tour like the leads received in season 3, because the reality is that covid would have precluded that happneing, however, covid cannot be an excuse for the lack of promotion for the lead couple, especially when you look at the promotion that season 2 did get. The promotion for season 2 did exclude the leads to a large extent, or at the very least it excluded them being promoted as the leads and more importantly as the leading romantic couple in a romance show. The season 2 leads did have some solo photoshoots, (though I am unsure if they were directly related to Bridgerton or ones organised by their individual teams),   however, one of the first main Bridgerton photoshoots to be done was for the Entertainment Weekly cover for the February 2022 issue and completely excluded the leads. The photoshoot in question was done at a London hotel, and involved Nicola Coughlan, Luke Newton, Claudia Jessie and Charithra Chandran, and I was told that by someone who works in the hotel that it was done around November of 2021.  It is believed that Nicola Coughlan was filming Derry Girls at the time and was flown back from Ireland to do the photoshoot, despite the leads being in London at the time.  This photoshoot alone debunks the idea that the leads could not have a photoshoot due to covid, because it has to be asked that if covid was preventing two people  who had been working in a bubble together from having photos, why could a cast member be flown into the city from another location and have a photoshoot with 3 other cast members? If covid was the reason for Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey not being able to have a photoshoot, then how was it possible for Nicola Coughlan, Luke Newton, Claudia Jessie and Charithra Chandran to have a photoshoot in the same circumstances? 

Image Credit:  Entertainment Weekly

Another issue for some is that the season 2 leads had no interviews of just the two of them, in fact the only 'couple' interviews for season 2 were for the couple that would later be named as the leads for season 3.  Instead of having interviews with the leads only Bridgerton season 2 included a supporting cast member in every single interview the leads did, yes she was an important part of their story, but she was not a lead and she should not have been included in all interviews with the leads. I understand that there was benefit in including the three of them in some interviews, however, it was painfully obvious in some of those interviews that Charithra was a third wheel, she looked uncomfortable and out of place when Simone and Jonathan were discussing Kate and Anthony's story and growth, and this is on the PR team from Netflix putting her in this situation.  But the question has to be, how did Covid make it okay for three people to be in the interviews and not the leads only, further, how was it that Covid made it acceptable for the leads of season 3 be interviewed together, but not the leads of season 2? 

The idea that Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey have been sidelined for promotion of their season in order to seemingly benefit the season 3 leads is an uncomfortable topic for many in the fandom, and I believe this is why they like to fall back on the covid excuse. For these fans it is easier to believe that covid is the reason for the disparity in the promotion between the season 2 leads and the leads from other seasons as leads because then they don't have to acknowledge that perhaps a straight white pairing benefited from Netflix and Shondaland treating diverse actors badly. 

Bridgerton Season 3: How successful was Bridgerton Season 3?

The extensive, and over the top, promotion of Bridgerton season 3 appears to have resulted in a successful season, however, a source has revealed that the Netflix executives are not happy with the viewing numbers for season 3, and are considering the season a failure, despite the positive spin in the press.  The executives at Netflix were expecting a much bigger return on season three than they got, considering the amount of money and effort put into the promotion and world tour.  Currently season 3 is sitting on 105 million views putting it at number 6 on the all time top 10 English Language shows, which is about 12 million more views than season 2. Whilst the numbers look impressive to most of the fans, when digging into the trends, and looking at viewer behaviour, this is probably not the bump in viewers Netflix executives were expecting or wanting for season 3 when they agreed to an extensive promotional campaign. 

Image Credit: Jason Bell

But let's look at the numbers more closely.  Whilst the initial viewing numbers were very high, there was a much quicker and sharper drop off of viewers from week to week, with part 2 providing a slight bump.  However, the viewing number for part 2 were down on those for part 1, and again dropped off quickly and sharply week to week.  This suggests a high abandonment rate or, more importantly, a failure to attract a lot of new viewers when the new viewers brought in over the two years since season 2 released is taken into consideration.  It is important to note that this is speculation on my behalf, and mostly my opinion as to the reasons for the trends, and the unhappiness of the Netflix executives as I don't have access to all the data and metrics that Netflix uses. 

What I do have is an idea of the numbers of subscribers to Netflix, which for season 2 was approximately 207 million, whilst for the release of season 3 the number of subscribers was around 277 million subscribers (a 25% increase in the two years), whilst for the release of season 1 there were only about 195 million subscribers.  Looking at the views for the first 90 days as a percentage of the subscribers, we can see that season 1 comes out on top by a significant margin with the views being approximately 58% of subscribers.  For season 2, the first season released after lockdown ended we see that the views are approximately 45% of subscribers, whilst for season 3 the views are only about 38% of subscribers.  

These numbers work on the assumption that each view is a unique view from individual viewers, however, an analysis of viewing habits of Netflix subscribers showed that approximately 26% of viewers will rewatch a show on the platform, thus reducing the overall number of unique views.  Applying this to Bridgerton, this would translate to: aproximately 43% of subscribers tuning in for season 1; approximately 34% of subscribers tuning in for season 2; and approximately 28% of subscribers tuning in for season 3. 

But the viewing trends are not the only indication that season 3 did not live up to the expectations of the Netflix executives.  The Social Media engagement also suggests that Colin and Penelope did not capture the imagination of viewers outside the fandom. With the exception of one or two posts the majority of engagement since the beginning of season 3 promotion comes from posts of other characters, not Colin and Penelope.  Currently on the official Bridgerton Twitter account the most liked post is the season 4 announcement for Benedict, whilst on Instagram it is a short promotion of Kate and Anthony.  On Youtube the season 3 part 1 trailer is the best performing video in terms of engagement, with an almost 50% drop off in engagement for the part 2 trailer.  Also, on all platforms (when I looked) the solo promotions of Penelope/Colin and the majority of the couple promotions were often out performed by other characters for season 3, for example Kate and Eloise have more engagement than Penelope and Colin in the 'gossip chain' videos.  This suggests that it is not Penelope and Colin that drives Bridgerton engagement, but also that perhaps they did not capture the interest of the general audience, and new viewers, in the same way Daphne & Simon or Kate & Anthony did.  Another factor to note is that there wasn't the same level of viral moments from season 3 that we saw from season 1 or season 2, nor were there as many memorable lines from the leads as what we saw for the previous two seasons.  In fact one of the most viral moments from season 3 came from Philippa, as did one of the most memorable lines, all adding up to a season that didn't perform to expectations.  

I will say that I am not suggesting season 3 was a complete bomb, it is still one of the most watched Netflix shows after all, but it also isn't as successful as some may believe, nor is it the success the Netflix executives were hoping for or expecting.  The over the top promotion for season 3 did not pay off for Netflix in terms of the main metrics they measure, and from all accounts they are not happy with the performance of the season. It is understood that the Netflix executives are more than aware that it is characters such as Benedict, and Kate & Anthony that drives the engagement, and that it is Simon that the viewers are missing the most from the show. Everything was gambled on Penelope & Colin's season, and they lost, not just in the views, but also in the goodwill of many viewers.  How this will impact future seasons and their promotion is hard to know, but it is likely that future seasons won't get the same level of promotion as Netflix will not want to risk putting so much money, time and effort into promoting a season that will again fail to live up to expectations. 

Sources: 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/250934/quarterly-number-of-netflix-streaming-subscribers-worldwide/  https://wifitalents.com/statistic/netflix-viewership/ https://www.netflix.com/tudum/top10/most-popular/tv

Bridgerton Season 4: Five Things we need to see in season 4 and Two Things I want to see

With season 4 about to begin filming many in the Bridgerton fandom are turning their attention to what they want to see in season 4.  Whilst there are things we want to see that are connected to our favourite characters, sometimes we overlook what plot points are needed for storytelling purposes. The scenes we need to see may be big or small, they may be to move a story forward, to complete a character arc, or to show a character's growth.  

Below are five things that I believe we need to see in season 4: 

Image Credit: Netflix

Kate and Anthony with baby Edmund, and potentially baby number 2 on its way (or being born)  

This is something that I believe has more importance than some may want to acknowledge.  During season 2 we saw Kate yearn for a child - not in so many words, but it was obvious in her expressions.  More than just Kate yearning for a child of her own to love, Kate needs a way to belong, to feel loved unconditionally, and whilst she is finding that with the Bridgertons to an extent, they are not her blood relatives.  Kate seemingly has no blood relatives left - at least no full blood relatives, and a child of her own will mean that there is a piece of herself - and her parents - continuing into the future.  But baby Edmund isn't something that we need for just Kate's storyline, Anthony has many 'daddy issues' (to use a modern phrase), and Edmund will help him moving past those and perhaps finally being able to give in to his grief over his father's death and move forward knowing that Edmund's legacy is continuing.  A lot of Kate and Anthony's story is about their past, and Edmund will be the final push for them to look more towards the future and less into the past.  Finally, Kate and Anthony's story arc in season 3 was about having the heir, and Kate being pregnant, by not showing us baby Edmund the writer's failed to complete the story arc they began - which I find both unprofessional and sloppy - so in order to truly complete Kate and Anthony's story arc from season 3 we need to see them with baby Edmund, and with a potential timeskip we can see them with baby number 2 on the way (and being born).  

In a postscript (of sorts) it is pertinent to note here that having Kate give birth onscreen was actually something that the writers of season 3 should have included for the continuity and rounding out of Anthony's story, and potentially beginning Eloise's.  In season 2 we saw the trauma of Hyacinth's birth, and whilst that appears to be being kept for Eloise, it also impacted Anthony, so seeing him deal with Kate giving birth could allow him, and Eloise, to deal with the trauma they both experienced from Hyacinth's birth.  

Penelope apologising to Kate for the slur she used in season 2

One thing that has not been addressed, (and most likely will never be addressed), but is very much an issue with some fans, is the slur used by Penelope when talking about Kate in season 2.  Many (myself included) was hoping against hope that a production that claims to be all about diversity would show some courage and awareness, and deal with this issue in the most recent seasons, but they didn't.  Many fans need to see Penelope show that she has grown as a character, something that the writers of season 3 failed at, and one way they can show a new maturity and self awareness in Penelope is by having her be accountable for her blatant racism in the Lady Whistledown column.  Whilst many don't see what Penelope said as terrible, and don't believe she owes Kate any kind of apology, I believe that view just exposes an underlying racism within the fandom, and it appears to be one that is present in the writer's room.  There is very much a perception that they don't believe a white woman should be apologising to a woman of colour for the use of a dehumanising slur. However, these characters are now sisters in law, and this slur still lies between them, anything less than acknowledgement of it and an apology by Penelope will certainly be viewed as the writers brushing racism under the carpet and not treating it seriously - worse it may look like they put more value on a white character over a character that is a woman of colour.  Penelope said in season 3 that she had changed, that she understood the harm she did with her Lady Whistledown column, well let the viewers see that she does truly understand that harm and show Penelope having a heartfelt conversation with Kate about her use of the slur, and let Kate be hurt and reluctant to have Penelope in her home without an apology.  One of the worst aspects of season 3 was the way none of the Bridgertons cared that Penelope was Lady Whistledown and not one stood up for Kate, whom they claimed they all loved, whilst the writers sent Kate and Anthony away before the denouement of Penelope in order to not have to deal with that aspect. The writers ensured all the discussions that about Lady Whistledown and the hurt she caused focused primarily on the white members of the Bridgerton family - Daphne, Eloise and Colin, with not one mention of the racism towards Kate and Penelope's deliberate dehumanisation of her.  

Queen Charlotte's death

If season 4 shows the two year time jump then it will take the show to 1818, which will nicely lead into the death of Queen Charlotte, especially if they keep the show centred in Autumn/Winter as suggested by Jess during season 3 press. Queen Charlotte's story was told in the spin off, which ended inexplicably with the Duke and Duchess of Kent announcing they would be having a girl, potentially 2 years before Queen Victoria was even born!  We have seen Queen Charlotte's arc in Bridgerton play out with the unveiling of Lady Whistledown, and with no Bridgerton girls debuting for many years there is very little space for her in the show.  

The end of Lady Whistledown

I believe one of the mistakes in the writing of season 3 was having Penelope continue with Lady Whistledown, the most toxic part of Penelope's personality. By continuing to write the column she is hanging on to that toxicity, and we can't be sure she won't go back to what her column was before.  Season 3 showed us that, for Penelope, Lady Whistledown is the most important thing in her life - even more important than Colin as she was willing to give up Colin to keep Lady Whistledown, this is the manifestation of a toxicity in Penelope, but also an addiction. In season 2 the viewers were shown that Lady Whistledown isn't needed to drive the plot forward, the narrative did not contribute to Kate and Anthony's story. In order to truly grow and love herself Penelope needs to move on from the toxicity of Lady Whistledown and put her talents into a different focus. 

  

Marina's death  

Eloise's story will most likely be season 5, (assuming Bridgerton gets renewed), which means to set up her story we need to see the death of Marina. I think that could work well in season 4 with Eloise as the B plot, and allow Eloise to begin her correspondence with Philip on learning of Marina's death. 

And now for two things I want to see in season 4: 

Anthony calling Newton 'our dog' when talking to Kate  

I can't claim full credit for this, someone I am acquainted with on Social Media actually said this, and I was very much like 'yes'!  Whilst this is a tiny thing, I think it will also show Anthony's growth, his acceptance of Newton as a part of his and Kate's family, especially after previous seasons where he made a point of calling Newton Kate's dog.  

Image Credit:  Netflix

Kate and Gregory relationship  

Kate and Anthony are the couple that made Gregory believe in love, it was them that showed him what he wanted when finding a partner in life, and I would like to see this shown a bit in season 4.  Also, to see Gregory enamoured with Kate and willing to do anything for her will be a joy to watch.  

Will we get to see any of these in season 4?  Probably not, but that doesn't mean we can't express what we think needs to be present in order to make the show something we will want to come back to again and again. 

Bridgerton Season 4: How an in season time jump could benefit Bridgerton's storytelling

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In An Offer From a Gentleman there is a two year gap between the Masquerade Ball where Benedict meets Sophie and when he finally locates her and the main part of their story takes place.  Heading into season 4, which is confirmed as Benedict's season, it is a good time to ask if the time jump will happen in the show, and if it does how could it impact other storylines.  Prior to the announcement that Benedict's story was being told in season 4 there were a small group in the Bridgerton fandom suggesting that this 2 year time jump in the story could only happen if the masquerade happened in the season before (hence the argument for Eloise's story to be season 4), however, I think it can work in season 4.  

We don't know how the Bridgerton writers will manage season 4 and Benedict's season, but I believe that the time jump will be something that could be incorporated to the benefit of a number of storylines.  Further I think that a time jump could fix some of the issues that have arisen in season 3, if the writers (and show runner) were so inclined.  

Before I look at how an in-season time jump could help the show, let's revisit an interview from Jess Brownell.  When talking about season 4 during the season 3 press, Jess said that season 4 would happen in a different 'season', heavily implying that as well as going out of London, season 4 would take place outside the Spring social season.  Taking this into account that makes me believe that season 4 could possibly begin up to 18 months after season 3, in Autumn or Winter of 1816. 

If season 4 was to take place over Autumn 1816, or Winter 1816/1817, then I think it could begin with the Masquerade ball in episode 1, perhaps as a harvest ball, or as a winter or Christmas ball, potentially with episode 1 ending with Sophie running away.  This would set the season up for episode 2 to begin 2 years later in 1818, which then makes way for several plot points to take place.  

Image Credit:  Netflix

We could see Kate and Anthony return in episode 2 (if they don't return in episode 1), they could return with baby Edmund, and Kate pregnant again.  This would give a little more believability to the idea that they went to India, if they return anywhere from 18 months to 3 years after the events in season 3.  I think this could be a great way to tie up their story, as it seems unlikely that we will see them much in the show after a brief appearance in season 4, so bringing them back from Edmund, introducing us to Edmund, and then seeing Kate have baby number 2 onscreen will give the fans at least one of their major life events onscreen after missing them all.  

A time jump could help with moving other stories forward, we could have the death of Marina to set up Eloise's season, and allow for Eloise (and the twins) to age up as well.  Whilst the twins still wouldn't be around the same ages as they are in the books, if there is an in season time jump in Benedict's season, and it takes place over the winter, realistically his season would finish in 1819, allowing for Eloise's season to take place in 1820.  On the subject of it allowing for characters to be aged up, it will allow for Gregory and Hyacinth to almost catch up to the ages of the actors.  In season 2 Hyacinth was meant to be 10 or 11, placing her at age 12 or 13 in season 3, but she was dressed much older (more the age of the actress), so a time jump means that in season 4 they could potentially have Hyacinth as a teenager or around 15 or so, whilst Gregory will be around 17 and finishing Eton.  Having the 2 years in season and allowing the aging up of Gregory and Hyacinth means that they don't have to write Gregory out as being 'at Eton', by having him basically have completed his schooling. 

Image Credit: Netflix

The idea of a time jump would allow for Francesca and John to show an established relationship prior to his death and Francesca's story.  I think what could happen with this is that they could write the actual marriage of Francesca and John a little longer, but it is possible we could see him get sick - or die - towards the end of season 4, and this will set Francesca up for a mourning period in season 5 ahead of her season.  In saying this we don't know that the show will keep the relationship with Francesca and John the same, and it is possible with the change they have already made that they could take this in a completely different direction.  My thoughts are that they may not have the infertility storyline, and we will see Francesca have John's baby, something that could happen with a time jump in season 4. 

Image Credit:  Netflix

Lastly, I think that a time jump can set it up for the show to stay close to history and write in the death of Queen Charlotte (1818).  I have already written how I feel that Queen Charlotte's story arc in Bridgerton is at an end with the reveal of Lady Whistledown, and writing in her death will bring her time in Bridgerton to a natural conclusion.  

These are my thoughts on how they can utilise an in season time jump for the benefit of the storytelling in season 4, but will they?  I am not sure that the Bridgerton show runner, or writers, actually will have the courage, or will, for this, and so I will be surprised if they do a time jump in the middle of the season.  

Bridgerton Promotion: Season 4 casting announcement failures cementing the negative perception

Those that have followed my posts for some time will be aware that I have previously written on the negative perception that some viewers and fans have of the Bridgerton production and Netflix as a result of promotional strategies, specifically for season 2 promotion.  Netflix and Bridgerton had an opportunity to reverse this negative perception in season 3, but they fumbled and subsequently increased the negative perception.  Another opportunity to reverse the negative perception of the production presented itself when season 4 was announced as being Benedict's season.  With the leak that the production was looking for an East Asian actress to play Sophie, the production could show that they had taken on board some of the complaints from the fans and that their promotional strategy had changed when dealing with a couple that included a woman of colour, however, with the leak of who has been cast as Sophie the production and Netflix have fumbled yet again, cementing a negative perception relating to their promotional strategies. 

Image Credit: Getty Images

A week ago Variety posted an article, citing sources, that reported Korean-Australian actress Yerin Ha had been cast as Sophie in Bridgerton season 4, but when asked for comment Shondaland and Netflix declined.  The article was picked up and reported by a number of outlets, including Deadline.  Deadline is the publication that Shondaland often uses to publicise casting announcements, and is rumoured to have a deal with Shondaland for the exclusive on Yerin Ha's casting announcement.  Information on Briderton season 4 has been updated in Production Weekly - an industry subscription service that provides updates on productions.  The update in Production Weekly credits Yerin Ha as Sophie, further confirming her casting, though Netflix and Shondaland remain silent.  

So what is the reasoning for Netflix and Shondaland remaining silent on the casting of Yerin Ha?  Without being a part of the marketing team we can't know for sure why Netflix and Shondaland have so far refused to acknowledge the casting of Yerin Ha, however, it doesn't help Netflix and Shondaland with the negative perception they need to overcome.  I have been told by a source, that Shondaland and Netflix have had the press release and press pack ready to go for the announcement since before the casting leak.  If this source is correct (I don't have reason to believe they aren't), then there is no reason to remain silent on the casting for a week or more.  The handling of this announcement by Shondaland, Bridgerton and Netflix doesn't have great optics, especially when you consider how the season 2 and season 3 leads were announced.  The casting of Simone Ashley was leaked, and in order to cut it off quickly the official accounts posted an official announcement that was shared by a number of accounts connected to Bridgerton.  The handling of the season 3 leads was slightly different as they were known to the viewers, but they announced their season at an event during season 2 promotion - something that has been seen as trying to deflect from the season 2 leads and focus on the season 3 leads.  

The failure to acknowledge the casting of Yerin Ha does play into the negative perception many have of the production, but this was compounded when the official account posted some clips from the season 3 promotion midweek.  A source said several weeks ago that the marketing plan from Shondaland and Netflix was to extend the promotional period for season 3 as long as possible, something that explains the post from the official account last week - potentially it was to try and deflect from talk of the casting for Sophie.  I understand that some will be sceptical of an unknown source, however, their information fits with Jess Brownell also deflecting away from questions about season 4 by saying that they wanted to remain focussed on season 3 for now.  

This has, understandably, fed into more of the negative perceptions of the production as Netflix gave the impression they wanted to move on from season 2 very quickly to season 3 and the season 3 leads.  That the production and Netflix appear reluctant to move on from season 3 now will not only cement the negative perceptions, but will also have some questioning how committed Netflix and the Bridgerton production are to the idea of their diverse casting, especially as the leads they have spent the most time focused on, and have spent the most time and effort promoting, are both white. That is not saying the ethnicity of the actors is the reason for these decisions as none of us are in the meetings where the strategy is discussed, however, the perception is that it is because of the ethnicity of the actors - specifically the female actors.  

Netflix have a choice to make.  They can continue to focus on promoting the season 3 leads and effectively continue to ignore the casting of the season 4 female lead, or they can step up and begin to promote the season 4 leads, giving them the promotion they didn't give the season 2 leads (but did give the season 3 leads in abundance). How the next two years or so goes in terms of promotion from both Netflix and the official Bridgerton accounts will send a message to the fans about who they consider important in the show.  Bridgerton needs to decide if the message they want to send is that the only leads they think are worth promotion are the white leads, or if they do value the women of colour leads as well.  Their promotion of the season 2 female lead, both in her season and for the early season 3 promotion, suggested to some that Bridgerton are perhaps not as interested in promoting women of colour, and perhaps not as committed to the diverse casting as they claim. The poor handling with the casting announcement for the season 4 female lead - also a woman of colour - is reinforcing this message from the season 2 promotion.  

Bridgerton, Shondaland and Netflix have an uphill battle to turn around the negative perception many currently hold of their production, season 4 is their chance to do that, but so far it is not off to a good start.  

Bridgerton Season 4: How Could a potential friendship between Kate and Penelope be received by fans?

There are some fans that are looking forward to seeing a close friendship between Kate and Penelope in season 4.  Some of the reasons for why Kate and Penelope will be close friends is because they are both married to a Bridgerton son, they are both mothers, and both their sons are heirs to titles (the assumption being that they keep baby Edmund as Kate and Anthony's first).  These seem to be very tenuous connections on which to build a close friendship that is believable in the show - especially between two characters that have not really interacted in any meaningful way.  But more than their lack of interaction in the show, the biggest obstacle to building a believable friendship - close or otherwise - lies in Penelope's use of a slur against Kate when she first arrived in the country.  

I can hear some fans groaning, saying it was two years ago and to get over it, however, this in itself is part of the problem as they dismiss concerns of women of colour around how Bridgerton writes for, and treats, the characters who are women of colour.  What I see within the fandom are opposing groups of fans that have markedly different views of the use of the slur by Penelope towards Kate, (I am not going to go back into the problematic aspects of it I have written about it here).  One group of fans that think there was nothing wrong with it - it was 'the truth' (because Penelope only spoke the truth according to these fans), or it was a reference to The Taming of the Shrew, or Kate wasn't bothered, (actually the show never gave anyone the opportunity to know how Kate felt about it) and other excuses are used to diminish the use of the slur.  Another group of fans (including myself) were offended, insulted, and hurt by the use of a word that is a slur against people of colour - especially in a show that uses diversity to market itself.  Unsurprisingly these opposing groups of fans hold different views of a friendship between Kate and Penelope, especially a close friendship, with the former thinking it would be a great thing whilst the latter see it as problematic considering Penelope has not addressed what she wrote about Kate.  

Image Credit: Netflix

As a newly arrived immigrant in season 2, and of a lower social status to Penelope, Kate was an easy target for Penelope's poison pen, with her use of misogynistic and racist language towards Kate being particularly nasty, marking a turning point for some fans in how they viewed Penelope as a character.  This change in how these fans saw Penelope as a character was not moved in season 3, partially in the lack of acknowledgement of Penelope's words against Kate, something that I wonder if the writers were cognisant of as they ensured that neither Kate nor Anthony were present for the Lady Whistledown reveal.  There was no need for Penelope to go as far as she did with the insults towards Kate in her Lady Whistledown column, and that the writers thought this was a good idea for the character who was going to be the lead in season 3 shows a lack of judgement on their part, and a complete lack of awareness of how that would be perceived by many viewers.  

So, with this background, could a friendship between Kate and Penelope work in the show?  Well of course it could if that is what the writers want to have happen, they can make anything happen, which means the question that should be asked is whether such a friendship will be accepted by viewers?  With some viewers it will be accepted and welcomed, but with others it may be a harder sell.  How could the writers believably have Kate be friends with the woman that so publicly dehumanised her with a racial slur, and then not address it onscreen? 

it is in the dealings with Lady Whistledown that we see a disconnect between the Bridgerton production and many of the viewers.  Whilst the producers and writers appear think that all is well in the world of Bridgerton, and that they have brought diversity to a genre of television that hasn't had much diversity, many viewers see issues with the representation in the show, and a tone deafness from the writers.  Any potential friendship between Kate and Penelope that the writers might try to force on the viewers will definitely be met with pushback without properly addressing Penelope's words, and some viewers may wonder why the writers think it is a good idea.  When they allowed the racism to seep into the character of Penelope via Lady Whistledown, and then ignored it as if it never happened, the production left themselves in an impossible position of having it taint anything they write between Kate and Penelope in upcoming seasons.  

Personally, if Kate is back for season 4 (which I doubt), I don't want to see a friendship between Kate and Penelope without this issue being addressed in the show, until that happens the writers have no right to try and make the viewers buy into such a friendship.  Will the writers be brave and address this can of worms they opened in season 2, or will they continue to pretend it didn't happen and seemingly use the women of colour on the show to validate Penelope and her actions?   

Bridgerton Fandom: The underlying racism when discussing the announcement of the Season 4 female lead

Video Credit:  BridgertonNetflix on Instagram

Now that it is confirmed that Benedict will be the Bridgerton in the spotlight for season 4, attention in the fandom has shifted to speculation on when the actress playing Sophie will be announced.  However, despite excitement and speculation from the majority of fans online, a small group within a subset of the fandom have advocated for a marketing strategy that has the undertones of racism.  

Details of the casting for Sophie that have leaked suggests that she will most likely be of East Asian ethnicity, making her the second woman of colour lead in Bridgerton. This is something that causes concern among some fans due to the current negative perceptions around how the production promotes a couple with a woman of colour. Whilst the production can use the season 4 promotion to attempt to turn around this negative perception, there is a small group of fans online suggesting that it would be a good idea to not announce the actress, and hide her for a reveal when the season releases.  

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I first saw the suggestion to 'hide' who was playing Sophie in a post on Reddit just under three weeks ago. The OP of the post suggested that the identity of the actress playing Sophie was hidden so the viewers find out who she is at the same time as Benedict. This suggestion was made saying it was good marketing, and whilst for some it seems like a good strategy, for a show like Bridgerton it will backfire on the production. As mentioned in the paragraph above, Bridgerton already faces a negative perception in the disparity between the way the woman of colour lead in season 2 was promoted vs the white season 3 lead. To suggest that the show hides the casting of a woman of colour lead in the season following a huge promotional push for a white lead, shows an underlying unconscious disregard for the optics of seemingly reducing a woman of colour to a marketing gimmick as opposed to being the lead in one of Netflix's biggest shows.  

I am not suggesting the OP is prejudiced, but their suggestion for this marketing strategy shows a fundamental lack of care for the potential racist undertones of such a move.  The way that Bridgerton promotes the female leads in the show, and specifically the disparity in the promotion given to the season 1 and season 3 female leads had in comparison to the season 2 female lead, is a discussion that has been ongoing in some areas of the fandom for some years. In this context, and environment, the suggestion that another woman of colour lead not get the same promotion as the white female leads, especially the white female lead for the season immediately preceding, is problematic at best, and exposes unconscious (or conscious) casual racism within the Bridgerton Fandom. Interestingly the comments on this Reddit post disagreeing with the OP do so because the casting is likely to leak due to social media, only one comment brought up the optics of hiding the identity of a lead that is a woman of colour. But even with one user pointing out the negative optics of keeping a woman of colour lead hidden the OP was lacklustre in their response with an idea of how they could still prevent the actress being named. 

This issue could have remained on one obscure Reddit post soon forgotten, however, some users on X have picked up the idea of hiding the actress who will be playing Sophie, and not announcing her, all on the pretext of it being 'good marketing'. However, more insidiously, some of these users on X have gone on to suggest that Nicola Coughlan should be used as one of the main actors to promote S4. This (more so than the Reddit post) gives a racist subtext to their posts around this, with the suggestions that a white woman is in a better position to promote a season of Bridgerton that has a woman of colour lead. It is not surprising that many of these same users defended the heavy reliance on Nicola for season 2 promotion ahead of the leads (a woman of colour and gay man), and also defended why the season 2 woman of colour lead should have to be promoted in tandem with another woman (this will be the subject of a later post so I won't go into it much at present). Some of the suggestions made on X range from not announcing who will be Sophie until the 2025 Tudum, to not announcing her at all and have her unveiled when the season releases.  

Whilst some of these fans probably think they are just coming up with extra clever marketing ideas when they suggest hiding the actress playing Sophie and using Nicola Coughlan instead, what they are actually doing is exposing some of the underlying racism in the Bridgerton fandom. Whilst I am not suggesting that all of the comments from these fans are driven by underlying racism, there is certainly distasteful racist undertones in the suggestions that a woman of colour should be 'hidden' while a white woman takes centre stage in her place. 

Bridgerton Season 4: What message could a substantive subplot for Polin send?

In an interview published by Business Insider in May, Jess Brownell talked about season 3, including the return of Kate and Anthony.  In response to a question about the thought process behind sending them away almost immediately in episode 1, Jess responded that it felt right.  She said that Kate and Anthony are putting themselves first, and that if they kept them around they would have to mire them in conflict, (I disagree with this, but that is a topic for another post).  Jess went on to say that we get to check in with Kate and Anthony then send them off and we then get to focus on Penelope and Colin, which is understandable as it was their season. 

Image Credit: Netflix

Unfortunately, as much as I would like to see Penelope and Colin be treated in a similar manner in season 4 - sent away so that we can focus on Benedict and Sophie - I fear this may not be the case.  In an interview with Variety in June, Jess Brownell said they weren't done with Lady Whistledown (as much as I wish there were), and that could provide a storyline for Penelope in season 4.  Jess's response raises the question of how it will be perceived if Colin and Penelope have a substantial storyline that keeps them around in season 4, as opposed to them being removed from the season so that focus can be put on Benedict and Sophie. 

After Kate and Anthony were sent away in season 3 not once, not twice, but three times (all without any onscreen farewell to their family), there is an expectation that Penelope and Colin will also be sent away for the majority of season 4.  If this does not happen, questions could - and should - be asked about Bridgerton, and Netflix's, commitment to the diverse characters and actors in Bridgerton, especially those that are (or have been) leads. I believe that a Penelope and Colin storyline could be viewed negatively by some viewers, and perhaps even seen as them getting a substantive storyline after their season because they are a white couple, knowing that Sophie will most likely be of East Asian ethnicity. 

Image Credit: Netflix

If the reason for sending Kate and Anthony away in season 3 was so the focus could move to the leads, but in season 4, Penelope and Colin aren't sent away in a similar manner for focus to go to the leads, then the message that the production is sending can be interpreted is that people of colour are not valued.  Bridgerton is already suffering with a perception problem in the way they handled the season 3 storyline for Kate and Anthony in general, but also Kate more specifically in tying her whole purpose in the season to Anthony and not giving her a storyline of her own, something that many believe that won't happen with Penelope in season 4. It is suspected from interviews with Jess Brownell that Penelope will have a storyline independent of Colin, and she will continue to be written as a character in her own right, not just as an extension of her husband.  

Image Credit:  Netflix

It isn't just about how differently the season 2 and season 3 female protagonists have been treated as characters, and potentially how differently they will continue to be treated, it is also about the respect for the season 4 leads. If sending Kate and Anthony away was to ensure the focus was on the protagonists in season 3, but then the writers keep Penelope and Colin around with a storyline in season 4, it will tell viewers that the production has little respect, or care, for the season 4 leads - another couple that will include a woman of colour. What message does this send to women of colour who watch the show?  For many it tells them that the show runner and writers, as well as the production chiefs, don't value women of colour and mixed relationships on the show, but rather wish to focus the show on a white couple, something that is problematic for them in the way the show is set up, as well as the focus they have on the diverse casting.  

Image Credit: Netflix

A Penelope and Colin storyline won't only be sending a negative message about how the production views other couples, and the season 4 leads specifically, but also how little they value diversity in the show.  The show runner, writers, and production have presented a smug, self congratulatory attitude around the inclusion of diverse casting, but they have again and again prioritised white cast members for the storytelling.  Having Penelope and Colin in season 4 more than they had Kate and Anthony in season 3 will be another example of the production seemingly prioritising white characters over those that are people of colour.