Fittingly on Valentine’s Day, Netflix hosted a “Bridgerton” panel, teasing the upcoming season of its romance hit by sharing footage from the latest installment and a little bit of what fans could expect.
In Season 2 of the series inspired by Julia Quinn’s Regency novels, viewers witnessed the love story of Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kathani “Kate” Sharma (Simone Ashley). They also saw a blowout fight between Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) and her best friend Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), after Eloise realized Penelope was the town gossip, Lady Whistledown. Penelope was also devastated after overhearing her crush, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) would never court her (though Season 3 focuses on their burgeoning love story).
Here’s what we know about “Bridgerton” Season 3.
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The eight-episode season will be halved into two installments. Part 1 debuts on May 16. Part 2 will be released nearly a month later on June 13.
We begin the season with Penelope seemingly over Colin. “She has, however, decided it’s time to take a husband, preferably one who will provide her with enough independence to continue her double life as Lady Whistledown, far away from her mother and sisters,” a summary provided by Netflix teases. A picture of a suitor for Penelope, Lord Debling (Sam Phillips), was shared at Wednesday’s event. “But lacking in confidence, Penelope’s attempts on the marriage mart fail spectacularly.”
Colin, back home after traveling, longs to regain his friendship with Penelope so he offers to coach her to help her find a lasting love. “But when his lessons start working a little too well, Colin must grapple with whether his feelings for Penelope are truly just friendly,” Netflix states.
Coughlan hinted at Wednesday's panel that Penelope would soon forgive Colin.
“I think it gives us a really good place to start,” said Newton. “If everything’s all good between the two, there’s less growth for the two of them…”
“And also, she had him on this pedestal,” Coughlan added. “So he had to be knocked off in order for her to see him as a human being, which he is – a lovely human being, but a human being nonetheless.”
Wednesday's attendees were treated to about a minute of Season 3 in which Colin asks Penelope why she didn't respond to any of his letters over the summer. He tells her he misses her.
"You miss me, but you would never court me, is that correct?" Penelope asks. Colin stammers and Penelope reveals she overheard his comments to his friends. He suggests they talk somewhere more private.
"Because I embarrass you," Penelope assesses. "Of course you would never court me. I am the laughingstock of the ton, even when I change my entire wardrobe."
Before walking away, Penelope gets one more jab in. "It just never occurred to me that you, of all people, could be so cruel."
Wednesday’s panel gave further glimpse into the upcoming season by revealing the episode titles:
The actors who play Lady Agatha Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) and Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) revealed that Netflix is hosting “Bridgerton”-themed nuptials.
“Lucky fans have been selected to walk down the aisle, hoorah!” Rosheuvel said, adding that more details will be announced on social media.
“As we know, planning a ball, a celebration, a fabulous, spectacular event is no small feat,” said Andoh. “So we will be sharing – we, G and Adjoa – will be sharing (with others) … our tips and our inspiration for how you make a regency spectacular and weave it into your special day’s celebrations.”
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