Season 3, Episode 3 Recap: Forces of Nature
After that kiss Colin and Penelope are moving out of the friends zone but there’s a new man on the horizon in the shape of Lord Debling...
After leaving Colin and Penelope and their very first kiss at the end of the last episode, questions abound as to how they will navigate the aftermath of this passionate moment, which was let’s face it not a brief meeting of lips but a full on kiss. From the look of the beginning of Episode 3, the kiss has had rather an effect on Colin who dreams of Penelope and wakes up looking quite confused and a little perturbed by this new view of his friend. Could Penelope be feeling the same? We shall see.
Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte and Lady Danbury are hatching a plan as to who Francesca Bridgerton should marry. Lady Danbury suggests Lord Debling, a highly eligible bachelor, however the Queen deems him a ‘bore’. As a viewer I understand that the machinations of the marriage mart is the lifeblood of Bridgerton. It’s what keeps the plot turning and essentially all of the stories revolve around the events of the Season, which exists solely for the purpose of young people finding their match. However, since watching Queen Charlotte (the Bridgerton spin off series that dealt with the Queen’s marriage to King George and also gave us a glimpse into the origin story of Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton), I am a little mystified as to why Lady Danbury and the Queen persist in their obsession with trying to fix up young debutantes like Francesca with Lords who they have no relationship with. After all, Charlotte’s marriage became a love match with the King, so she knows what it is like to fall in love, to share interests and also, ultimately to lose that love to illness. Lady Danbury’s marriage was an arrangement based on social standing and was utterly miserable. It was her husband’s death that finally freed her to become an independent woman of means. Therefore, I find it improbable that these two women should make their life’s mission every Season to trap a young woman in a potentially loveless marriage. Thoughts?
Anyway, back to the Episode…Eloise visits Penelope and tells her that she hopes that she ‘finds what she is looking for this season’. These two! There is such a longing between them for the friendship they once had and the sense of loss for them and us is palpable.
While out promenading, a favourite pastime of the era, a flustered Colin meets Penelope and she suggests they keep their distance from each other, after Lady Whistledown exposed Colin’s efforts to help her find a husband. Colin looks crestfallen and this is another moment where we see Penelope stepping into her power - first, she asked for the kiss and now she is putting distance between them - and demonstrates her increasing confidence in navigating the world of the Ton.
Later that evening, Penelope meets Lord Debling for the first time. Debling is positioned as something of a Regency environmentalist, a vegetarian who talks to birds, which it seems everyone in the Bridgerton world thinks very strange. However, he is eligible and in town to take a wife, so Cressida and Penelope attempt to catch his eye.
When the Ton descend on a summer fayre where the new invention of a hot air balloon is being exhibited, all of the main players are there. Penelope makes a fool of herself when she pretends to be as interested in the great outdoors as Debling (when in fact she much prefers the comforts of her window seat, overlooking the Bridgerton’s house, so she can keep an eye on Colin) while Cressida appears to impress Debling with her hastily acquired knowledge of his expeditions.
At the same time Penelope and Colin have a quick chat about Debling in the dessert tent. When Pen slowly licks the sugar off her fingers it is reminiscent of the Duke of Hastings licking his spoon in Season 1 and we all know how hot under the collar that got Daphne. It has the same effect on Colin.
Inexplicably, a wind now seems to whip up from nowhere and one of the guide ropes breaks away from the hot air balloon. Thankfully Colin and Benedict leap into swashbuckling action to prevent it completely flying away.
Colin’s matinee idol schtick is not lost on Penelope who is having trouble staying focused when there are Colin’s forearms to swoon over. However, the balloon is getting out of control and is looking like it is going to take Pen out but Debling saves the day blocking her body with his own.
That evening at the Innovations Ball, Colin begins to see Pen as something entirely more than a friend and asks his mother for advice about love blossoming from friendship. On the other side of the ballroom, Penelope confesses to Debling that she doesn’t share his passion for nature and instead has her own.
‘I was pretending to be someone I am not and I don’t wish to do that anymore.’
She thinks this will put Debling off but it has the opposite effect.
‘I do not wish to court someone who is exactly like myself. I want to be with someone who knows who they are and embraces their own peculiarities as I do,’ Debling says
And with that, as Colin and Cressida look on, the pair take to the dance floor. I can’t help thinking what a good pair they are. Debling meets Penelope exactly where she is at this moment in her life and is not burdened by any preconceptions from the past unlike Colin. He accepts her and doesn’t wish to change her. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Side plots:
There are a number of side plots in this episode that are bubbling along nicely:
Francesca’s husband hunt continues with Queen Charlotte introducing her to a suitor. However, at the ball she meets a gentleman who seems to understand her need for peace and they stand in silence together, which to this author seems like the most romantic thing in the world at this point.
Benedict meets Lady Tilly Arnold, a rich widow who is feisty, intelligent and confident. They dance together at the ball, which I think is meant to show they have great chemistry but comes off as being slightly comedic to me.
Lady Danbury’s brother arrives in London and makes a beeline for Violet much to the chargrin of Lady Danbury.
The new money Mondrich’s continue to attempt to assimilate into society however, Will is told that he will have to stop working at his beloved gentlemen’s club if he truly wants to be accepted by the Ton.
We are all up to date. Come back soon for a recap of Episode 4.