With new Bridgerton season 3 showrunner Jess Brownell at the helm, the first half of this new season has delivered — and then some. It has all the romance, drama, and beautiful costumes we’ve come to expect from the smash hit Netflix series. And we’ve only seen part 1! We still have more Bridgerton episodes coming in less than a month. (June 13, to be exact.)
But let’s back up and recap the incredible Bridgerton season 3, part 1, finale – it goes without saying, SPOILERS INCOMING!
“Without spoiling anything, there is obviously real depth between them [Penelope and Colin] and a real sense of care,” says Jess Brownell in our interview below of Penelope Featherington an Colin Bridgerton’s relationship. “As you can imagine, that will translate from their friendship to an intimate space. Something I’m excited about with the intimate scenes this season is that there’s a playfulness and a lot of laughter in those scenes.”
So, first, let’s recap to the beginning of the episode: Lord Debling (Sam Phillips) is technically still in the picture for Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), but by the end of the episode—titled “Old Friends”—it seems he’s on his way to becoming a distant memory. He’s the perfect suitor for Penelope, but nothing can compete with the passion she feels for Colin (Luke Newton). Of course, even as Colin witnesses Lord Debling charming Penelope, he still then goes off to have a threesome with some random women…. At least he admits his enthusiasm is elsewhere and, wow, how things will change within the course of the next 35 minutes of screen-time.
And when Lord Debling asks for permission to marry Pen, she’s still unsure. “Oh, do not tell me you are holding out for love,” her mother, Portia Featherington (Polly Walker), says (scoffs?). “This is the very reason why I discouraged you from reading. Love is make-believe. It is only in your storybooks. Do you know what is romantic? Security. Be smart, Penelope.”
Meanwhile, an angsty Colin wants to stay home for the evening… that is, until his mother shares that Lord Debling might be proposing to Penelope later that evening. When Colin thinks about Penelope and that time she took care of his hand injury, the memory is apparently enough to prompt him to get up and stop her from accepting Lord Debling’s proposal. He’s so motivated he even declines his friends’ invitation to skip the ball and go out drinking. Colin is undeterred; he’s off to find his girl.
While Lord Debling and Pen dance, she asks about his work schedule and if it will allow for their love to grow. He says he doesn’t know — but he’s glad she already has a full life. And then, you-know-who interrupts. “Colin, you are going to ruin things between me and Lord Debling,” Pen says, annoyed. “Well, perhaps that is for the best,” he counters. “Pen, you cannot marry him. You hardly know him.”