Penelope Featherington’s (Nicola Coughlan) desperate plea for comfort in Bridgerton Season 3, Episode 2 “How Bright the Moon” leaves fans divided.

(Spoilers!)

The show’s third season has sparked lively social media debates, particularly regarding a scene in episode two, “How Bright the Moon.” In this scene, Penelope Featherington, feeling desperate, lonely, and starved for intimacy, asks her longtime friend Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), with whom she is secretly in love, for a kiss due to her fear of ner being kissed and being alone forever.

The Audience’s Frustration over Penelope and the desperate plea for comfort in Bridgerton Season 3

The audience’s frustration is understandable. We see Penelope’s brilliance and the power of her alter ego, Lady Whistledown. As Lady Whistledown, Penelope shines. However, that version of Penelope currently exists only on paper. No one but Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and Madame Delacroix (Kathryn Drysdale) know her true identity. In her daily life, she is a spinster with no prospects, trapped by a family she dislikes.

A Lost Hope

Ever since Penelope overheard Colin belittle her to his friends at her Mama’s ball last season, she has lost hope for a love match. That was the man she had loved since they were children. Heartbroken and isolated, she fled to the countryside to spare Eloise further pain after writing badly about her in Whistledown and to escape her own humiliation with Colin. She’s alone and has no one. Desperate for change and freedom, Penelope sees marriage as her only escape. She knows getting a husband is the only way to escape her difficult situation. She’s being practical, she’s not opposed to finding love, but it seems like a distant dream. All her hopes of love were tied to Colin. And so she attempts to reinvent herself with a new wardrobe, hair, and makeup, hoping to attract a husband.

However, Penelope’s social awkwardness, honed from years of being a wallflower, hinders her attempts. Yes, she may be a master of words when she writes them down, but in person, she is not. The wedding market in Regency London is cutthroat. Last season, Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) came to a similar realization as she worked to find her sister Edwina (Charithra Chandran) a good match. How can we expect Penelope to do much better when, by her third season, she’s had no suitors and the marriage market proves daunting, even for someone like the Sharma sisters with their considerable charms and preparation? So it’s easy to see why Penelope has failed thus far.

A Disastrous Debut

Penelope’s reinvented debut is disastrous. Overwhelmed by awkward interactions and societal cruelty, she confronts Colin about what he said last season. After he follows her out of the ball in concern for her, expressing her pent-up hurt and frustration.

When Colin arrives to apologize for his hurtful behavior last season, Penelope finds herself emotionally and mentally drained. She can’t help but point out the stark contrast between Colin’s effortless success in the marriage mart and her own constant struggles. In the face of this vulnerability, it’s no surprise that she readily accepts both his apology and his offer to help her find a husband. After all, Penelope is utterly friendless, and Colin’s companionship and assistance seem like a lifeline. Of course, there’s also the undeniable fact that she still harbors feelings for him, a deep longing for connection that can’t be easily dismissed.

Having surrendered the dream of marrying Colin herself, she views this as her only remaining path to finding a suitable match. This unexpected development offers a glimmer of hope, making it all the more unfortunate when Penelope realizes the full weight of her recent actions. The night before, fueled by lingering anger, she used her powerful platform as Lady Whistledown to publicly question Colin’s newfound persona, casting doubt on its authenticity. This impulsive act throws another layer of complication onto their already tangled relationship.

A Chain of Regrets for Penelope in Bridgerton Season 3

Penelope impulsively used Lady Whistledown as an outlet for her emotions. This impulsiveness, however, leads to more self-sabotage, just as it did in season two. Combined with the events of the next ball, where she is found out to be using Colin’s help to find a husband, her distress only compounds. Furthermore, her torment is on full display as the members of the ton laugh and gossip about her.

The Ton’s public pronouncements of her insecurities – being a spinster and beyond help – are devastating. What’s worse, her only sense of power, Lady Whistledown, is now tainted. To protect her identity, she’s forced to write negatively about herself. Colin’s tutoring, after all, would be seen as a scandal among the Ton. And that’s precisely what Whistledown writes about. She simply repeats what everyone else is already discussing.

Feeling isolated, with her prospects seemingly ruined, and humiliated, Penelope reaches a breaking point. It’s no surprise that when Colin arrives at her home and attempts to comfort her, she asks for a kiss. At that moment, she craves any form of comfort and truly believes she will die alone. She just wants something to feel better, to escape for a second and feel something nice. And she knows Colin is a good friend, someone she can trust in this moment of utter vulnerability. And perhaps we can not fault her for that.

The highly-anticipated conclusion of Bridgerton season 3 hits Netflix on June 13th.