Bridgerton's third season trailer is all about Penelope’s glow up

“Dearest gentle reader, we have been apart for far too long,” Lady Whistledown narrates in the new third season trailer for Bridgerton. And it’s true: it’s been two years since we checked in with the Bridgerton family and their adventures on the Ton, with nothing but the Queen Charlotte spin-off to tide us over in the meantime. But Netflix’s regency romance series finally returns on May 16, and this time we’re following the friends-to-lovers, will-they-won’t-they love story between Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) and Lady Whistledown herself, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan).

The second season left Penelope at odds with her Bridgerton besties. Eloise (Claudia Jessie) discovered Penelope’s secret identity as Whistledown, and she was understandably hurt and betrayed that Penelope had kept it from her, and had used the Bridgertons as a popular target for her gossip rag. Meanwhile, Penelope overheard her longtime crush Colin telling a group of men that he “would never dream of courting Penelope Featherington.” Devastated by both of these events at the beginning of the third season, Penelope now sets her sights on getting out from under her mother’s thumb and finding herself a husband.

In a classic rom-com setup, Colin offers to help Penelope improve her game in order to catch herself a man. But he apparently does his job a bit too well, because he gets a lot more interested—and a bit more jealous—when Penelope experiences a major glow up. This isn’t to say Nicola Coughlan wasn’t beautiful before, but wallflower Penelope was famously “meant to look like a sad poodle,” as the actor herself put it. But with the help of some better dresses and a nicer hairstyle, she suddenly becomes the talk of the Ton. That’s good for her husband hunting—attracting the attention of one Lord Debling (Sam Phillips)—but it’s not helpful in keeping her secret double life as Lady Whistledown a secret.

Putting the “Polin” storyline front and center in the third season, the Shonda Rhimes-produced series switched up the order of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton novels. That rankled some die-hard romance readers, but it makes sense in this case, since the Netflix audience was a lot more invested in Colin and Penelope than they are with Benedict (Luke Thompson) at this point. The third season has a lot to live up to after the fan-favorite “Kanthony” story (a.k.a. Anthony Bridgerton and Kate Sharma, played by Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley, respectively). Polin will get their chance at longing looks and sexual tension when part one debuts on May 16, with part two following on June 13.