Despite the biggest debut weekend in the history of Bridgerton, season 3 still failed to topple season 1.

Premiered on Thursday, May 16, Bridgerton season 3 made history with its biggest debut weekend in series history. Hitting 45.1M views in its opening weekend on Netflix, the critically acclaimed drama witnessed a whopping success within less than a week.

Previously, the second season that debuted in 2022 garnered 22.7M views which now seems barely over half of Season 3’s viewership. However, despite toppling season 2 of Bridgerton in views and reviews, the latest installment failed to surpass the benchmark set by the show’s inaugural season.

Bridgerton Season 3 Made a Record-Breaking Debut

Almost set to complete a week’s run on Netflix, the latest installment of Bridgerton made waves on social media after hitting the streamer on May 16. Creating the biggest debut weekend in series history, Bridgerton S3 shattered the record of S2, as it crossed 45.1M views within four days compared to its previous season’s 22.7M views, as per Variety.

According to Netflix’s internal rankings, although Season 3 debuted with only its first four episodes, it garnered an impressive amount of views on the streaming platform. Moreover, the latest installment has received widespread critical acclaim and boasted an 85% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The latest season, led by Nicola Coughlan as Penelope Featherington and Luke Newton returning as Colin Bridgerton, is currently deemed to remain on the Netflix Top 10 for several weeks to come. It has been reported that the latter half of the season is set to premiere on July 13.

Bridgerton Season 3 Failed to Surpass Season 1 Milestone

However, while Bridgerton Season 3 marked an iconic triumph on the streaming platform, the installment unfortunately failed to surpass the benchmark set by the inaugural season. Turning into a global pop culture phenomenon, S1 broke the record of being watched by 82M households, via Deadline.

Therefore, despite Season 3’s iconic success, it still appears to trail behind the groundbreaking first season, which premiered in 2020. Further, as per Variety reports, Bridgerton S1 currently remains at No. 4 on Netflix with 113.3M views, with a longer tail than S2. The inaugural season’s still ongoing success can be attributed to its fresh take on the period drama genre, captivating audiences with the fiery romance between the fan-favorite characters.

Therefore, it seems that although the third season had a great start, it stumbled behind the season that first introduced fans to Shonda Rhimes’ juicy drama series. However, with four more episodes set to release in June, it remains to be seen if S3 can sustain the remarkable momentum it began with and surpass the benchmark set by the show’s iconic first season.