What happened in Bridgerton season 2? Key moments to remember for season 3

The second season ended in quite spectacular fashion as Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma's (Simone Ashley) electric love story came to a close with quite the happy ending.

The same couldn't be said of Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Eloise's (Claudia Jessie) friendship, as Lady Whistledown's true identity threatened to drive a wedge between the besties – and that it did.

Rather helpfully, Netflix have released a handy little recap video of some of the season's big moments, which you can watch below.

Well, as the third season is set to focus on Penelope and Colin's (Luke Newton) love story, here's a recap of Bridgerton season 2 and what key moments may need to be brushed up on ahead of watching the third seasons.

What happened in Bridgerton season 2? Key moments to remember for season 3

Anthony and Kate get married

Last season's burning romance was all about Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey). Although the eldest Bridgerton son didn't quite believe in the notion of true love, he went on quite the journey to finding Kate – and yes, that involved nearly getting married to her younger sister Edwina (Charithra Chandran).

Although Anthony and Kate were very much at loggerheads for much of the second season, it was really just a ruse for their growing feelings for one another. They tried not to act on it to not hurt Edwina, but after Kate suffered a fatal accident, Anthony realised he couldn't live a life without her. In season 2's final episode, Kate tells Anthony she's leaving the Ton and eventually admits her feelings for Anthony to Edwina.

Edwina gives Kate the push she needs at the Featherington Ball and Kate and Anthony eventually share a dance together, much to the confusion of onlookers.

That night, they admit they love each other and Anthony tells Kate he wishes to marry her. The final scene is of the pair, six months later, who are now married and have returned after their travels to spend the day with the Bridgerton family.

Things ended up in a very good place for the pair so we'll just have to see what season 3 has in store for them. We have no doubt that they'll be enjoying married life, but as for what the future holds, we'll have to keep our eyes peeled.

Eloise finds out the true identity of Lady Whistledown

Throughout Bridgerton, Eloise (Claudia Jessie) has been intrigued by the mysterious newsletter writer, Lady Whistledown. The faceless gossiper manages to stress out the Ton with little more than her writing, often bringing people into disrepute, stirring up scandal and starting rumours about some of the known faces within society.

Since the season 1 finale, Bridgerton viewers have known its wallflower Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), who is Lady Whistledown, but being best friends with Eloise, Penelope has always managed to steer her friend away from cottoning on to Whistledown's true identity.

That all changed in the season 2 finale when, at the Featherington Ball, Pen makes a "keen observation" about some people in the Ton, much to Eloise's surprise. Since when did her friend know quite so much about others? When did she become such a gossip? Eloise ransacks Penelope's room, finds a lot of money and confronts Penelope. She confronts her with the fact that Penelope urged her to cut things off with Theo but now realises that if people were gossiping about Theo, Whistledown would've written about it weeks prior.

Penelope admits she is Lady Whistledown and after a fiery exchange, Eloise tells Penelope that she no longer wishes to see or speak to her ever again.

Penelope overhears Colin's comments about her

At the Featherington Ball, Colin tells Penelope about his findings that her cousin, Lord Jack Featherington (Rupert Young), is a fraud and does not own gemstone mines. He reports his findings to Portia (Polly Walker) also and afterwards, shares a dance with Penelope.

"I will always look after you Penelope, you are special to me," he tells her but during the dance, Penelope notices that the men of the Ton are smirking and giggling at them both.

Off the back of her heated confrontation with Eloise, Penelope goes in search of her in the Featherington gardens but finds Colin and his group of friends instead who are laughing loudly.

When questioned as to whether he's courting Penelope, Colin says: "I would never dream of courting Penelope Featherington. Not in your wildest fantasies." Penelope overhears this and tearfully runs away.

The Lady Whistledown drama continues

After admitting she is Lady Whistledown, Penelope tells Eloise that she is done with that for good and simply wanted to help her friend. But Eloise tells her that she pities her, calling her "an insipid wallflower" before storming out of Penelope's room.

Running off in search of Eloise and finding Colin demeaning her instead, Penelope then rushes back to her room to retrieve her paper and quill, ready to write as Whistledown once again.

"Gentle reader, you thought I was silenced but you thought wrong. And if there is one thing you should know by now, it is that this author cannot keep quiet for long," she writes. The last we see of Penelope is her finishing off writing her pamphlet as Whistledown with a smile on her face, but what does she have in store for the Ton?

Bridgerton season 3 part 1 premieres on Thursday 16th May 2024, part 2 will then be released on Thursday 13th June. Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now on Netflix. You can buy the Bridgerton book series on Amazon.

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