It is a truth universally acknowledged that a season of Bridgerton must have at least a few angsty, symbolism-filled dance scenes. Bridgerton‘s “Old Friends” caps the first half of Season 3 with one of the show’s best dances. Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington have danced before — several times, in fact. But this dance is different from the rest, and it brings them both scandal and the beginnings of their HEA.
“Because He Gathered the Courage to Ask”
After half a season of Colin tutoring Penelope in the ways of husband-hunting, the perpetual wallflower finally might find her man. Lord Debling is, frankly, not a bad choice for a Regency woman. He’s handsome, kind, honest, and cares little about the ton’s opinions. Granted, he’s not seeking a love match since he’ll be away from home so much. That, itself, is a cardinal sin in a romance world — but still, there’s nothing really bad about him. On paper, he’s a great match for someone like Pen, who wants a place in society but also her privacy to continue her work as Whistledown.
By the time the ball in Bridgerton‘s “Old Friends” rolls around, Penelope has her doubts. Still, she intends to accept Debling’s proposal for the reasons already outlined. She may love Colin — she’ll always love Colin — but that’s not a possibility for her. Or so she thinks. Colin, meanwhile, has been slowly unraveling ever since their clandestine garden kiss. He almost doesn’t show up for the ball until the ever-observant Violet “mentions” that Penelope is likely to get engaged.
Then, of course, all bets are off. Colin arrives, eyes blazing, and rather rudely (and publicly) cuts into Debling and Pen’s dance. That’s when the drama really gets rolling.
“Once You Have Found Your Match, You Are Free”
In Season 3, Episode 2, “How Bright the Moon,” the newly-elevated Will Mondrich asks Benedict how to manage all of society’s rules. Benedict points out several couples who are flouting one rule or another to demonstrate his point. “All these rules are to keep the marriage mart churning. But once you have performed your function and found your match, you are free.”
It’s an intriguing perspective that, one assumes, much of the ton shares. It also casts a new light on Colin and Penelope’s interactions thus far. From day one, they’ve always been a little (or a lot) closer than society allows. They think nothing of being unchaperoned alone, talking about highly personal things, or even physically touching. There’s a casual intimacy there, and it only becomes a “problem” when the ton begins scrutinizing them more closely. Symbolically, they are already on the level of an old married couple, with the freedom and intimacy it allows.
Now, view the dance scene in Bridgerton‘s “Old Friends” through that lens. Colin has no qualms about breaking the rules of propriety. He publicly interrupts Penelope’s dance, then uses that time to have an incredibly personal conversation about why she shouldn’t marry Debling. Penelope tries to draw a line, but instead, they just engage in one more rule-breaking, casually intimate action: arguing in the middle of a dance floor.
It’s also an interesting parallel to their Season 1 storyline. Back then, Penelope resorted to desperate and public measures to stop Colin from marrying Marina under false pretenses (and to sate her own jealousy). Now, Colin is the one willing to risk scandal and potentially ruin a woman’s prospects permanently in order to stop Pen from marrying the “wrong” man (and to sate his own jealousy). This is not to draw an equivalence between the situations nor to overlook the different power dynamics. It’s simply highlighting one more commonality this scene brings up. Both Colin and Penelope will make impulsive, scandalous decisions to stop the other from marrying someone else. Why? Because buried so deep they can’t even acknowledge it, they’re already tied to each other.
Old Friends to New Lovers
As they dance, Colin and Penelope lock eyes in a way that can only be described as intimate. They’re angry, yes, but they’re also desperate. At this point, they know what each other’s lips taste like. All of that casual-rule breaking never crossed the “old friends” line, until now. Colin tries everything he can to persuade Pen that Debling is wrong for her. He even seems shocked when she reveals she knows all of it already and still plans to marry Debling.
This is a man who is realizing that playing the role of “old friend” is no longer enough. If he wants Penelope, he’s going to have to take the risk and tell her. The look on his face as she runs out seems like the moment he makes that decision: he’s going to follow his mother’s advice and let the chips fall where they may. Because if he doesn’t, he’s not going to be able to live with himself.
In Bridgerton‘s “Old Friends”, Cressida’s quip about the pair being “Eros and Psyche, battling it out” may be mean-spirited, but it’s not wrong. Colin and Penelope are far more than “old friends,” although that has always been the label used to excuse their closer-than-proper relationship. And now that they’ve moved from friends to lovers, their story is just getting started.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Netflix