Warning: This article contains spoilers for Bridgerton season 3 part 2.
Dear gentle reader, Bridgerton season 3 was as dramatic as an entire London social season. With many pairings, twists, turns, revelations, and happy endings, one character had an unexpected arc that was actually very wholesome.
As Bridgerton stepped into its third season, the audience had already become accustomed to most of the characters, although the story revolved around a different couple this time — “Polin,” aka Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton. Their romance had been highly teased since season 1, when Penelope was just a new debutante on the marriage market, and was considered the least interesting of the three Featherington daughters. That proved to be extremely wrong, as she took on the quill and penned a gossip column under the name of Lady Whistledown, but her character arc wasn’t the most mind-blowing this season.
The award for the most shocking arc didn’t even go to her new husband, Colin — although he did have an interesting arc by showing his interest in writing, and his admission of envy of his brilliant protagonist wife. Instead, the most exciting and interesting character arc didn’t go to someone we thought it would, but the most compelling character of the ton: Lady Featherington.
Portia Featherington proved she’s not a villain
Every good show has a character the audience loves to hate, and, so far, it has been Portia Featherington. The matriarch of the Featherington family had been working around the clock to solve every single problem that arose in the aristocratic family. She is a very compelling character, but she is also one that the audience has learned to hate.
Portia had never paid a second thought to Penelope, and instead focused on her other two daughters, Prudence and Phillippa, believing they had higher chances to score husbands. She overlooked Penelope so many times, and often had cruel remarks about her.
As her husband had been a baron, the lowest rank in the British nobility, she had always shown a disdain for her neighbors, the Bridgertons, who ranked higher in the London high society and were often quick to snub others. However, season 3 came to change that in the best way, and her character underwent a shocking, yet wholesome change. Portia Featherington got a bigger platform this year, as she was part of the leading couple’s family, and her interactions with those around her made her not just likable, but relatable, proving she was just a product of her time.
Portia Featherington helped Penelope grow into a new woman
Penelope began writing her gossip column after realizing that even her own family often thought she was invisible sometimes. She used all the means she had to become powerful, and, part of her motivation was because of Portia Featherington’s treatment of her. However, Portia had a big say in Penelope’s character development this season, too.
Bridgerton season 3 part 2 began with Portia doing what she does best – criticizing Pen. She accused her of finding ways to entrap Colin, which led to him publicly standing up for her (and we’re still clapping for that adorable moment). Since Colin and Penelope’s public announcement, Portia completely backed down and, even more, she started cherishing Penelope – to the detriment of her other daughters. Throughout the season, Penelope started counting more and more on her mother, and she quickly blossomed into the woman she could’ve been all along.
During Portia and Penelope’s conversation about a woman’s dreams, Portia revealed that women are not allowed to dream, because they had husbands. She later revealed that she did marry to secure a position, not out of love, like Penelope, a moment of vulnerability and revelation that humanized Portia completely. Her other meaningful conversation was with Varley, where Portia proved that she had to learn to swim with the current instead of against it, and wondered what was wrong with someone trying to preserve one’s status, showing she never let herself believe there were other ways to be happy.
When she found out about Penelope being Lady Whistledown, instead of completely tuning her out, Portia was there for her. Sure, she did have the knee-jerk reaction to hush-hush everything so no one would find out, but her support through it all is what pushed Penelope to still want to write, instead of burying it because she was supposed to, and stand up for herself.
Portia Featherington has an interesting future ahead
So far, Lady Featherington had done nothing but worry about the future of the Featherington name. From season 1, she worried about money, matchmaking, having her daughters married, and pushing them to produce an heir as soon as possible. Now, at the end of season 3, all of that is solved. Penelope and Colin had a baby boy, who took the title of the new Lord Featherington, thus ending all their money problems.
On top of that, all her girls are married and happy. Although only Penelope married into a high rank, the other two daughters, Phillippa and Prudence, were clearly happy with their matches. Because of that, it will be most interesting to see what the future holds for Lady Featherington. Would she, like Viscountess Violet Bridgerton, find someone new, and get the love she deserves? Would she, finally, be allowed to have a dream of her own? With nothing to worry about, the future is incredibly bright and interesting for Portia Featherington, and season 4 will provide a nice and welcome change for her character, and we couldn’t be more intrigued.
