Was Penelope's 'glow up' in Bridgerton Season 3 necessary for her character development?

Lady Whistledown is back for a third season, except this time, she's writing about a certain Penelope Featherington.

After two years of waiting, the first half of Bridgerton Season 3 arrived on Netflix yesterday. Set in London's Regency era, the show is all about the marriage market amongst the wealthiest and most noble families of the ton. 

Season 3 focuses on the youngest Bridgerton sibling, Colin Bridgerton and his friendship-to-lovers story arc with Penelope Featherington. 

While the show seems to do a great job at selling their relationship, some have wondered if Penelope's transformation from a supposedly "ugly duckling" to a beautiful marriage prospect was necessary.

To weigh in on whether the show got Colin and Penelope's relationship right, culture critics Leila Latif, Louise Bruton and Jael Richardson join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud on Commotion.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, plus a chat about the new Amy Winehouse biopic, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast on your favourite podcast player.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

Elamin: Jael, this is the first time they've done a friends to lovers sort of trope. How are they handling it? Are they doing all right with this?

Jael: I love the friends to lovers trope. I think they did a really good job. In the beginning episodes of this season, you sort of think, "has Colin changed in a way that we're not going to like?" But then you see this depth to him in later episodes where he has a really nice transformation. So I do really enjoy it. 

Elamin: Leila, when do you think of the show? How are you feeling about the Penelope and Colin relationship? Is it getting you to root for it in any kind of way?

Leila: It's like a kind-of-not-that-exciting-trash dude gets a very wonderful woman interested in him after many years situation. Maybe it spoke to a few existing traumas of mine, but I don't know that I'm rooting for it because I feel like I spent my whole life trying to not do this.

Not going to lie, they have great chemistry. Nicola Coughlan is absolutely phenomenal. Yes, it may have brought up some stuff from me from my past, but generally for the most part, I can root for this love.

Elamin: Louise. You're just getting into Bridgerton this season. Are you buying this "Polin?" "Polin" is a ship name for Colin and Penelope. Are you buying this relationship? 

Louise: From what I gather, and correct me if I'm wrong. Penelope just seems to hide behind hedges and look at Colin a lot. There's a lot of longing glances across rooms, a lot of unsaid words, which I think in TV shows, you need a few spoken words.

There's just a lot of breaths being taken away and eyebrows being arched and coquettish looks across the room. The charm and the chemistry, I did not see that. But that's me jumping in so late into a very much adored series that I have actively avoided for the last four years.

Elamin: Jael, Penelope is a character who's had this arc as the ugly duckling of the ton. She doesn't really get picked. She has a reputation as a bit of a spinster. You get to this moment where she's pulling the strings as the anonymous writer behind a gossip column, Lady Whistledown. But then you get to this place where she's having a swan moment. Do you believe her swan moment? 

Jael: I think if you watch just this season, it would be hard to get an appreciation for Penelope, because I think a lot of her great moments happen in seasons one and two, where she is undervalued and under cared for. Her mom is a bit of a loose cannon that makes her dress in these juvenile ways that get her mocked. And so I think one of the complaints I have about Penelope's swan moment in this season is I feel like they over exaggerated her ugly duckling. She's done all these really incredible things behind the scenes. And she comes in this horrible dress that's obviously hideous. And then she decides she's going to get a makeover. 

So she gets this makeover and everyone's like, "ooh, aaah." But the reality is she's still super awkward. And I thought that was the most interesting storyline because even as she emerges, she still can't quite roll with it in the same way she's so fluent and eloquent in her gossip column. 

I thought that they overplayed that ugly duckling transformation. Now she's beautiful. Now everybody's paying attention to her. I thought that could have been cut out.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Jane van Koeverden