An exclusive image suggests there’s hope yet for the Peneloise friendship on “Bridgerton.”
After interrogating Penelope about her betrayal, Eloise storms off, vowing not to speak to her friend again.
And Penelopeonce again picks up her quill,despite Eloise’s fury.
Nicola Coughlan and Claudia Jessie on ‘Bridgerton’.LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
This photo (pre makeover) seems to suggest that the odds are good?
LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
“I’m rooting for them,” showrunner Jess Brownell tells EW.
“Bridgertonis about love in its many forms, and that includes friendship.
The breakup between two friends can be just as earth shattering as a romantic relationship.
For Penn, it is extremely difficult.
And what of Penelope’s determination to keep her gossip column going?
“It’s probably not Eloise’s favorite thing,” adds Brownell.
What made everyonedecide to skip ahead to Polinhere?
JESS BROWNELL:Fair assumption, but we’ve spent two seasons really getting to know Penn and Colin.
We’ve been watching Penn’s crush and seeing how oblivious Colin is to it.
This really felt like the right time to lean into what’s been set up with them.
We’re going to make him work for it.
But these two have a longstanding friendship and every friendship has its hurdles.
This is a particularly awkward one, but Penn portrays herself as this meek wallflower.
But of course she has a mega powerful alter ego.
She’s got a lot of inner strength.
Can you tease Colin’s journey and what might get him to view Pen in a different light?
Colin has come into several seasons being the third son, the guy who is still finding himself.
Then you have Penn who is still in a position where she’s trying to step into her power.
That dynamic allows these two to spend more time together and start seeing each other in a new light.
That can be a problematic rom-com trope.
She might change her hair and makeup, but that does not magically fix everything.
There will still be inner work that has to happen for a change to happen.
This Whistledown secret is also a really big barrier to Colin and Penelope’s friendship and romance.
How is that going to impact them this season?
It was a helpful piece of conflict in the background to play with.
That’s all I should say.
Given that conflict, will the Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker) situation come back up?
It’s something he took with him on his travels this year.
When he returns this year, that is a chapter that’s been closed.
If you’re going to let Benedict have more fun, what might he be up to?
He bounces around a bit.
All I can really say is that we’ll see him bouncing around a bit more this season.
It’s been teased that Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate (Simone Ashley) are returning.
What can we expect from them?
With them, we’re not really interested in introducing any big new conflicts into their relationship.
Are we going to see any of that carry over into season 3?
You’ll see some further exploration of their backstory.
Eloise embarkedon her first hints of romance in season 2, which came to a rather vicious end.
This season Eloise, like Penelope, is finding herself without the friendship and outside of the friendship.
People will be surprised to see what that looks like.
I’m not ruling out love in the future, I’ll say that.
What did you want to bring to season 3 that was maybe slightly new or fresh?
For the most part, I am continuing that vision.
I do think that every season has a slightly different flavor.
Can you tease what lies ahead for the Featheringtons as a whole?
Can you tease season 3 in its entirety?
Friends to lovers is the general arc.
The first part ofBridgertonseason 3 will premiere May 16 on Netflix.
