Bridgerton season 3 is finally here, and although we might have to slow down our binging of the period drama thanks to Netflix releasing the season in two parts, the first four episodes are now available to stream worldwide.
This season follows the budding romance between Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton as their friendship turns to romance... but of course, this is Bridgerton, so it's safe to assume it won't be all plain sailing!
The fourth episode (the final installment in season 3 part one) opens with Penelope getting a visit from Lord Debling who has called on her to deliver a plant so that she can enjoy nature from the comfort of her favorite window - this comes after she confessed to not being particularly fond of the great outdoors like he is.
While her sisters are bewildered Penelope is getting all this attention, their mother, Portia, is thrilled that one of her daughters might marry into some money at last.
Meanwhile, Violet goes to find Colin in the study and asks him why he was asking about friendship turning into love the previous day, wondering if there is something that he wants to talk to her about. Using her motherly intuition, it is clear that Violet knows something is going on between Colin and Penelope, but he pretends he was asking on his sister Francesca's behalf and refuses to open up, leaving Violet frustrated.
Across town, Benedict calls on Lady Tilley Arnold, but she soon makes it clear she doesn't wish to be called on by gentlemen and shows him what he really wants by taking him to her bedroom instead - it looks like Benedict might have met his match!
Mrs Danbury has lunch with her brother, Lord Marcus Anderson, and it is clear that there is no love lost between the pair. She asks him why he is in London again, but he avoids the question, simply claiming he is lonely in his country estate and wants to meet women in the city.
Over at the Bridgerton house, everyone is waiting for Lord Samadani to call on Francesca after the pair were introduced by the Queen. But instead of Lord Samadani walking into the Bridgerton drawing room, it is John Stirling, someone whom Francesca had briefly met at a ball the previous evening and enjoyed a moment of peace and quiet with. While Violet is baffled by his visit, Francesca seems to be very happy that he is there and the pair surprise her family by sitting together in companionable silence.
Later everyone visits a collection opening and while Penelope is thrilled by all the books in the library, she is distracted when Lord Debling arrives and they chat happily. But their closeness doesn't go unnoticed by Colin, who is jealous to see them together again, and Cressida, who is now panicking about finding a husband after Penelope stole Lord Debling's affections because her father is threatening to marry her off to one of his own, shall we say more mature, friends.
Penelope and Lord Debling talk about novels and the books that she enjoys and soon they start taking in riddles about stories with husbands who go off traveling for years while the wife stays at home. Penelope knows Lord Debling is talking about their potential future and while it's not very romantic when Lord Debling calls them a 'practical match' she is won over when he asks who the man in the book should ask for the woman's hand in marriage if she doesn't have a father figure in her life. Penelope knows, of course, that he is talking about her, and so suggests the character in the book should ask the woman's mother and that he would have to read the book to find out whether the woman would accept the proposal or not.
The next day Francesca is walking with her mother when they bump into John Stirling and she is pleased to see him, until the conversation takes an awkward turn when they disagree over some music that is being played by a nearby musician. Soon John Stirling makes a hasty exit, leaving Francesca feeling cross and embarrassed.
Colin is struggling with his feelings for Penelope and while his friends talk about all their conquests while on their travels, he retaliates by saying he is bored with life like that and is looking for something more, leaving his friends laughing at his sudden change of heart.
But while Colin pines after Penelope, her love life is looking up greatly when the following morning Lord Debling comes to the Featherington house to ask her mother for Penelope's hand in marriage. While Portia is over the moon, Penelope is pleased but it is clear that something is holding her back from complete happiness, and we know that that something is Colin.
That evening Queen Charlotte is holding another ball, but while Penelope gets ready, knowing this could be the evening Lord Debling proposes, Colin is struggling and tells his mother that he won't be coming to the ball. She knows that something is going on with him and tells him to follow his heart and that he should come to the ball to see the fruits of his labor because Penelope might be getting the proposal he has helped her secure that evening. Colin is stunned that it might happen that night and broods in the study about losing Penelope.
At the ball, Lord Debling asks Penelope to dance and they are getting on like a house on fire while John Stirling tracks down Francesca and, while she isn't that keen to see him at first, he gives her some music and she is thrilled by the gift, giving Lord Samadani the cold shoulder and asking her mother if they can return home early from the ball. But while Francesca seems happy, the Queen isn't thrilled to see her love match going cold.
While Penelope's sisters talk about how they both think they might be pregnant, Colin turns up at the ball, finally ready to declare his love. But it seems he might be too late because Lord Debling and Penelope are dancing. But while they look happy together, Penelope doesn't get the answer she is hoping for when she asks him if their potential marriage might become one filled with love and he replies that his work takes up so much of his heart that he isn't sure if there is room for much more. Hmm, romantic!
Enter Colin, who interrupts their dance asking Penelope for a talk. Cressida, of course, steps in to dance with Lord Debling, while Colin and Penelope argue about her impending proposal. While they dance Cressida tells Lord Debling in a roundabout way that Penelope has always loved Colin.
As Lord Debling tries to leave, Penelope catches up with him and he tells her that he knows she is in love with Colin and that's why she sits at her window for so many hours a day, watching his house across the road. He tells Penelope that Colin must have feelings for her, and she laughs at the idea, but he is adamant that their potential engagement is off when she struggles to deny that she would like her friendship with Colin to be more. Penelope is heartbroken when he leaves and she gets in a carriage to go home, but just at the last moment, Colin stops the carriage and gets in... hurrah!
Thankfully, nearly losing Penelope to Lord Debling has given Colin the wake-up call that he needed and he tells her how he feels, that he hasn't been able to think about anything other than their kiss for weeks and that he wants them to be more than friends - at last! When Penelope admits that she too wants to be much more than friends, they finally share a proper kiss and it doesn't take long for things to get a bit, shall we say, heated, in the back of the carriage!
The pair are so caught up in the moment that they are jolted back to reality when they arrive at the Bridgerton house. Colin asks Penelope to come in with him, but she is afraid that his family is all there and worries about what they will think... however, the moment that Bridgerton fans have all been waiting for comes when Colin reaches out for Penelope's hand and says "For god's sake, Penelope Featherington, are you going to marry me, or not?!'.
But will she say yes? And can the pair have their happy ending with Eloise and the Lady Whistledown secret hanging over them? We will have to wait for season 3 part 2 to find out!
The first four episodes of Bridgeton season 3 are available to stream worldwide on Netflix now. The second half of the season will be released on Thursday, June 13.
