Capital R Rake

Lady Whistledown has not been seen or heard from since last season. The Queen is curious about where she may be and what could have happened to her.

Penelope is still knocking about, but she’s keeping a low profile in the Featherington household. Lady Featherington is still awaiting a Lord to help take over the house.

Eloise is a struggling young woman who is desperate to make a good impression on the Queen. She has difficulty taking steps forward and often struggles to breathe.

A message from Lady Whistledown arrives by tray and is presented to the Queen and the many others in attendance, thankfully saving the day. ..

Whistledown is a mysterious woman who has been sharpening her knives to help hatch her next plan. She is not suspected by anyone around her and seems to be very good at it. She wants to know who the Queen will choose as her latest diamond.

Anthony meets a new character this year, racing a woman across the vast countryside. When he eventually catches up with her, she doesn’t reveal her true name and simply rides away. Well, this woman happens to be called Kate, who is the eldest daughter of Miss Sharma. There’s also her younger sister, Edwina too. ..

Lady Danbury is sponsoring the ball and she is looking for potential matches for Edwina. The Sharma family is new in town and they are interested in finding a potential match.

Kate has no interest in marrying a handsome stranger who has shown no interest in marriage himself. ..

Edwina is there to help Kate, reassuring the young woman and helping to get her dressed for the ball. ..

Naturally, all the other women start gossiping about their origins, as Kate notices Anthony from a distance, pointing out that he’s the most prominent bachelor this season.

Kate is watching from afar as Edwina is called off for a dance. She has mixed feelings about Anthony, but she’s more interested in the men he’s talking to outside. She doesn’t care too much about love, but she does want someone with an acceptable wit and good looks.

Eventually Kate confronts him and takes offence to his attitude, pointing out it’s as bad as his horse-riding skills. Boom, take that Mr. Bridgerton!

Penelope continues to work around the periphery of the ball, listening in to various bits of gossip. It’s a delicate balancing act, especially as we now she’s Whistledown, and here we see her hurrying off to see her distributor, who brings out 800 copies for the lofty sum of 11 pounds.

Whistledown urges the Queen to make her choice over who the season’s diamond is going to be. The Queen though, refuses to be swayed.

Kate is a diamond in the rough. She’s not getting any attention from bachelors, so she goes on a morning ride with Lady Danbury. Lady Danbury questions Kate’s intentions and Kate has to defend herself. ..

Edwina Sheffield has been in a secret relationship with her best friend, Kate, for the past year. Neither of them knew that their families were arranging a marriage between Edwina and a noble Englishman in order to regain the family’s honour. However, when Kate found out about this, she decided to take matters into her own hands and propose to Edwina herself. Their families have agreed to give Edwina a dowry and take care of her mother if she marries properly, but they are unaware of the true nature of the relationship between Edwina and Kate. ..

Kate is devoted to her mother, Edwina, and wants to make sure she is taken care of. But would her sister still think the same of her if she knew the truth? ..

Danbury presses this question on Kate, urging her to open up and tell her sister the truth. Kate wants to keep this a secret though, believing it would crush her and cause problems. But will it stay a secret?

The Queen makes her decision and selects her diamond. Edwina Sharma soon shows up to interrupt this to ask for a dance. Anthony Bridgerton soon arrives to request a dance from the Queen. ..

Whistledown is a woman who has come to the conclusion that diamonds are not what they once were. She believes that all women can be great in their own way, and that diamonds are only a tool used by men. This change of heart has big implications for the Featherington household, as Lord Featherington starts to take more notice of Whistledown and her unique perspective.

The Episode Review

Bridgerton is back and one can’t help but see a lot of similarities to season 1. Kate is essentially playing the part of Simon this time, while Anthony’s brash attitude and arrogance is likely to be smoothed out by Kate, with them “pretending” to be with each other for the sake of Edwina. If this does happen (I haven’t read the books, mind) then we’re well on our way to a copy of season 1.

The first season of “House of Cards” was a great success, with a well-done story and strong characters. The second season looks to be even better, with more development and action taking place. The set design and production values are top-notch, making this one of the most exciting TV shows on television right now.

Anyone who followed my reviews before will know that I’m not exactly sold on this show and there’s nothing here that would suggest this is going to be a mind-blowing period drama. ..

I was impressed with how they’ve handled Penelope this time around though, and given that we know that she’s Lady Whistledown, there was always a danger that this would dilute the mystery. Instead, we see a lot more of her character and start to understand exactly how she’s managed to learn all this information to drive her articles.

This 70-minute episode ends with a promise of more drama to come this year. ..