#swish

This happens to me frequently, and the Bridgerton scene that popped into my head today was the brilliant ending of 3x01.

I kept hearing Colin saying "I shall see you soon," while being inundated by a flash of him holding Penelope's hand in both of his own eagerly and reverently, albeit briefly.

And the Kris Bowers's "Friend..." swells, and I'm transported back to how I felt the very first time I saw that scene.

IT'S SO GOOD. OMG, that ending setup is magnificent. It tells us all we need to know about the season and where we're headed. Colin's like, I hurt you?? Let me help you. Please let me fix it, and also will you listen as I wax poetic about how important you are to me??

And Penelope steps into the light, feeling a sense of closure. Like, well. He didn't come by to say he would totally court me, which... duh, why would he??, but maybe we were always meant to be friends. That's our story.

It reminds me of JQ's line from the book:

She had been born for this man, and she'd spent so many years trying to accept the fact that he had been born for someone else.

She's thinking, Well, cool. Why rock the boat? I'll find someone to marry and change my life and get away from my family. Colin gets everything so easily, maybe some of that charm will rub off on me.

And then the "Is that Whistledown??" startles her out of that resolve, and she's immediately repentant. And we see the Mondriches anxiously embrace a new life that foreshadows Polin's ending. We see Francesca's quiet independence forming already, and we see the Queen already antagonized by LW. Which totally catapults the Queen's earnest desire to get one up on LW and raise the stakes with a bounty.

Penelope tells her sisters plainly that Lady Whistledown is wrong about whatever she may have said about Colin. She's so annoyed with herself and her quick-trigger quill, and, as per usual, annoyed with her sisters for many a reason.

And then Eloise is reading the column and thinking, WTF, Penelope???

And we have Colin hiding the fact that he was calling on Penelope. He's still concerned about his sister and her fractured friendship. He gets her to hand over Whistledown, and Julie Andrews reads him for filth.

Obviously, that column stung his pride and ego. No matter what he says. But then he brings up LW's misdeeds in s1 with him and Marina. And then in s2 with Eloise. And he's reminding the audience, dude, LW made some bullshit calls that messed with his personal life and his family. What kind of two-faced shrew even is she???