Back for its second season, Bridgerton brought another one of Violet and Edmund's children into the forefront of the dazzling narrative to see if a love match was in the cards for them or not. Anthony Bridgerton, as quoted, sets out on his "duty" to find a wife.
His efforts to do so did not bring a perfectly trodden trip down the aisle. He and some of the other characters chose courses of action that had the potential to tarnish reputations and break hearts, all held in beautiful balance as the season played out.
Queen Charlotte
The queen loves the gossip, but she doesn't like the mystery of not knowing who Lady Whistledown is. This season sees her double down on her intention to uncover Whistledown's identity, and she incorrectly targets Eloise.
This move by Queen Charlotte puts Eloise in a fretful position. By being given only 3 days to give in to the accusation, the queen puts Eloise on an irrational course. At the end of the day, what is she really going to do with the real Whistledown after the fun of the chase is over? Shut her down, or try to control her?
Penelope
As for the actual Lady Whistledown, Penelope spends the season continuing to publish her column and finding ways to get more creative so as to keep her identity hidden. She decides to print defamatory details about Eloise to throw the queen off her friend's trail while keeping her own covered.
By doing this, she ends up causing a couple of misfortunes. She adds to the shame already felt by the Bridgerton family from the failed wedding and betrays Eloise's trust. This also gives Eloise another clue that aids her in finally figuring out, in a Bridgerton twist nobody saw coming, that Pen is indeed Whistledown.
Eloise
Eloise's arc this season takes her from rebelling against being an eligible Bridgerton bachelorette to finding secretive ways to further engage in intellectual freedoms, which ends up placing her in the queen's Whistledown crosshairs thanks to Penelope's duplicity. She then rashly cuts things off Theo Sharpe.
Abruptly ending things with him served as a betrayal to both herself and Theo, since it clearly disappointed him. Theo was a great influence on her, and the two were forming a friendship that had the potential to become more. It's also worth noting that while her elder brothers are able to get away pursuing personal exploits unscathed, Eloise does not.
Colin
Back from his travels, Colin's only real positive impact this season is to engage in brotherly camaraderie with Benedict and Anthony. He makes a few poor choices, with the most consequential one being his snide comment to his friends that he would never consider courting Penelope Featherington.
What may have been an offhand comment among friends had a hurtful effect since it was overheard by Penelope herself. It seemed that she was poised to quit being Whistledown after her fallout with Eloise, but Colin's comment appears to have pushed her to the edge, as she's last seen in the season finale picking up her quill in a seemingly spiteful manner.
Portia
Portia Featherington has had quite the season. She's forced into another set of circumstances to look out for her family's financial bottom line and the prospects of her daughters while trying to suss out how to handle the new Lord Featherington. She ends up pushing her daughter Prudence into an engagement with Jack.
The unfortunate consequence of this is that it does nothing to resolve the financial issue, because Jack is essentially penniless and he was depending on marrying outside of the family for a dowry as his solution. Portia could've saved herself a lot of headache to do a little research before pushing cousins Prudence and Jack together.
Jack
Jack is the new Lord Featherington. He's young and seemingly successful in his business endeavors, so Portia's idea to see a Jack and Prudence marriage as a means for stability is perhaps not totally harebrained. However, Jack should've been more honest with Portia and not underestimated her.
Jack grew to appreciate Portia as she developed more fortitude during the season while they tried to hatch monetary schemes. Jack mistook Portia's growing agency as a reflection of his own self-serving attitudes. That came back to bite him in a powerful Bridgerton plot twist, as Portia decided that she had enough and figured out a way to send him packing.
Kate
The most likable new Bridgerton character is Kate, undeniably. Knowing that a woman doesn't get the same chances in life that a man does, the elder Miss Sharma naturally took the Sheffields' deal to ensure that her sister found a suitable match and receive financial backing as a reward. The thing is, Kate should've been upfront about it early on.
Having not done so, the deal rolled as a ticking bomb from episode to episode until it blew up at the dinner with the Sheffields, leaving a rift of distrust in its wake that took some time to repair.
Lady and Lord Sheffield
Lady and Lord Sheffield remain in the background for most of the season until they decide to pay a visit to celebrate their schemes coming together so swimmingly thanks to Kate playing her part in securing Edwina an advantageous betrothal. At the dinner hosted by Lady Danbury, they couldn't help being contemptuous.
Their bad behavior spoiled any chance of reconciliation with their daughter Mary, ruined any esteem held for them by their granddaughters, and left everyone else at the dinner table upset. Anthony rightfully stood by the Sharma women and kicked the Sheffields out without delay.
Edwina
The younger Miss Sharma is a charming young woman, a gem in her own right. She came to town in hopes to find real love in a future husband. She thought she found it in Anthony, but only found the idea of it. By wanting her sister's approval for Anthony so badly, she kept pushing the two together.
Every moment that Kate and Anthony spent together provided more opportunities for sparks to fly that didn't really require much encouragement. Edwina didn't notice the chemistry until it was almost too late. With eyes finally wide open, she called the wedding off.
Anthony
Anthony initially sets out to find a wife who is simply agreeable enough to become viscountess. Love was unimportant until he got to know Kate during his courtship of Edwina. He refused to acknowledge his feelings, even as strong as they were, and proposed to Edwina anyway.
In his heart, he knew better. Even his mother could see it; Daphne too. By insisting upon the marriage to Edwina he nearly caused three heartbreaks - Edwina's, Kate's, and his own. Thankfully Edwina chose to back out when she did, staking claim over her own life, and accordingly freeing Kate and Anthony to follow their own hearts.