“Bridgerton” Season 2 arrives at the stroke of midnight Friday (PT) and with it a new season of the most delicious society gossip courtesy of one Lady Whistledown.
At the end of the first season, viewers were let in on Whistledown’s big secret in one of the show’s final moments – she is actually Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan), wallflower and youngest daughter of Lady Portia Featherington. That particular reveal means the show can bring viewers in on\the drama in Season 2, as Penelope tries to balance being a respectable young lady with her secret salacious writing gig.
“The central theme we’re exploring this season is head versus heart and that’s definitely true for Anthony and Kate, but that’s also true for someone like Penelope,” creator, showrunner and executive producer Chris Van Dusen told TheWrap. “Penelope – her heart is with this alter ego of hers, Lady Whistledown, but I think even she has to wonder if it makes sense, if being London’s most notorious gossip writer is really the wisest thing to be. And off the big reveal at the end of last season, it’s been really interesting to mine and explore this whole other side of Lady Whistledown and that entire operation that we didn’t get to see the first time around.”
As viewers get a peek at the columnist as she practices her secret trade, Season 2 will show how she finds out the ton secrets.
“What I find so fascinating about Penelope and her alter ego of Lady Whistledown is that Penelope is essentially invisible at these balls and when she’s on the marriage market, and when she’s around her peers,” Van Dusen said. “No one pays her much attention. But then she gets to don her Lady Whistledown disguise and this entirely different alter, this entirely different persona, and she gets to be loud and brash, and she’s suddenly so much more visible than anywhere else.”
Balancing those two sides – gossip columnist and respectable lady – however, puts Penelope in a tough spot.
“I think that, that’s an incredibly difficult thing for any young lady to deal with. And I think Eloise [Bridgerton] being on the marriage market at the same time only makes things that much more difficult and complicated for Penelope this year,” the EP added.
Keeping her secret from her best friend is one challenge, but Penelope has perhaps a greater challenge in keeping it from the crown, with all of the crown’s resources. Once again, Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) has determined to unmask the columnist she sees as a rival.
“She’s back with a vengeance,” Van Dusen said. “She’s more determined than ever to unmask Lady Whistledown and she comes up with a really smart plan in order to do so. And whether that plan works or not, I think people will have to wait and see.”
Another presence that looms large in Season 2 is Lady Danbury. While we won’t see her with Simon, the Duke of Hastings, who is absent this season, she plays a major role in helping to introduce Kate (Simone Ashley) and Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) to the ton.
“I love Lady Danbury so much, and what Adjoa Andoh has done with this character is just — it’s absolutely incredible. And this season, we get to see a whole new side of her because she is sponsoring the Sharma ladies, the Sharma sisters this year in London, and they’re living with her and she’s in charge of them. They are her wards, and she’s taken them under her wing, and she’s responsible for their debuts and so that makes her very, very invested this year with both Kate and Edwina and Lady Mary,” Van Dusen said. “And for a character who always sees and likes to be 10 steps ahead, it’s really interesting to see Lady Danbury grapple with things she wasn’t exactly prepared for. She definitely has her hands full this season.”
“Bridgerton” begins streaming Friday on Netflix.