Peneloise fans rejoice! The besties are speaking to each other in “Bridgerton” season 3 pic

An exclusive image suggests there's hope yet for the Peneloise friendship on "Bridgerton."

Bridgerton has plenty of ups and downs when it comes to its central couples — but the breakup that's been hardest to take is that of besties Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Eloise (Claudia Jessie).

Season 2 ended with the friends feuding after Eloise discovered that Penelope has been Lady Whistledown all along and was keeping the secret from her. After interrogating Penelope about her betrayal, Eloise storms off, vowing not to speak to her friend again. And Penelope once again picks up her quill, despite Eloise's fury.

So, while season 3 will bring Penelope a romance with longtime crush, Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), and a makeover, will it bring her a reconciliation with her best friend? This photo (pre makeover) seems to suggest that the odds are good?

"I'm rooting for them," showrunner Jess Brownell tells EW. "Bridgerton is about love in its many forms, and that includes friendship. The breakup between two friends can be just as earth shattering as a romantic relationship. For Penn, it is extremely difficult. But it's also a chance for the two of them to grow and learn about themselves without that safety net of always having their best friend around."

And what of Penelope's determination to keep her gossip column going? "It's probably not Eloise's favorite thing," adds Brownell. "It's definitely a piece of the conflict between them — how that plays out, I will leave to be revealed."

Just ahead of the announcement that Bridgerton will return in two parts in May and June, EW caught up with Brownell to ask her all of our burning questions about the long-awaited third season, including getting the tea on the Polin romance, Penn's makeover, and what lies in store for other members of the Bridgerton family.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: A lot of people assumed that we would be going in book order and Benedict (Luke Thompson) would be season 3. What made everyone decide to skip ahead to Polin here? 

JESS BROWNELL: Fair assumption, but we've spent two seasons really getting to know Penn and Colin. We've been watching Penn's crush and seeing how oblivious Colin is to it. That's a dynamic that you can only play out for so long before something has to change. This really felt like the right time to lean into what's been set up with them. On the Benedict side, he's such a fun character and such a fan favorite that we are really excited to play with him for a little bit more and let him have more fun before he settles down.

We ended season 2 with Penelope overhearing Colin say something rude about her, and she has had this crush for forever. Crushes are complicated. How hard is it going to be for him to come back from that when he decides he wants to?

We're going to make him work for it. Absolutely. But these two have a longstanding friendship and every friendship has its hurdles. This is a particularly awkward one, but Penn portrays herself as this meek wallflower. But of course she has a mega powerful alter ego. She's got a lot of inner strength. She has it in her to push back with Colin and for them to figure things out together as friends and maybe more.

Can you tease Colin's journey and what might get him to view Pen in a different light? 

Colin has come into several seasons being the third son, the guy who is still finding himself. He's entering this season with a totally different swagger, feeling convinced that he knows exactly who he is. Then you have Penn who is still in a position where she's trying to step into her power. It creates this opening where Colin, as a way of working back into her good graces, wants to help her out and teach her what he knows. That dynamic allows these two to spend more time together and start seeing each other in a new light.

A big part of the novel Romancing Mr. Bridgerton is Penelope's makeover, which we can see in some of the pictures you've already released. That can be a problematic rom-com trope. Tell me more about her makeover and what you guys wanted to do to honor her coming into herself, but counteract some of the trickier aspects of that.

I'm really excited for people to see the premiere episode because it's a trope that we're very aware of, and it's a trope that we're intentionally playing with. In our world, Penn's status as a wallflower has everything to do with her confidence, very little to do with her outward appearance. She might change her hair and makeup, but that does not magically fix everything. There will still be inner work that has to happen for a change to happen.

This Whistledown secret is also a really big barrier to Colin and Penelope's friendship and romance. How is that going to impact them this season? 

It was a helpful piece of conflict in the background to play with. What having that secret hang over them does narratively is allow us to spend some time with them, knowing that there's a conflict to come. That's all I should say.

Given that conflict, will the Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker) situation come back up?

Colin closed that chapter with Marina last season, and he really took Marina's message to heart about focusing on his own stuff and not projecting romantic fantasies onto the past. It's something he took with him on his travels this year. When he returns this year, that is a chapter that's been closed.

If you're going to let Benedict have more fun, what might he be up to?

There's been parties with the bohemian set, there's been the art stuff, there's been the orgies. The thing about Benedict is that he's a very passionate person, but he is also rather impulsive, which makes him a really fun character to write for because his story is always a bit less linear than other characters. He bounces around a bit. All I can really say is that we'll see him bouncing around a bit more this season.

It's been teased that Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate (Simone Ashley) are returning. What can we expect from them?

It was really thrilling to have Simone and Johnny back and getting to see what Anthony and Kate's married life looks like. With them, we're not really interested in introducing any big new conflicts into their relationship. We feel like they've been through the hard stuff, and we want viewers to get to see them in a more playful, lovey space.

We had a lot of plot developments on Queen Charlotte with Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh)and Violet (Ruth Gemmell) in this timeline. Are we going to see any of that carry over into season 3? 

It's certainly something I had to be mindful of when writing season 3. Shonda [Rhimes] and I would chat and make sure that what was happening in the past, or the near past, matched up with our present day for season 3. You'll see some further exploration of their backstory.

Eloise embarked on her first hints of romance in season 2, which came to a rather vicious end. Has she been burned or might she try to repair that relationship or dip her toes in that water again?

This season Eloise, like Penelope, is finding herself without the friendship and outside of the friendship. People will be surprised to see what that looks like. I'm not ruling out love in the future, I'll say that.

We have this world established, and you've been with the show since before becoming showrunner, but what would you say is your stamp as a showrunner? What did you want to bring to season 3 that was maybe slightly new or fresh?

I have been with the show from the beginning and I'm really proud of my contribution to helping establish what the show was in seasons 1 and 2. I really believe in the vision that Chris [Van Dusen] and Shonda and everyone at Shondaland set up. For the most part, I am continuing that vision. I do think that every season has a slightly different flavor. This year, because we're doing a more traditional friends-to-lover story, it's going to have a slightly more playful, lighter, more cozy feeling to it.

Can you tease what lies ahead for the Featheringtons as a whole?

If this season is about Penn stepping into the light and stepping into her power, that's going to be its own upheaval for the Featheringtons. They're very used to Penn being in a certain role within their family, and when she dares to step out of that, it will send them all spinning.

Can you tease season 3 in its entirety?

Friends to lovers is the general arc. We have two characters who previously have been underdogs in many ways, Penn as this wallflower and Colin as a third son who hasn't quite found himself. But this season we'll see both of them really stepping into their power, embracing who they truly are, and finding true love because of it.

The first part of Bridgerton season 3 will premiere May 16 on Netflix.

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