Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1.

The Big Picture

• Lady Danbury's brother may cause trouble, affecting her friendship with Violet Bridgerton and complicating her life.
• Francesca finds love with John Stirling, setting the stage for exciting events involving the Stirling men in future episodes.
• Cressida's interference pushes Lord Debling away from Penelope but brings Colin and Penelope closer than ever, leading to a surprising proposal.

Dearest reader: we’re officially through the first half of the third season of Bridgerton. Under new showrunner Jess Brownell, the latest installment of the hit Netflix romance series has centered its attention on the third Bridgerton son, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), as he helps his friend Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) secure a husband. What he doesn’t expect is to fall head over heels in love with her in the process — but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. For four episodes, there have been major life changes, potential pregnancies, new friendships, and, of course, new love interests. Let’s check in with the state of the ton at the end of Part 1.

Marcus Could Threaten Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton’s Friendship

Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) appears to the ton as an unshakable molder of society; yet she’s annoyed and unsettled by the presence of her estranged brother, Marcus (Daniel Francis). According to him, Marcus claims to be in Mayfair in search of society and a new wife. For reasons unknown to the audience, Lady Danbury isn’t buying anything her brother is selling. Unfortunately for her, Marcus might become more of a problem in her life now that he’s attracted the attention of one of her closest friends, Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell).

While at the ball in Season 3, Episode 4, “Old Friends,” Marcus and Violet strike up a conversation. Violet informs Marcus that his sister molds society to her will and is one of the best meddling matchmakers the ton has ever seen. The two begin to share stories of their previous matches; Marcus and his deceased wife didn’t have a love match but a slow burn into something meaningful, and Violet has only known love matches because that’s what she had with her late husband, Edmund (Rupert Evans). Marcus reveals that he hopes to find a love match for his second marriage.

Later, Lady Danbury decides to leave the ball early, but before she leaves, Marcus finds her and asks her for help in finding a new wife. He describes meeting the “most intriguing woman” and insists that he has the purest of intentions. Still, Lady Danbury isn’t buying it. However, if she doesn’t intervene soon, Marcus might entangle himself with Violet, which will no doubt further complicate the women's friendship. If you recall, during the events of Queen Charlotte, Violet uncovers that her father (Keir Charles) had a brief affair with Agatha when she was younger. The friends haven’t directly talked about this, but the Marcus situation, if left unchecked, may bring all that back to the surface and potentially wreck a friendship in the process.

Francesca's Love Interest Confirms New 'Bridgerton' Book Characters

Like her older sister Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) before her during Season 1, Francesca (Hannah Dodd) is looking like she will also walk away from her first season out in society with a husband. After the Hawkins ball in Season 3, Episode 3, “Forces of Nature,” the mysterious gentleman (Victor Alli) whom she stood next to in silence comes to Bridgerton House to call on her. It’s the first time the two exchange names, and it turns out that he is none other than John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin.

For fans of the Bridgerton book series, this is a major revelation because John Stirling plays a significant role in Francesca's life. According to the book series, the Earl of Kilmartin wins Francesca’s affections and the pair are married for a period of time. This official introduction of John also suggests that with one Stirling man, another Stirling man’s arrival is imminent: John’s cousin, Michael. His is a story for another time, but you can find out more about him in the Francesca-centric Bridgerton novel, When He Was Wicked.

For now, in the Netflix series, John and Francesca share similar dispositions. They’re both more reserved than most, John in particular. When Lord Samadani (David Mumeni) comes to call on Francesca, John leaves. After Francesca spots him and awkwardly tries to show her interest in him, John abruptly leaves in the middle of Francesca’s honest music opinions. Later, he apologizes to Francesca at the ball. John admits to her that he’s not a man of many words but rather believes in the power of a gesture. He gifts her sheet music that rearranged the music they heard earlier according to her suggestions. Francesca immediately asks her mother if she can return home in order to play this for herself, leaving Lord Samadani in the dust. She spends the rest of the night playing on her pianoforte, positively beaming over John’s thoughtful gesture.

Violet seems surprised by Francesca’s interest in Lord Kilmartin but happy for her daughter. She might be a little concerned that this is now the second time a match for one of her daughters chosen by Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) has been thwarted by a different gentleman. Hopefully, she will fully support John and Francesca's love. With any luck, Violet might be planning two weddings before Season 3 ends. If John and Francesca’s attachment turns into an engagement and wedding by the end of the season, could we expect Michael Stirling to make his grand entrance, too? In any case, pour one out for Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and his poor nerves.

Cressida’s Interference Pushes Lord Debling Away From Penelope (But Straight to Colin)

While Francesca might walk away from her season with a love match, the same can’t be said about Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen). While Cressida does value her newfound friendship with Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie), she still has to look out for herself in securing a husband who isn’t picked by her father (Dominic Coleman). While listening to Eloise rant about society, Cressida watches as Colin Bridgerton arrives at the ball and cuts off the dance between Penelope and Lord Debling (Sam Phillips). She uses this opportunity to swoop in and finish the dance with Lord Debling. As they dance, they watch Penelope and Colin have a heated argument. When Debling asks her about the two of them, she remarks that Colin and Penelope have been the oldest of friends ever since the Bridgertons moved across the street from the Featheringtons. Earlier in the episode, Debling asks Penelope why she once spent so much of her time by a certain windowsill in the Featherington home, but she can’t give a straight answer. With Cressida’s information, Debling puts two and two together very quickly and leaves the ballroom after the dance concludes. Cressida thinks she sabotaged Penelope’s chances at a good match, but in fact, Cressida is the reason why Penelope is about to get the man of her dreams.

Throughout the episode, Lord Debling has made his intentions with Penelope clear. He pursues her, consults her on how to make an engagement between them a reality, and asks for Lady Featherington’s blessing. Everything is lining up for Debling to propose to Penelope at that very ball. Despite that, Penelope asks Debling if he thinks that love can grow between them, and he admits that he’s unsure because he’s so passionate about his work. More than that, he'd watched Penelope seemingly looking for someone all week. Now, thanks to Cressida, he knows who that someone is.

Even though Colin insists that Penelope shouldn’t accept Lord Debling’s proposal, she tells Colin she plans on it. She follows Debling to try and continue their conversation from before Colin’s interruption, but Debling begins to ask about her feelings for Colin. While Penelope tries to deny there’s anything between them, she can’t give a straight answer when asked if she wants to be more than friends with Mr. Bridgerton. Debling doesn’t want a wife who will be cheating on him while he’s gone for long stretches of time. Debling ends things with Penelope and tells her he hopes she finds whatever she’s searching for, a similar sentiment Eloise gives her at the beginning of Episode 3. If this is the last we’ve seen of Lord Debling, here’s hoping his vegetarian heart finds someone worthy of him someday.

Penelope and Colin Officially Move Out of the Friend Zone

After Debling cuts off his attachment to Penelope, she leaves the ball. Colin chases after her carriage and manages to stop it. It’s all been leading to this moment in the carriage. Penelope is furious at Colin for denying her a chance at a husband. Colin stammers about how Debling isn’t right for her but won’t admit why until Penelope explains that Colin’s actions made it appear to Debling that he has feelings for her. Colin kneels in front of her and confesses that he does indeed have real feelings for her, that she is all he has been able to think about and dream about for weeks, something he describes as a torture he never wants to give up.

Although Penelope tries to stop him from saying things she believes he doesn’t mean, Colin insists his feelings are genuine. When Colin thinks she’s trying to let him down easy, Penelope admits that she’s eager to be more than friends with him. From there, the two finally give into their attraction for each other and proceed to make out for the remainder of the journey back to Bridgerton House. The moment even turns extra steamy when Colin gets a bit handsy underneath Penelope's dress.

Penelope finishes, no pun intended, just as the carriage pulls up in front of Colin’s house — though to be fair, they weren’t really paying attention; Colin even asks if the carriage driver can keep going. Still, real life awaits them, and after Colin fixes Penelope’s dress, Colin gets out of the carriage and asks for Penelope to come with him. Penelope isn’t sure what he means at first because she tries to make an excuse that his family will see her. However, Colin isn’t done surprising Penelope yet because he asks her point-blank if she’s going to marry him or not. That’s right — Colin Bridgerton proposes to Penelope Featherington, the woman who’s been in love with him for years.

Unfortunately for Penelope, this proposal doesn’t mark a completely happy ending for her. Things are still icy between her and her former best friend (and now her future sister-in-law). Plus, there’s a Lady Whistledown-sized elephant in the room. Colin shared at the beginning of the season that he hopes to see Lady Whistledown go down for all her previous actions against his family, especially her latest comment about his personality change. Penelope is about to get everything she wants, but her secret identity as Lady Whistledown threatens to unravel it all. Until Penelope (or potentially someone else) tells Colin the truth, Penelope’s happily ever after has to wait… just like the audience has to while we wait for the second part of the season.

Part 1 of Bridgerton Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix in the U.S. Part 2 of Bridgerton Season 3 streams on Netflix on June 13.

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