A 'Bridgerton' Easter Egg Foreshadowed Colin & Penelope In Season 1

— Liam Daniel/Netflix

For most of Bridgerton’s first three seasons, Colin and Penelope’s friends-to-lovers romance was depicted as fairly one-sided. After all, Taylor Swift’s pining anthem “You Belong with Me” is used during their wedding dance.

In addition, Colin didn’t outwardly express romantic affection for Penelope, even telling his friends he’d “never dream of courting” her in Season 2, and enjoying more than one ménage à trois in Season 3.

But maybe that’s not the whole story? Recently, one fan noticed a Season 1 scene that seemingly suggests Colin was crushing all along.

A #Polin Clue In The Series Premiere

Over on X (formerly Twitter), one fan took the time to transcribe Colin’s writing from a Season 3 scene. Fans can’t see the whole sheet, but the passage that can be seen is quite interesting. Colin describes someone who “gasped at the sight of the vaulted ceilings painted with scenes from an ancient tale, tapestries that stretched across three walls showing tales of heroes long dead.”

Colin also notes that he became “thoroughly distracted” by the woman’s “open curiosity.”

In a viral response, @crimsevson shared a scene from the first few minutes of Bridgerton’s Season 1 premiere, in which Penelope and her sisters are making their debut in front of Queen Charlotte.

— Liam Daniel/Netflix

While she’s supposed to be making a good impression on the queen, Penelope cranes her neck to look up at the ceiling. Her mom, Portia, even has to nudge her back to reality.

Colin and his siblings have been watching this entire scene from the sidelines, so it’s feasible that the memory stuck with him — only to realize its significance years later.

Fans celebrated the sharp catch, with one on Reddit noting that Colin’s “down badism went far.”

Indeed, even if Colin never showed romantic feelings for Penelope, it seems he’s been keeping quite a close eye on her from Day 1 (literally) — much more than you’d expect from a mere friend.

Other Throwback Easter Eggs

Colin’s writing isn’t the only full-circle connection in Bridgerton Season 3. Since the season premiered this summer, fans have been on the lookout for other Easter eggs — like the butterflies, for example, that have appeared on Penelope’s clothing since Season 1.

— Liam Daniel/Netflix

Showrunner Jess Brownell confirmed to Bustle that the beautiful, ever-changing insect’s recurrence in Season 3 is an important thematic motif. “More than ever, people are transforming in ways that are opposite to who they’ve been in the past,” she explained.

Several fans also recently realized that the name “Penelope Featherington” evokes imagery of a writer’s quill, the tool Lady Whistledown would use to write her scathing takedowns of the ton.