Storylines We Want To See In Bridgerton Season 3

The second season of the hit Netflix drama "Bridgerton" has been widely heralded as a huge success. The love story of Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) and Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) isn't quite as steamy as the one featured in the first season, but "Bridgerton" Season 2 is still a fun Regency-era romp. In large part, that's due to the numerous side plots, many of which set up some big payoffs for the upcoming third season.

The creative team behind "Bridgerton" has said that they have an eight-season plan in mind for the show, which would put each sibling of the eponymous family in the spotlight, one at a time. That's the same formula used in Julia Quinn's bestselling novels, though it remains to be seen if the Netflix adaptation will hit the Bridgertons in the same order as the books. Either way, fans of the show have a lot to look forward to, and the second season did a great job of planting seeds for what's to come.

From budding romances and coming-of-age journeys to entirely new characters, there's a lot of promising material set up in "Bridgerton" Season 2. Here are some of the big storylines we want to see in Season 3 and how they could play out.

Every "Bridgerton" fan knows that Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) is quite clearly in love with Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). Her affections are palpable, and she's even gone to some pretty underhanded lengths to keep him available. Despite all this, Colin has remained painfully oblivious to his friend's true feelings. He repeatedly relegates her to the friend zone in ways that seem callous, but which are really just symptoms of him being completely clueless. Season 2 drops the occasional tease that Colin might finally be getting the hint, but each time, he stops just short of realizing what's in front of him.

It seems blatantly obvious that Colin and Penelope's romance will eventually be the main subject of a "Bridgerton" season. They could even be the focus of Season 3 if the show's writers diverge from the order of the books. But whether or not their love story properly starts in the third season, it definitely seems like it's time for them to take a step forward. One more season of Colin being completely unaware would be a bit repetitive, and with Eloise's discovering Penelope's secret Lady Whistledown identity at the end of Season 2, things could start crumbling for her quickly. Will Colin and Penelope have a big falling out before coming back together in love? It seems likely.

Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) has been one of the best parts of the Netflix drama since Season 1. Her eloquent attacks on Regency England's patriarchal society are biting and hilarious, and they provide a much-needed challenge to the antiquated standards of the time. Season 2 continues that trend, with Eloise lambasting high society and even attending some feminist rallies in disguise. She also has her first brush with love in the form of printer's assistant Theo Sharpe (Calam Lynch).

Eloise and Theo's young love story is a highlight of "Bridgerton" Season 2. It shows that equitable romance can exist outside of the ton's fancy balls, and it allows Eloise to experience a new range of emotions without compromising her core beliefs. Hopefully, she'll get to explore this new world even more in "Bridgerton" Season 3.

In a time where women are viewed as property and marriages are arranged through complicated business agreements, Eloise could get to do something that females of her station are usually restricted from — go on dates. Jessie herself has said that she'd love for Eloise to date around rather than go down a singular romantic path toward marriage (per Insider). If the writers go in that direction, it could lead to some fantastic Eloise moments in Season 3 and beyond.

The most dramatic moment in the "Bridgerton" Season 2 finale may not be the marriage of Anthony and Kate. After all, most viewers knew that they would get together all along. What viewers didn't know is that Eloise would discover that her best friend Penelope was actually Lady Whistledown, leading to a cataclysmic confrontation between the two young women. By the time the credits roll, their friendship is in ruins, and it's unclear what Eloise will do with the new information she's unearthed.

For most of the show so far, Penelope has been in total control as Lady Whistledown. She's had some struggles to overcome, but she's always been one step ahead. Going into "Bridgerton" Season 3, that won't be the case any longer. Because Eloise now knows her secret, she also knows the most reprehensible things Penelope has done — deeds that include outing Marina Thompson's pregnancy and besmirching her own family's reputation in the process, calling the entire Bridgerton family's honor into question during Daphne and Simon's courtship, and manipulating Eloise into abandoning the only boy she's ever loved.

Expect to see a desperate Penelope in "Bridgerton" Season 3. She clearly intends to keep writing as Lady Whistledown, but how will she balance her work with the risk Eloise suddenly poses? There's a lot of potential in that tension, and it should be a lot of fun to watch.

Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley are fantastic as the romantic leads of "Bridgerton" Season 2, bringing endless tension and palpable chemistry to the characters of Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma. Their story is a much slower burn than the saga of Simon and Daphne in Season 1, however, and as a result, there isn't as much time spent on their early days of marriage. In fact, there's barely any time spent on it at all.

Kate and Anthony don't officially get together until the penultimate episode of "Bridgerton" Season 2, and they don't get married until the final moments of the last episode. Because the actors have such fabulous chemistry, it would be great to see them in a more playful and loving relationship after all the drama they went through. With luck, that's exactly what "Bridgerton" Season 3 will deliver.

Per Deadline, Ashley has already confirmed that she'll be back in Season 3, and that there will be a lot of new material for Kate and Anthony, which is exciting news. As entertaining as love triangles and drama can be, it's also fun in a story like "Bridgerton" to see the happily-ever-after. As the viscountess, Kate will also have a major role in the lives of the younger Bridgertons and their own inevitable romances.

Is Benedict Bridgerton bisexual? That's a question that "Bridgerton" completely ignores in Season 2, despite it being heavily hinted at in the previous season. Benedict comes off as queer coded in Season 1 and even appears to flirt with a gay man, but there are no such touches to his story in Season 2, which disappointed a lot of fans. Because queer love is less visible in the traditional romance genre, changing Benedict's sexuality (he's straight in the novels) could be a powerful move on Netflix's part, and there are lots of viewers who are clamoring for that kind of representation. But will the streaming giant have enough courage to follow through? That remains to be seen.

Luke Thompson is witty and charming in the role of Benedict, and the actor has said that he's open to exploring the character's sexuality in different ways. "People get very excited and they want everything to be explored in the first few seasons and every corner of sexuality, gender," he told Entertainment Weekly. "There's lots of space for him to explore all sorts of things." With all eight Bridgerton siblings bound for love if the series runs that long, it seems reasonable that at least one of those stories would diverge from the straight standard accepted by society at the time. Yes, it would be a substantial departure from Quinn's books, but given how much "Bridgerton" has already changed, it's far from impossible.

Will Mondrich (Martins Imhangbe) exists in a pretty unique space in the world of "Bridgerton." He's a gentleman, and he's privy to certain elements of high society, but he doesn't hold any of the generational prestige or riches of the ton's elite. Will is first introduced as a professional boxer and an old friend of Simon Basset, and his Season 1 story ends with him throwing a fight so he can provide for his family. In Season 2, he owns and operates a gentlemen's club, which becomes quite reputable by the end of the final episode.

Because Will can effectively move between social classes, and because he now owns an establishment that's frequented by a wide range of people, he could be at the center of some really fun plotlines in "Bridgerton" Season 3 and beyond. Could Will become an ally to Lady Whistledown? A close confidant of Colin Bridgerton? A liaison between Eloise and Theo? All these and more are easily conceivable within the framework constructed in Season 2. In a show like "Bridgerton," it helps to have characters and locations where plotlines can converge, and there's a lot of potential for Will and his club to serve that role.

Though she isn't one of the protagonists of the show, Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) is perhaps the most important figure in all of "Bridgerton." Her power and influence are the cause of many of the series' most dramatic storylines and biggest twists, and her larger-than-life persona makes every scene she graces fun to watch. Through the first two seasons of "Bridgerton," there have also been glimpses of the tragic love story between Queen Charlotte and King George III. What was once clearly a beautiful romance fell victim to the impacts of disease and age, as the king is shown to suffer from a form of dementia and possibly several other serious medical conditions (the real King George III suffered a similar fate).

The softer, more vulnerable side of the queen that comes out during her encounters with her husband is something we would love to see more of. That's probably part of why Netflix has ordered a "Bridgerton" prequel series centered on Charlotte's early life. With that spinoff on the horizon, it would make a lot of sense for "Bridgerton" Season 3 to dive deeper into the history of the king and queen's relationship in preparation. Charlotte has clearly taken a shine to Miss Edwina Sharma, who's left single at the end of Season 2. Perhaps a budding friendship between the two women could be used to reveal new sides of the queen and some details of her backstory.

In its first two seasons, "Bridgerton" has focused on the five oldest Bridgerton siblings: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, and Eloise. They've already had a lot of time dedicated to their values, desires, and personal lives. With so many characters coming in and out of the story, it can be hard to remember that there are still three other young Bridgertons who've barely been developed at all: Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth.

Because the three youngest siblings have all been kids in the first two seasons, it makes sense that we haven't seen much of them. Gregory has a nice seesaw with his big brother Anthony in Season 2 where they reminisce about their late father, but other than that, the youngest mostly serve as comic relief and set dressing. In Season 3, that could start to change.

If Francesca, Gregory, and Hyacinth are each going to star in their own seasons one day, they need to start being developed more fully, and Season 3 is a perfect time to start. Gregory and Hyacinth in particular seem to be very close, and their relationship could be an interesting component of each of their eventual love stories. Francesca is the Bridgerton who's been least explored, which means that she has the potential to be basically whoever the series wants her to be. In short, there's a lot of narrative potential wrapped up in the younger Bridgertons, and it's time the show starts using it.

Because Regé-Jean Page opted not to return for "Bridgerton" Season 2, the narrative opportunities afforded to Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) were somewhat limited. She visits with her family, both in London and at their estate in the country, and we get to see her being a doting mother to a very cute baby. However, there are no flashes back to the Basset family estate and no glimpses of Daphne's new life as the Duchess of Hastings.

That's not inherently a bad thing. Daphne and Simon's romance was pretty thoroughly explored during Season 1, so it might have been entirely unnecessary to dwell on their relationship in Season 2 had Page chosen to reprise his role. Even without him, though, it would be nice to see a little more growth for Daphne as she embraces her responsibilities as a duchess.

Maybe Daphne hosts some extravagant event that brings her family and the other main characters together for shenanigans. Maybe she uses her significant influence to help one of her brothers get out of a bind. Or maybe she uses her powers as a duchess to help Eloise continue her explorations of life beyond the ton's rigid rules. There are plenty of ways to explain away Simon's absence from these kinds of plotlines, and it would be nice to see Daphne fully embracing her station for good in Season 3.

Lady Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) is the stalwart matriarch of the Bridgerton family, a deeply loved and well-respected woman still faintly haunted by the tragic death of her husband. Violet certainly makes some mistakes as a mother, but she always tries to do what she thinks is best for her children, and she delivers some fantastic monologues along the way. Because she largely serves as a supporting character in her children's stories, however, Lady Bridgerton never really gets to have her own moments in the spotlight. In "Bridgerton" Season 3, that should change.

Gemmell is a gifted performer with bags of experience, and it would be fun to see her take Violet on a proper adventure. Maybe she has a brief tryst with an older widower, causing her to struggle with her sense of loyalty to her late husband. Maybe she and Lady Danbury get stranded in the country somewhere and have to survive in the wilderness. It doesn't matter so much what the actual plotline is, as long as it gives Lady Bridgerton something to be other than a concerned mother.

Miss Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) definitely gets the short end of the stick in "Bridgerton" Season 2. After genuinely falling for Anthony, she gets betrayed by both him and her sister on her wedding day when she witnesses the romantic tension between them. Though she eventually comes to forgive them both and even celebrates their happiness, Edwina never really gets a chance to grow beyond her courtship with the viscount. She has a great speech about how she'll only pursue the things she truly wants going forward, and Queen Charlotte implies that she wants to set her up with a prince, but none of that comes to pass in Season 2.

Chandran is captivating in the role of Edwina, and she deserves more time to explore the character in Season 3. Obviously, the main romance of each season will always center on one of the titular siblings, but that doesn't mean there won't be room for Edwina to find love, too. It would be interesting to see how her relationship with her sister continues to grow and how her dynamic with Anthony changes after he becomes her brother-in-law. If anything, Edwina proves in Season 2 that she is worthy of love and has a lot to offer, so it's only right that she eventually finds happiness.

The most complicated and controversial part of "Bridgerton" is the alternate history aspect. Season 1 establishes that slavery and other forms of racial oppression are indeed part of the timeline, but, in this world, things changed when people of all races were granted lordships and land by the Crown. In theory, this new world would still carry the scars of racism and colonialism, but "Bridgerton" rarely deals with those issues, a decision that has been the cause of much debate.

Some argue that "Bridgerton" is right to embrace the fantasy of a utopia where racism doesn't exist rather than making its characters of color suffer the trauma of the real world. Others say that it's irresponsible for the show to feature so many elements of real history without acknowledging that racism was rife during the Regency era. The problem is that "Bridgerton" attempts to skirt the line between these two approaches and ultimately fails at both as a result.

"Bridgerton" has never been clear about what its history actually is. How much is taken directly from England's real past, and how much is fabricated? How long ago was racism commonplace in the world of the show, and how did it vanish so completely? Addressing such serious and triggering topics in an otherwise light and fanciful show is undeniably a challenge, but "Bridgerton" isn't doing itself any favors by continuing to ignore the issue.

We meet dozens of characters during the first two seasons of "Bridgerton," but none are more instantly memorable than Lady Danbury, played to perfection by Adjoa Andoh. Whether it's a powerful monologue about the meaning of love or a sneaky matchmaking maneuver, Lady Danbury's scenes never fail to entertain. The character's signature top hat and cane are already iconic, and the show just wouldn't be the same without her.

With all that in mind, "Bridgerton" should provide more information on Lady Danbury's backstory in Season 3. Some tales from her history with Lady Bridgerton, Queen Charlotte, or even her own romantic past would be a lot of fun, and they could easily be woven into the narrative of future seasons. Like Lady Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury will appear in a younger form in the upcoming "Bridgerton" prequel series, played by Arsema Thomas. That makes Season 3 the perfect time to set up some threads for the spinoff to pick up on later. Lady Danbury is a true highlight of the "Bridgerton" franchise, and more from her can only be a good thing in the long run.