Dear readers, Bridgerton Season 3 is filming -- meaning that Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton's romance will soon debut on the small screen. Fans of Julia Quinn's novels will notice the season's Netflix synopsis heavily strays from the corresponding book in the Bridgerton series, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. This may be jarring but could be for the best, considering Season 2's mixed reception. Kate and Anthony's romance wasn't identical to The Viscount Who Loved Me and all of the changes sparked conversations about which creative direction was best. Bridgerton Season 3 will continue to chart its own path using established characters.
Bridgerton fans know that Season 3 will continue Penelope and Colin's personal journeys while their love story takes center stage. Their developing romantic dynamic has always been in Bridgerton's peripheral vision because the show is well aware of its source material, which confirms the pair will eventually unite. Until then, Bridgerton has thrown in heaps of drama, including Penelope overhearing Colin say he would never court her in the Season 2 finale. This dramatic scene came from the books, but what follows in the show will be much different. The "friends to lovers" trope remains intact and could come with surprising twists for the better.
According to Netflix's synopsis, after that heartbreak "Penelope is moving away from her crush on Colin and determined to find herself a husband who'll allow her the independence to continue her work as Lady Whistledown." Colin's moment of unkindness -- even out of context -- could be the inciting incident that will further encourage Penelope to forge her path in the professional sphere. This positions Penelope to navigate the 19th century's Marriage Market from a very specific perspective... not unlike Daphne and Edwina in the first two seasons. The blurb perhaps purposefully leaves out whether Penelope is looking for a "love match," because her motivations aren't driven by romantic love, but by her passion for her work as Whistledown.
Though admirable most of the time, Penelope's dedication to Whistledown justifiably creates a rift between her and her best friend Eloise Bridgerton. Hopefully Season 3 will acknowledge the women's friendship as a significant portion of the season, essentially on the same level as Penelope's romance with Colin. While the fallout of their friendship could make a romance with Eloise's older brother more awkward, their reconciliation won't only hinge on Penelope's romantic prospects. It sounds like the former best friends will have some interpersonal drama of their own when Eloise finds "an unlikely new friend in Season 3." The rumor mill will spin about that new friend's identity until Season 3 premieres.
There's also the chance that Whistledown herself will write about Eloise's new friendship like she did about Eloise and Theo in Season 2. The mere possibility of that or any other creative route for the young women adds more depth to Penelope and Eloise's friendship on screen than the books' contained narratives don't always allow. The same will be true for the season's romance while Penelope attracts suitors for a proposal to secure her independence. While she does so, Netflix says that "Colin quickly realizes that he's losing his long-time friend and wants to win her back." This decisive moment is another point at which Bridgerton strays from Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, perhaps for the better.
Colin "offers to help Penelope improve her confidence to better attract a proposal." Colin's assistance may encourage Bridgerton fans to draw parallels between Polin's arrangement and the one that Daphne and Simon found at the beginning of Season 1. Romantic tropes often overlap, but these stories are vastly different because of the characters at their core. Intent and motivation matter, and Daphne and Penelope have different perspectives on both. Not to mention that Simon Basset and Colin Bridgerton are immensely different men. There may be superficial similarities when jealousy arises between Colin and Penelope's suitors -- but make no mistake, Penelope and Colin's love story will be their own. There will also be plots that have nothing to do with them.
Colin's lessons that "start to work a little too well" don't exist in the source material. Penelope pines and falls for Colin while he gradually starts to see Penelope in a new light. Season 3's synopsis positions Colin in a new place where "he'll have to grapple with the possibility that his feelings for Penelope aren't strictly platonic" while she's actively pursuing marital options with other people. Until this point, Penelope has been head over heels for Colin while he appreciates her friendship but is blissfully unaware of her romantic feelings. Presumably, Bridgerton plans to turn those tables in Season 3 by leaning into the fact that Penelope fell first, but Colin will inevitably fall harder.
Bridgerton Seasons 1 and 2 are now available to stream on Netflix.