Dearest reader, did you miss me?
Bridgerton season 2 (mostly) swaps sexy montages for scorching glances and we’re here for it.
Dearest reader, did you miss me?
Simone Ashley as Kate Sharma, Charithra Chandran as Edwina Sharma.LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
Bonus points for letting Coughlan use her Irish accent while she’s in disguise.
(Run, don’t walk, to watch her in Netflix’sDerry Girlsif you haven’t yet.)
He gives chase, thinking she might be in trouble, buthe’sthe one who ought to be worried.
Luke Newton as Colin Bridgerton, Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton, Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton.LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
Meet Kate, everyone.
Lady Danbury thinks this is unwise but agrees to secrecy.
Penelope’s finding it hard to keep her secrets with Eloise constantly by her side at every social event.
Simone Ashley, Jonathan Bailey, and Charithra Chandran in ‘Bridgerton’.Liam Daniel/Netflix
At least Eloise won’t have to live up to Daphne’s legacy as the diamond of the season.
(Song accompaniment: “Shine Bright Like a Diamond,” natch.)
Let the marital games begin.
Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton.Liam Daniel/Netflix
Off to the races indeed.
She’s less thrilled about his antler-and-gun-based decorating motif, which… fair.
Progressive causes are definitely the way to Eloise’s heart.
Gregory Bridgerton, Claudia Jessie as Eloise Bridgerton.Liam Daniel/Netflix
(I’d watch eight full episodes of just this, by the way.)
Shaken, he tosses the paper into the fire and declares himself a man of action and duty.
Hot, errant glances, justconstantly.
Golda Rosheuvel as Queen Charlotte on ‘Bridgerton’.Liam Daniel/Netflix
Kate, naturally, doesn’t listen.
Meanwhile, everybody’s still after Whistledown.
Also, the queen’s list of suspects with delightful hand-drawn portraits of each lady includes Penelope and Eloise.
Nicola Coughlan and Claudia Jessie on season 2 of ‘Bridgerton’.LIAM DANIEL/NETFLIX
She tells Penelope that she plans to track down that printer.
Oooh, Pen, you’re so busted!
Episode 3: A Bee in Your Bonnet
Book readers: it’s happening!
Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton.Liam Daniel/Netflix
She also can’t help but notice that all Anthony wants to do is complain aboutthe sister.
Their resulting verbal skirmish throws off so many sparks that Daphne naturally assumes this is Edwina.
He corrects her, then asks his mother for the family engagement ring.
Simone Ashley and Charithra Chandran on ‘Bridgerton’.Liam Daniel/Netflix
She urges him not to rush, holding out hope that he’ll make a love match.
“It’s regal!”
That woman deserves to spend her life surrounded by antlers.
The next Whistledown dispatch slams the new modiste and praises Madame Delacroix as “old but capable.”
Things get off to a rocky start when she grabs the black mallet, a.k.a.
the mallet of death.
He grits his teeth and applauds.
But she gets stuck, and Anthony reluctantly takes her hand to pull her out.
In the time-honored tradition of romantic comedies everywhere, they both end up flat in the muck.
Their stunned silence turns into laughter, which turns into the beginning of a truce.
But when Kate gives Anthony’s ball a playful whack, he storms off.
She retrieves it to find that it landed near Edmund’s grave.
Flashback to Violet’s harrowing delivery of Hyacinth.
(Yes, the name of the flowers Edmund was picking when he died.
THAT’S FINE.)
She’s breech, and the doctor asks Anthony to choose between saving the mother or the baby.
In Daphne’s case, she’s describing to Anthony how it feels to be in love.
THAT IS TOO MUCH TO DUMP ON YOUR SON, MA’AM.
Alone in their room, Edwina blames herself for not being good enough to secure a proposal.
“I thought he liked me,” she cries.
Kate places the blame squarely on Anthony’s shoulders.
Maybe so, but he was looking atyou, lady.
Benedict takesall of itand is tripping balls through dinner and into the evening.
(Anybody else have some wickedThe Greatflashbacks?)
whispers We’re here.
It’s time for the bee.
He grabs for her hand, but she bats at it and it stings her.
She places his hand on her heart and puts hers on his.
Then the WORST HORSE IN THE UNIVERSE whinnies and shatters the moment.
They break apart and literally sprint away from each other.
The answer is many times.
So, so many.
Kate’s marching orders from Edwina are to charm Anthony so he’ll finally propose.
In true younger brother fashion, Benedict’s thrilled by Anthony’s annoyance at this.
It brings them so close together that he’s overcome with the need to smell her.
And then the rest of the party interrupts, dammit.
This season is a master class in drawing out the tension without ever once letting up.
Colin, baby, what is your endgame here?
Speaking on behalf of the audience: YES, like DO SO POST-HASTE, COLIN.
Ooof, even picturing howthateventual reveal will go down is awful.
But Pen’s still at it, determined to find good gossip for the next installment of Whistledown.
Likewise, Edwina’s a surprisingly compelling foil in this love story.
She’s calm, gentle, and kind, yes, but she’s also smart and motivated.
you’re able to understand why Kate wants to give her beloved younger sister the world.
And of course she bumps into Anthony.
The intimate setting leads them to lower their walls.
She confesses that she’s afraid of storms, and Anthony tells her about his father’s death.
They’relookingat each other again, leaning close, about to kiss.
But a clap of thunder interrupts the moment, and Kate scurries to bed.
So they watch what happens at the ball that night with interest.
Endless praise to Claudia Jessie for using her physicality in every scene to convey Eloise’s enthusiasm and discomfort.
Her wriggly whole-body flails are a thing of beauty.
The tension doesn’t just crackle; it smolders.
He demands to know why she dislikes him so, and she snaps, “Because youvexme.”
Anthony’s practically on fire now.
“And what is it, do you think, you do tome?”
Then his voice quiets.
They’re standingso close that his breath disturbs the hair curling around her ear.
He begs her to tell him that she feels nothing for him.
He stills and announces that he knows what he has to do.
(Neither was able to get through this conversation without reaching for the liquor, by the way.)
He can’t see the pain on Kate’s face, but we certainly can.
Ugh, poor Kate.
Poor, selfless-to-an-extreme Kate.
When the time comes to disembark, Anthony muscles his way into helping her out of the boat.
While Anthony gets a change of clothes, let’s check in on the rest of the cast.
An unchaperoned Eloise attends a public lecture series and is delighted to bump into Theo there.
When she asks Benedict to strip and model for her, he cheerfully agrees.
Gee, I wonder why she’s thinking aboutthat.
And again, he shuts her down.
But Anthony nevertheless defends the Sharmas, all three of them, and disinvites the Sheffields from the wedding.
“You are the bane of my existence,” he declares before his tone turns desperate.
“And the object of all my desires.”
He steps closer to whisper, “The things I could teach you.”
But he pulls away at the last moment, his honor hanging by a thread.
But it’s what Edwina, in her blissful ignorance, wants.
She loves him, and she’s ready to be his wife.
“It must because ithasto,” she insists.
Episode 6: The Choice
Who’s ready for a wedding?
Edwina’s radiant with joy as Mary and Kate daub her with the turmeric paste.
Kate, bless her, is doing her best.
The day of the wedding, the Bridgertons gather and give us another boisterous family scene.
This will turn out to be the best, worst mistake.
Violet and Daphne are also unhappy, although the queen and her wig are thrilled.
(Seriously, her wigs this season arebeyond.)
EVERYBODY CAN SEE YOU STARING AT HER, MY MAN.
When Kate fiddles with her bangle, it pops off, and Anthony dives to rescue it.
They both kneel, and again they just stare at each other in front of God and everybody.
The crowd is baffled as the celebratory fireworks erupt in the sky outside.
What a perfect mess.
Okay, as the guests mill about, it’s the perfect time to check in on the subplots.
Jack, meanwhile, is looking at Portia with increasingly warm, admiring glances.
It’s like he’s finally seeing her, with all her compassion and loyalty (eep!).
Now back to our angsty trio.
Edwina is livid, particularly because Kate doesn’t deny that she loves Anthony when her sister asks.
Anthony comes knocking to see if Edwina still wants to, you know, get hitched.
She asks if he wants the marriage or her, and he says it’s both.
Yeahhhh, he could’ve handled that better, and Edwina asks for time to think.
Anthony then discovers Kate’s hiding place and charges in to confront her.
They engage in more tortured gazing before Kate bids him goodbye and leaves the room.
And now it’s time to see the queen, who ismost displeased.
This is the episode where Edwina fully becomes her own woman, and good for her.
Edwina leaves, and as Pink’s “What About Us?”
comes to a close, Anthony’s vision of being alone at the altar with Kate comes to pass.
She closes the distance between them, and at long last, Kate and Anthony kiss.
Episode 7: Harmony
Time for the fallout, y’all.
When the Sharmas and the Bridgertons head into public, they find themselves thoroughly shunned by polite society.
Lady Featherington can barely contain her delight.
Good idea, but who on earth let Kate and Anthony sit side by side for this planning meeting?
“Was I truly that blind?”
Edwina asks when they engage in a round of heated gazing.
“Were they always this obvious?”
Girl, yes, they really were.
He heads to the Royal School to break the news to Benedict, unprepared for the naked party atmosphere.
), calls Anthony out for wallowing in self-pity.
Edwina’s still furious, though, and Kate refuses to discuss the kiss with Anthony.
His expression when he catches a whiff of Kate as she breezes by is perfect.
While the families are coming together, Eloise is having a bad day.
Penelope finds her freaked-out bestie tearing through every issue of Whistledown in search of clues to the real culprit.
Pen warns Eloise to stay away from Theo so that not make things worse.
Eloise is now fully committed to finding and destroying Lady Whistledown.
Jack’s still out doing crime, this time at Will’s club.
It’s a shame Jack didn’t end up with Cressida; those two deserve each other.
It becomes clear that it’s not just the failed marriage that kept people away.
The latest Whistledown spills the ink about Eloise’s unchaperoned association with political radicals.
Whistledown,out.)
At the news, Lady Featherington gives Jack the go-ahead to fleece Colin out of an investment.
Alrighty, Kanthony hive, your patience is about to pay off.
They immediately start sparring.
Kate, and the scent of lilies on her skin.
She in turn blames him for throwing her whole world off its axis.
When Anthony tries to stop his honor, don’t you know Kate orders him not to.
And then what choice do they have but to get undressed and see this through?
Kate’s hair comes down and her stocking comes off as Anthony kisses down her body.
It may even be better than theMatthew Macfadyen Pride and Prejudice clench.
I SAID WHAT I SAID.
To escape it all, she takes her horse for a run.
The man arrives and forces Anthony to step away so he can work.
Blaming himself, Anthony storms out.
(In his defense, this wasn’t out of nowhere; he was accurately reading the room.)
But Colin shuts Will down, haughtily defending the Featheringtons.
He suggests that he and Jack take their business elsewhere.
Okay, back to Kate.
When Violet hears that Kate’s okay, she immediately tells Anthony, who dissolves into quiet tears.
“You cannot lose her,” she insists as tears drip down his face.
He accuses her of running away (true!
), and nobody says “I love you” (boo!).
After he’s gone, Kate and Edwina officially make up.
Kate fesses up to her gazebo activities and says that Anthony’s proposal was out of obligation only.
Oh, those two beautiful dummies.
Anthony’s a changed man; now we just need to get him in front of Kate.
Time for the ball!
It’s actually a ruse to get his hands on a Jack-provided ruby necklace.
This time, Kate’s the one who initiates things by suggesting he ask her to dance.
The orchestra starts playing Miley Cyrus' “Wrecking Ball,” which could not be more perfect.
Everyone clears the floor to stare, but Anthony tells her to keep her eyes on him.
And now the wholetoncan see what’s been obvious for so long.
The dance ends with Kate and Anthony dangerously close, then Lady Featherington herds everyone outside for fireworks.
Before we get to the happy ending, let’s cover some less-happy ones.
Lady Featherington sends Jack packing.
Jack should’ve known she’d never choose him over her daughters.
The most painful scene of the episode belongs to Penelope and Eloise.
Reader, I gasped.
Did he really mean it?
Probably, but he’d never have said it like that if he’d known she was listening.
Still, he did say it, and our patron saint of red curls and ink-stained fingers is heartbroken.
Okay, back to our central couple.
After giving Benedict a pep talk, Anthony finds Kate in the garden and tells her he loves her.
Has loved her since that first glimpse on horseback.
He smiles as he asks, “Is that a promise, Kathani Sharma?”
And then fireworks explode in the background as they kiss.
The final voiceover of the season belongs to Penelope.
She wipes away her tears and picks up her quill as we say goodbye to our friends for now.
Benedict sadly packs away his paints and prepares to become season 3’s leading man.
Lady Featherington smiles as she embraces her oldest two daughters under the glow of the fireworks.
Eloise cries as she watches the fireworks from her room.
The queen stands tall, presiding over everything.
And Julie Andrews' voiceover returns as Pen starts to write her next Whistledown installment.
We knew she couldn’t stay silent for long.
And the season ends with a scene of marital bliss between the Viscount and Viscountess Bridgerton.
No bee would dare ruin this happiness.
