Jessica Madsen On Cressida’s Tragic Bridgerton S3 Arc

It has been said that Bridgerton is a show with no stakes, and up until seeing the end of Season 3, I would have agreed. For two seasons, we’ve seen Bridgerton dole out happy endings to pretty much everyone, except the two Lord Featheringtons. Even the Mondrichs, the closest thing the show had to a working-class family, has been swept up into Society, enjoying balls and funemployment. The most anybody could lose in the world of Bridgerton was their good name, and even then, the consequences remained hazy, as neither Daphne, who convinced the Duke to marry her after being caught in a compromising position by Anthony and Cressida, nor Eloise, who had the audacity to attend political rallies and express an interest in women’s rights, were ever truly “ruined” by scandal. But thanks to Cressida Cowper’s storyline in Season 3, it’s clear that the stakes for young women in the world of Bridgerton are actually very, very real. A warning to our dearest readers, what follows includes *spoilers* for Season 3 Part 2.