Dearest gentle reader: we hope by now you’ve had a chance to watch all of Bridgerton season 3 — and are already prepping for Bridgerton season 4. If not, what are you waiting for? We’re ready to dissect and discuss all the twists and turns of Polin season, which saw some major developments happen for other key characters as well.
In part one of our interview with showrunner Jess Brownell, who stepped into the role this season, taking over from Chris Van Dusen who oversaw Bridgerton seasons 1 and 2, we talked about how Julia Quinn gave her blessing for that major gender-swap twist in Francesca Bridgerton’s story, and what the future holds for Benedict, who seems the likeliest candidate to be the main character for Bridgerton season 4. Brownell has been working as a writer on the show since season 1.
In part two, we discuss some of the delightful details surrounding fan favorites Kanthony, the surprise plotline of Cressida Cowper, and of course, the resolution of Colin and Penelope’s love story — and Penelope and Eloise’s love story.
Teen Vogue: I don’t know if you know, but Netflix — maybe not on purpose — made the screeners and reviewers wait quite a while between getting episodes five and six and then seven and eight. I was stuck with Colin finding out about Lady Whistledown for weeks (the end of episode six), not knowing what would happen next. That was just such an incredible reveal, and obviously, such an important moment in their story. Talk to me about building up to that moment, and how you wanted it to play out.
Jess Brownell: A lot of that was inspired by the way it goes down in the book. In the book, Colin follows Penelope. It’s set up a little bit differently, but we liked the idea that just as Penelope has been wrestling with whether or not to give up Whistledown, and just as she’s decided to pick up her quill again — that’s the moment Colin discovers her. At the start of that episode, Eloise basically says, “Don’t tell him. It’ll break his heart.” For Penelope to have been wrestling with that, and then to have him discover it that way is obviously going to create quite a bit of drama, because he surely would’ve liked to have heard it from her directly. It sets up a lot of dramatic potential for us in episodes seven and eight.
TV: I really enjoyed the whole arc of Penelope and Eloise’s friendship. I think that’s also just as integral to the story as Colin and Penelope. Seeing them come together as friends again was great. I found the scene between Colin and Eloise, where they’re talking about forgiving Penelope, really moving. Why is that moment important to show?
JB: The three of them have really been friends: Eloise, Penelope and Colin. Obviously, Eloise and Colin’s friendship is something that we focused on this season as well. Everyone’s been in their own corners of this friendship. It’s been Pen and Eloise over here, Colin and Eloise over here, Colin and Pen, et cetera. For once, for the two people in the family who have been impacted by this friendship/love triangle, to come together and talk about it was really important. I think a big theme of this season is showing how friendship and family are just as important as romantic relationships, and giving those relationships their proper due.
TV: Is there anything you’ve seen in terms of reactions to season 3, part 1 that has either surprised or delighted you?
JB: I was hopeful that the carriage scene was going to be the talking point that it has become. I have to say, I’m really delighted by the reaction to the Pitbull song, which is one of the few songs that I chose for the season. The fact that Pitbull commented on that really made my life.
TV: That’s amazing. What were the other songs that you chose?
JB: I chose the Pitbull song, and I chose a Demi Lovato song that shows up in episode six, and the rest were a collaboration, or something that the editors chose, or that Shonda chose. Those were the two that I pushed for early on.
TV: In terms of the actual Lady Whistledown reveal at the end, I also want to hear your thoughts about building up and creating that scene. We imagined it could go a couple of different ways. Penelope standing in the middle of a room just openly talking was not something that I had imagined, but it was really interesting to me, to have that in the finale. What was your thinking going into that? How long did you know that the reveal was going to be that way?
JB: It was one of the first images that came to me for this season, because if you talk about Penelope as a wallflower, as that being the beginning of her journey, the most obvious visual to me of her coming out the other side of her journey is stepping into the center of a room and owning it, and having all eyes on her, and being able to shine in that environment. In the book, Colin is the one who outs Penelope to the ton, but it was important for us for Penelope to take ownership in owning who she is, and stepping out into the sunshine. I think Nicola [Coughlan] delivers just a real powerhouse performance in that moment, and it’s something I’m really proud of, that coupled with the butterflies all coming out, symbolizing the fact that Pen has finally and officially come out of her chrysalis and emerged as a butterfly herself. It’s a really lovely visual.
TV: I love that. “The bugs.”
JB: “The bugs!”
TV: The Featherington sisters this season were just so hilarious, and I feel like one of the other things I’m really impressed with about your showrunning this season is — it’s always been an ensemble show, but season 3 truly makes it an ensemble show. We see more of the Mondriches. I love Cressida’s plot line, although I feel a little bad for how it ends so far this season. How was it navigating all of that and continuing to build up these side characters into bigger characters, while also keeping the focus on Pen and Colin?
JB: Yeah, it wasn’t easy. I think I have so much love for all of the pieces of our ensemble, and I wanted to give them their proper due, but I also looked at this season as a building season in terms of getting the characters where I want them for future seasons. If you look at Alice and Will, the Mondriches, for example, I know that there’s a lot of really interesting story to come for them in terms of being new in society. This season, we just had to make that transition with them, so that in future seasons they can be closer to all of our main characters, more a part of the marriage mart, closer to the center of the action. In terms of balancing all the storylines, it was really about honing in on what the theme of every episode is, and also on what the theme of the season was, which for me, was very much about stepping into your true self. I think you’ll see that theme playing across most of our side stories.
TV: Okay, Kate and Anthony, love everything with them this season. I’m such a big fan.
JB: Me too.
TV: Their scene with Colin the night before the wedding, it’s one of my favorites. Why was it important to you to have them have that moment with Colin?
JB: Well, I think after all they went through in their season, obviously, the focus for us this season was just showing them in a more loving place. But we also wanted to underscore how they’re still the Kate and Anthony you know. They still banter with each other, and get annoyed at each other. We wanted them to show up in that way, but also to show that, after what they went through last season, they have a lot of advice to give to Colin. They’re in a much wiser place, both of them, in their relationship to relationships.
TV: Simone [Ashley] and Jonathan [Bailey]’s chemistry is such that, that banter, and that loving back and forth in the space of a couple of minutes, it’s so much. We always want more screen time for them, but it’s still so great.
JB: 100 percent. They give so much, even with just tiny little looks and gestures. They’re a magic pairing, absolutely.
TV: So I was both excited and a little worried about the going to India idea. I’m a Sharma, you know. This is one reason also why season 2 hits so closely. When he talks about the baby being a Bridgerton but also a Sharma, I’m looking at my mixed race baby and thinking the same thing. We love a white man coming around to celebrating the culture. But he does say, “We’ll be back.” I’m hopeful that doesn’t mean we’re just writing them off the show and going to India.
JB: No. No, I think the strength of sending them off to India for a little while is that it does leave the door open for them to come back, schedules allowing. I think, understandably, when any of our lead actors have given over their lives for their season, in future seasons, we want to be supportive of the fact that they do have other projects coming in, and to ask actors to come back just to be in the background is not really fair to them. We love Jonny and Simone, and we’ll have them back as much as we are able to.
TV: Ok, so there’s India, and then also, Eloise and Francesca going to Scotland. Are we going to be leaving the ton? Are we ever going to see outside of this, or will it be more about them coming back?
JB: For all of the stories that are left to tell, at least of the elder siblings other than Gregory and Hyacinth, I think people who know their books know that all three of their storylines do take us a little bit outside of the ton. That was one reason for moving Colin and Penelope up this season, was to, in the first three seasons, stay in our world that we already know, and then books three, five and six really do open up the world in a way that we’re excited about. But I can’t say just yet how that will play out.
TV: The character of Cressida, I loved that she got more screen time this season. I loved her assuming the mantle of Whistledown, and I feel like the build up to that made a lot of sense. Her storyline ends on a bit of a sad note this season. Do you have hopes for her? Where do you see her potentially going?
JB: Yeah, Cressida’s storyline, in my mind, is not over. I think there’s more to come. I think one of the goals of the Cressida storyline this season was to understand why she is the way she is. And even if she remains somewhat of a villain character, now you have so much more sympathy for her, and understand where she’s coming from. I don’t think a tiger changes its stripes overnight, but hopefully, people understand now what she’s up against. I want a happy ending for all of our characters, and I think Cressida deserves a happy ending one day. I think she will hopefully get that, if it’s up to me, but it just might take a little bit more time.
TV: It was interesting to see more of her family dynamic, and as you said, absolutely understand more why she is the way that she is.
JB: Yeah, for sure. Also, Jess Madsen is just such a fantastic actress. I’ve seen so many people saying, “I’m so mad at you for making me like Cressida,” and I think a lot of that is Jessica Madsen. She plays so much depth.
TV: Agreed. More screen time for Cressida and Jess, for sure.
JB: Totally.
TV: With Luke [Newton] and Nicola, I think they’ve said they’re coming back for season four, but we’re not quite sure what that looks like yet. Where do you see Colin and Pen’s relationship going now?
JB: Well, in a season where both of them were trying to find their true selves, and step into their authenticity, what I’m hoping to see more of in season 4 is more of their true selves, so more of Penelope owning her power and more of Colin being the sweet, sensitive lover boy that he is. Colin from the books is famously a Wife Guy, and I just really want to see Colin be a Wife Guy in season 4.
TV: Yes, same with Anthony, right? We love seeing Anthony be the Wife Guy.
JB: Exactly. I think it’s so lovely to see our couples get to enjoy the prize of their love after working for it so hard.
TV: You’re working on season 4 now. Are you going into production soon? Is there anything you can share about the timeline?
JB: I can say that we are still in the writers’ room, and we have a little over half of the scripts in progress. We have the entire season broken out in terms of outlines, so we’re making our way through.
TV: As we close out, is there anything else that you would like to share, or that you would like fans to keep in mind as they wrap up this season?
JB: I just want to say thank you to the fans for watching and engaging. This show takes so long to make, and after almost three years of working on this season, on Zoom, partly during COVID, to now see fans reacting, and making memes, and making videos, it is really, really fulfilling and rewarding.
TV: At the premiere, you talked about where you started. Your career path is amazing, and going to be inspiring to a lot of younger people. Was there ever a point that you thought about quitting, or a point where you doubted you might get to where you are today?
JB: Yeah, I came very close to quitting right before I finally got staffed. I had been an assistant for eight years, and I was watching people around me get staffed, and I was so happy for them, but I just started wondering, “Maybe I don’t have what it takes.” I called my mom, and my mom said, “You can move home, and you’re really good at crafts. Maybe you can make a craft blog.” I thought, “That sounds nice,” and then I said, “You know what? I’ve been working at this thing for eight years. I should give it my all, like one last push before I give up.”
I basically emailed all of my friends and said, “I’m going to disappear for six months to a year, and I’m just going to focus on writing.” I did that, and I got staffed about a year later, and then was able to move into the showrunner really quickly I think because of all that time that I had put in on the assistant side of things. It turned out to never have been wasted time. It was actually part of my growth, and part of what got me to where I am today.
