Warning: This article contains spoilers about "Bridgerton" Season Two and beyond.
When it comes to Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) of "Bridgerton," the question isn't, "Will they or won't they." The question is: When will they?
The pair is destined to be, based on synopses from Julia Quinn's romance novels — even if, at the end of Season Two of "Bridgerton," they seem far from getting together. In a devastating moment in the finale, Penelope overhears Colin telling his friends that he would never marry her. With that, Penelope believes her love for Colin is fated to stay in crush mode, forever.
Their happy ending is closer than ever, though, with Season Three poised to focus on their love story.
Speaking to TODAY, Newton illuminates what Colin was thinking in that moment. For one, he says, "alcohol was involved," as was social pressure to fit in. "He's trying to be one of the boys, and I don't think he really knows how to do that," he says.
More importantly, Colin doesn't see Penelope the way she sees him — yet. "He genuinely doesn't think of her in a romantic sense," Newton says.
But it's only a matter of time before he changes his mind. While deviating from plot points, the Shonda Rhimes-created series follows the same relationships established in Quinn's romance novels. Each season, so far, is devoted to following the love story (and subsequent personal transformation) of one of the eight Bridgerton siblings.
First came Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and the Duke (Regé-Jean Page) in Season One; in Season Two, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) — the eldest, and most rakish, Bridgerton brother — met his match with the equally fiery Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley).
Colin, the third Bridgerton brother, gets his love story in the fourth book, "Romancing Mr. Bridgerton," but the show changed the order.
Though the romance has technically already started. Unlike the other “Bridgerton” romances so far, which kick off in their season's first episode, Colin and Penelope’s has subtly begun. In every one of Penelope’s blushes, in the scrawls Colin’s letters from abroad, in each ballroom interaction, one can find evidence of their connection.
“We’re waiting for them to finally see what’s in front of them.”
Luke Newton
"What I love about my story is that I get to explore that through all the seasons with the same person," Newton says. "We're waiting for them to finally see what's in front of them."
Penelope and Colin's connection is evident, even if Colin isn't ready to put a name on it (psst, Colin: it's love!). Newton, however, is more than happy to characterize how Colin feels about Penelope.
"She gives him a sense of that warm feeling that reminds him of home," Newton says.
Newton says their relationship is different than the "home" Colin feels when he's with his family — it's more like a sense of belonging. “When he has a moment alone with Pen, it feels like he’s been really himself," he says.
Amid the drama of the Bridgerton family, Penelope provides Colin with a sense of refuge, and creates a space where he can just be himself. Already, that is evidenced by the quality of their conversations, which go beyond gossip (though Penelope is a pro at that), and toward their values.
"They talk about real stuff ... they talk about how they're feeling to each other. As far as Colin's concerned, there's nothing put on. It's almost like having your own like confession booth. She really is a person he relies on," Newton says.
Penelope has already realized their relationship could evolve into something more than friendship. While Penelope considers Eloise Bridgerton her best friend, she experiences a different ease with Colin. She treasures their interactions, and is forever waiting to be seen by him "that way."
Instead, long-suffering, she has to watch has he pursues a romance with her cousin, Marina Thompson, and blithely walks around ballrooms. Colin's crime is not abject cruelty — it's overlooking and discounting Penelope, as so many other people do. But when the dismissal comes from him, it's even more painful.
Occasionally, Newton gets impatient with Colin's inability to see Penelope as anything other than a trusted friend. "It's been frustrating. Sometimes I want to shake him and say, 'Wake up!' See what's going on here."
Luckily, Newton will get to see Colin "wake up" eventually. When "Bridgerton" started filming, Newton didn't know if he would ever get his turn to fall in love, Regency style.
“It’s been frustrating. Sometimes I want to shake him and say, ‘Wake up!’ See what’s going on here.”
"Getting to call to say we were confirmed to do seasons three and four was a real 'pinch me moment.' I never knew if we'd get to the point where we'd see Colin's story. That was a massive moment. Being like, 'Wow. This is feeling really real now,'" Newton says.
While filming Season Two, Newton tried to piece together when his character's relationship with Penelope would heat up, to no avail. "I was excited to see if there were any Easter eggs to find out what's happening in the future, but I actually have no idea," he says.
For now, Newton continues the effort. "I've actually been sending messages being like, 'What's happening?" to writers, but I’m not getting anything, which is be a good thing because I’d be shouting from the rooftops, I’m just so excited," he says.
For specific spoilers, Newton could probably just up Quinn's book about Colin and Penelope, but has decided not to only read the book that corresponds to the season he's filming.
"I read each book as we do each season because I get like, weirdly obsessed and fixated on details that would feel really irrelevant to most people," Newton says.
For now, Newton is like the rest of us: Rooting for these crazy kids to make it work, and not quite sure when they will.