Top 10 Bridgerton Book Scenes That Should Have Been in the Show

In “Romancing Mister Bridgerton”, Colin’s first port of call when he starts deciphering his feelings for Penelope is Daphne. In the show, Colin instead talks to Anthony and Kate, and though their advice works, it’s also very vague considering he doesn’t bother telling them what’s actually wrong. But in the books, that’s not what Colin is grappling with; he’s conflicted because he thinks love should feel instantaneous, like a bolt of lightning, and that’s not how his love for Penelope has grown. Daphne is on hand to be his confidante, while in the show, Phoebe Dynevor did not return for season 3 – though, we can’t blame her.

Now, we did, of course, read some of Colin’s journals in the show – but book readers know that this whole scene is very different. Not only does he cut his hand with a letter opener rather than a shard of glass, but the content of the entry Penelope reads is actually about Europe’s picturesque beaches, not the many women Colin seduced in Paris. We also see more of his writing in the books, as he presents Pen with long passages about his travels in Scotland, which would have been great to include! And the name of his book is different, too; Colin’s first book is called “An Englishman in Italy”, while in the show, they named it “Travelling with Myself”.

Like Julia Quinn herself, we’re all for the gender-flipping of Michael to Michaela, which is sure to add more layers to the “Bridgerton” universe and make it even more meaningful to underrepresented groups. But it is a little odd that, in the only scene they’ve had together, it appeared to be Francesca who fell head over heels. Admittedly, we’re not seeing things from Michaela’s point of view, but in the books, Michael falls for Francesca as soon as he sees her – which happens to be at her wedding to John. Michaela is not in attendance at the wedding, with the gender-bend reveal coming at the very end of the finale. But it would have been nice to see Michaela’s feelings blossoming first.

Now, this isn’t a scene, but an entire character, who has never existed in the show. Readers know that there is a fourth Featherington daughter, the youngest, Felicity, and that she’s a lot more palatable than Philippa and Prudence, and more popular in the Ton than Penelope. But there’s one great Felicity scene where Colin announces to the Featherington household that he wants to marry Portia’s daughter. Despite the fact he’s just arrived at the house with Penelope, Portia assumes he means Felicity, and it takes a while for him to persuade her that he’s desperate to marry Pen, and doesn’t care about Felicity, who’s about the same age as Hyacinth.

It’s true that Polin DO have a steamy scene on a sofa in the show, but this is an amalgam of two separate sex scenes in the books. In the book version of the sofa scene, they don’t go all the way, though Colin desperately wants to and knows Penelope will let him. They stop themselves, though, and later consummate their relationship in Colin’s room – in a bed! But with many fans feeling like there weren’t enough racy scenes in season 3, we can’t see the logic in combining these two scenes into one, when surely, people would be more than happy to see both of them. But Nicola Coughlan had said there’s no truth to the rumors about there being extra, deleted Polin scenes.

While we saw a lot of Anthony’s trauma over his father’s death, and he does believe that he shouldn’t fall in love because he doesn’t want to subject anybody else to the kind of grief Violet went through, it goes even deeper in the books. In the books, Anthony is convinced that he’s the victim of some sort of curse, and that he’s not going to live beyond the age of thirty-eight – the age Edmund was when he dies. He just can’t perceive outliving his father and finds it hard to come to terms with the fact that he’s A), in love with Kate, and B), not actually destined to die in his thirties. And, indeed, he lives far beyond thirty-eight.

Queen Charlotte is not a character in the books whatsoever, and even Lady Danbury is nowhere near as essential – though, we don’t want to watch “Bridgerton” without them. Lady Danbury DOES play a vital role in book four, though, because she’s the one who puts the bounty on Lady Whistledown’s head, not the Queen, as in the show. It makes sense that the Queen would place the bounty since she’s so involved with the Whistledown mystery, but it’s a shame to see Lady Danbury side-lined in one of the few books where she’s integral to the plot. She also says she believes Penelope is Lady Whistledown much earlier, instead of saying this only after Pen has revealed herself.

Like Colin’s journals, Simon’s stutter does appear in the show as well. We see a lot of flashbacks about his childhood and how he learnt to manage his stammer, though it does re-emerge one or two times when he’s particularly stressed or upset. It’s much more present in the books, though, even into his adult life, and is one of the reasons the Duke chooses to isolate himself from society. He’s so self-conscious of his stammer that he grows extremely antisocial and enigmatic, while in the show, he’s antisocial because he’s a notorious rake with no interest in the marriage mart. It would be nice to see more of his stutter and showing it affecting him into adult life.

While we did ALMOST get to see a wedding in season 2, we still feel short-changed that we missed the Kanthony wedding. This is because in the books, Kate and Anthony are made to get married after they’re caught in a compromising position when Anthony tries to suck the venom from Kate’s bee string. We’re not too sore that THAT scene was changed, but it does mean that Anthony goes ahead with his courtship of Edwina, getting all the way to the altar until she dramatically discovers the truth. These changes ultimately served the story better, but we still wanted to see the wedding! After all, we got to see Daphne and Simon’s wedding, AND Polin’s, and those were much more fraught.

One of the most glaring omissions in “Bridgerton” is the scene where Colin and Penelope first meet. In book four, the prologue gives us a flashback of Colin falling off his horse after Penelope’s bonnet blows into his face. In the show, he merely recounts this as an anecdote at the market and at their engagement party, making fans even more annoyed that it was referenced but never shown. After all, the previous two seasons did show us flashbacks of key events – Simon’s vow to his father and Edmund Bridgerton’s death – so it’s baffling that this scene wasn’t included. It’s a slap in the face considering what little screentime Polin had together.

Let us know in the comments whether you want the Polin Cut of “Bridgerton” season 3.