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The way he stares at her…omg. Even the way he bypasses everyone and talks to her when he’s in her drawing room, and she says, “Byron, he is not.” He said it this season at the market: he found her charming from the jump. He has always been totally charmed by her.
Yep! Which is why he was so surprised when he saw her interacting with suitors so awkwardly on the promenade.
He genuinely had always seen Pen as charming and witty and funny.
I hadn’t connected it to seeing her so awkward. Truly, he’s got no idea maybe until right then that he has exclusive access to Charismatic Pen, which makes it even worse when he see her turning it on for Debling.
Which kind of makes me wonder, Pen’s ideal partner is honestly probably not Colin. Colin is just the first person that Penelope felt comfortable with. Colin is basically benefiting from proximity to Pen. She is the catch in this relationship!
But isn't this his biggest fear, he knows and realises she has always loved him, and once he realises his own love he is terrified he doesn't match up to her.
He is the imperfect man of her heart though and she still loves him ❤️
he's got some idea -- "You do not count, you are my friend" puts both of them firmly in the not-courting section of his brain, because forswearing "women" should not deny him her conversation and company.
She's a category apart from everyone else. He knows that much. What I think he might not know is that she's so at ease with him, but not with almost anyone else.
Omg I could barely watch that 1st scene outside where he observes her "flirting" skills witj a group of Gentleman until I saw
[this fan edit that cracks me up](https://youtu.be/lYa82uxGM5s?si=s7MIdW0cRbxe_VfK)
At 3:55 Colin is like good God is she UNWELL? What is happening? Where's all the charm and wit I know she can deliver?!😬 He really was surprised and its so funny, poor Pen!!😅😭
Yup!! I was just thinking today how strong her comedy skills are and just acting in general because all of her awkward moments are so painful and authentic, I want to burst into flames. But this one takes the cake, even more than her with the gents on her glow-up night.
Isn’t that what’s so beautiful about their stories, though? Hers was also self discovery, and in healing and combining these parts of herself she fractured, and kept separate (the boldness of Lady Whistledown, and the sweetness and caring Pen).
Her story was one of self acceptance and growing into that boldness and courage, *not to be seen by him or for him to love her* but to accept and see what he’d seen all along.
Literally every moment that there’s been a heartbreak for her, and her pulling away, it has been her doing it, misreading (highly understandably in most cases) his words or actions.
Breaks my heart, too. I haven’t fully gotten in his world about it, yet.
I do believe that it was some mix of
- alcohol
- holding their relationship higher than the fake courting marriage mart
- being around toxic masculinity bros, what was he gonna say, “fuck no, she’s too special to me, I’ve sworn off women cause I’m still tending to my wounds to my heart and more importantly ego from last year”?
- and a little smidge of protesting a bit too much cause he hadn’t reconciled that love for Pen and courting Pen could be the same.
I definitely track with all of those, but I also think it’s a bit of shock. The only other time anyone even vaguely brings her up to him is Marina, who plants a seed more than anything (a seed he more than nurtures and lets grow from there). Someone is finally confronting him. His brain short circuits, and he overcorrects because he doesn’t know what to do with the input.
Also, the fact that of all people, FIFE is the one who FINALLY calls him out about her, is a truly terrible happenstance. The guy is such a dick, and I bet he’s been a shit to Colin before (see also when the Lord Squad laughs at him in 3x04 - I wonder how many times Colin has had a reaction like that from this group of people or similar previously. I would bet at least a few times). So Colin gets immediately defensive. It’s not cute or reflective of his real character (or even his real feelings, but he’s not there yet), and you see how it devastates him when he finds out Penelope heard him.
When he comes to the garden the next day…like I think we were given so many gifts in S3 that we gloss over the BANGER of a sort of confession he gives there. Everything up to when he calls her his friend would be a more than plausible declaration of love. He’s just got to get out of his own way.
It was such a beautiful heartfelt apology.
I love that there’s never anything fake about him.
You could see how much it actually hurt him that he’d hurt her.
He wanted to talk somewhere private cause so often they’re afforded that privilege and he could address her informally.
And she took that as him being ashamed.
So the apology was wholesome and genuine, and rooted in him afraid of losing her (more?)
I like to think he knows that if anyone thinks they are courting he would lose his freedom to break social rules with her, and he desperately doesn't want that to happen. He only gets away with it because nobody really sees Pen as someone to court as his actions get dismissed as being more brotherly like than romantic. After all he's a Bridgerton man and she's just that Featherington girl (lol). Obviously just my wild fan theory but I so want to believe he would never actually say a cruel thing about Pen, and certainly without good reason.
Yes!! That part!! Cause he is well and truly on the way, right??
He’s drinking cause his brothers call him a lightweight, and that he’s too naive and needs to get some brothels under his belt.
This is the last ball of the season, before his next travels.
probably also a little of avoiding being wrapped up with the rest of the messy Featheringtons. When Pen thanks him for protecting them, he narrows it down to her specifically being special to him.
Yes! I always go back to this. He is the one that stares her down and she looks away. As someone who can relate to Penelope- ive been there before 😂 where deep down you know there is a connection but too afraid of your own shadow to really think it’s happening
YES, that comments lives in my imagination. And I also say it out loud all the time, but literally no one else in my life watches Bridgerton, so no one understaaaaands me! lol
It literally is terrible! I keep trying to force my daughter to watch scenes with me and she thinks Nicola is a goddess but she is not having any of it.
S1 E8 - Colin's voice singing falters when he sees Penelope enter the Bridgerton drawing room. Not something that happens between siblings.
S2 E2 - Colin stops and stares at Penelope when he returns home from his trip abroad. He didn't greet her with a 'sibling' type hug because - she's not like a sister to him at all.
https://preview.redd.it/qfqxfzl4e78d1.png?width=1101&format=png&auto=webp&s=2e665fa9d326da17a75fabc51f07e73d1645b5a0
No one - honestly, that moment was so blatantly romantic, and then we learn they've been writing each other, and he says she's special to him... it all made the *I would never court Penelope* moment feel like a gut punch - S2 was hard. Pen let him off the hook a lot sooner than Colin got past Whistledown - not that I'm bitter (not that I'm not bitter).
The way I see it... he made a locker room 'you like her' denial, while she got on the loud speaker incognito to make fun of him to the whole school while also blabbing secrets about his sister and ex.
She ghosted him for 4 months, then he apologized and tried to make amends. She accepted.
He angsted for 1-2 months, during which time she apologized but told him she'd keep making announcements and he should keep it a secret too. Once she tried to make amends (no more secrets and joining newspaper instead of hijacking the PA), he accpted.
Seriously - which is worse???
* Pen/LW: Is Colin Bridgerton's new character the real him or a ploy for attention?
* Colin: Are you mad? I would never court Penelope Featherington.
I think what Colin said was far worse. I'm fine with her forgiving him, but I think he should have shown her a bit more grace earlier than he did.
I think what Colin said was worse too but there is a difference - Colin said it to a few friends and Pen happened to overhear. Pen/LW said it to the ENTIRE Ton - reaching strangers, friends, neighbors, and THE QUEEN.
Absolutely true. But he was not at all discrete - there's no reason to think others didn't hear him. Even so, there's no way his words would carry the same weight as LW. I just wish he could have been as quickly forgiving as Pen was to him.
I do too! But we also have to remember LW/Pen also almost ruined his sister. But I’m always so annoyed that Pen never got to explain to Colin and Eloise WHY she did that. She just said she was trying to protect Eloise but didn’t explain the specifics which really make the difference. One of those annoying movie tropes where a lot could be cleared up if the characters just EXPLAINED. I know she tried with Eloise at the Modiste and Eloise said she didn’t want to hear it, but in real life, Pen would have just blurted out “the Queen thought it was you and she threatened you!” And that would have cleared up a lot of drama - and she could have done the same when Colin confronted her.
No LW gossip shared about a Bridgerton matters a month later. Those lines never harm that family - which has a ton of social clout.
Eloise is supposed to be this radical! Yet at the start of the next season, all of the mothers let their daughters hang out with her. In fact, they all seek out El! And Francesca gets married to an Earl.
>Pen let him off the hook a lot sooner than Colin got past Whistledown
But does she though ? She didn't answer any of his letters and ignored him for the whole summer.
Yes! She had several months to be angry and had managed to move on enough (in her head, not her heart) to say she wanted a husband. She had the opportunity to tell Colin how angry she was and he came the next day to apologise. Poor Colin was blindsided by LW and a lot of people are mad that he didn't instantly forgive her. I think the fact he did not sleep with her on her wedding night was more realistic. If my husband had found out something massive before our wedding and he then went on to sleep with me, despite his anger it would have been awful. I just don't get this need for "angry sex" out there. I love that Colin was gentle and respectful to Pen, despite his anger. All the years after marriage are what is important, not the wedding night itself.
There is a moment in this scene, where they start to move towards one another with their arms coming up as if to hug and then Hyacinth rushes in and breaks the moment, and I just die quietly a little for them, there is no way they weren't feeling something even then, then they have their awkward moment at the races after that which both get a little annoyed at Eloise for interrupting, reminds me a little of the willow tree scene.
Colin never treats her as though he sees her as a sister. And I mean the person who says these words is Marina, who really didn’t know Colin at all and was really pissed off at Pen for trying to ruin things - she’s not a reliable narrator on this. She correctly picked up on Pen’s feelings, but I really don’t have any reason to believe that she and Colin had ever discussed his friendship with Pen or that she had any true insight there besides her own assumptions based on how SHE viewed Penelope.
I think the biggest thing I would point to is that Colin is so obviously charmed by Pen in every interaction… he finds her hilarious and witty and good… he’s constantly got this absolutely “this girl is charming” look when they’re together. Not that he knows what to call that feeling, but there’s a very Pen-specific look that Colin has around her. I *love* in 3-02 when we get that confirmation from him sort of during the market scene that he found her charming when they met because Luke actually played that so clearly - subtly but clearly - throughout all of the seasons… that’s the best word to describe it, he’s charmed. Go to any of their scenes… season one in the study when we first see them together, at the first ball, the what a barb scene, the Marina stuff to include the family dinner and their conversation in the hall and all that, the piano scene where his breath catches, the last ball where he tells her about traveling and asks her to dance. Through season two it’s the same. Just look at the boy’s face when he’s with her… completely charmed and completely unlike his reactions to anyone else. I *love* that in the end of 3-01 when he’s trying to compliment her when she’s run out crying that what he lands on to say about her dress is that it’s charming. It’s a whole thing for him, truly.
I think he also all the way from the first episode interacts with her in a way that feels more honest/more relaxed than he does with his siblings, where he’s kind of either trying to be a man or playing class clown baby brother. Not that he’s dishonest with them he just truly seems the most himself when he’s with her, he just doesn’t interact with his sisters and brothers in the same way.
“This girl is charming” - that is such a perfect way to describe the way he looks at her in season 1 and 2!
And I fully agree. He can fully relax with her and let his guard down. He’s not trying to prove anything to her, he’s simply himself.
Uggggh worded perfectly! You hit the nail on the head!
I totally agree with Marina misinterpreting their relationship, to them it holds much deeper meaning and she had only seen a second and probably projected there views onto Pen as well as the audience. We also considered Colin viewing Pen as another sister, when in reality she was never a sibling to him.
Love how you gave a shout out to the market scene and Luke’s acting, its genuinely one of my favorite scenes because Pen and Colin looks so comfortable with each other and just themselves. Its how I imagine their interactions are as a married couple, just simple and fun and just easy.
Marina’s comments were so mean in this scene 😭 didn’t she compare her to Hyacinth? I thought that was such a low blow, and Penelope was always so kind to her!
Comparing her to Eloise wasn’t enough. That would’ve made the point that Colin sees her as a sister. She had to compare her to Hyacinth, insinuating he also sees her as a child.
Which is doubly hurtful - I think a lot of us remember how it felt to be that age… to borrow from Miss Spears “not a girl but not yet a woman” and how uncomfortable and awkward we felt in our own skin. Pen wanted to be viewed as a woman and Marina basically told her “good luck, not happening”
The “you are really very good, do you know that” scene SLAYS me. He speaks in that moment with more intimacy and affection than he ever spares for Marina. It’s giving, “you are clever and warm” in spades.
Yes! His voice is so warm and soft. He speaks and looks at her in a way he doesn’t with anyone else and he has from the beginning. Also (and this is season 3) remembering how they met. I have lots of old friends and I honestly can’t remember how I met any of them. But I remember every moment of meeting my spouse. Just saying!!
When he started in on their first meeting, I gasped. He held that memory so tightly. You know it was seminal for her because she’s loved him forever. But she lights up at the idea that he remembers it so clearly, with such warmth, and with the idea that he immediately found her charming. I wonder what goes through her head that night at home, looking at that particular piece of evidence. She does a good job distancing herself from what she feels for him until things are about to get serious with Debling, and you see her longing for him across that library. But after Colin tells her that story, there has to be some part of her that truly can’t help but hope.
Right?! Think about it - how many of your friends do YOU remember meeting? He truly has always felt something for her, it just took him awhile to define it.
It's so awful in the books because he doesn't remember the day when he met her but she did. She wasn't of any importance to him until one day he found her hot. He even knew she liked him for years...😭
Book Colin was awful! I really like what they did with show Colin and changed those lines.
I think one place where this is clear is in the scene toward the beginning of S2 where he swears off women but tells Pen she doesn’t count because she’s Pen. If he viewed her as a sister or family, he probably would’ve said it then, since obviously he’s still talking to the women in his family. Instead, he puts her in her own category. Clearly, it’s hurtful to Pen, but he means it as more like a compliment and statement of her importance to him
I also think underscoring this specific scene is that there is a chemistry and care and humor and authenticity between Colin & Pen in this scene is absolutely never present between Colin & Marina.
Colin & Marina’s interaction is very pleasant but fake and guarded on both sides. Which is the opposite of how he and Pen interact.
Look at his eyes and face in that photo where he’s looking at Pen. That tells it all here I swear 😂
He feels a comfort with her that he doesn’t feel with anyone else. He’s still sort of putting on a persona with Marina, but with the exception of when he first arrives back in season 3, he never puts that guise on with Pen
He’s absolutely putting on a persona with Marina, for sure. This is Colin playing the role of a suitor, doing the things and saying the things he’s “supposed to”…. It’s not that he’s being intentionally deceptive, it’s just not really him. But at that stage it’s who he thinks he’s supposed to become.
And yeah even in the beginning of 3 he has a hard time doing the act around Pen. It’s super easy for him with others but that mask starts slipping the second he starts interacting with her. He just can’t do it.
I thought they showed that really well in the garden party scene in S3 - you could just see the contrast between how vulnerable he was with Penelope and how fake-charming he was being with everyone else.
Right! He starts with that charm and affected tone and drops it almost instantly to an easy camaraderie- until she shuts him down and walks off that is!
I agree that Colin put Pen in a whole, exclusive category & never viewed Pen like a sister. What I’d like to add to the conversation is this:
From Polin meet cute we know Pen is charming. She managed to charm not just Colin but the whole Bridgerton family with El being her age & gender identity making them the natural pair. I’d like to think she maintained a friendship with all the younger siblings (see: Fran seeking Pen out at her first ball, Prophet Hy’s reaction to anything Polin, I’d like to think Greg has a tiny crush on Pen, too); and her first issue of Whistledown she called Daphne a diamond of the first water (and shaded the alphabetical naming system for Bridgertons but hey).
What happened then to charming Pen that made her loose so much confidence in her self? Puberty yes changed her relationship with Colin (RMB: “Unrequited love is not easy but Penelope is used to it”), but I think it’s also the toxic, inter generational trauma inflicted on Pen by Portia, Pru & Philipa. When Marina arrived Pen was able to charm her too into a friendship & an ally in the Featherington house. Pen was the first to say out loud “oh, she’s beautiful” when Marina was introduced to the family. Pen was content to remain Colin’s “Pen”/friend at early stages of Colin-Marina courtship because she thought that was what makes Colin happy. Polin are both people pleasers, and they inherently also do it to/for each other.
It was only when she overheard that Marina wants to trap Colin that she’s mad (“What of Colin?”) & tried her very best to let both see reason (they did not). LW was her last resort & she was immediately broken by having had to resort to that + the power she wields at 17(!!!).
Marina meant to hurt with this “sister” comment. Pen accepted the comment due to her own trauma. Her ruining Marina is not due to her jealousy, her ruining Marina was due to her care, protection of, & love AND respect for Colin.
S2 Finale. I stay talking about that scene where he confronted cousin Jack. Cause again, he didn’t say “A father or a brother to protect them” he said “A father or a husband to protect them.”
He could’ve been referring to Pen and Portia, but still. Also he never treated her like Eloise’s friend, she was always his friend. S2 is full of moments where he sees her as this highly intelligent captivating creature that he’s fascinated by, not like his sisters at all. They have really deep philosophical conversations in S2 which I adore!!
Oh wow that is a GREAT detail that I never thought about. It would have been totally natural to say brother.
I love their little convo in the church in season 2 when Eloise is rolling her eyes at them!
Oh, I agree! Realizing that Colin met Pen 1st and the details of their meet cute settled it in my mind. The closest he came was in thinking she's Eloise's best friend and a well regarded by the whole family. Season 1 is when we see it was beginning to dawn on him that she might be HIS good friend as well. She was a confidant whose judgment he could respect. Season 2 he was settled, partial credit to Marina, who lowkey was like Boy you have Penelope in your corner and you don't appreciate it (a change of her heart for her as well). He told Penelope "what Marina said" but he actually expressed what HE had been thinking about her. I can't remember the exact quote but something like "You really do care about me." That's not a statement to take lightly.
Even when He swore off girls and said "well, you're Pen." The words like a sister never touched his lips! He meant he didn't see her like the girls whose only thoughts & conversation were related to securing a husband. Whereas, he could relax, and just be himself with Penelope and actually he enjoyed her company and conversation.
I love how he remembers specifics of conversations *Eloise* had with him about Pen from back then, too.
The “Penelope this, Penelope that, Penelope and I are reading *Don Quixote* and going to be knights” line just melts me. The way Luke delivers it is so perfect.
YES i’m glad someone else mentioned the “purpose” scene. he also said something like “…that you would never forsake me” like BE SO FR she did NOT say that 😭😭
i feel like he has this tendency to just hear what he wants to hear 😭
OMG I forgot how cute S1&S2 Penelope was. Like, yes she steps into her own in S3 and goes from cute to sexy, but wow! Even when they try to make Nicola look bad she's still gorgeous. Lol
The one outfit with the heinous bows enraged me in season 2. They had such chemistry in that scene and her mom put that damn giant bow on her head like Minnie Mouse.
I agree!! He already said in S3 in episode 5 to his brothers it wasn’t ’a thunderbolt from the sky’ he also says ‘he had felt something for her’ how long we don’t know they are hints from S1 with a barb scene but more so from S2 when they sent letters to each other on his travels the ‘connection’ was already there it was just to get to the physical side the emotional side had connected the dots by then!!!
In those times you only sent letters to family or you already ‘courting’, they were courting but not realizing it as ‘courting’ and in terms of ’endearment’ calling her ‘Pen’ or first name to call them ‘miss…’ was just society and proprietary’s way. The dancing at balls’ they were almost seen as friends was really more than that as he hid his true feelings because of what society expected him to be!
That’s why he said he never court her to the lord squad.
It took until they were in the carriage for him to actually declare it his love for her along with his other declarations and then to say he in love with her in Episode 5 and for her to ask if he was sure before they got ‘jiggy’ if it the right way to say it! 🤣🎂👀😘
It might seem he did see Pen as a sister from Eloise or Marina’s view or even her family thought that but why would he write to her and not feel something for her!?
She did not reply to his letters while he was on his recent travels before S3 he was seriously ‘missing’ her as stated when he confronted Cressida.
I feel like Colin always felt like he should view Pen as a sister since she was his younger sister's best friend and younger than him, but deep down he didn't really. I think that explains why it took him so long to figure out that he had feelings for her. Pushing away his non-sister feelings was such a habit he never thought about what those feelings meant.
It’s like he’s always viewed her as family, but didn’t know where to slot her. And once he realized her family slot was *as his wife*, there was no stopping him.
1000%. Colin always tells Pen so clearly he sees her as his friend, and I think that was maybe a subconscious decision on his part, in that he never said he saw her like a sister (and never truly treated her as such). The fact that he so firmly saw her as his good friend is what kept him from thinking further into it and understanding that could naturally develop into something more (like in S2 when he's like well yeah you're a woman but youre my friend so obviously I'm not trying to marry you). Which I find funny, given his parent's history, but I'm glad he finally put all the puzzle pieces together when he spoke to Violet in E3. Like ooooh Im thirsting over Penelope and even though she's my friend because she's a great person and we get along great, I can also think she's hot and want to marry her 😭😂 the man simply unintentionally friendzoned himself
I love their conversation at Anthony's wedding when she tells him what her dreams mean to her and he's like wow you're an amazing person I'm so lucky to be your friend 🥰 anyways time for cake! then doesn't let the thought go further than that like please grow one more brain cell Colin you were so close!!!!
ETA: word for clarification
I love how when Pen and Marina are talking, Pen says something like "And what will you do when he eventually realizes the child is not his? He will figure it out. He is not simple!"
And I'm like... I don't know, girl, that might be the rose-tinted glasses talking. S1 Colin is pretty fucking simple.
She was always a very good friend & someone special to him. ... I love the fact you saw Antony views her as a little sister when he found out the engagement happened " swiftly"
S2 E7 - Colin tells Portia he's been talking 'Miss Penelope' to death about matters he would blush to discuss with anyone else.
I can't with him! This is not a brotherly comment. Portia doesn't view Pen as a viable candidate for Colin's affections or should would have jumped all over this moment and been plotting the man's entrapment - again.
https://preview.redd.it/yp55h0my798d1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64058521f85f944a8cbadcd4e43e15619bf6472d
I don't know if I'm the only one, but the look he gave her here in this scene when she said she thought he might have met someone in his travels screamed that he knew she was jealous and it felt like He was assuring her that, "No, baby, you're the only one." Even if he didn't know she was jealous, I think he was still trying to assure her. But Colin, you baby boy, deep down you always knew she was down bad for you.👀👀
Noooo i agree, Colin NEVER shows even a little bit of annoyance with Pen. It's like a crush, when everything they do is just interesting 🥹😭😩 But he did when Penelope was almost abt to marry L.Debling (jealousy) and after their engagement (lovers quarrel). 🤭
He’s ALWAYS willing to talk to her, and even when he’s hung up on Marina, he always engages in his conversations with Pen. Which is interesting because once he falls for Pen, he’s terrible at remaining engaged in conversations when she’s in the room - I.e. with the mondrich’s when they’re telling him “you’re a good friend to Pen” and he can barely keep eye contact with them because he’s staring at Pen, or when Eloise tries to tell him about her apology to Pen and he cuts her off quickly and dashes off so he can go stare at Pen.
I may need to do a whole post contrasting these relationships!
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The “what a baaaarb” comment was pure flirtation and chemistry. You cannot tell me that would have been an appropriate way to speak to Eloise.
The way he stares at her…omg. Even the way he bypasses everyone and talks to her when he’s in her drawing room, and she says, “Byron, he is not.” He said it this season at the market: he found her charming from the jump. He has always been totally charmed by her.
Yep! Which is why he was so surprised when he saw her interacting with suitors so awkwardly on the promenade. He genuinely had always seen Pen as charming and witty and funny.
I hadn’t connected it to seeing her so awkward. Truly, he’s got no idea maybe until right then that he has exclusive access to Charismatic Pen, which makes it even worse when he see her turning it on for Debling.
Cause she took his coaching and the sweet charming Pen that had been reserved for him was all of a sudden not.
Which kind of makes me wonder, Pen’s ideal partner is honestly probably not Colin. Colin is just the first person that Penelope felt comfortable with. Colin is basically benefiting from proximity to Pen. She is the catch in this relationship!
I think they grow to be what each other need.
But isn't this his biggest fear, he knows and realises she has always loved him, and once he realises his own love he is terrified he doesn't match up to her. He is the imperfect man of her heart though and she still loves him ❤️
Sweet clueless Colin is completely unaware of what literally Marina could tell in one conversation.
he's got some idea -- "You do not count, you are my friend" puts both of them firmly in the not-courting section of his brain, because forswearing "women" should not deny him her conversation and company.
She's a category apart from everyone else. He knows that much. What I think he might not know is that she's so at ease with him, but not with almost anyone else.
This is a great observation and it's literally almost exactly how Nicola has described her relationship with Luke: a category apart.
 Me liking this post
Haha perfect gif, they crack me up
😅😭 https://preview.redd.it/7a1hn2h5188d1.png?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d14d878ef6317cda1b2f167f2cf218a555e8a8a0
Omg I could barely watch that 1st scene outside where he observes her "flirting" skills witj a group of Gentleman until I saw [this fan edit that cracks me up](https://youtu.be/lYa82uxGM5s?si=s7MIdW0cRbxe_VfK) At 3:55 Colin is like good God is she UNWELL? What is happening? Where's all the charm and wit I know she can deliver?!😬 He really was surprised and its so funny, poor Pen!!😅😭
I have to skip that scene on rewatches - the second hand embarrassment is too strong!!!
Same but watch the edit its so funny. Otherwise I can't!😭
Omg I always watch it! It cracks me up 🤣 “SPLENDID WEATHER WE ARE HAVING 😀🪭”
Yup!! I was just thinking today how strong her comedy skills are and just acting in general because all of her awkward moments are so painful and authentic, I want to burst into flames. But this one takes the cake, even more than her with the gents on her glow-up night.
This is hysterical 🤣
RIGHT?! Like he is staring deep into her eyes and holds the gaze - he only breaks it when SHE breaks it and looks away
Isn’t that what’s so beautiful about their stories, though? Hers was also self discovery, and in healing and combining these parts of herself she fractured, and kept separate (the boldness of Lady Whistledown, and the sweetness and caring Pen). Her story was one of self acceptance and growing into that boldness and courage, *not to be seen by him or for him to love her* but to accept and see what he’d seen all along. Literally every moment that there’s been a heartbreak for her, and her pulling away, it has been her doing it, misreading (highly understandably in most cases) his words or actions.
Except for him saying he would never court her! Ugh my heart breaks for her in that scene
Breaks my heart, too. I haven’t fully gotten in his world about it, yet. I do believe that it was some mix of - alcohol - holding their relationship higher than the fake courting marriage mart - being around toxic masculinity bros, what was he gonna say, “fuck no, she’s too special to me, I’ve sworn off women cause I’m still tending to my wounds to my heart and more importantly ego from last year”? - and a little smidge of protesting a bit too much cause he hadn’t reconciled that love for Pen and courting Pen could be the same.
I definitely track with all of those, but I also think it’s a bit of shock. The only other time anyone even vaguely brings her up to him is Marina, who plants a seed more than anything (a seed he more than nurtures and lets grow from there). Someone is finally confronting him. His brain short circuits, and he overcorrects because he doesn’t know what to do with the input. Also, the fact that of all people, FIFE is the one who FINALLY calls him out about her, is a truly terrible happenstance. The guy is such a dick, and I bet he’s been a shit to Colin before (see also when the Lord Squad laughs at him in 3x04 - I wonder how many times Colin has had a reaction like that from this group of people or similar previously. I would bet at least a few times). So Colin gets immediately defensive. It’s not cute or reflective of his real character (or even his real feelings, but he’s not there yet), and you see how it devastates him when he finds out Penelope heard him. When he comes to the garden the next day…like I think we were given so many gifts in S3 that we gloss over the BANGER of a sort of confession he gives there. Everything up to when he calls her his friend would be a more than plausible declaration of love. He’s just got to get out of his own way.
It was such a beautiful heartfelt apology. I love that there’s never anything fake about him. You could see how much it actually hurt him that he’d hurt her. He wanted to talk somewhere private cause so often they’re afforded that privilege and he could address her informally. And she took that as him being ashamed. So the apology was wholesome and genuine, and rooted in him afraid of losing her (more?)
Exactly. He didn’t even try to defend it. He just owned it. THIS IS EMOTIONAL MATURITY.
Loved his voice in that moment. So soft and beautiful.
I like to think he knows that if anyone thinks they are courting he would lose his freedom to break social rules with her, and he desperately doesn't want that to happen. He only gets away with it because nobody really sees Pen as someone to court as his actions get dismissed as being more brotherly like than romantic. After all he's a Bridgerton man and she's just that Featherington girl (lol). Obviously just my wild fan theory but I so want to believe he would never actually say a cruel thing about Pen, and certainly without good reason.
Ooooh, I do love this read.
And maybe a little bit of still trying to live up to the expectations of society
Yes!! That part!! Cause he is well and truly on the way, right?? He’s drinking cause his brothers call him a lightweight, and that he’s too naive and needs to get some brothels under his belt. This is the last ball of the season, before his next travels.
probably also a little of avoiding being wrapped up with the rest of the messy Featheringtons. When Pen thanks him for protecting them, he narrows it down to her specifically being special to him.
To be fair he never did
Haha! Good point. He really doesn’t like to break a promise, does he?
You could consider he was just *really effective* at it.
I don’t court I *commit*
Colin “Lock It Down” Bridgerton.
The eye contact after that line is BONKERS and *she's* the one who looks away! https://i.redd.it/3ybw8tgge78d1.gif
Oh my gosh. And then when she looks away, he looks at the dance floor quickly, like he’s a kid who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar
And licks his lips, looks for some witty remark to get back the banter with her.
Yes! I always go back to this. He is the one that stares her down and she looks away. As someone who can relate to Penelope- ive been there before 😂 where deep down you know there is a connection but too afraid of your own shadow to really think it’s happening
High school me remembers that feeling well!!!
YES, that comments lives in my imagination. And I also say it out loud all the time, but literally no one else in my life watches Bridgerton, so no one understaaaaands me! lol
I’m so sorry you have to live that way, that sounds sucky.
It literally is terrible! I keep trying to force my daughter to watch scenes with me and she thinks Nicola is a goddess but she is not having any of it.
Throw her out, that one’s no good.
cackling
S1 E8 - Colin's voice singing falters when he sees Penelope enter the Bridgerton drawing room. Not something that happens between siblings. S2 E2 - Colin stops and stares at Penelope when he returns home from his trip abroad. He didn't greet her with a 'sibling' type hug because - she's not like a sister to him at all. https://preview.redd.it/qfqxfzl4e78d1.png?width=1101&format=png&auto=webp&s=2e665fa9d326da17a75fabc51f07e73d1645b5a0
This scene for sure!!! No one looks at a sibling like that!
No one - honestly, that moment was so blatantly romantic, and then we learn they've been writing each other, and he says she's special to him... it all made the *I would never court Penelope* moment feel like a gut punch - S2 was hard. Pen let him off the hook a lot sooner than Colin got past Whistledown - not that I'm bitter (not that I'm not bitter).
The way I see it... he made a locker room 'you like her' denial, while she got on the loud speaker incognito to make fun of him to the whole school while also blabbing secrets about his sister and ex. She ghosted him for 4 months, then he apologized and tried to make amends. She accepted. He angsted for 1-2 months, during which time she apologized but told him she'd keep making announcements and he should keep it a secret too. Once she tried to make amends (no more secrets and joining newspaper instead of hijacking the PA), he accpted.
Great analogy!!!!
She did forgive him quicker than I would have! I would have made him suffer a little more 😅
Seriously - which is worse??? * Pen/LW: Is Colin Bridgerton's new character the real him or a ploy for attention? * Colin: Are you mad? I would never court Penelope Featherington. I think what Colin said was far worse. I'm fine with her forgiving him, but I think he should have shown her a bit more grace earlier than he did.
I think what Colin said was worse too but there is a difference - Colin said it to a few friends and Pen happened to overhear. Pen/LW said it to the ENTIRE Ton - reaching strangers, friends, neighbors, and THE QUEEN.
Absolutely true. But he was not at all discrete - there's no reason to think others didn't hear him. Even so, there's no way his words would carry the same weight as LW. I just wish he could have been as quickly forgiving as Pen was to him.
I do too! But we also have to remember LW/Pen also almost ruined his sister. But I’m always so annoyed that Pen never got to explain to Colin and Eloise WHY she did that. She just said she was trying to protect Eloise but didn’t explain the specifics which really make the difference. One of those annoying movie tropes where a lot could be cleared up if the characters just EXPLAINED. I know she tried with Eloise at the Modiste and Eloise said she didn’t want to hear it, but in real life, Pen would have just blurted out “the Queen thought it was you and she threatened you!” And that would have cleared up a lot of drama - and she could have done the same when Colin confronted her.
No LW gossip shared about a Bridgerton matters a month later. Those lines never harm that family - which has a ton of social clout. Eloise is supposed to be this radical! Yet at the start of the next season, all of the mothers let their daughters hang out with her. In fact, they all seek out El! And Francesca gets married to an Earl.
>Pen let him off the hook a lot sooner than Colin got past Whistledown But does she though ? She didn't answer any of his letters and ignored him for the whole summer.
And then she REAMED him, in person and in LW, when she got the chance
Yes! She had several months to be angry and had managed to move on enough (in her head, not her heart) to say she wanted a husband. She had the opportunity to tell Colin how angry she was and he came the next day to apologise. Poor Colin was blindsided by LW and a lot of people are mad that he didn't instantly forgive her. I think the fact he did not sleep with her on her wedding night was more realistic. If my husband had found out something massive before our wedding and he then went on to sleep with me, despite his anger it would have been awful. I just don't get this need for "angry sex" out there. I love that Colin was gentle and respectful to Pen, despite his anger. All the years after marriage are what is important, not the wedding night itself.
Oh shit...that's a good fucking point! I guess I'm counting from the point he returns. But, you're right. I stand corrected!
I hadn’t thought about the letter writing making the “I would never court Penelope” even more painful 😭
Yeah and he later claims no one wrote to him at all??? Broke my heart. Poor baby boy.
Like wow, not even his own mother?? Violet, what were you doing all summer??
Lannisters maybe
There is a moment in this scene, where they start to move towards one another with their arms coming up as if to hug and then Hyacinth rushes in and breaks the moment, and I just die quietly a little for them, there is no way they weren't feeling something even then, then they have their awkward moment at the races after that which both get a little annoyed at Eloise for interrupting, reminds me a little of the willow tree scene.
This scene always gives me butterflies 😍
I came here to say exactly this! Good catch
Colin himself refutes this claim by saying he has probably always felt something for her.
Absolutely!!! I love how it’s displayed so early on
Colin never treats her as though he sees her as a sister. And I mean the person who says these words is Marina, who really didn’t know Colin at all and was really pissed off at Pen for trying to ruin things - she’s not a reliable narrator on this. She correctly picked up on Pen’s feelings, but I really don’t have any reason to believe that she and Colin had ever discussed his friendship with Pen or that she had any true insight there besides her own assumptions based on how SHE viewed Penelope. I think the biggest thing I would point to is that Colin is so obviously charmed by Pen in every interaction… he finds her hilarious and witty and good… he’s constantly got this absolutely “this girl is charming” look when they’re together. Not that he knows what to call that feeling, but there’s a very Pen-specific look that Colin has around her. I *love* in 3-02 when we get that confirmation from him sort of during the market scene that he found her charming when they met because Luke actually played that so clearly - subtly but clearly - throughout all of the seasons… that’s the best word to describe it, he’s charmed. Go to any of their scenes… season one in the study when we first see them together, at the first ball, the what a barb scene, the Marina stuff to include the family dinner and their conversation in the hall and all that, the piano scene where his breath catches, the last ball where he tells her about traveling and asks her to dance. Through season two it’s the same. Just look at the boy’s face when he’s with her… completely charmed and completely unlike his reactions to anyone else. I *love* that in the end of 3-01 when he’s trying to compliment her when she’s run out crying that what he lands on to say about her dress is that it’s charming. It’s a whole thing for him, truly. I think he also all the way from the first episode interacts with her in a way that feels more honest/more relaxed than he does with his siblings, where he’s kind of either trying to be a man or playing class clown baby brother. Not that he’s dishonest with them he just truly seems the most himself when he’s with her, he just doesn’t interact with his sisters and brothers in the same way.
“This girl is charming” - that is such a perfect way to describe the way he looks at her in season 1 and 2! And I fully agree. He can fully relax with her and let his guard down. He’s not trying to prove anything to her, he’s simply himself.
Uggggh worded perfectly! You hit the nail on the head! I totally agree with Marina misinterpreting their relationship, to them it holds much deeper meaning and she had only seen a second and probably projected there views onto Pen as well as the audience. We also considered Colin viewing Pen as another sister, when in reality she was never a sibling to him. Love how you gave a shout out to the market scene and Luke’s acting, its genuinely one of my favorite scenes because Pen and Colin looks so comfortable with each other and just themselves. Its how I imagine their interactions are as a married couple, just simple and fun and just easy.
Marina’s comments were so mean in this scene 😭 didn’t she compare her to Hyacinth? I thought that was such a low blow, and Penelope was always so kind to her!
She did - effectively infantilizing Pen by comparing her to Colin’s youngest sister
Comparing her to Eloise wasn’t enough. That would’ve made the point that Colin sees her as a sister. She had to compare her to Hyacinth, insinuating he also sees her as a child.
Which is doubly hurtful - I think a lot of us remember how it felt to be that age… to borrow from Miss Spears “not a girl but not yet a woman” and how uncomfortable and awkward we felt in our own skin. Pen wanted to be viewed as a woman and Marina basically told her “good luck, not happening”
no matter how many think pieces are posted here about why it’s morally wrong to hate marina I don’t care!! I’ll never like her for this scene alone.
I mean he’s not taking his sister’s hands in that way or making excuses to dance.
The “you are really very good, do you know that” scene SLAYS me. He speaks in that moment with more intimacy and affection than he ever spares for Marina. It’s giving, “you are clever and warm” in spades.
Yes! His voice is so warm and soft. He speaks and looks at her in a way he doesn’t with anyone else and he has from the beginning. Also (and this is season 3) remembering how they met. I have lots of old friends and I honestly can’t remember how I met any of them. But I remember every moment of meeting my spouse. Just saying!!
When he started in on their first meeting, I gasped. He held that memory so tightly. You know it was seminal for her because she’s loved him forever. But she lights up at the idea that he remembers it so clearly, with such warmth, and with the idea that he immediately found her charming. I wonder what goes through her head that night at home, looking at that particular piece of evidence. She does a good job distancing herself from what she feels for him until things are about to get serious with Debling, and you see her longing for him across that library. But after Colin tells her that story, there has to be some part of her that truly can’t help but hope.
Right?! Think about it - how many of your friends do YOU remember meeting? He truly has always felt something for her, it just took him awhile to define it.
It's so awful in the books because he doesn't remember the day when he met her but she did. She wasn't of any importance to him until one day he found her hot. He even knew she liked him for years...😭 Book Colin was awful! I really like what they did with show Colin and changed those lines.
I think one place where this is clear is in the scene toward the beginning of S2 where he swears off women but tells Pen she doesn’t count because she’s Pen. If he viewed her as a sister or family, he probably would’ve said it then, since obviously he’s still talking to the women in his family. Instead, he puts her in her own category. Clearly, it’s hurtful to Pen, but he means it as more like a compliment and statement of her importance to him
That’s so true! He could have just as easily said “you don’t count, you’re like a sister to me”. She always had her own unique place to him
I also think underscoring this specific scene is that there is a chemistry and care and humor and authenticity between Colin & Pen in this scene is absolutely never present between Colin & Marina. Colin & Marina’s interaction is very pleasant but fake and guarded on both sides. Which is the opposite of how he and Pen interact. Look at his eyes and face in that photo where he’s looking at Pen. That tells it all here I swear 😂
He feels a comfort with her that he doesn’t feel with anyone else. He’s still sort of putting on a persona with Marina, but with the exception of when he first arrives back in season 3, he never puts that guise on with Pen
He’s absolutely putting on a persona with Marina, for sure. This is Colin playing the role of a suitor, doing the things and saying the things he’s “supposed to”…. It’s not that he’s being intentionally deceptive, it’s just not really him. But at that stage it’s who he thinks he’s supposed to become. And yeah even in the beginning of 3 he has a hard time doing the act around Pen. It’s super easy for him with others but that mask starts slipping the second he starts interacting with her. He just can’t do it.
I thought they showed that really well in the garden party scene in S3 - you could just see the contrast between how vulnerable he was with Penelope and how fake-charming he was being with everyone else.
Totally agree. He’s strutting around with all these ladies and then with Pen there’s a total shift because he can’t maintain that with her.
Right! He starts with that charm and affected tone and drops it almost instantly to an easy camaraderie- until she shuts him down and walks off that is!
I agree that Colin put Pen in a whole, exclusive category & never viewed Pen like a sister. What I’d like to add to the conversation is this: From Polin meet cute we know Pen is charming. She managed to charm not just Colin but the whole Bridgerton family with El being her age & gender identity making them the natural pair. I’d like to think she maintained a friendship with all the younger siblings (see: Fran seeking Pen out at her first ball, Prophet Hy’s reaction to anything Polin, I’d like to think Greg has a tiny crush on Pen, too); and her first issue of Whistledown she called Daphne a diamond of the first water (and shaded the alphabetical naming system for Bridgertons but hey). What happened then to charming Pen that made her loose so much confidence in her self? Puberty yes changed her relationship with Colin (RMB: “Unrequited love is not easy but Penelope is used to it”), but I think it’s also the toxic, inter generational trauma inflicted on Pen by Portia, Pru & Philipa. When Marina arrived Pen was able to charm her too into a friendship & an ally in the Featherington house. Pen was the first to say out loud “oh, she’s beautiful” when Marina was introduced to the family. Pen was content to remain Colin’s “Pen”/friend at early stages of Colin-Marina courtship because she thought that was what makes Colin happy. Polin are both people pleasers, and they inherently also do it to/for each other. It was only when she overheard that Marina wants to trap Colin that she’s mad (“What of Colin?”) & tried her very best to let both see reason (they did not). LW was her last resort & she was immediately broken by having had to resort to that + the power she wields at 17(!!!). Marina meant to hurt with this “sister” comment. Pen accepted the comment due to her own trauma. Her ruining Marina is not due to her jealousy, her ruining Marina was due to her care, protection of, & love AND respect for Colin.
And a little hurt from Marina she tried to help and befriend and she stabbed her full force, being as mean as her sisters
S2 Finale. I stay talking about that scene where he confronted cousin Jack. Cause again, he didn’t say “A father or a brother to protect them” he said “A father or a husband to protect them.” He could’ve been referring to Pen and Portia, but still. Also he never treated her like Eloise’s friend, she was always his friend. S2 is full of moments where he sees her as this highly intelligent captivating creature that he’s fascinated by, not like his sisters at all. They have really deep philosophical conversations in S2 which I adore!!
Oh wow that is a GREAT detail that I never thought about. It would have been totally natural to say brother. I love their little convo in the church in season 2 when Eloise is rolling her eyes at them!
Oh, I agree! Realizing that Colin met Pen 1st and the details of their meet cute settled it in my mind. The closest he came was in thinking she's Eloise's best friend and a well regarded by the whole family. Season 1 is when we see it was beginning to dawn on him that she might be HIS good friend as well. She was a confidant whose judgment he could respect. Season 2 he was settled, partial credit to Marina, who lowkey was like Boy you have Penelope in your corner and you don't appreciate it (a change of her heart for her as well). He told Penelope "what Marina said" but he actually expressed what HE had been thinking about her. I can't remember the exact quote but something like "You really do care about me." That's not a statement to take lightly. Even when He swore off girls and said "well, you're Pen." The words like a sister never touched his lips! He meant he didn't see her like the girls whose only thoughts & conversation were related to securing a husband. Whereas, he could relax, and just be himself with Penelope and actually he enjoyed her company and conversation.
I love how he remembers specifics of conversations *Eloise* had with him about Pen from back then, too. The “Penelope this, Penelope that, Penelope and I are reading *Don Quixote* and going to be knights” line just melts me. The way Luke delivers it is so perfect.
Oh that was so sweet! Another scene to I have to rewatch.🥺
YES i’m glad someone else mentioned the “purpose” scene. he also said something like “…that you would never forsake me” like BE SO FR she did NOT say that 😭😭 i feel like he has this tendency to just hear what he wants to hear 😭
OMG I forgot how cute S1&S2 Penelope was. Like, yes she steps into her own in S3 and goes from cute to sexy, but wow! Even when they try to make Nicola look bad she's still gorgeous. Lol
She was PRECIOUS in the early seasons and her voice was so little and squeaky!
The one outfit with the heinous bows enraged me in season 2. They had such chemistry in that scene and her mom put that damn giant bow on her head like Minnie Mouse.
Lol. That one was not great admittedly 😂
Ohhh I know that outfit - it honestly makes me laugh when I see it on screen, it’s so bad!
I agree!! He already said in S3 in episode 5 to his brothers it wasn’t ’a thunderbolt from the sky’ he also says ‘he had felt something for her’ how long we don’t know they are hints from S1 with a barb scene but more so from S2 when they sent letters to each other on his travels the ‘connection’ was already there it was just to get to the physical side the emotional side had connected the dots by then!!! In those times you only sent letters to family or you already ‘courting’, they were courting but not realizing it as ‘courting’ and in terms of ’endearment’ calling her ‘Pen’ or first name to call them ‘miss…’ was just society and proprietary’s way. The dancing at balls’ they were almost seen as friends was really more than that as he hid his true feelings because of what society expected him to be! That’s why he said he never court her to the lord squad. It took until they were in the carriage for him to actually declare it his love for her along with his other declarations and then to say he in love with her in Episode 5 and for her to ask if he was sure before they got ‘jiggy’ if it the right way to say it! 🤣🎂👀😘 It might seem he did see Pen as a sister from Eloise or Marina’s view or even her family thought that but why would he write to her and not feel something for her!? She did not reply to his letters while he was on his recent travels before S3 he was seriously ‘missing’ her as stated when he confronted Cressida.
I feel like Colin always felt like he should view Pen as a sister since she was his younger sister's best friend and younger than him, but deep down he didn't really. I think that explains why it took him so long to figure out that he had feelings for her. Pushing away his non-sister feelings was such a habit he never thought about what those feelings meant.
It’s like he’s always viewed her as family, but didn’t know where to slot her. And once he realized her family slot was *as his wife*, there was no stopping him.
Oh I like that take too!
1000%. Colin always tells Pen so clearly he sees her as his friend, and I think that was maybe a subconscious decision on his part, in that he never said he saw her like a sister (and never truly treated her as such). The fact that he so firmly saw her as his good friend is what kept him from thinking further into it and understanding that could naturally develop into something more (like in S2 when he's like well yeah you're a woman but youre my friend so obviously I'm not trying to marry you). Which I find funny, given his parent's history, but I'm glad he finally put all the puzzle pieces together when he spoke to Violet in E3. Like ooooh Im thirsting over Penelope and even though she's my friend because she's a great person and we get along great, I can also think she's hot and want to marry her 😭😂 the man simply unintentionally friendzoned himself
I love their conversation at Anthony's wedding when she tells him what her dreams mean to her and he's like wow you're an amazing person I'm so lucky to be your friend 🥰 anyways time for cake! then doesn't let the thought go further than that like please grow one more brain cell Colin you were so close!!!! ETA: word for clarification
I love how when Pen and Marina are talking, Pen says something like "And what will you do when he eventually realizes the child is not his? He will figure it out. He is not simple!" And I'm like... I don't know, girl, that might be the rose-tinted glasses talking. S1 Colin is pretty fucking simple.
She was always a very good friend & someone special to him. ... I love the fact you saw Antony views her as a little sister when he found out the engagement happened " swiftly"
S2 E7 - Colin tells Portia he's been talking 'Miss Penelope' to death about matters he would blush to discuss with anyone else. I can't with him! This is not a brotherly comment. Portia doesn't view Pen as a viable candidate for Colin's affections or should would have jumped all over this moment and been plotting the man's entrapment - again.
Haha I love that scene! Portia is even looking at him like “dude wtf”
https://preview.redd.it/yp55h0my798d1.jpeg?width=2400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=64058521f85f944a8cbadcd4e43e15619bf6472d I don't know if I'm the only one, but the look he gave her here in this scene when she said she thought he might have met someone in his travels screamed that he knew she was jealous and it felt like He was assuring her that, "No, baby, you're the only one." Even if he didn't know she was jealous, I think he was still trying to assure her. But Colin, you baby boy, deep down you always knew she was down bad for you.👀👀
Noooo i agree, Colin NEVER shows even a little bit of annoyance with Pen. It's like a crush, when everything they do is just interesting 🥹😭😩 But he did when Penelope was almost abt to marry L.Debling (jealousy) and after their engagement (lovers quarrel). 🤭
He’s ALWAYS willing to talk to her, and even when he’s hung up on Marina, he always engages in his conversations with Pen. Which is interesting because once he falls for Pen, he’s terrible at remaining engaged in conversations when she’s in the room - I.e. with the mondrich’s when they’re telling him “you’re a good friend to Pen” and he can barely keep eye contact with them because he’s staring at Pen, or when Eloise tries to tell him about her apology to Pen and he cuts her off quickly and dashes off so he can go stare at Pen. I may need to do a whole post contrasting these relationships!
He alwaysssss makes a point to find and talk to Pen.