Bridgerton – Season 3 Episode 7 “Joining of Hands” Recap & Review

Joining of Hands

Episode 7 of Bridgerton Season 3 begins with Colin finding Penelope at the printer shop and overhearing her as Whistledown. He reveals that he only followed her because he thought she had been kidnapped. However, he is hurt by her lies and cannot forgive her. 

The next day, Cressida’s Whistledown issue attacks the Bridgertons by painting them as a lustful family with dubious parentage. At that moment, the real Whistledown comes to their rescue as she reveals that she never lies. To prove it, she calls out cruel employers and abusive husbands at the same time which only someone as observant as her could have noticed.

With the plan backfiring, Cressida is grounded for 2 weeks till she has to go live with an Aunt Jo in Wales. Despite it all, she is upset that her mother, who wrote the issue, targeted the Bridgertons since Eloise was her only friend.

Meanwhile, Pen asks for Eloise’s help with Colin as she tells her about the night before. Eloise is sorry but refuses to meddle anymore. As she heads home, Colin confronts her. Eloise tells him everything and how she stopped Pen from telling the truth since she didn’t want to break his heart. She wants to forgive Pen but he doesn’t know if he can.

Meanwhile, Danbury gives Violet company as she frets over Francesca. Danbury ends up ranting about her brother and Violet ends up comforting her. Mama Bridgerton later heads out with Portia, Colin and Pen to book the wedding venue and it is awkward.

Colin and Pen keep their distance but he reveals that if she won’t stop publishing, their marriage will only be cordial. Once they are all home, Marcus comes calling and Violet is flustered. He is frank as he wants to ask her out once she has resolved her Francesca drama. She says yes but tells him to resolve things with Danbury too.

Meanwhile, Benedict meets with Tilley who explains herself – she and Paul are friends with benefits, he is bisexual and he believes he shared a moment with Benedict. This shocks Benedict who doesn’t believe he has feelings for Paul. Tilley points out that people always play by society’s rules even when it is unnatural. But feelings between two people are as natural as they can be. So, if he does feel some way for Paul, he shouldn’t hide it.

At Colin’s stag night, John sulks as he thinks Violet doesn’t like him. Benedict shares that she does but she believes all true romances should have a grand, whirlwind love story. So, she can’t come to terms that John and Francesca have so easily fallen in love without any trouble. He ends up advising John to do something bold.

Elsewhere, Pen goes to Genevieve’s shop and confides in her of everything that has happened. She cannot stop publishing and Genevieve tells her to be true to herself. As Pen heads out, she runs into Colin and they finally confront each other. She accepts that she was in the wrong when she wrote about him and Eloise and that she should have said it to their faces.

He warns her that her secret is dangerous and worries over being unable to take care of her. She declares that she loves him and that is enough for him. They kiss before being interrupted by a passerby.

He heads home to see Kanthony in his study. Turns out Violet called them early to help Colin with his melodrama. Anthony is quippy that his marriage is perfect but Kate advises Colin that one mistake shouldn’t negate everything he knows about Pen and that marriage is hard work.

At Danbury’s, Marcus comes clean about what happened – he was only 10 and worried that his sister would be hurt if she ran away. So, he snitched to their father. He was also afraid of her which is why he didn’t tell her for so long. They patch up as he says he wants his joy to include her and she begrudgingly agrees to the same.

It is D-Day and Colin and Penelope’s wedding finally takes place smoothly. At the wedding breakfast, Prudence genuinely compliments Pen which surprises her. Pen tests the waters with Colin and all seems to be good as he accepts her offer to dance. Eloise is teary-eyed and Benedict says love is not finite, she can continue to love Pen and Colin. This gives him an epiphany and he rushes to Tilley’s place.

On the dance floor, Kate reveals that Edwina’s new husband has made her outdoorsy. She wishes she could show her home to Anthony too. He suddenly suggests they should go to India before their child is born and that they can always come back which has Kate delighted. He gets distracted when Marcus gets close to Violet but Kate tells him to stand down. As for John, he tells Francesca to be bold and they join Polin on the dance floor.

Charlotte suddenly barges in and tells everyone to leave except the Bridgertons who need to confess. Francesca thinks it is about her and reveals her secret engagement to John. Charlotte barely pays any mind to that as her true target is Whistledown.

She points out that Whistledown only broke her silence and rushed to write a new issue when Cressida badmouthed the Bridgertons. This means one of them is the columnist. Anthony denies it and she stalks off after warning them. Colin tells Pen to stop publishing as Whistledown for good as it is dangerous but she refuses. He storms off and she cries as Eloise comforts her.

Meanwhile, Benedict finds Tilley and Paul and takes up their threesome offer. Elsewhere, Cressida hunts for her printer for the pay of her Whistledown issue. She can’t find it and runs into a printer boy who is curious about Whistledown’s identity. His ex-boss has worked with the columnist and knows Cressida isn’t the real one since Whistledown has red hair. She is intrigued and asks for more details at the end of Bridgerton Season 3 Episode 7.

The Episode Review

Bridgerton Season 3 Episode 7 slows it down for us by solving most of the conflict and getting us ready for the Whistledown reveal in the finale. As the penultimate episode, we get some fun little angst as Polin pine for each other and almost get back together before Queen Charlotte comes in charging. Well, her deduction was wrong but she is quite spot-on about the reason. If only she knew…

We are still conflicted over how we feel about Eloise but girly seems to be maturing as she is finally staying back instead of putting her nose into other people’s business. We do wish we’d gotten a little more of Benedict and his throuple drama but a little birdy tells us that we won’t have to wait long before we see Benedict’s loml, Sophie next season…