Diksha Sundriyal
The third season of Netflix’s ‘Bridgerton’ shifts the focus on the wallflower Penelope Featherington, who has been on the sidelines for far too long now. Having given up her hopes of ending up with Colin Bridgerton, Penelope sets her sights on something easier and desires to find a suitable match that will allow her the life she wants. However, Colin’s feelings for her go through an exceptional change as he starts seeing her in a new light. A years-long friendship, from here, develops into something much more.
Speaking of friendship reminds us of the romantic monologue of Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings, in which he spoke of his wife-to-be, Daphne Bridgerton, with such fervor that Queen Charlotte was moved to grant them special license to get married as soon as possible. Their love story was the beginning of the phenomenon that ‘Bridgerton’ has turned out to be, but does that mean they will continue to be part of the story in the upcoming seasons?
Daphne and Simon Don’t Have a Part to Play in Colin and Penelope’s Story
One of the things that makes ‘Bridgerton’ great is its ability to revamp itself with every season while staying true to the core of the story. Every season focuses on a different Bridgerton sibling, and while they are all very connected with each other, there are still eight of them. This means that the ones who have had their moment in the spotlight have to move away to allow the other siblings to have their space, and this is exactly what we see with Daphne in the seasons following her love story.
When the story shifted focus towards Anthony and Kate in Season 2, Phoebe Dynevor’s Daphne made a brief appearance at the crucial moments of the story as she had a part to play in making her brother realize his true feelings for Kate. With the third season, the situation has changed, as unlike her relationship with Anthony, Daphne doesn’t have much to add to Colin’s storyline. While her presence felt pretty organic in Season 2, it would have seemed forced in Season 3, especially with the show moving in a different direction than her and Simon’s storyline.
The creators of ‘Bridgerton’ and the actors knew this well, which is why the decision was made not to bring back the Duke and Duchess for the third season. Dynevor had confirmed her absence from the third season early in 2023 when she said that she had done what she “wanted to do with that character and [Daphne] had a great arc.” She is open to returning to the series if she is asked to, but for the foreseeable future, her presence on the show seems highly unlikely.
While Daphne was in Season 2, Simon has remained with the show only in name since his appearance in the last episode of Season 1. Actor Rege-Jean Page made it clear early on that he would not be returning to the series as he had “signed up to do this one lovely story, this closed-ended storyline,” and he was in no mood to change that. His sentiments about not returning to the series were echoed by Shonda Rhimes, who called it a smart decision on his part to leave Simon’s story at a high point. While he may not be returning to the show, Page showed his solidarity with Luke Newton, the lead of the third season, and told him to go on a “big holiday before all the madness starts,” referring to the mania that often follows a new season of ‘Bridgerton,’ transforming everything for its leads.
