‘Bridgerton’ Showrunner Explains Why Colin and Penelope’s Carriage Scene Has Us All Blushing — Including Her: “I Got Like Beet Red”

It’s been just over a week since the world got to binge Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1 on Netflix and bask in the glory that was the carriage scene. Bridgerton Season 3 Episode 4 “Romancing Mister Bridgerton” ends with long-time friends Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) finally confessing they each want to be so much more than friends. What follows is a steamy two-minute scene set to the iconic tune of Pitbull‘s “Give Me Everything” played and arranged by Archer Marsh. By the scene’s end, Colin is not only giving sweet third base loving to Penelope, but declared his intentions to marry the long-time wallflower of the ton. Needless to say, it seems everyone in the world is obsessed with the romance of the scene, both its physical and emotional intimacy. It’s the culmination of nearly four years of storytelling and a swoon-worthy climax worth hitting repeat on.

The carriage scene has become such a sensation that even Mr. Worldwide himself, Pitbull, has given Bridgerton its flowers for the scene with an Instagram post that thrilled the show’s Season 3 showrunner, Jess Brownell. “I can die happy now,” she gushed to Decider earlier this week, “that he commented.”

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A post shared by Pitbull (@pitbull)

Brownell also revealed to Decider that although she’s happy seeing everyone’s reactions to the sequence, she was kind of clued in early on that it was going to be a massive deal — thanks to her own earnest reaction to the first cut.

“I think I knew it was going to be, you know, a lightning rod for people. Like I feel like watching it the first time, myself — even though I had a hand in writing it and had watched the dailies and everything – when it was cut together, I got like beet red actually because I felt like I was intruding on a private moment,” Brownell said, “which is what I’ve seen a lot of people saying.”

Brownell is obviously talking about many of the viral reactions to the scene, including one from Ghosts actress Danielle Pinnock that seems to sum up how we imagine Penelope’s driver to feel realizing what’s taking place. That is…the driver feels as we all do, so excited, we find ourselves blushing.

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A post shared by Danielle Pinnock (@bodycourage)

When Decider wondered aloud if the reason folks are extra “blushy” about this Bridgerton coupling because we’ve know Colin and Pen for so long, Brownell went further as a scholar of the romance genre and all its tropes.

“We’ve watched them grow up in certain ways. Like, obviously, I think at least Penelope was 17 or 18 in the first season, but just they seemed younger than that in certain ways, younger than their ages,” she said. “And then it’s also the fact that they have been such good friends.”

“Watching friends transition into a place of passion is always, like, a little bit giddy and exciting, but also a little bit like, ‘Wait. What? That’s your friend! What’s going on!?’ So, there’s a real ‘blushy-ness’ to it in a fun way.”

What probably adds to the enormity of the fan reaction is the timing of the carriage scene. For the first time ever, Netflix decided to split a season of Bridgerton, meaning that fans only got to see the first four episodes of the eight-episode-long third season. The second half won’t premiere until June 13.

Decider asked if it was Brownell’s intention to split the season on this moment to leave the audience wanting more, so to speak.

“We did not initially know [the season would be split]. We wrote and produced the entire season and then we were approached by Netflix to split it,” Brownell revealed. “Thankfully, we had this big moment that we were building to at the end of Episode 4, so we didn’t have to change anything.”

Ultimately, though, Brownell thinks it’s the way that Newton and Coughlan have managed to build the foundation of a real connection between Colin and Penelope that helps the audience feel like they are interloping on a moment we’re not supposed to see.

“The authenticity of their connection and their chemistry in that scene is so real that it feels like we shouldn’t be there as viewers,” Brownell said. “And I think that’s excellent.”

“And I’m very proud of it and very proud of Luke and Nicola.”

Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 premieres on Netflix on Thursday, June 13.