Explaining the Steamy Ending to “Bridgerton” Season Three Part One
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Warning: Major spoilers for Bridgerton season three lie ahead.
Are Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington finally ready to step out of the friend zone? Alas, the final episode of the first installment to Bridgerton season three has finally answered that question—but what comes next for the lifelong friends?
Episode four ends on one hell of a cliffhanger, and we'll unfortunately have to wait until June 13 for the remaining four episodes to drop on Netflix. Nevertheless, gentle reader, the episode also contains enough steaminess and romance for viewers to brood over in the coming month. Much of this is owed to the highly-anticipated carriage scene between Penelope and Colin, played by Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton, respectively.
By now, it's no secret that Penelope has been pining after Colin for the entirety of their friendship, which started when the two were still children. Despite this, Penelope has accepted Colin's seeming lack of romantic interest in her and is now determined to marry herself—and she even enlists Colin to teach her how to attract other suitors. Little does she know that their private flirting lessons together (and an unexpected kiss at the end of episode two) has ignited Colin's own feelings towards Penelope—just as she begins to make headway into an engagement with another man, Lord Debling (Sam Phillips).
The fourth episode finally brings the friends-to-lovers trope to a climax when Colin, at last understanding the depth of his feelings for Penelope, is determined to put a stop to Debling's anticipated proposal at the Hawkins Ball. He interrupts the couple-to-be on the dance floor, a move that prompts Debling to retract his proposal to Penelope. As a man who often travels for long periods of time, the last thing Debling wants is a wife who may be swayed to engage in an affair while he's away, he tells Penelope.
Devastated at losing her only prospect of marriage, Penelope flees the ball—but she doesn't travel long before Colin stops the carriage and joins her.
At first, Penelope is hostile, furious with Colin for ruining her chances of an engagement. But Colin proceeds forward undeterred, hurdling out a passionate confession that admits, among other swoon-inducing lines, “feelings like dreaming of you when I'm asleep, in fact preferring sleep because that is where I might find you.” When Penelope finally manages to speak, she quietly says, “Colin, we are friends.” Taking her response as a rejection, Colin begins to back step his words—before Penelope interjects, “But I'd very much like to be more than friends.” Way to torture the man, Pen!
At this, the two kiss... before detouring into some more NSFW and NSFC (not safe for carriage) activities. When the carriage finally arrives at the Bridgerton home, bringing the two back to reality, they share a deep, longing look into each other's eyes. Colin then steps out of the carriage and reaches out his hand for Penelope to join him. “Your family will see me,” Penelope replies, concern laced in her words. Colin finally says, “For God's sake, Penelope Featherington, are you going to marry me or not?”
Although Penelope doesn't answer before the screen eventually cuts to black, it's probably safe to say from the amazed look in her eyes that she says yes.
Despite the happy ending in episode four, we still have four more episodes to get through before the season's end—and a knot of other tangled complications that the couple will have to overcome before walking down the aisle. For one, there is the matter of Penelope's fractured friendship with Colin's younger sister, Eloise (Claudia Jessie). For another, there is the matter of Lady Whistledown, Penelope's secret writerly alter ego, and Colin's extreme disdain for the newsletter she produces. Time will tell how the two navigate these issues.
Of the carriage scene, Newton talked to Bazaar about wanting to show a side of “complete and utter vulnerability” from Colin for the first time. “He’s never been this honest, but also never been so passionate about anything before,” he said. “There’s so many twists and turns in those five minutes, which, as an actor, is the biggest gift. It was one of those crazy days of: I know I’m going to be doing intimacy, but this is also one of the most important scenes in the show, so I have to hit every beat. We worked with [director] Andrew [Ahn], who was so brilliant in bringing that out of us. We tried that scene in so many different ways. He would come over [to us individually] and say, ‘I want you to try it like this,’ and then the other actor would respond to that naturally. It felt almost like a theater rehearsal; it felt like we were just playing. I’m so proud of what the team has come up with as the final edit.”
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