We hope you kept your your allergy meds close at hand, because Polin season is starting back up again. Bridgerton Season 3 has returned. Or, at least, the first four minutes of the Part 2 premiere have arrived early, like a particularly dependable carriage.
As the footage above reveals, the clock is ticking for Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) at the beginning of Bridgerton Season 3, Episode 5. “There’s so much still to come,” Coughlan tells Tudum.
At the start of the video, we see Penelope writing her latest missive as scandal sheet author Lady Whistledown. While she moves her feather quill across the page, the scene dissolves into a flashback, which reveals exactly what happened following the Part 1 finale. After a particularly thrilling carriage ride through Mayfair, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) has asked Penelope to marry him. You’ll have to watch the video to see the full scope of emotions that flash on Penelope’s face as she realizes her greatest romantic fantasy — getting engaged to Colin — is coming to fruition in a most unexpected fashion. Just minutes earlier, she didn’t even believe he’d want to be anything more than friends.
“She really cannot fathom [his feelings for her]. It actually doesn't compute to her what he's saying at all,” Coughlan says, “She’s just like, ‘This can't be happening. This isn’t real.’ ”
And yet, within seconds of the Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2 premiere, Penelope and Colin are walking into the family drawing room to announce their impending wedding. Bridgerton matriarch Violet (Ruth Gemmell) — along with Francesca (Florence Hunt) and Hyacinth (Hannah Dodd) — are elated. Penelope’s former best friend Eloise (Claudia Jessie) is less enthused. As Eloise reminds her ex-BFF, she knows all about Penelope’s Lady Whistledown alter ego — and isn’t thrilled about concealing it from Colin for much longer.
However, showrunner Jess Brownell promises that despite the “built-in” conflict of the Whistledown secret, Penelope and Colin will get their long-deserved honeymoon period. In Part 2, “We were able to put Penelope and Colin into a love bubble,” Brownell teases. “It adds to the feeling of coziness and intimacy this season.”
Still, Penelope can’t hide her authentic self forever. Especially, as Eloise points out in the clip, not from someone as present and attentive as Colin. “He’s [inevitably] going to find out she's Whistledown,” Brownell says.
After all, as Newton says, a friends-to-lovers arc like Penelope and Colin’s is defined by honesty. “There’s no pretense,” he tells Tudum. “They can’t pretend to be anyone else in front of each other because they've known each other for so long.” At his very core, Colin knows his future bride. “That’s actually something that’s really special that I think will resonate with people when they watch the season,” Newton says.
So how will the truth come out — and how will Colin react? And, what scandals and romantic surprises will the rest of the Bridgerton family find themselves in this social season? You’ll have to tune into Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2 when it debuts on June 13 to find out.
