Eloise and Penelope - The True Heroes of Bridgerton

Shondaland’s crown jewel, the Bridgerton Series, recently announced that its highly anticipated Season 3 will premiere in 2024. The trailer confirms that it will focus on the long-awaited romance of Colin Bridgerton with none other than Penelope Featherington.

Though each season of the Bridgerton global phenomena has focused on a new member of the family finding love, the third season may challenge this belief. Is Season 3 just about Colin discovering his true love or does it uncover the actual storyline that ties all of the seasons together: the tenuous friendship between Eloise Bridgerton and Lady Whistledown?

Starting with Season 1, Eloise’s obsession with uncovering the true identity of Lady Whistledown is given equal emotional weight in the storyline as Daphne’s budding romance with the Duke. Talking about the centrality and importance of Eloise’s and Penelope’s friendship, an article in TV Line noted: “They’ve emotionally relied on one another for two seasons and even have their own shorthand…Perhaps this is why their gut-wrenching argument and breakup in the hit Netflix drama’s Season 2 finale caused so much concern among fans”.

Eloise’s shattering discovery at the end of Season 2 that her close and affectionate confidant, Penelope, is in fact her sharp critic is truly devastating. Lady Whistledown’s hurtful depiction of Eloise’s immaturity and poor romantic choice in Theo is especially crushing as Penelope has always been her steady and faithful friend. Her unswerving dedication had convinced Eloise that she would always remain her stalwart friend.

As Amanda Prahl of PopSugar observed, “Just like in the "Bridgerton" TV series, the friendship between Eloise and Penelope is one of the most enduring and important relationships in the book series by Julia Quinn”. She goes on to remark that Eloise and Penelope, in fact, are closer emotionally to each other than their own sisters. The mirage of perfect friendship between them even during times of personal crisis is dashed by Lady Whistledown’s biting and sharp commentary of Eloise, all the harder for her to process once Penelope’s double identity is revealed.

For a woman whose most memorable quote from the Bridgerton series is: “You wish to follow your heart. I wish to nurture my mind”, Eloise never fails to engage the viewer nor does Lady Whistledown. Their combined comradery and subsequent deep rift form a central and unforgettable thread throughout the Bridgerton series delighting its fans season after season.