As most of us know, Bridgerton Season 1 was a sensational hit when it first arrived on Netflix in 2020, topping out at 82 million households watched in the first 28 days, per Deadline, and becoming the most popular series on the streaming platform at the time. But when Season 2 debuted in 2022, it beat out the first season’s record and overtook the number one spot, making Bridgerton the first-ever series to hold the first and second spots on the platform’s most popular list (via Forbes). A large contribution to its popularity are the steamy romances between our main characters each season and the love of our esteemed Lady Whistledown.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Daphne and Simon’s love story was born of understanding, conflict, and undeniable desire, which all came together to create a new trust found between the couple in Bridgerton Season 1. In Season 2, Anthony and Kate’s story was more playful and nemesis-related, leading to a great friendship and love, the opposite of what both characters thought they wanted at the beginning of the story. Although their stories differ so much, these two couples have a few things in common: they were all strangers when they met, they felt an instant connection upon meeting, and their families were rooting for their love. These are all the complete opposite traits of Colin and Penelope’s developing love. Let’s take a deeper look at what makes Penelope and Colin’s love, or “Polin” as some shippers are dubbing them, so different from the other Bridgerton siblings stories thus far while we’re gearing up for Season 3’s release.
They Were Already Friends
Netflix
One major difference we see in Polin’s love story versus the other Bridgerton siblings thus far is their already established friendship. Naturally, since Penelope and Eloise Bridgerton are best friends and have been for years, Penelope has become friendly with all of Eloise’s siblings, such as Colin and Hyacinth. Although she is friendly with all the siblings, she formed a stronger connection to Colin. Not only are they relatively close in age, but Colin has always been honorably kind to her. Although Penelope is slightly awkward around him, the two share a ton of laughs and secret gossip about the other members of society, demonstrating their easiness with each other.
In Daphne and Simon’s season of Bridgerton, the two are complete strangers and share an overall annoyance with the other. Daphne finds Simon to be arrogant and cold, while Simon finds Daphne to be annoying and emotional. They didn’t share a friendship until well into their marriage. In Kate and Anthony’s season, the same situation applies. They were complete strangers who thought very little of each other, in terms of kindness. Eventually after allowing themselves to be vulnerable, they garnered a lovely friendship. But Colin and Penelope began as friends, skipping that step entirely.
There Wasn’t an Instant Connection
As we have witnessed, Penelope developed a crush on Colin long ago, but remained platonic with him due to her low self-esteem and image in society as a “wallflower.” Even though Penelope had a developed love interest in Colin, he didn’t feel the same way. He always found her extremely kind and relatable, with a secret witty side few get the chance to see, but never put any thought into a romance with her. He was often annoyed with his mother or sisters when they repeatedly forced him to dance with her at balls. It’s not that Colin didn’t like her, but he felt forced to always be the “kind one” since no one ever asked her to dance and the girls often made fun of her. So, although Colin and Penelope were good friends and protectors of one another, they didn’t have an instantaneous love connection like our other Bridgerton siblings. Some may argue they didn’t have it either, but they did. Hiding your feelings for another doesn’t mean they aren’t there.
Penelope Isn’t “Beautiful”
To us viewers, Penelope is courageous and beautiful as she is. Of course, beauty is subjective, but in high society’s eyes, she was not beautiful. For the times, she was too plump, awkward, quiet, not graceful, and dressed badly. She is the wallflower that no one desires, and is routinely left out of most things. To make it worse, she is a Featherington. They were a part of high society, but their family was often caught up in scandal and frowned upon for their distasteful choices in clothing, behavior, and finances. This difference is most obvious when comparing our other two leading women in Bridgerton so far, Daphne and Kate. Daphne was considered the “Diamond of the First Water,” a title only given to the upmost graceful and beautiful women of each season. Daphne was also a Bridgerton, raising her desirability due to her powerful and financially fruitful family.
Kate is a bit of a different story. Her mother was originally from a high society family before she was disowned for marrying a doctor, Kate’s dad, who was in a lower class. Her family was not well-off, so she was not desired for status or financial gain. But she was beautiful, so she had that. Some say she was not considered beautiful, but the only time this was true was in comparison to her sister, Edwina. Edwina lived the same life as Daphne, being highly sought after by suitors for being deemed a “Diamond of the First Water.” But to be fair, no one was considered beautiful if they were up against Edwina. If she was not in comparison to her, Kate was extremely beautiful, she just did not actively seek suitors in hopes of gaining her sister a perfect match.
Penelope, on the other hand, had none of these things. She isn’t considered beautiful, her family has no sought-after name or fortune, and she is too guarded around others. But this is what also makes their story so lovely: the awkward, unseen wallflower couples with the most sought after bachelor in all of London, and we can’t wait to explore their love story.
