‘Bridgerton’ Season 3 Part 1 Ending Explained: Are Penelope and Colin Getting Married?

Bridgerton Season 3 made its long-awaited debut this morning on Netflix and hardcore fans have already torn through all four episodes of Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1! Yup, some of us needed to mainline all four new episodes of Bridgerton as soon as possible. We’ve already watched Bridgerton Season 3 Episodes 1-4 and we need to debrief on how Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 ends!

**Spoilers for all of Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1, now streaming on Netflix**

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 ends with one of the most iconic sequences in all of Julia Quinn’s romance novels: the carriage ride.

Fans of Romancing Mister Bridgerton will already know that the moment Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) finally make the thrilling leap from friends to lovers happens during a carriage ride. In the book, the carriage ride occurs under slightly different circumstances, however. In Quinn’s version, the two wind up in the same carriage after Colin follows Penelope in a hired hack to a strange part of the city. There, he discovers her true identity as Lady Whistledown. When Pen’s coach is gone, he spirits her home in his carriage. The two have an intense argument about Penelope’s alter ego that crescendoes with Colin telling Pen she’s beautiful and kissing and basically what you see at the end of Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1.

The ride ends at Penelope’s home, not Bridgerton house, but Colin’s last line in Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 plucked from the book: “For God’s sake, Penelope Featherington. Are you going to marry me or not?” (Well, Quinn drops her last name.)

We don’t know what happens next. The music swells and the camera locks in on Penelope’s bewildered, but happy face. Does she say yes? Are Colin and Penelope getting married? And what other love stories are teased in Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1?

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 Ending Explained: Are Colin and Penelope Getting Married?

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 ends with Colin proposing to Penelope after their scandalous carriage ride through the Ton. So what happens next? Are they getting married? Will Colin and Penelope live happily ever after?!?!

Well, in the book, they are immediately engaged after their delightfully bumpy carriage ride. However, we’re only halfway through the season. They still have to make it to the altar and navigate the early days of marriage. You’ll remember that in Bridgerton Season 2, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) was at the church about to marry Edwina (Charithra Chandran) when it finally came out he was actually in love with Kate (Simone Ashley). Meanwhile, things almost completely fell apart for Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) and her Duke (Regé-Jean Page) after the honeymoon was over.

So this is Bridgerton! Anything can still happen! And given that Colin still doesn’t know Pen is Lady Whistledown — and that this version of Colin loathes the gossip writer (with good reason) — the foreshadowing suggests that could present a hurdle for the happy couple.

How Does Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 Set Up Francesca’s Love Story? Will Bridgerton Season 4 Be When He Was Wicked?

Colin isn’t the only Bridgerton whose story steams up in Season 3! While Benedict (Luke Thompson) gets an original new love interest who is not in the books, the mystery man who charms Francesca (Hannah Dodd) in her first season on the Ton is important in the books.

**SPOILERS for Francesca’s book, When He Was Wicked (and actually Romancing Mister Bridgerton, too)**

In Romancing Mister Bridgerton, we’re told that Francesca is happily married to a Scottish lord named John Stirling, Earl of Kilmartin. At the start of When He Was Wicked, we see this is indeed true. Francesca marries her beloved John Stirling and settles into calm, domestic bliss.

However, in the early part of Francesca’s book, John suddenly dies. Francesca is rocked by still more tragedy before the book jumps ahead four years and shows us how Fran learns to love again.

So, as much as you might love Francesca and her sweet, mostly silent suitor John Stirling, Earl of Kilmartin (Victor Alli), you should prepare yourself for a dark turn to the storyline eventually. Which is to say, Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell is definitely seeding Fran’s story, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s next in order. After all, Francesca and John do enjoy two years of happiness…

When Do New Episodes of Bridgerton Season 3 Come Out? Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 Release Date

Can’t wait to find out what happens next to Colin, Penelope, and the rest of the Bridgerton crowd? Well, you’re going to have to wait!

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 won’t premiere on Netflix until Thursday, June 13.