This post contains spoilers for the first four episodes of Bridgerton Season 3
Netflix just dropped the first half of Season 3 of Bridgerton. Like with any installment of the steamy Regency drama, expect another courting season, another romance hindered by a dark secret and/or past trauma, and a resolution that ends—eventually—with yet another Bridgerton baby.
Though not quite as complex as the lineage that determines who sits on the Iron Throne, the Bridgerton family tree grows new branches with each season. And things are getting confusing. It can be hard to keep track of all eight (eight!) Bridgerton children, their various suitors, and all of their respectively families. Add the royal family from the spinoff series Queen Charlotte to the mix, and now you’re tracking dozens of characters’ love stories.
Season 3 also turns the camera away from the Bridgerton family—at least for a time—to focus on their next door neighbor, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). Penelope, as we know, secretly writes a gossipy newsletter under the pen name Lady Whistledown. This season, Penelope, so often a wallflower, finally steps into the limelight as her crush on Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) turns into a full-on dalliance. As the two flirt, Penelope worries about Colin finding out about her secret identity—a valid concern considering she’s humiliated Colin and his family multiple times. Colin loathes Lady Whistledown. Drama ensues.
If you’re wondering if Bridgerton will ever present us with a simple, uncomplicated romance, can I interest you in the other star of Season 3, Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd)? The introspective Francesca makes her society debut this season and falls for…someone equally as shy. Each pot has its lid.
Though it’s unclear whether either Colin or Francesca will marry, to understand the implications of each match, you must understand the various family relationships. Here are the Bridgerton, Featherington, and royal family trees.
Violet & Edmund Bridgerton
The Dowager Viscountess Violet Bridgerton was widowed in a truly astonishing fashion: Her husband and true love, Edmund Bridgerton, suffered an allergic reaction from a bee sting and died. Allergies were rough pre-Epi Pens!
After years of dealing with her children’s ridiculous romantic travails—including her daughter Daphne not understanding how babies are made for far too long—Violet is finally getting her own storyline. In Season 3 of Bridgerton, Violet takes up a flirtation with her friend Agatha Danbury’s brother, Marcus Anderson. Get yours, Violet!
Anthony Bridgerton & Kate Sharma
In Season 2 of Bridgerton, Violet’s eldest son Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) fell in love with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley). Due to the aforementioned bee trauma, Anthony was scared of marrying for love only to possibly watch another loved one die in front of his eyes. This is a stupid reason to marry a random person instead of someone you actually care about, so eventually Anthony agreed to marry Kate. They are now trying to start a family.
Benedict Bridgerton
Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) is the adventurous Bridgerton, which, in this show, means he flirts with being bisexual but never outright has sex with a man. Frankly, the way they keep teasing his bisexuality is frustrating. Hopefully, the new season fleshes out Benedict’s love life a little more and isn’t afraid to further break from the books.
Colin Bridgerton & Penelope Featherington
In Season 3, Colin Bridgerton gets a big glow up and, hilariously, everyone in the Bridgerton universe seems to notice. He comes back from his travels in Europe—where, it’s implied, he spent some time studying and most of his time sleeping around—looking fit. Suddenly every girl is throwing herself at him. His attractiveness becomes legendary once he saves a picnic from a runaway hot air balloon, which is approximately the Regency equivalent of saving a puppy from street traffic.
Colin and Penelope Featherington, who lives across the street, have long been friends, though Penelope has always harbored a crush on him. In Season 3, they begin to explore their attraction to one another. Unfortunately for Penelope, she has spent the last several years gossiping about everyone in the Ton under the pseudonym Lady Whistledown. Frankly, she’s been quite rude about the Bridgertons in the past. So when Colin eventually finds out her secret, expect drama.
Daphne Bridgerton & Simon Basset
Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) was the protagonist of Season 1 of the hit Netflix series. She fell for Anthony’s old buddy Simon (Regé-Jean Page). Unfortunately for Daphne, Simon had sworn never to sire children because he hated his father so much that he wants to end the Basset line just to spite him. Yes, Simon’s father was a big meanie, but this seemed like a rather dramatic reaction on Simon’s part. It also proved a rather convoluted means of keeping the couple apart.
And boy was it hard to keep them apart: They were basically making out in public on the regular, and they eventually got caught. After a long debate about Daphne’s virtue, Anthony challenged Simon to a Hamilton-style duel in the rain because of course it was in the rain. Daphne eventually agreed to marry Simon thinking he couldn’t have kids, not that he was choosing not to have kids. Always read the fine print.
More bad news for Daphne: Simon spent the first several months of their marriage not, umm, completing his conjugal duties in the bedroom. Because Daphne’s mother never explained how a sperm meets an egg, Daphne thought she would get pregnant. Daphne eventually got wise. They fought. Eventually they reconciled, and now they have a kid named Augie. Wow, Season 1 was wild.
Eloise Bridgerton
Despite having no romantic storyline to date, Eloise (Claudia Jessie) has played a major role in the show as the Nancy Drew of this universe. She spent most of her time trying to discover Lady Whistledown’s identity, and eventually found out that—gasp—her best friend, Penelope, was penning the popular gossip rag. Eloise and Penelope are feuding in Season 3 not only because of the Lady Whistledown revelation but also because Eloise has no interest in marriage and grows frustrated with Penelope’s interest in her brother.
Francesca Bridgerton
Francesca Bridgerton (Hannah Dodd) was in the deep background of this show for two seasons. Maybe taking piano lessons? Who knows. Anyway, the quietest Bridgerton shows up in Season 3 just in time for her debut into society. She gravitates toward a contemplative suitor, John Stirling (Victor Ali). They often sit quietly together. Does it make great TV? Not really. It makes sense why their romance has been paired with the Colin and Penelope drama. That said, this show thrives on drama, so stay vigilant and be on the lookout for secrets and/or trauma in this relationship.
Gregory & Hyacinth Bridgerton
The two youngest Bridgerton siblings are also there saying cute things, reminding viewers that some day they will court lovers of their own. This show will go on for years and years and years.
Portia Featherington
Penelope Featherington’s obnoxious mother (Polly Walker) gives off serious evil-stepmother-from-Cinderella vibes: Lady Portia Featherington wears obnoxious colors and says obnoxious things. That said, her husband Archibald was a gambling addict who put her and her children’s livelihoods at stake, so we have some sympathy for her. But at the end of Season 1, Archibald got murdered in cold blood in a brothel by two thugs after fixing a boxing match. How was this not a massive scandal? I guess it kind of looks like he killed himself? You would still think other lords would be asking some questions—or, you know, maybe his daughter, who just so happens to write the most-read newsletter in the Ton, would float some theories.
Anyway, Portia managed to cover the whole thing up to avoid disrepute. Impressive.
Prudence & Philippa Featherington
If Portia is the evil stepmother, Prudence (Bessie Carter) and Philippa (Harriet Cains) are the sisters always demanding things of Cinderella, erm, Penelope. They’re both a bit dimwitted and also dress terribly, which is about the worst crime you can commit in a society in which your job as a woman is to sit around and look good. But they’re also funny, and by Season 3 they’re pretty harmless. They’ve really toned down the Penelope taunts. They’re now both married to delightful goofballs: Prudence to the handsome Harry Dankworth and Philippa to the adoring Albion Finch.
Marina Thompson
Remember how Archibald Featherington was the worst? Well at some point he accepted money from a distant cousin to take in that cousin’s pregnant daughter, Marina Thompson. In order to avoid scandal, Portia conspired to marry Marina (Ruby Barker) off to Colin Bridgerton and trick Colin into thinking the baby was his, much to Penelope’s chagrin. Penelope blew up their spot in the Lady Whistledown newsletter—which was frankly pretty mean to a desperate Marina. Marina ended up marrying the brother of her dead baby daddy, Philip Crane, and having twin children, Oliver and Amanda. It’s a polite if loveless marriage, and her story mostly serves as a contrast to all the Bridgertons who get to marry for love for some reason, unlike everyone else of the era.
Agatha Danbury
Speaking of people in loveless marriages: Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), as we learn in the Bridgerton spinoff series Queen Charlotte, was married to a rather loathsome man who thankfully died when she was still rather young. She now spends most of her time hanging out with the queen and playing matchmaker for the various Bridgerton children. In Season 3, she’s pretty angry about Marcus courting Violet for reasons that have yet to be revealed.
King George & Queen Charlotte
In the prequel series, we learn that Charlotte (India Amarteifio) and George (Corey Mylchreest) fell deeply in love, even as George went mad. Like, running-outside-without-his-clothes-on mad. Despite his struggles with mental health, George and Charlotte had 15 (15!!!) children together. In the Bridgerton timeline, Charlotte is struggling to get any of her children to produce an heir, which must be frustrating when you should, in theory, have many, many shots at a grandson or granddaughter when you have 15 kids.
Adolphus
Adolphus is Queen Charlotte’s brother and handsome man kicking around town in Queen Charlotte. As with all Handsome Brothers (TM) in this series, we assume he will eventually court someone in the Ton.
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