We are finally here. We have survived to reach the end of Netflix’s second season of Bridgerton. And we say survived loosely. The cliffhangers from episode seven are still sitting heavy on our brains and hearts. What is Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) going to do? Will Kate (Simone Ashley) be okay? Will Eloise (Claudia Jessie) survive this scandal? Will everything go back to normal? Will we get our happily ever after? Only one way to find out. Let’s dive into the season finale, “The Viscount Who Loved Me.”
DISCLAIMER: It goes without saying that this recap will contain spoilers for Bridgerton; if you haven’t watched it, check out the series here!
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All His Fault
“The Viscount Who Loved Me” picks up exactly where we left off. Anthony rushes up, scoops up Kate and rushes her back to Lady Danbury’s (Adjoa Andoh). The surgeon is called for as Anthony, Edwina (Charithra Chandran), Lady Mary (Shelley Conn) and Lady Danbury look on helplessly. Benedict (Luke Thompson) arrives soon after hearing of the accident and Anthony confides in him that all of this is his fault. Not why it is, but just that it is.
The rest of the ton seems only to be thinking of the lack of word from Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews). Since her news about Eloise, she hasn’t written anything. One would think they would have more important things to do, but Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) has them wrapped tightly around her finger.
The Featheringtons are fairing well in this storm. Penelope isn’t allowed to associate with the Bridgertons, but Lady Porta (Polly Walker) and Lord Featherington (Rupert Young) are allowed to cheat Colin (Luke Newton) out of his money. And then, on top of that, they decide to use his money to plan a ball. And since Lady Portia wants everyone to know how well they are doing, she is even willing to invite the Sharmas and Bridgertons.
The Bridgertons, however, are not fairing well. Violet (Ruth Gemmell) is trying to keep things together and is worried about Kate, while Eloise is upset that no one is taking her scandal seriously. To make matters worse, Anthony has thrown himself into his work and is angry that no one told him that people are quitting and that Colin has taken a ton of money out of his account. No one seems to be out of Anthony’s sight as he rips into his siblings before they storm out. Violet tries to ask about Kate, but we learn that Anthony hasn’t even been to see her over the last week.
Upstairs, Eloise receives a package. She tries to turn it away, but her footman is rather pushy. In the wrapping, she finds a book with a note which has to be from Theo (Calam Lynch). Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long to see who the letter came from as Eloise makes a secret trip to the printshop. Theo chased Eloise away because he knew Lady Whistledown was watching them. Theo never wanted her to get hurt over their friendship, but it seems that happened anyway. To make it up to her, he fills her in on what he knows about Lady Whistledown.
Missing Lady Whistledown
“The Viscount Who Loved Me” takes us to the palace where the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel) is meeting with Lady Danbury. Without Lady Whistledown to keep her occupied, she is somewhat bored. Maybe trying to silence her for good wasn’t the best idea? Or perhaps new interests are something the Queen needs. Also, we would like to put it out there that when we aren’t feeling well, a few necklaces would be lovely.
Over at Mr. Mondrich’s (Martins Imhangbe), Colin and Lord Featherington meet to discuss the mines. Will tries to keep out of their business, but he can’t let him drag Colin into his lies. This causes an argument to break out and Colin defends the Featheringtons before storming out. Lord Featherington returns home to share his worries about the men starting to ask for returns on their investments. His escape route is for them to leave and start up their ruse in another city. Trying to find a way to get her to listen, he uses his charm.
Back at Lady Danbury’s, Kate finally awakes to everyone’s delight. It is nice to see that Edwina and Kate might be able to salvage their relationship and move on from the lies after everything. While everyone is happy to see that Kate is doing well, Kate struggles with the undoubtedly painful understanding that Anthony has not been by to see her at all.
Back at the Bridgerton home, Violet gives Anthony the good news and he breaks down. His strong facade cracks and we can see just how much Anthony has been suffering over her accident and the thought of losing her. He doesn’t know if he can allow anyone to hold that power over him, but Violet gives some of the best advice we have heard so far. He needs Kate and she needs him and they shouldn’t ruin their chance at happiness being afraid that they will eventually be faced with sadness.
“The Viscount Who Loved Me” returns to Eloise, who visits the modiste to question Madame Delacroix (Kathryn Drysdale). Madame Delacroix manages to shut down her questioning by throwing her own scandal back in Eloise’s face just as the Featheringtons walk in. Eloise uses this moment to drag Penelope away to share with her what she has learned. Penelope shuts her down immediately. She doesn’t want Eloise to realize that she was behind Lady Whistledown this whole time.
At the Royal Academy, Benedict has his heartbroken as well when he learns that the only reason he was accepted was that Anthony donated quite a large sum of money. And after spending the whole season being so happy for him, our hearts break too. Benedict is clearly just trying to find himself in this world and his art has been everything to him and now it looks like he didn’t accomplish this on his own merit.
Patches on the Heart
Anthony seems to be trying to patch things up with Kate when he arrives at Lady Danbury’s with flowers. She thanks him for saving her life and he tells her what happened the morning of her fall. He never wanted it to happen the way it did and he needed to apologize and ask her to marry him. But she cuts him off and tells him that she is returning to India once everything is settled. Anthony accuses her of running away and we would have to agree.
We jump back to Eloise, who isn’t heeding Penelope’s advice and continues to discuss the Lady Whistledown business with Theo. There is a sweet moment of both Eloise and Theo picking up papers and just before the two share a kiss, she pulls away. She then breaks her and Theo’s hearts by deciding that they can’t see each other anymore. She doesn’t want to hurt him by dragging him down with her. We would do anything to protect Eloise Bridgerton. Consider us armed. It also looks like Eloise isn’t the only one closing the door on the Lady Whistledown business.
“The Viscount Who Loved Me” returns to Kate and Edwina, who finally get the chance to talk through everything that has happened. Kate finally tells Edwina the truth about how she feels about Anthony and how she has been lying to herself the entire time. Edwina makes her promise that the two of them will learn more about who they truly are and be honest with their feelings and intentions, starting with the Featherington Ball.
It has been seven and a half long episodes, and we finally get the chance to see a late-night swing sibling chat between Eloise and Benedict. The two open up to each other more than any of the other siblings and the advice they share is honest and supportive. Editors note: listening to both of them discussing imposter syndrome makes us feel seen and heard loud and clear.
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Inside, Gregory pays a visit to Anthony for some fatherly support. And Anthony delivers better than he has all season. The two share a heartwarming moment discussing their father (Rupert Evans) and Anthony is able to share with Gregory what he knew about him. Anthony is ready to be the big brother and father figure that his family needs. Not the hard Viscount who micromanages, but the heartwarming soul who helps guide his family.
We continue to see relationships be stitched back together as we watch Kate and Lady Mary finally share their feelings and work through everything this season. Lady Mary apologizes for not being more helpful with Edwina and allowing Kate to take on the burden. Kate then shares how Anthony was going to propose out of obligation for what happened between them. Not because he loved her and that is why she turned him away.
A Scandalous Ball
“The Viscount Who Loved Me” dances its way into the Featherington Ball, where everything seems to be going gloriously for Lady Portia. The Bridgertons are also in attendance though Eloise doubts she should be there. It is nice to see that Violet and her can see eye to eye and share their feelings. It can be hard when a mother and daughter are two different people.
Eloise finds Penelope and shares everything about Theo and thanks her for protecting her. As they both settle into being wallflowers, Penelope remarks about a rumor she heard. And Eloise is really paying attention. Not just to what she said, but how she is saying it. Does Eloise know?
The Bridgertons aren’t the only ones attending the ball. The Sharmas are in attendance as well. Edwina says screw social norms and dances with her sister as Anthony watches from the wings. He isn’t the only one watching someone as Penelope spots Colin dancing with Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen). Colin accidentally breaks the ruby necklace and takes it from her during the dance.
Colin grabs Penelope and rushes her off to the parlor, where he explains that Lord Featherington has been lying about the mines the whole time. Lord Featherington and Lady Portia arrive just as Colin proves the necklace is made of glass. He demands all of the money be returned and Lord Featherington leaves town. Lady Portia plays off that she knew all along and Lord Featherington uses that charm to convince her to go with him and leave everything behind. Back out on the dance floor, Colin and Penelope dance. He saves the day and even tells Penelope that she is special to him. Polin fans, we can hear you cheering!
Elsewhere in the room, Edwina tells Kate to finally take what she wants and Anthony uses this moment to sweep in. He thinks she wants to keep their distance still, but Kate finally gives in and the two take to the dance floor. We believe it is highly appropriate that the song playing is an orchestrational version of Miley Cyrus‘ Wrecking Ball. The scandal of the two of them dancing sees everyone leave the floor, but they continue on.
When the rest of the ton starts making comments about Anthony and Kate, the Queen does what she does best and stands up for them. She sets the record straight, or at least her account of it, and forces everyone back to the floor to dance with the beautiful couple. She then decides that her nephew, you know the prince from last season, might be the perfect man for Edwina. The dance comes to a close as Lady Portia directs everyone outside for a surprise. Kate uses the moment to walk away from Anthony again.
Broken Friendships
“The Viscount Who Loved Me” jumps to Penelope, happy over her dance with Colin, as she heads to her room. But that happiness ends quickly when she realizes that Eloise is there. Her secret is out; Eloise now knows that Penelope has been Lady Whistledown this entire time. And she lied to her. But worse than that, she ruined her in the eyes of the ton. Her own best friend destroyed her friendship with Theo and has taken jabs at members of her family as well. We wonder if their friendship can ever be salvaged?
Downstairs, Lady Portia drops a bomb on Lord Featherington as well. She has no intention of leaving London with him. Lady Portia is making him the enemy in this scheme, forcing him to leave immediately and secure her and her girls’ future. Lady Portia can make some questionable choices sometimes, but everything she does is to ensure her daughters’ happiness in this world. She might have a different definition of happiness, but it is still all for them.
Penelope goes off searching for Eloise to try and make things right when she overhears Colin laughing with the other men. And we know that when you are eavesdropping on people, you never hear good things. Penelope overhears Colin saying that he will never court Penelope and we watch as her heart breaks into pieces. Polin fans, grab your tissues; you are going to need them.
While she rushes away, Benedict confronts Anthony and tells him of his plans to leave the Academy and that he knows what he did. Now it’s time for Anthony to drop some brotherly advice on Benedict and return the many favors he owes. He knows that Benedict has a natural talent in everything and wants him to continue doing whatever makes him happy. It’s great that Anthony is starting to recognize that finally.
One Happily Ever After Among Heartbreak
As Benedict heads off, Anthony searches for Kate and finds her alone in the gardens. And after eight long episodes, Anthony finally comes clean about his feelings for Kate. He has loved her from the very beginning and has continued to each day after. He wants to marry her because he can’t imagine his life without her and thankfully, Kate says yes. They seem to be well on their way to their happy ending.
“The Viscount Who Loved Me” then flashes to Penelope, who is left heartbroken over the loss of her friend and Colin’s words. Then it jumps to Colin as he arrives at Mr. Mondrich’s to apologize for what happened and explains he needed to gain Lord Featherington’s trust in order to learn more about the scheme. In return, he has brought as many men as possible to join the club. We then glimpse a very happy Edwina and Lady Mary before swapping to Benedict, who is packing up his art supplies.
We glimpse at Eloise, who is suffering home alone, before returning to Penelope, who has picked up her pen again. She isn’t ready to give up her role as Lady Whistledown. But will she use her words for good to try and win her friendship back with Eloise? Or will she continue writing the gossip and hurting others?
The second season of Bridgerton comes to a close at Aubrey Hall, where Anthony and Kate are enjoying their happily ever after before joining the rest of the family for a friendly game of pall-mall. Anthony will never get to play with the mallet of death again now that he has Kate to contend with. It’s all happy moments from here on out. That is until we get to season three and another scandalous season!
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Happy endings for everyone! Well, everyone meaning Kate and Anthony. It was a long road with many questionable choices, but we have arrived at Kanthony’s happily ever after. We are thankful that Edwina seems to be heading for hers as well, whether with the Queen’s nephew or another fine gentleman. But quite a lot of hearts were broken this season and we can’t wait for them to be fixed. We know that Netflix and Shondaland are giving us at least two more seasons, but will that be enough?
Let us know your thoughts on season two in the comments below and on social media!
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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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