I had planned a different post for today, but decided to do one on my initial thoughts on the clip released today instead.
In a word I would describe this as underwhelming, though there were some positives from the clip along side the negatives, but I will begin with some speculation on the scene and where it fits in.
The scene
What we see is Penelope and Colin alone together in the Bridgerton House drawing room (not even a maid present), so it seems to be assumed that no-one else knows Penelope is in the house - I can't imagine Violet or Kate allowing them to remain in the drawing room alone without a chaperone. There is no context around which episode this is, but I would say it is most likely towards the end of episode 1, or in episode 2.
So, was Penelope invited over? If so, by whom? Did Colin invite her over? Did one of the ladies invite her over and she just found herself left alone in the drawing room with Colin, but then I would imagine a staff member would remain to chaperone.
Or maybe Penelope just wandered over by herself, and dropped in, as she has done previously. If so, does this mean her feud with Eloise is over? I wouldn't think so based on how Penelope (and Colin) reacted when they heard (who appears to be) Eloise outside the door.
It is conceivable that Penelope is there to visit Colin, whether invited or just turning up, and that Colin is keeping his ongoing friendship with Penelope a secret. I have seen the suggestion that their romance happens primarily alone in rooms together, and that other characters will be unaware of the developing romance, almost like a secret or forbidden romance. This will be an interesting choice by the production as it is very much the way that Kate and Anthony's romance was conducted, and it may feel all too much like re-doing season 2. We won't know for sure until the season releases in May.
The Good
The more I see of the new looks for Colin and Penelope, the more I like them, especially the colours chosen for Penelope. I will say the only thing I found disappointing about her costume in this clip is the scarf tied around her neck, it was yet another anachronistic styling choice for this season, and really took me out of the whole Regency era fantasy, as I found it too modern. It made me think of the 1950s pin up models who wore tiny shorts, shirts with a scarf around their neck, or maybe one of the Pink Ladies from Grease (Marti comes to mind from the Olivia Newton John/John Travolta film). Other than that one styling choice, in general I quite liked Penelope's look. Penelope's hair is remaining with the curls, which I do see as being an improvement on the 'Rita Hayworth' hairstyle, it does seem to suit her. I notice she has some floral inspired hair adornments, not too dissimilar to what we saw on Kate in the leaked filming pictures in 2022.
I notice on the seat behind Penelope and Colin is what looks like a green shawl, it may be part of Penelope's outfit, though the shade of green looks to clash with her dress. It could also belong to Eloise and just be left in the drawing room. We have seen an image of Eloise with a similar style shawl, a style which was favoured by Kate in season 2, and which the Bridgerton girls could have picked up for themselves.
I like Colin's darker colour palette for this season, it doesn't feel as juvenile as previous seasons colours have, and feels more aligned with the sophisticated looks of Benedict and Anthony as opposed to the childish look of Gregory.
The Bad
I felt incredibly underwhelmed with this scene, it was hard to know if they were going for serious, flirty, comedic or intense longing, but more than that I did not really see any incredibly chemistry, whether friend or lovers. Despite not having seen much chemistry with these two over the previous seasons, I wondered if that was because I really wasn't taking much notice of them as such, and thought that when they were in the spotlight I would see what others saw, but sadly I am still not seeing the chemistry between them, whatever they were trying to convey felt forced to me.
This is not to say that when the season comes out something won't be there, but for me at this point I am just feeling a big sense of disappointment as I really did want to be excited about this season, and so far very little has come out that has made me excited.
