Madison Meeks

Editor-in-Chief

mvm7037@psu.edu

Dear gentle reader, we are back again with a recap of “Bridgerton,” this time with season 2. It is time for Viscount Bridgerton to fall in love. But love is not as easy as it seems, gentle reader. Nothing is as easy as it seems as we jump into the first four episodes of this season.

This season takes on the love story of Viscount Anthony Bridgerton, the oldest of the Bridgerton children. The story takes on the enemies-to-lovers trope to tell the story between Anthony and Kate. Season 2 is based on the second book of the series, “The Viscount Who Loved Me.”. 

Episode One: “Capital R Rake”

After he announced last season that this was the season that he was going to find a wife, he became one of the season’s most eligible bachelors. The season starts out with Eloise making her society debut, but during her presentation to Queen Charlotte, it gets interrupted by a new Lady Whistledown article being released. During the first episode, there is a montage of him meeting several of the eligible ladies, but all of them have something that he does not like. For example, the woman whose mom came with her on the date with the Viscount. Lady Danbury is hosting and sponsoring two daughters who have come to London from India with their mother, Lady Mary, who is a friend of Lady Danbury. While the older sister Kate is there to help her sister, Edwina, find a husband, Edwina wants to find a love match but is unaware that Kate has made a deal with Mary’s parents that Edwina marries a noble gentleman and they will give them a slice of the family fortune.

Anthony decides to take a morning ride where he meets Kate, but he does not learn her name until later in the episode. Throughout the first episode, Anthony keeps saying that whoever the diamond of the season is will be the woman he will marry. During the ball, Anthony meets Edwina, whom he dances with and decides that he is going to court her so that they can marry. Meanwhile, the Featherington family is struggling with finances before the new heir to the fortune arrives in London. 

Episode 2: “Off to the Races”

After sparking the eye of several suitors, Kate takes charge in deciding which suitors Edwina will meet. She shows that she is against Anthony courting her sister. Eloise becomes fascinated in finding out the identity of Lady Whistledown for the second time. As she discusses with Penelope how she would like to find out who Lady Whistledown is to get her to make so much more of her writing than gossip, Violet, or Lady Bridgerton, as the other members of the ton call her, tells Penelope that if Eloise is so fascinated with Lady Whistledown’s work, then she must be interested in what she has to say about the eligible bachelors as well. 

Colin returns from his travels, and Penelope is shown infatuated with him once again when she is excited that he is home, but the way that Colin looks at her this season seems much more than just a friendship. The Bridgertons are off to the races after Anthony finds out that Edwina will be there, but accompanied by another suitor. Colin and Penelope have a discussion about how they wrote to each other over the summer while Colin was on his tour around the world. She is slightly upset to learn that he spends his time with someone, but it is not who she thinks it is. 

While Queen Charlotte devises a plan to use Edwina to uncover Lady Whistledown, Lady Danbury hosts a soiree where the suitors get to show their talents to the ladies that they could choose to marry. While Edwina is impressed with a speech that Anthony gives at the soiree, Penelope finds out that Colin did not spend time with another woman on his trip but got more in touch with himself. He also friendzones her by saying that he swore off women, and when she responds that she is a woman, he says, “You don’t count. You’re Pen. You’re my friend.” Benedict thinks about a future studying art while Penelope is caught at the market by Madame Delacroix. 

Episode 3: “A Bee in Your Bonnet”

The episode starts off with a flashback that is about ten years in the past, with the late Viscount Edmund Bridgerton going hunting with Anthony. As they are walking back to the house, Edmund decides to pick up some hyacinth flowers for his wife and daughters and gets stung by a bee. He then dies of an allergic reaction in front of Anthony. The flashback continues to show Violet’s grief and the pressure that Anthony faced when he became the new Viscount. 

The episode then returns to the present day, where the Bridgertons are at their country estate called Audrey Hall and are preparing for their annual ball. Daphne has also returned with her baby son, Auggie, to help her family. An adorable scene happens where, after giving the baby to Eloise and he starts crying, Colin takes Auggie and teases Eloise while talking to the baby. Anthony has invited the Sharmas and Lady Danbury to stay for a few days before the party. 

The siblings, along with Kate and Edwina, play a competitive game of Pall Mall. As they pick their mallets to play, Kate picks to play with the mallet that is called the mallet of death. This scene has one of the most relatable sibling quotes by Colin: “You threatened to beat me last time I touched it ” after Kate chose the mallet of death. The game results in Kate and Anthony getting muddy while retrieving balls from the woods. Colin gives Benedict tea that makes him as high as a kite during dinner. While they are having family dinner, Anthony tries to propose to Edwina but then backs out. Benedict finds out that he has been accepted to the Royal Academy Schools. Eloise starts becoming interested in women’s rights after discovering what she thinks is Lady Whistledown’s printer. Portia devises a plan to have her daughter Prudence marry their cousin Jack so that they can inherit the fortune. Penelope convinces Madame Delacroix to be a part of the Lady Whistledown scheme. Finally, Kate and Anthony almost kiss after she gets stung by a bee, and he panics after his father dies from a bee sting. 

Episode 4: “Victory”

The guests start to arrive for the Bridgerton ball. Edwina is oblivious to the mutual love that is shared between Kate and Anthony and convinces them to spend the day together hunting. During the trip, the two have an almost magical moment together.

Colin decides to visit Marina to get closure on what happened last season. He meets her twins and her new husband, but she realizes that she is not happy in the marriage. Marina convinces Colin to move on and that there are other people who long for his attention, like Penelope. He is still too oblivious to Penelope’s feelings towards him. 

Daphne decides that she is going to get to know Edwina, but she realizes quickly that she is not the right person for her brother. Portia has arranged for Jack and Prudence to be found together alone so that they will have to marry. He reveals that he does not have any money and was going to marry Cressida to secure her fortune for them. Daphne later finds Anthony and Kate in the library in a compromising position, which leads to her telling him to be honest with his feelings. After the ball, the Sharmas depart for London when Anthony stops them to propose to Edwina. 

At last, dear reader, we have reached the end of this recap. Until the next one for episodes five through eight of “Bridgerton.”