Netflix has a steamy new number one TV show to stream

Netflix has a new number one TV show, but few will be surprised when they hear what it is.

Brigdgerton season 3 has arrived on Netflix, and instantly shot up the chart to become the most popular show on the streamer globally.

It’s currently the top show in 82 countries across the world, with just a few holdouts, according to Flixpatrol. Apparently Taiwan, Japan and South Korea aren’t quite as keen as the rest of the world on steamy British period dramas.

Netflix has released the first half, the first four episodes, of Bridgerton season 3 so far. It focuses on Penelope Featherington, played by Nicola Coughlan, and Colin Bridgerton, as we ask who Penelope is really going to end up with.

If you’ve already started on this one, don’t worry, “Part 2 is coming later this summer” according to Netflix, with a release date of June 13. Last year, Netflix left just a month between the first and second parts of The Witcher season 3. A month-long gap seems to be the new standard for these split-up seasons.

But has Bridgerton still got its mojo? It depends on who you ask.

Over at Rotten Tomatoes, Bridgerton season 3 has a slightly higher freshness score than the second season, with 83% to 77%. However at Metacritic, where the score is based on an average of actual review scores, we see a slight drop, from 70% for season 2 down to 69% for season 3.

Vox says Bridgerton’s third season is “its best yet,” arguing it’s all down to the show’s core friendship, not the romance stuff — which (by its estimation) was never all that great in the first place.

This is the friendship between Penelope and Eloise, played by Claudia Jessie. Perhaps this is also at the root of the excellent 88% audience score over at Rotten Tomatoes. This could absolutely change as more folks see Bridgerton season 3, though, and after Part 2 of the series arrives.

Still, if you have bought into the romances of Bridgerton since its first episodes in 2020, there’s plenty to enjoy here. The Guardian calls season three “seriously steamy" and “unbearably sexy,” saying “its honeymoon phase is far from over."

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