Summary
- Penelope Featherington is the ultimate underdog on Bridgerton.
- In the books, Pen's arc is much more heartwarming.
- The showrunners immediately decided to make Penelope's story more dramatic.
It's just a week before the highly anticipated premiere of Bridgerton's third season, and every fan is on the edge of their seat waiting for the release of Colin and Penelope's story after a two-year hiatus from the show. Aside from the time that has passed since Season 2, there are many reasons why viewers are excited for the Polin season.
First, viewers are looking forward to seeing the romance between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, who have been friends for a long time. Secondly, Pen's relationship with Eloise, which ended on an ugly note in Season 2, is captivating many people.
Most importantly though, fans of the hit period drama can't wait to see Penelope, the show's ultimate underdog, get her fair share of happiness. After all, she seems to be made much more miserable in the Netflix series than in the Julia Quinn novels on which Bridgerton is based.
Book Penelope vs Show Penelope
In general, the Netflix show does a brilliant job of conveying Penelope's character as she is in the books. But on the show, her arc is made much more dramatic by portraying her as the black sheep of her family. Netflix's Pen has two older sisters who couldn't be more different from her. Naturally, she feels alienated in her own home.
Meanwhile, in Julia Quinn's novels, Penelope has a younger sister, Felicity, who is just as nice as she is, and the two often find solace in each other when the rest of the Featheringtons don't understand them. Without Felicity, Netflix's Pen ended up feeling more alone and miserable. And it turns out that was done on purpose.
Good Riddance, Felicity Featherington!
According to Jess Brownell, one of Bridgerton's showrunners, it was an early decision by Shondaland's senior creatives to get rid of Felicity in order to make Penelope's arc even more dramatic. Without a person to turn to at home, she became even more of an underdog for the audience to sympathize with.
'Dramatically, it helped Pen [on the show] feel even more isolated and alone and underscored her plight to have her be in this viper's nest with her sisters who are not very nice to her, and her mother who underestimates her, so we ended up really not needing that character,' Jess Brownell said in a recent interview.
And indeed, Penelope's difficult relationship with her family has been one of the main reasons for her popularity with viewers. But it looks like things are about to get better in the Featherington household in Season 3.
Bridgerton's third season will premiere on May 16.
Source: TV Insider.