Spoilers ahead for Season 2 of Bridgerton!
For the most part, fans and critics alike are digging what the sophomore season of Bridgerton is putting down. Even with Regé-Jean Page’s exit as the Duke of Hastings, the Regency-era drama series is making waves yet again for noteworthy South Asian representation and swoon-worthy dialogue. But in all honesty, Nicola Coughlan (who portrays Penelope Featherington/the young Lady Whistledown) revealed that a Season 2 scene actually made her feel “sick” when the cast and crew were filming it.
You and me both, kid. Viewers can probably already guess the traumatic scene in question. (And no, it's not that Colin Bridgerton diss.) It comes in the season finale, in which Penelope and Eloise Bridgerton (played by Claudia Jessie) have a major falling out. The kind that seems irrevocable. In an interview with E! News, 35-year-old Nicola Coughlan got real about how going into the scene was no promenade around the park, saying:
Friendship breakups are just so horrendous. To film that scene was really harrowing and actually like, made me feel sick to my stomach.
The former Derry Girls star – who actually got to whip out her real Irish accent in Season 2 – added to the outlet that she was “super nervous” to even broach the subject matter. So much so, in fact, that she and her real-life/on-screen bestie in Claudia Jessia were “really crying” amidst their faux fight. (Again, you and me both.) Ultimately, Nicola Coughlan described it, dear reader, as “just awful.”
Evidently, though, the co-stars kind of foresaw what was to play out between the fan-favorite friendship. The actress behind the youngest Featherington daughter moonlighting as a gossip columnist shared that some push back from the Bridgerton writers at one point is what sealed the deal and sent them a huge hint. She said:
We had an inkling that this was going to happen from the first couple of episodes. Because there was one line, where Penelope says to Eloise, 'You cannot lie to me!' And I went, 'Why is she saying that?' And I sort of questioned it and [the writers] said 'No, please say it. It's important because of later on.' And we both went, 'Oh, no. Oh, no. This is bad.'
Truthfully, it was a bad friendship breakup, but it feels like Netflix subscription-holders aren’t quite so worried that the two bosom buddies can’t patch things up, somehow. The more pressing concerns seem to be over the lack of sex scenes, in comparison to Season 1 -- and how there could have been way more of them in fact. Another lingering question, given Regé-Jean Page and others’ departures, is whether the latest lead actors, Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey, are returning for the next iteration. No worries, we found out that Kate and Anthony are indeed returning to the Ton, and they have some ideas about what they want to see happen next.
Ideally, the repair of the one solid friendship in Bridgerton will take priority as well in Season 3. But as we all know, each subsequent story focuses on the next sibling in line for True Love, which in next year’s case is Benedict (played by Luke Thompson). We'll be eagerly awaiting what’s to come in the sickeningly sexy and emotional streaming series, including the rest of the 2022 Netflix TV schedule!
