On Valentine's Day we got a second clip for season 3, again it was a clip of Penelope and Colin, this time from episode 1. I provided my thoughts on the first clip here.
The Scene:
We can see that this scene is at Lady Danbury's residence, and based on it being evening and the way both Colin and Penelope are dressed it is most likely at Lady Danbury's ball, as we know Lady Danbury hosts the first ball of the season, thus this is most likely in the first half of episode 1, showing us that Penelope goes through her makeover relatively early in the episode.
As I stated above, this scene is almost certainly at Lady Danbury's ball, which makes the conversation important in situating Bridgerton season 3 after Queen Charlotte in terms of 'Bridgerton Time', I explain my theory on this here. During the conversation Colin mentions that Penelope never wrote to him over the summer, as Penelope placed this is the social season following season 2, this means that for season 3 the social season has been delayed and is not taking place in spring, but most likely Autumn. The most plausible reason for the delay of the beginning of the social season is due to the death of Princess Charlotte of Wales which occurred in the beginning of Queen Charlotte.
Something I noted with this scene is that it is a confrontation scene that echoes back to season 2. The similarities are not only with it being a confrontation, but the location (of sorts) and the context. In both the season 2 initial confrontation between Kate and Anthony, and with this scene, they take place outside at Lady Danbury's ball (in season 2 it was at a conservatory, and here it is at her residence). It is also worth noting that for both of these confrontations we have the female protagonist confronting the male protagonist about something she overheard him saying, though in the case of Penelope what she overheard was from the season before. These similarities with the confrontation of Kate and Anthony in season 2 very much gives a sense of deja vu.
For me, however, the most interesting part of the scene is when Penelope tells Colin that she didn't know that he 'of all people' could be so cruel. These words convey to Colin how Penelope felt she really did not know him, despite supposedly being a friend for years, these words almost re-set their relationship to one not of friends, but of acquaintances, or even strangers. Setting this story up like this seems odd to me, mostly because it is being marketed as a friends to lovers story, but usually in those kinds of stores we usually see a couple who know each other very well, not those that have known each other for a long time but really don't feel that they know each other well at all, and this is truly a story of two people who don't really know each other at all. We have seen Penelope's epiphany and realisation that she doesn't know Colin, and later we will see Colin in the reverse position when he finds out about Lady Whistledown, something that I think this scene is foreshadowing.
The Foreshadowing
Bridgerton has built a reputation for calling back to previous words or scenes and foreshadowing. I believe that this scene is foreshadowing a major plot point between Penelope and Colin, but not only is it foreshadowing, I think it is setting up for a later call back to the words spoken by Penelope.
I believe Penelope's words to Colin "It just never occurred to me that you, of all people, could be so cruel" will come back at her when Colin discovers her secret identity. As I stated above, I believe these words are Penelope's way of letting Colin know that she did not really know him, however, we as viewers are also aware that Colin does not know Penelope either, so it would make sense that these same words would be echoed back to Penelope by Colin to demonstrate that he has come to the realisation that he did not know her either.
In her Lady Whistledown persona Penelope has been immeasurably cruel to some in society, whilst mildly cruel to others, so there is some irony in her talking to Colin about cruelty when she herself is guilty of the same. As Colin comes to the realisation that he did not know Penelope, did not know she could be so cruel, these words reflected back at her later in the season will demonstrate that he, like her, was hurt by what he sees as her cruelty - as she was by his.
