Bridgerton Season 3 Review: Episode 4 'Old Friends'

 This episode opens with Penelope entertaining a caller - Lord Debling, with her mother and sisters outside the door, before moving over to Bridgerton House where we see Francesca waiting on callers.  With Francesca are her mother, Eloise, Hyacinth and Gregory, and they are all discussing Lord Samadani and the possibility he will call on Francesca.  

Image Credit: Netflix

Francesca gets a caller, and it is not Lord Samadani, but rather John Stirling, Lord Kilmartin.  The scene that follows is one of the highlights of the episode for me - the family interaction.  We see Hyacinth mistake him for Lord Samadani, then as John says to Violet that he has come to call on one of her daughters we see Eloise trying to hide behind Gregory.  This is a small (and rare) glimpse of the things that made Bridgerton popular and charming, the family scenes have been too few in this season.  I feel that I could write a whole post on this one scene (and one day I just might), with the family interaction, but also the wonderful connection we see with John and Francesca, it is a scene that really calls back to the magic of season 1 that has been largely missing in this season.  

This episode seems to have a lot in it, but not much happening, and much of what did happen wasn't engaging and nor did it really draw me in as a viewer.  There didn't feel that anything was progressing with Colin and Penelope much in this story, which is why the ending of the episode felt confusing for me.  This then brings me to the infamous carriage scene. 

It has been a long time since I read the book, and I have no inclination to go back to read it again, so I don't really remember what the carriage scene was like in the book, however, in the show I felt it failed to live up to the hype of it.  Fans and leads alike were hyping this scene as some romantic and wonderful scene, but for me it fell a little flat in the execution, which I think is because it just did not seem believable that the characters were at that point in their relationship yet.  I also felt the proposal at the end came from nowhere, like they put in a book quote for the sake of it - or fan service - but didn't think about the lead in to the line.  At no point did Colin lead in to the idea of marriage, nor did he even say that he had thought about marriage, he just assumed Penelope should know that he would marry her.

I have said it before, and after four episodes I still maintain, this season has lost a lot of the magic and charm of the previous Bridgerton seasons, which is making it less engaging and less interesting.  Whilst some of the side stories are progressing well, and do show some interest and charm - especially Francesca and John - the main story appears to be lacking something, and it is hard to say exactly what is lacking from the story, but there just doesn't seem to be any feeling present.  

Highs: 

• Francesca and John.  These two are fast becoming my favourite couple of the season, I just love their quietness and their intuitiveness.  When John had the music rearranged as Francesca said it should be it showed that John not only saw her but also heard her.  These two may not say much in words, but they truly do communicate in a way that brings to mind Kate's words from season 2 when she talked of finding someone who speaks to your heart.  I feel that Francesca and John truly do embody this.  
• Francesca's look of love, passion and delight when playing the music at the end, and the way she lit up when telling Violet how John had got the music rearranged as she had wanted was just so beautiful to see.  These two are soulmates, they may be quieter than the other Bridgertons and their spouses, but they are no different.  I believe that these two are very similar to Kate and Anthony in their love, just quieter about it, both couples have an instinctive understanding and a way of communicating that transcends verbal communication.  
• Family interactions.  Again, the real charm of Bridgerton comes through when we see the family interacting with each other.  The bafflement of Violet, Eloise, Gregory and Hyacinth when John and Francesca were just sitting in silence will go down as one of the better family scenes of this season I think. 
• Penelope's Blue dress at the library.  In a season defined by some terrible costume choices this is one that stands out as one of the better ones.  It suited Penelope and made her blue eyes popped, I just have to say the overall look was ruined a bit with the purple eyeshadow.  

Lows: 

• The obvious lack of a historical adviser.  Something small I know, but having Lady Whistledown say that Francesca may be poised to become the Marquess Samadani had me irritated for a long while.  For the record, a Marquess is the male title holder, his wife is a Marchioness (pronounced Marsh a ness)
• Colin's proposal, just very confusing and quite arrogant the way it came from nothing almost, no mention of marriage, he went from lust to marriage in a second.