Absolutely Everything That's Happened In Bridgerton So Far
Here's everything to remember from Bridgerton season one before the second season drops on Netflix this Friday
Listen up, dear reader. Bridgerton season two drops on Netlix tomorrow. Luckily, for those of you too busy to re-watch all of the first season before then, Tyla and Lady Whistledown, are here to give you a rundown of everything that occurred.
The first season of Bridgerton dropped on Christmas Day 2020, immediately shooting to success as one of the streaming giant Netflix's most popular shows. Produced by Shonda Rhimes, the show is an adaptation of Julia Quinn's best-selling regency romance book series of the same name.
Both book and show follow the Bridgerton siblings, with the first series focusing on the courtship between Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings (Rege-Jean Page).
Watch the video below and continue reading for your cheat sheet, or society papers, to the hit show's first season.
The series begins with the beginning of the social season, where Daphne is making her debut, as are the Bridgertons' neighbours, the Featheringtons. The social season is where aristocratic families look to secure good marriages for their daughters.
Unlike the previous social seasons, this one has had a bit of a shakeup with the introduction of a mysterious gossip columnist called Lady Whistledown. The mystery of Lady Whistledown's identity has piqued the interest of a number of society's key players, including the Queen.
Back to the events of the social season, where, at one of the first balls, Daphne meets a handsome stranger, who, it turns out, is the mysterious and brooding Duke of Hastings.
Daphne's older brother, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), is somewhat overprotective of his sister and intends to marry her to Lord Nigel Berbrooke (Jamie Beamish). Berbrooke is a rather creepy man who Daphne isn't particularly fond of.
Due to this, Daphne and Simon, who says he never wants to marry, hatch a plan to fake a courtship. This will stop the incessant harassment of Simon by eager mothers who see him as an ideal match for their daughters, and it will create something of a stir around Daphne, drawing even more eligible men to her.
Meanwhile, Anthony has found himself in an impossible love-match with the working-class opera singer Sienna. He breaks things off with her due to his duty to his family.
In what seems to be an attempt to forget Sienna, Anthony throws himself into planning a future for his sister Daphne. He's not best pleased to hear of her courtship with Simon, an old friend of his. Anthony is unaware that the courtship is fake but is aware that Simon doesn't plan on ever getting married.
In flashbacks, we see why Simon has chosen to forgo marriage and children. As a child, his father was both abusive and distant. Out of spite, at the side of his father's deathbed, Simon vowed that the line of Hastings would die with him.
And it's not just the Bridgertons who are causing a stir! Over at the Featherington household, their distant cousin Marina (Ruby Barker) has arrived with a secret - she is pregnant and unmarried.
Best friends, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Eloise Bridegerton (Claudia Jessie) discover Marina's pregnancy, which greatly confuses them - not knowing about sex, they assumed you HAD to be married to get pregnant.
And to make matters worse, to hide her out of wedlock pregnancy, Marina begins to court Colin Bridgerton, whom Penelope has an unrequited crush on. The courtship goes well and the two become engaged, that is, until Lady Whistledown makes the pregnancy known...
To add to the Featheringtons' troubles, it becomes clear that patriarch of the family, Lord Featherington (Ben Miller) has also been gambling with the family fortune.
Meanwhile, back with the Bridgertons, Daphne has begun to develop real feelings for Simon. To the extent that even when Daphne is being courted by Prince Friedrich (Freddie Stroma), she chooses to leave him to instead, spend time with Simon.
Simon, who now also has feelings for Daphne, becomes worried that he is standing in the way of Daphne finding a suitable match and decides to call off their arrangement. This leads Daphne to continue her courtship with the prince. That is until he attempts to propose and she runs off and instead kisses Simon.
But who should discover the pair kissing but Anthony, who, in a rage, challenges Simon to a duel. Before either man attends the illegal duel, Anthony goes to visit Sienna asking her to flee the country with him if he wins the duel.
Just as the duel is set to begin (with Simon aiming at the sky) Daphne arrives to put a stop to things. Daphne tells Simon that as someone else had seen them kissing they must get married, or Lady Whistledown will ruin Daphne's reputation. It's here that Simon tells Daphne that he can't have a children.
The two marry almost immediately following the almost duel, and depart for Simon's home, Clyvedon Castle. On the way they stop at an Inn and end up declaring their feelings for one another and consummating the marriage.
While back in London scandal is afoot, with Anthony once again ruining things with Sienna, and the news of Marina's out-of-wedlock pregnancy becoming public news, at Clyvedon, the Duke and Duchess are just doing it all over the place - to a string quartet cover of a Taylor Swift song.
They continue to live in marital bliss, until Daphne discovers that Simon has been purposefully preventing them from having children. This causes the two to unsurprisingly argue with one another.
They then return to the Duke's London home, where they put on the pretence of a happy couple as they begin plans to host the final ball of the season.
Anthony has asked Sienna to attend the ball with him, which would be a huge scandal considering the differences in their social standings. She turns him down however, stating that things between them could never work.
Back with the Featheringtons, the brother of Marina's lover arrives to tell her that he has died. He then offers to marry her, an offer she unwillingly accepts. Following Marina's depature from London, Colin decides that he too needs a break from society, and announces he plans to travel to Greece.
At the ball, Daphne and Simon work things out, once again declaring their love for one another. The pair decide to start trying for a child, and their first son is born not long after.
The night of the ball, the Queen, and Eloise are both on the hunt for Lady Whistledown. Just as Eloise is about to discover her identity she realises that the Queen plans to arrest Lady Whistledown and quickly warns her.
As Lady Whistledown leaves in her carriage the viewer sees her remove her cloak revealing that Lady Whistledown is actually... Penelope Featherington.
While things are beginning to look up for the Bridgertons, the Featheringtons are struck by further disaster when a gambling debt ends with Lord Featherington's murder.
By the end of the social season, Anthony is completely heartbroken and has decided to remove love from the equation when finding someone to marry.
Season two of Bridgerton will drop on Netflix on Friday. This season's story will follow Anthony as he sets out to find a wife, Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran), who is everything a young lady of London society should be.
Anthony, however, begins to find himself developing feelings towards Edwina's overprotective older sister Kate (Simone Ashley), who makes her disdain for Anthony quite clear...
Featured Image Credit: NetflixIsobel Pankhurst