This post will allude to spoilers from Season 3 episode 1 per the Bowral screenings! Proceed with caution.
I'm supposed to be working on an assignment for college but I am of course thinking about Polin instead lol, so here's just a theory I thought of while procrastinating.
I recently saw some discussion theorising that the Lady Whistledown reveal (to Colin specifically) might be linked to Penelope's confession that she has in fact loved him all of these years, and that the latter might be want prompts Colin to forget his anger and forgive her for the former.
It got me thinking about the showrunners decision to insert this highly antagonistic dynamic between Colin and Lady Whistledown into the show, which I've been wondering about since getting the episode 1 spoilers. Colin's feelings towards Whistledown iirc have been fairly neutral so far. Yes she torpedoed his relationship with Marina, but I don't remember getting the feeling that he held much anger specifically towards Whistledown for that. His anger and hurt was (rightfully) directed at Marina. And as for Eloise, I'm sure he was upset on her behalf but seemingly no more than the rest of the family.
So why does he suddenly hate her so much? Yes she does land a huge hit to his ego. And yes it's for drama's sake, and I also agree with others that it cleverly sets up a kind of enemies to lovers romance plot between Colin and Whistledown that will run parallel to the main friendship to lovers story. But I'm also thinking it may turn out to be a red herring of sorts.
As I said, Colin's grudge against Whistledown is mostly new. Regardless, it's not the big 'reveal' that viewers have been fixating on when watching Colin and Pen's interactions throughout Seasons 1 and 2. It is undoubtedly something important that she is keeping from him, and it definitely matters, but the real big secret that has been the elephant in the room behind all of Colin and Penelope's interactions so far, is Penelope's feelings for Colin, and how long she's had them. That's the reveal viewers have been waiting for all this time. That's the big secret that people have been waiting to see Colin react to since Season 1. Which is why I'm theorising that part of the purpose of building up the Whistledown reveal to Colin so much is actually a clever way of distracting the us from the real reveal that we have been waiting for, and therefore will make it hit that much harder when we finally get it.
Which is why I think that the two will be directly linked. Yes, Colin is going to have a very strong initial reaction to the Whistledown reveal, he is going to be furious, as per what Luke has said. But I think that particular angst may be more quickly resolved than we might think, as it will lead directly to the real emotional denouement, which I think will be Penelope confessing her love, and how long she's had it. The latter will serve as a catalyst to resolve the former, as Colin realises that every decision Penelope has made, while not always right, has been made out of love.
Anyway, that's just something I thought of, could be completely off the mark, but feel free to let me know your thoughts of you like. We're nearly there folks, so excited!
