Warning! SPOILERS about Bridgerton season 3, episode 2 and Romancing Mr. Bridgerton ahead.

Like Bridgerton seasons 1 and 2 beforehand, Bridgerton season 3 didn’t keep everything from the book it’s based on in the adaptation, but one change in Penelope and Colin’s relationship proved monumental. Based on Julia Quinn’s fourth Bridgerton book, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, Bridgerton season 3 has Penelope and Colin’s romance front and center, as well as their personal developments, as shown by Penelope’s repeated attempts at securing a match before Colin’s confession. Bridgerton season 3, part 1 showed Penelope flourishing, with her Lady Whistledown venture going strong and Colin finally sharing the feelings Penelope had harbored for him for years.

However, as Penelope thrived, Colin’s attention was solely focused on flaunting his new attitude on life first and making sense of his unexpected feelings for Penelope later. Despite Bridgerton season 2 leaving him aching for a purpose that he couldn’t seem to find, Bridgerton season 3 didn’t reveal what that purpose might be, as Colin spent more time either giving lessons to Penelope or observing her from afar, trying to understand when and how his feelings had grown. This approach made one detail in Bridgerton season 3, episode 2 less noticeable, despite being a much bigger story in the book.

Bridgerton Season 3 Only Focuses On Polin Connecting & Penelope’s Breach Of Trust

Colin Doesn’t Even Recognize Penelope’s Praise In The Show

Penelope discovering Colin’s travel journals is a moment indissolubly linked to their romance, as right after Penelope’s breach of trust, Colin’s hand is wounded both in Bridgerton season 3 and Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. Colin’s cut makes one of Colin and Penelope’s first connections possible, as Penelope went straight to bandage his wound in Bridgerton season 3, episode 2, lingering over his hand after placing the handkerchief. However, despite showing a readiness to act, Penelope’s first impulse was to compliment Colin’s writing after spying on his journal.

Colin didn’t acknowledge the compliment, instead focusing on how what Penelope read wasn’t for anyone else’s eyes, only seeing her breach of trust and not the fact that the travel journals left Penelope so enraptured that she continued reading despite knowing how wrong it was to do so. In addition, once Penelope managed to patch up his wound, Colin called off the lesson so that they wouldn’t be together anymore, showing how little consideration for Penelope’s compliment about his writing he had, as he didn’t comment on it, making the moment a huge Bridgerton season 3 book change.

Penelope’s Opinion Is How Colin Realises She Truly Sees Him In The Book

Penelope’s Thoughts On His Journals Show Colin How Much He Wants To Hear Her Praise

While the scene was indubitably about Colin and Penelope touching hands for the first time, Penelope’s discovery of Colin’s travel journals featured many more details in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton. Indeed, not only did they have to collaborate to keep the wound hidden from the butler, but they also had the chance to talk about how much Penelope liked Colin’s writing, going much further than just one sentence as in Bridgerton season 3. Penelope felt so moved by Colin’s descriptions that she felt compelled to make him understand how good his writing was, even if he didn’t believe so.

Penelope’s passion for the craft led Colin to believe her when she called his passages “clever” and “brilliant” in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, and he even asked her to elucidate why she liked so much what he viewed only as descriptions. Receiving Penelope’s precise praise, which attributed his writing’s strengths to his ability to provide vivid descriptions in which the readers could see themselves, convinced Colin that Penelope saw his true self in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, rather than seeing just another Bridgerton, making him not want her to leave the house, unlike Bridgerton season 3.

What Colin’s Reaction Means For Bridgerton Season 3 & His Search For Purpose

His Lack Of Purpose Was Central In Season 2 But Season 3, Part 1 Never Mentioned It

With Bridgerton season 3, part 1 greatly focusing on the exploration of what both Penelope and Colin thought were unrequited feelings, little time was dedicated to their personal development. However, with Bridgerton season 2 setting up very clearly Colin’s need to find a purpose that gave his life meaning, the topic of his journal writing will have to return in Bridgerton season 3, part 2, as Romancing Mr. Bridgerton includes just as much the coronation of Colin and Penelope’s feelings for each other as it does Colin finding his dream and working toward it only thanks to Penelope.

While it’s entirely possible for Colin’s purpose to be at the center of Bridgerton season 3, part 2 just as Lady Whistledown’s unmasking, Bridgerton season 3, episode 2 not including Colin’s genuinely interested reaction in Penelope’s feedback slightly cheapens Colin’s search for a purpose. Indeed, in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, Colin’s discovery of how exceptional Penelope was went hand in hand with his growing feelings and her help in getting his journals published, making him feel like a new man after the brief period of their engagement, as everything changed for him then.

Instead, Bridgerton season 3, part 1 focusing solely on Colin and Penelope’s feelings for each other after season 2 saw Colin unmoored because of his lack of purpose risks making Colin’s goals less important, as he didn’t seem to think about them for the entirety of Bridgerton season 3, episodes 1 to 4. Bridgerton season 3, part 2 could nevertheless still solve the blunder by focusing more thoroughly on Colin’s dream once his love for Penelope is secure, counterbalancing part 1’s focus on Colin and Penelope’s love with the centrality of Colin’s goals in part 2.