By the time we finally get to feast our eyes on the glory of the upcoming Bridgerton Season 3, it will be a little over (a disappointingly looooong) two years since we last caught up with the large and loving family and their various friends, enemies, and potential mates. With each season mainly following one couple’s love story, and Season 3 set to skip over the main couple of the actual third novel in the Bridgerton books in order (An Offer From A Gentleman) in favor of book four’s couple, Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, the action is set to be yet another steamy doozy for fans.
Seeing as how it’s been so long since we saw what last went down with dear old Pen and her good buddy Colin, however, now feels like a good time to revisit their story so far on the show (which you can rewatch with your Netflix subscription). So, let’s skip over all of Season 2’s Kanthony antics and the Duke + Daphne drama of Season 1, and get right down to the nitty gritty of the third season’s premier couple!
As you might expect, the following article contains all sorts of spoilers from the first two Bridgerton seasons.
Penelope And Colin Have Been Friends For Years
Well, this is where the action started for these two in Season 1, with Pen being the best friend of Colin’s sister, Eloise, and the Featherington wall flower being great buddies with the young Mr. Bridgerton. However, the would-be couple was about to face some major setbacks, largely because of our next point.
Poor Pen Has Been In Love With Colin For Years
And, here we have it. Another example of the age-old question of whether or not ladies and gents can really just be friends. As we’ve seen before, the answer is yes, but with a pretty big caveat, because Penelope isn’t only Colin’s friend. The young miss has been in love with that good-natured dolt for a long time when we first meet her, and he’s not noticed her much deeper affection for him at all.
This means that when the Featherington estate suddenly plays host to Pen’s fetching cousin, Marina Thompson, Colin is easily captivated by the young woman and sets about courting her in earnest, right in front of a horrified Penelope!
Colin Nearly Married Pen’s Cousin, Marina Thompson
Why, you might be asking yourself right now, was Pen so upset about Colin falling for Marina? Well, aside from the rather obvious answer of their romance removing Pen’s hoped-for partner from London society’s chessboard of l’amour, there was another wrinkle that Colin didn’t know about: Marina was already pregnant with another man’s child and using him so she wouldn’t look like a “ruined” woman.
But, again, Colin had no idea that since coming to London to properly enter society, Marina had found out she was pregnant and decided to continue on with business as usual in the hopes of finding someone to marry her and save her reputation. She wasn’t honest with him, which doubly upset Penelope, because she didn’t want to see him deceived, especially after a besotted Colin proposed to Marina, and she accepted.
As luck would have it (well…not really luck, but we’ll get to that in a minute), the ever in-the-know Lady Whistledown knew the truth and tattled on Marina in her gossip sheet, devastating the young lad, who promptly broke off their engagement.
Ending That Engagement Led Colin To Leave London For A While
Colin was mostly upset that Marina didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth, which he explained to her during their last meeting. While Marina was eventually saved with a proposal from the brother of her now-deceased lover (which she did accept), Colin was a mess of emotions.
And, much to Pen’s dismay, instead of floating right into her arms to seek counsel, he decided to leave London and travel around for several months to recover his confidence. Leaving Pen without the ability to at least see and talk with her long-standing crush. Even worse? He credited Penelope for giving him the courage to finally begin his “tour” of the continent.
Pen Is Actually Notoriously Mysterious Gossip Queen, Lady Whistledown
Remember when I noted that it wasn’t really luck that played a part in Lady Whistledown ratting out Marina in her scandal-ridden gossip rag? Well, that’s because the ever industrious Penelope made her own luck, as she has secretly been Lady Whistledown all along!
Yes, Pen is a wallflower who’s largely on the outs of the action in the Ton (romantic or otherwise), but she learned to use that to her advantage at some point. Using her somewhat invisible-to-the-Ton nature, Penelope began gathering tidbits of overheard information, and any insider knowledge she had from being a part of society herself and a good friend to the Bridgerton family to parse as many of the Ton’s secrets as she could and then print her findings to the scandalized (and rapt) masses.
This means that when Pen realized that Colin was going to marry Marina without him knowing the truth about her pregnancy, she took action and outed her cousin’s duplicity to save him. Albeit, in the most public and embarrassing way possible for both Marina and Colin.
Colin’s Sister, Eloise, Finally Knows That Penelope Is Lady Whistledown
When Colin returned from his travels, he was no wiser with regards to Pen’s true feelings about him, but as Penelope began to lose control over her secret life as Lady Whistledown, the end of Season 2 became a big turning point for her. Why? Because her bestest friend in the whole world (only true friend, actually) finally put together enough pieces to figure out that she was Lady Whistledown.
And you know what? Eloise was pissed. Not just that Pen had kept such a big secret from her, but that she’d spent so much time gossiping about/ruining the lives of others, including El and the rest of the Bridgerton clan. They had a huge argument where they both said nasty things to each other, and Eloise told Pen she never wanted to see or hear from her again. But…things got worse.
Without Realizing It, Colin Really Hurt Pen’s Feelings At The End Of Bridgerton Season 2
After her blow up with El, Penelope went running to find Colin at the party they’d all attended, and she did. Unfortunately, it was the sound of laughter that drew her to him, and she overheard him telling a group of eligible young men that he “would never dream of courting” Pen, which led to more laughter and an already despondent Pen running off with yet another reason for her tears.
Season 3 (which debuts in two parts, on May 16 and June 13, respectively) will see big changes for both Pen and Colin, as they’ll eventually find a mutual attraction that comes after these shocking events, and in the first look we got at the new episodes back in June 2023, both characters get a glow up before their new adventure kicks off. Fans have a lot of passion for Polin, so let’s hope this really is a Bridgerton season that gives us lots of the book moments we want to see, and so much more.
