If there’s one thing Colin Bridgerton is going to do, it’s travel. The third-eldest Bridgerton brother began Season 3 by greeting his family after yet another trip, sporting a new style that fans deemed pirate-like and surprising his brothers with his “sturdy” physique.
Of course, not everyone was a fan of Colin’s new persona — with viewers comparing his behavior to a student who can’t stop talking about their study abroad, and his own mother calling out the figurative “armor” he’s been wearing since coming home.
Given how much attention has been paid to Colin’s travels, he surely went to some pretty cool places… right? Maybe not, suggests one compelling fan theory.
Was Colin Actually Traveling?
In a May 31 post, Redditor u/Question-asked suggested that Colin is lying about traveling, pointing out that on several instances, he skirts the subject and avoids getting into specifics about his journey. “When you returned last season, we’d heard all about your toil across the Mediterranean Sea by the time we broke our first fast,” Anthony says in Episode 1.
Here, Colin simply says he doesn’t want to bore his brothers with details. “This time away was exactly what I needed. It has given me some sense of… proportion,” is all he offers. Hmm… vague!
The viewer noted other examples of Colin avoiding travel talk, like when he shares souvenirs with his family and says he “lost count” of the cities he’s been in.
So, where was Colin? According to the theory, he was perhaps seeking “purpose” by working a manual labor job away from the hustle and bustle of the ton. This would actually track quite well with Colin’s Bridgerton novel, in which he admits to feeling aimless. “I need something I can point to,” he says in Romancing Mister Bridgerton. “I need a purpose. Anthony has one, and Benedict has one, but I’m at odds and ends.”
The Truth About Colin’s Trip
Several viewers commented that they also sensed something was off about Colin. “I can totally see this. I also got weird vibes every time his travel came up,” wrote one user.
“This season seems to be setting up a [theme] of being true to yourself,” said another. “I’m anticipating some sort of conflict because Colin has been telling Penelope to be herself but ultimately it’ll create conflict when we find out he hasn’t been truthful at all.”
However, others pointed out that Colin did write about his steamy travel escapades in his journal, where he’d have no reason to lie. Plus, he tells Penelope that he’s been to 17 cities and that she’s the “one person who has always truly made [him] feel appreciated.”
Maybe, one user suggested, Colin is “trying to maintain this charming mysterious persona” to avoid boring his family — whereas Penelope was always much more receptive.
In the books, Colin is a legit traveler. In fact (and minor book spoilers ahead), Penelope encourages him to publish his writing about various places he’d been to. Plus, Luke Newton himself (who plays Colin) recently opened up about his character’s journey to Bustle. “He was always running away from his problems,” he said. “He’s back again from his travels. He went through some sort of physical and emotional transformation and became a man before he returned. He’s still fighting some demons, but comes back with a new outlook.”
So unless Bridgerton is planning a major twist, it seems that Colin was indeed traveling about — but perhaps there’s more to the story in Part 2.