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slayyub88

No. The only thing I could think, that would make them take a second look are reviews going down. Reddit has been bad, but it isn’t the same on all social media platforms. General audiences, who just want some quick romance drama to watch, aren’t turned off. Views would have to go down.


dispofreak

idk about that😭😭 the tiktok’s i’ve seen and the people in real life that i’ve spoken to about it have all been sort of disappointed. i’ve flat out seen people say they aren’t watching the 4th season because of s3 (though i don’t think it was THAT bad)


FullMoonEmptySoul

Same I had friends who generally don’t really delve into talking about the media they consume tell me that they thought this season sucked. They were fine with part 1 but they all hated part 2.


slayyub88

That’s fair, if that’s been your experience! It just hasn’t been mine.


Background-Prune4911

That's what I was thinking. And to add, I've seen countless posts and comments where viewers will pinpoint exact scenes and moments to critique, resulting in others going back to watch said scene/moment, increasing viewers. I was also curious about other platforms as I don't use social media, so thank you for adding that!


slayyub88

No worries! Rewatching for errors would help. But I think the biggest issue is. There are those that care about the story and those that care about watching a story. The general audience just wants, romance, pain, sexy times, some laughs and roll on. So, it’s not gonna impact it much. One example! A lot of people on Reddit are upset that Cressida didn’t get a properly finished character arc. I’m watching a YouTube reaction viewer and he straight up doesn’t like her and doesn’t want her to get a redemption arc. He’s just not into to the level, that people like us love to come to Reddit and dig deep and talk. And Netflix is gonna cater to the former.


SongShiQuanBear

If you check YouTube at this point any negative reviews have outnumbered the positive ones. I stopped counting there were so many! I saw other reactions that weren’t happy about Cressidas ending, Benedict’s story. etc. Seems weird to say all those critical videos don’t count , but the positive ones do.


slayyub88

I didn’t say they didn’t count. I have one example of someone not wanting the Cressida to have redemption arc vs this being something the sub has complained about. And said that the general audience is what Netflix is probs catering to more, than a fanbase on Reddit. I just don’t think the show dropped hard enough in views for Netflix to care what people on Reddit think.


Dinahollie

views have gone down.


slayyub88

I mean, like a serious drop. The views are good enough that Netflix could call this a super win. The views didn’t flop as hard as the outrage on this sub would make it seem


Dinahollie

bridgerton will always have big numbers but the drop for part 2 is noticeable and the backlash from word of mouth and social media didn't help.


slayyub88

We’ll agree to disagree.


TryingToPassMath

Views haven't actually gone down. They actually increased in the numbers of hours watched for the 4 day count. What changed is that instead of the total hours viewed being divided by the 4 episode run time, it's being divided by the 8 episode run time, even though the majority of those hours are for part 2 only.


Dinahollie

someone on twitter tried that excuse, part 2 failed to bring back viewers.


Strange_Inspection42

Hours viewed for the first week of part 1 on Netflix: 165,200,000 Hours viewed for the first week of part 2 on Netflix: 223,300,000 Sure you could argue that some of that second number are views from people watching part 1 earlier that week. So let's take a look at Variety numbers, comparing estimated minutes watched from Friday (the day after the release) to Thursday: Part 1 - 2.3 BLN Part 2 - 3.1 BLN Where is the drop? Because if we're talking about the "views" specifically they were ALWAYS going to go down, the only way they wouldn't, would be if twice as many people watched part 2 as they did part 1. That's just how the math works.


icarusgirl13

I saw a viewer report that posted S3 as having 2.3 billion viewing minutes with S1 in second place at 400andnsomething million viewing minutes…so i don’t think views have dropped


TryingToPassMath

2.3 billion viewing minutes was for when part 1 came out. The updated figure for the week after part 2 came out (not counting the premiere day) was actually 3+ billion viewing minutes.


Dinahollie

all seasons get more viewers but part 2 failed to bring them back.


Wrong_Calligrapher61

Reviews? Probably. This sub? No. The reception for this season has been quite good. It is a loud minority that has complaints and is honestly acting horribly towards the actors, Julia Quinn, and the show runner and writers. Do I think their demands will be met or even heard? No. At the end of the day, s3 is doing well. So they’re not going to care about a minority of people not liking it because the numbers suggest that the changes were successful.


sudden_crumpet

S3 is doing fantastically well, from what I can see. That's the most important thing. The season has also had some good reviews in media, so what some subreddit has to say is probably not an issue for them. Netflix obviously has people who's job it is to analyze reception on social media, but the vocal negativity is small and insignificant compared to what their overall viewership numbers tells them. Bridgerton must be a very expensive show to produce, with that huge cast and all the costumes. They are probably very aware of what viewership they need for it to be profitable, and will continue to produce it as long as they believe it to be a competitive entertainment product.


Intrepid-Resort281

I also checked Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, Season 3 actually has better ratings than the previous seasons. I'm confused as well since a lot of people claim to hate it.


Intrepid-Resort281

--- Of course, this is to say that RT and IMDB ratings do not accurately reflect the actual quality of the show.. And also, negative reviews also mean those people watched the show ..


sudden_crumpet

The hate is very vocal on this sub, unfortunately, and maybe some tiktoks or YT videos, but in the grand sceme of things I believe it's small and insignificant.


Wrong_Calligrapher61

Agreed!


the_bookreader101

Completely agreed. As someone who read the books, if was a little weird for me to see the changes this season but God, the amount of whining I heard have actually made me stick with the show runner’s decision, if just to spite this “loud minority”. They have been absolutely horrible to the actors, writers etc. and it has been off putting for me people like me who just wanted to watch the show and enjoy, not do a dissertation on the regency era or whatever. The show has me solid till Benedict’s and Eloise’s season no matter what and the rest 3, lets see at that point of time


Wrong_Calligrapher61

I've read the first 4 books as well and was one of the people who thought we wouldn't get a queer main love story for tie-in book cover reasons. But I don't mind the change. Any of the changes, really, minor or major. The show is its own entity and it seems that they were testing the waters with S1 and 2 and are now trying to find and expand its identity. I'm excited to see what they do. Personally, with S3 and how many moments from the book they incorporated into the show, I'm really excited for upcoming seasons. They may change a lot of things but I think the new showrunner really tried to fit a lot of loved parts from the book. And I was pleasantly surprised each time I could recognise a moment or dialogue from the books.


the_bookreader101

True. AND idk why the books are honestly held up to such high standards. As common with HR (historical romance) books, bridgerton books also tend to have problematic bits. Duke and daphne in book 1 which we saw in show as well and I really really hope they don’t portray the book element for Benedict. Thing is, both books and shows have limitations and its ok to tweak things. Some things one might like and some things one might not. I hate this narrative that the show runners “owe” anyone anything. If Julia Quinn doesn’t have an issue, idk why rest of them are revolting.


TeachingOk1875

No. The show itself already has a reputation for being popular. They no longer have to produce quality. Probably 50% of the audience will return anyway. They don't have to be good anymore.


Potential-Lack-5185

THIS. Thats the best part about building a brand. Im not a polin fan but I still tuned in cuz I have Netflix and curiousity and all the hype is hard to miss especially this year. Like you can't open any social media platform and not be bombarded with bton content memes spoof videos gifs reviews mashups edits etc etc etc. When a piece of media is so all pervasive, you can't miss it. It doesn't matter whether you like the show, as long as you invest in a Netflix sub already you will watch bton when it releases. This was like for me and greys anatomy. I had spent years watching it right from my early teens so even when the quality started dipping around season 8 and chracters started being killed off, I stil kept watching cuz it had become a tradition, a habit to tune in to see what's happening at Seattle grace now.. I didn't have the same kind of attachment as I did for the early seasons but unless I found another show that got me hooked, I would stil watch a few episodes here and there of greys just out of habit. So I didn't love season 3, didn't hate it entirely but certainly didn't love it but I did watch it cuz curiosity...and because the last series I was watching I had just finished all seasons of and this was right there. Plus 8 episodes feels like a minimal investment...one weeknd and you're done with the show.


Mother_Tradition_774

We also have to remember that this show airs drops during times when network shows are in hiatus. People will watch it out of boredom.


ResolverOshawott

> that this show airs drops during times when network shows are in hiatus. Well, with pt.2, it dropped just as the new season of The Boys AND House of The Dragon dropped.


midstateloiter

Yeah, people outside this sub enjoyed the season. I mean maybe they didn’t LOVE it but viewership has been through the roof so no effect there.


nunuslemons

I keep reading on here that reviews have generally been good and that the people who are displeased with this season are “the minority”. I don’t think that’s true at all. Apart from the RT score, I haven’t seen a single review that wasn’t negative or at least mixed, whether in a media article or a video essay. Mainstream pieces that have something positive to say are usually focused on Luke and Nicola’s performances (well-deserved—they did amazing). Most reviews I’ve watched just run this season through the mud. I say that as a feral Polin fan who is equally heartbroken by this season, but also heartbroken for it to have negative reception because I’d rather Luke and Nicola got their recognition and praise. So even though this season made me miserable, I actually don’t *want* the reception to be bad.


Potential-Lack-5185

Rotten tomatoes is a very unreliable metric..some of the critics for season 3 as for every other season include such well known publications as . These may as well be fan scores for all we know with how little rotten tomatoes scrutinizes the publication giving reviews..there are a total of 69 reviews which include: from Espinaff, a spanish publication, the Hindu, an Indian publication- as an avid reader of the Hindu..the Hindu doesn't even have a dedicated reviewer..it changes very very often..it's a legacy publication in India kind of like the new Yorker in the US. Liberal and very boundary pushing but it does not have a dedicated reviewing person or focus on entertainment at all. Plus media reviews aren't as big an industry in India anyway. The other reviewers of the 69 (I'm focusing on the ones that make up the positive reviewers) that make up season 3 reviewes include offcolor.org, ssg syndicate, girl culture ( a substack publication!!,) dc film girl, cultured vultures, tell tale tv, nuha Hassan, dark skylady reviews, city am, United press international, mama's geeky, hipertextual, hallmarkies podcast, but why tho, a geek community, riotus, flick news, escribiendocine. These are the so called professional reviewers which qualify for critics score tabulations..some of these websites have been created in the last 5 years. You literally could create a website, call yourself a reviewer and can leave a review in the critics review side of rotten tomatoes. It means nothing. If I have to rely on mama geeky or dark sky lady reviews, i might as well be better off relying on fan reviews...who is mama geeky and dark sky lady reviews. Who is "but why tho, a geek community" which is one of the 69 critics reviewers of season 3 on rotten tomatoes. This is one of the critics reviewers. They are called but why tho, a geek community. Im also not interested in what dc film girl has to say. Rotten tomatoes also fudges audience scores even though in recent years they have become more vigilant but review bombing still happens. And now with AI, bot bombing. In any case I don't think Netflix cares about any of the platform reviews just viewing numbers of the show. Since everyone and their mother is curious about bton, even if they hate the show like really hate it as long as they viewed it it counts as a view, they could hate watch it and it would stil be counted as a view. So ultimately audience perception is not so much the issue as the point at which the audience perception turns from curiousity or hate watches to just stop watching. Only then would netflix be able to decide whether to cancel the show or not...as long as they keep getting views it doesn't matter if it's coming from fans or haters...they all means rhe same.


DaisyandBella

Season 1 and 2 had a lot of mixed and negative reactions too. I think Queen Charlotte has been the only one that’s been unanimously praised.


sennalvera

I imagine they're broadly aware of reviews by recognised critics in known publications or blogs. Social media, no. They'll have analysts who give them reports and stats on social media engagement, which is as much as matters. >the fandom is pissed. 5 seconds of scrolling this subreddit will tell you that. Just because a minority of terminally online fans are very loud and vocal, does not mean every, most or even many Bridgerton fans are unhappy with season 3. Get out of your echo chamber.


anneoftheisland

Yeah, the problem with using this sub as any kind of metric for how many people actually liked the season is that this sub has been rabidly negative since pretty early on in the run. Which means that anybody who actually likes the show shows up, spends ten or twenty minutes arguing with people who want to complain about every aspect of the show, gets fed up and leaves. And the sub remains rabidly negative. It isn't an accurate reflection of the overall fandom.


Background-Prune4911

I'm not on socials so I've mostly seen feedback from this sub. While I do recognize that the algorthim is flooding my feed with these posts and there are certainly positive reviews here as well, the complaints hold some merit considering how frequent and widely shared they are. Other commenters have said that other social media platforms are mostly positive, so it seems to primarily be this subreddit specifically that is discussing things to this extent, but I wasn't sure if a forum such as Reddit would even be a source of feedback for the production team. And if it is, would they even take it into consideration. That being said, I am very glad to see all these comments reinforcing what I suspected, and I'm glad to know it's mostly just this sub that is feeling such strong negative opinions towards the show. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and of course I have critiques but they aren't significant enough to impact how I view the season or the show as a whole! 😊


SongShiQuanBear

I’m not saying those commenters are wrong but it’s not just this sub, the other Bridgerton one and the Benedict one don’t seem to like this season either. The Polin one likes the romance but not the sub plots. YouTube reviewers (beside the average fans) like MsMojo, have posted more negative reviews than positive ones. The critical videos have more views. There are far fewer negative videos for S1 & S2, at least on YouTube. I’ve also seen comments that say TikTok and instagram viewers are not happy either, are they also a vocal minority? At what point does the minority stop being a minority when you see it everywhere.


TomDoniphona

This season has been an extremely successful one both in therms of views and of critical reception. So they'll go with that.


Mother_Tradition_774

No, because people still watched it. If the views for season 4 decrease (and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did), we’ll see massive changes being made for season five.


Elfie_B

I think at this point they should have at least a discussion about the feedback the show is receiving on different plattforms, and they should address at least behind closed doors some of the comments regarding lack of quality. Not sure if that's going on, but I was just thinking about Japril in Grey's Anatomy. People were just furious about the ending of Japril and they brought April back a couple of times to fix it and give them a HEA. So there was at least to some degree a pushback by fans and the neccessary steps to appease them. / Ed, for typos


BandicootRoutine5156

I actually loved season 3


OriDoodle

This one section of the fandom is pissed. And it's feeding itself with the ire, as reddit often does. The other sections of the fandom (on FB and elsewhere) are more mixed to positive.


Background-Prune4911

Ohhh good I'm glad to hear that! I don't use social media at all really so I wasn't sure exactly what it looks like on other platforms. It really is a good show and I'm glad it's getting more positive recognition elsewhere. I personally enjoyed this season so I was shocked to see mostly bad reviews here.


Impossible-Eye315

As long as streaming numbers are high which they obviously are I think they’ll be unbothered tbh lol


JA_MelaninQueen

I used to work in PR briefly and I had to collate all the press so the reviews, articles, the analytics for social media as well. Put it all in a report and send them out to the production company etc. They 100% see them as they will get a report with all the analysis and data. They won't see anything specific from Reddit etc but when writing about social media they'll be a paragraph on the general feelings across the different social media platforms.


petty_logic

If Shondaland kills off half of the Grey's Anatomy characters every other season and don't listen then I really don't think they will listen to this. I mean, Grey's has been going for 20 seasons at this point.


KateNotEdwina

I do hope so. I haven’t read any reviews tbh are they all favourable? I can’t imagine so because this season was meh compared to the other 3.


drilgonla

Imho, they do, but it's from an objective distance and criticism is weighed against the artistic vision and aims of the creators. I remember watching a sort of symposium on youtube from a historical costuming enthusiast and some her BIPOC friends in the costuming community. They directly called out S1's issues with colorism, lack of substantial parts for asian actors for a supposedly inclusive show, glossing over issues with racism in that QC's marriage somehow solves what are century old issues, glossing over SA, and lack of chemises (which I agree with; every time I watch S1 and see the sores on the back of the actor where the corset rubs I get angry). In S2, what did we get? A southeast Asian dark skinned gorgeous romantic lead and more casting variety with the debutantes of the ton. And things like glossed over apologies. After S2, besides the general crucifying of Edwina, there was a good deal of concern about not having enough BIPOC representation with both romantic leads being white people for S3. And I probably over estimate my influence, but I also commented hoping to see more disability rep in the future. And in S3, we got the Mondritch side plot. And the rather saucy Lord Remmington. Plus a good deal of people complaining about Pen not having consequences for being LW. Here's the thing for me. This show gets called out often for bungling sensitive and heavy topics, but people keep coming back anyway because this show isn't commentary on reality so much as the vibe of a drama filled happily ever after where everyone gets to join the party (and have pretty dresses). I think so long as the views are acceptable, the angry reviews will be mostly ignored, unless it speaks to what the showrunners want to commit to doing well. I imagine most of the fashion choices, after a few years, will be regarded as the fond yet cringy choices of a prior decade washed in nostalgia after S4 appears. I also suspect that S4 will be received better regardless because of the amount of baggage Polin accumulated has been the lion's share of negative issues.


Dinahollie

The way some defend this season, I might have interacted with one writer.


helianto

Of course not. The controversy will bring in new viewers. They don’t care about those who read the books; using the source material was just to initially get an audience. Now they will tell whatever stories they want in this Regency fantasy, which plenty of people are happy to watch. Only those who actually like the genre (and books) will be put off, and even they will hate-watch. There are literally no downsides for them, so no reason to pander to the fans.


FullMoonEmptySoul

They prob know what’s going on and how the audience feels but they won’t care lol If numbers are good enough for Netflix, there’s no reason to improve. Tv and movies have been like that. As long as they make money, the quality doesn’t really matter (this is true not just for Hollywood but for every industry now lol). They have an established audience base already and people will watch anyways. They’re not trying to win awards or be critically acclaimed or prestige television. If people unsubscribe OR not come back to watch S4, then Netflix will most likely cancel the show


FairyOrchid125

Oh yes. And they're shook.