We are nearly at the close of season two of Netflix’s Bridgerton. And if you are anything like us, you are still swooning over that passionate (and long-awaited) colliding moment between Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate (Simone Ashley). But before we start waving our “Kanthony” banners, we need to step back. Was this moment opening up new doors, or was it goodbye? With two episodes left, we can only imagine what the rest of the ton has up their sleeves as well. Let’s not waste any more time and dive into episode seven, “Harmony.”
DISCLAIMER: It goes without saying that this recap will contain spoilers for Bridgerton; if you haven’t watched it, check out the series here!
RELATED: What To Know Before Bridgerton Season Two Kicks Off!
Lady Whistledown’s Identity
“Harmony” opens as Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews) tries to decide whether the failed wedding of Anthony and Edwina (Charithra Chandran) has an actual reason. But, excuses aside, the fault falls to the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel). But will she let Lady Whistledown continue to talk badly about her? We don’t think so.
As the ton awakes in London, Kate relives the heated moments between her and Anthony. That kiss. Dear lord, that kiss. She is pulled out of her daydream when it’s time for her morning bath. The tension between Edwina and Kate is so thick we could cut it with a knife. However, it does seem that Lady Mary (Shelley Conn) seems to have calmed down over the situation and even offers Kate some advice on dealing with her nerves.
The ton appears to have made the Bridgerton home a spot on their gossip tour. Inside, Violet (Ruth Gemmell) is stressed out over the scandal that has fallen over them as the rest of the siblings try to make light of the situation. Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) and Gregory (Will Tilston) are bickering back and forth while Benedict (Luke Thompson), Colin (Luke Newton) and Eloise (Claudia Jessie) discuss why a woman changing her mind is just a big deal.
Face-Off Against the Ton
Finally, Anthony shows up and, instead of opening up about Kate to them, decides to take his mom’s advice and head to the promenade. But Eloise needs to go “buy gloves,” which is code for visiting Theo (Calam Lynch). Outside, however, she is stopped by the Queen herself. Uh-ho, someone had better save our girl!
Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) has the same idea as Violet and has taken the Sharmas out to promenade. However, both families seem to be getting the cold shoulder from everyone. They both hope that something bigger hits the gossip sheets to draw the ton’s attention. There is one family who dares to talk to the Bridgertons. The Featheringtons. But not for well wishes or hope. Lady Portia (Polly Walker) wants to take jabs at Violet. Remind her of the scandal they dealt with last season. But look how well they are doing now, one daughter married and another on her way to the alter.
“Harmony” returns to the Bridgertons, where Eloise is trapped in the Queen’s carriage. The Queen fully believes that she is Lady Whistledown and fully intends to out her if she doesn’t agree to help her. However, Eloise is in no position to make alliances since she isn’t Lady Whistledown. She has three days to make her choice, or the Queen will tear the Bridgertons down. So now what is Eloise going to do?
The awkward hellos continue at the promenade as Violet and Lady Danbury lead the others. It seems more damage control is going to be needed and both families will have to work together. They can’t change their story now, but they can make it seem like there is no ill-will towards each other. And what better way than to host a ball. And everything will go swimmingly as long as Anthony and Kate can keep from mauling each other in front of everyone.
This leads to an argument between Anthony and Violet. She wants to make sure that he will be able to handle it and wants to know how he sees the rest of the season playing out. His answers imply that if he can’t have Kate, he doesn’t want to marry at all. He even goes on to say that his brothers can continue the Bridgerton line. We hate seeing Anthony think he is a failure in Violet’s eyes when she just wants him to follow his heart.
Saving Eloise
Back at the Bridgerton household, Eloise tells Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) what happened with the Queen. Penelope tries to get her to visit that Queen, but they both know she won’t see reason. Eloise wants to warn Theo, but Penelope warns her to stay away and not give the Queen more ammo. The best course of action is to wait until Lady Whistledown prints her next column and use that to prove her innocence.
Later that evening, Penelope sneaks out to meet with Madame Delacroix (Kathryn Drysdale) and fills her in and everything. She is worried because she doesn’t know how to save Eloise from this fate. Delacroix’s advice is to print something terrible about Eloise. No woman would ever make herself look bad publicly. But Penelope can’t do that to her best friend. She can’t ruin her. But right now, it seems like that might be her only choice since she won’t turn herself in.
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“Harmony” swaps to Benedict at the Royal Academy, who seems to be enjoying the more laid-back feel of his school. Anthony pops in for a visit and after some brotherly bickering and snappy remarks, Benedict lays some solid advice on him. If he isn’t happy with how he is looking at something, change the perspective but don’t walk away from it completely. We want to submit to the court exhibit 1248392 why Benedict Bridgerton is our favorite brother and second son.
The attempt to persuade the ton that everything is fine between the Bridgertons and the Sharmas continues. Edwina doesn’t seem to onboard and we don’t blame her. But it seems that Anthony and Kate are suffering in their own ways. Anthony uses his moment along with Lady Mary to apologize for everything he has caused. While late, at least he did it. Lady Mary also sees the fault in herself for not stepping up to the plate when her husband died and allowing things to fall the way they did.
We skip over the Mr. Mondrich’s (Martins Imhangbe) gentlemen’s club, which isn’t doing well when Lord Featherington (Rupert Young) arrives. This doesn’t appear to be a mere social visit. Lord Featherington is here to pretty much blackmail Will. He won’t tell the ton about throwing the fight last season as long as Will keeps himself out of Lord Featherington’s affairs.
However, this isn’t the only scandal brewing as we slip over to the printshop. It seems Eloise did not heed Penelope’s advice. The scandal with the Queen isn’t the only thing breaking Eloise’s heart. Theo wants nothing to do with her now that he is being questioned about his connection to her. He nearly lost his job over it. Eloise has her family to protect her, but he has nothing, and he isn’t risking his job and life to continue to be a part of her little dream.
Can They Fix This?
“Harmony” returns to Kate and Edwina. We knew through this entire season that Kate and Anthony were end game, but conversations like this make us cry for Edwina. To hear how skewed her feelings on true love have become and to watch her suffer over the lies Kate and Anthony told. We want nothing more than for her to find her happy ending between the season closes.
Halfway through the episode, we finally get a mention of the infamous kiss. Anthony seems to be heading Benedict’s advice and trying to put a spin on his perspective, but Kate shoots him down. There is nothing between them and never can be. This door seems to be closing and fast. Violet and Lady Danbury’s plan to win the ton back over is working. People are talking to them again and they even catch the attention of a few with mention of the ball. Maybe that could help reopen the door between Kate and Anthony?
At the Featherington household, Penelope tries to think of what to say to save Eloise from the Queen. During a break, she runs into Colin and Lord Featherington in the parlor. Colin seems to be interested in investing in the mines. He wants to try to make a name for himself but asks her to keep it from Anthony for now. He doesn’t need his big brother jumping in or down his throat. Their sweet and endearing moment is cut short when Lady Portia spots them and rushes off to remind Lord Featherington that Colin isn’t a good option for scheming.
The Bridgertons are as anxious as ever (well, some more than others) as the ball looms closer. Maybe going with harmony as their theme wasn’t the right choice. Penelope swoops in and saves Eloise before she blurts everything out in the open. The two rush off and Eloise opens up about her plans to confess and pretend to be Lady Whistledown and the Queen’s ally. She hits Penelope with the “loyal” word and we know full well that she has been anything but it. Now Penelope must make a choice. Stand aside and lose everything she has built or find a way to out her best friend.
One Empty Ball
“Harmony” jumps to right before the Bridgerton/Sharma ball as the final preparations take place and everyone continues to get ready. We are gifted a montage that includes Penelope writing what must be the next Lady Whistledown sheet. But what is it that she could possibly say? Finally, we land back on the Bridgertons as they descend and prepare for the ball. The Sharmas and Lady Danbury arrive, but no one else does. It seems the ton hasn’t gotten over the scandal after all.
But Anthony isn’t about to let things get ruined and is swapping perspectives as he invited Hyacinth and Gregory down to take part in a country dance with everyone. It is probably one of our favorite scenes throughout the second season. Everyone is happy and enjoying the moment as they dance and swap partners. It makes the following pain so much worse. The reason the ton didn’t show for the party isn’t that they didn’t believe their story. It is because Lady Whistledown has outed Eloise. Oh, Penelope.
This news leads to a chain of events. Lady Portia gives Lord Featherington the okay to take Colin’s money, Anthony is leveled with another failure of his family and it seems that Penelope is done being Lady Whistledown. Hearts are breaking all around and it appears that Edwina isn’t ready to let Kate back into hers. This argument sends Kate into the gardens, where she runs into Anthony alone. Of course, their first instincts are to bicker, banter and downright argue.
True Feelings
But that passion shifts quickly as Anthony finally admits his true feelings for Kate. It seems they are both tired of making their life choices for the betterment of their families and that maybe it is time for them to figure out what they want. Which seems to be each other and it looks like they are finally going to do something for themselves. And each other.
Anthony awakes alone, outside in a thunderstorm, while Kate rushes home the following day. Both deal with their emotions and feelings towards last night’s escapades differently. Anthony runs to get his mother’s betrothal ring while Kate heads out for a ride to clear her head. Finding out that Kate isn’t home leads Anthony out after her. “Harmony” comes to a close as Kate tries to make a jump and is thrown from her horse and hits her head on the ground.
RELATED: Keep up with Bridgerton with our recaps!
We say this for everyone; cliffhangers should be illegal, especially for Bridgerton. We would be surprised if, at that moment, Anthony didn’t have flashbacks to his father’s death. It seems like all happy things lead to terrible endings for him. Let’s hope that her near-death (because we refuse to believe she is dead) won’t scare either of them away from being with each other. We are so close to a happy ending yet so far. Speaking of people not getting happy endings, we would like to say that while we know Penelope was trying to protect Eloise, we are not happy with her. In the least bit.
Let’s run as fast as we can from this cliffhanger; it’s time for the season finale of Bridgerton!
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Who I Am: A nerd by the strictest definition. I enjoy diving straight into my favorite fandoms without a care in the world. I live on video/board games, fantasy movies and TV, and all things geeky.
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