'Bridgerton' Season 3 Episode 5 Takeaway: Hunt for Lady Whistledown's identity takes unexpected twist
Contains spoilers for 'Bridgerton' Season 3 and Julia Quinn's books
LONDON, ENGLAND: Dearest Gentle Readers, 'Bridgerton' has returned to Netflix with Part 2 of Season 3.
Centered around Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), this season doesn't follow a predictable pattern and instead unfolds several surprises and twists as the narrative progresses.
Part 2 opens with Colin announcing the engagement to his family while Penelope aka Lady Whistledown turns it into a headline in her next edition.
Bridgertons, Featheringtons, and other elites gather for their engagement party later in the episode. However, Penelope's joyous moment turns out to be rather tense as Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) asks Penelope to tell her secret to Colin by midnight, or else she will.
Why does Cressida Cowper announce herself as Lady Whistledown in 'Bridgerton' Season 3 Episode 5?
As the clock strikes midnight, Penelope, feeling short of breath, tries to tell her secret to Colin. However, as anxiety kicks in, she is unable to breathe, let alone spill the biggest secret of her life.
During this moment, Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen) stands up and claims to be Lady Whistledown. Her announcement comes as a shock to everyone, including Eloise who knows that it isn't true.
Earlier in the episode, we see Cressida's parents fixing her marriage with Lord Greer, who is thrice her age. The old man, standing on death's doorstep wants four to five children from Cressida, and he doesn't want her to enjoy music, modern art or trendy clothes.
So, when everyone at the engagement party discusses how Lady Whistledown will never have a shot at marriage owing to her scandalous secret and that she will be quite rich and powerful if her identity is disclosed, Cressida realizes that it is the perfect way to escape her doomed future with Lord Greer.
Is Penelope Featherington's secret safe in 'Bridgerton' Season 3?
With the raging anxiety, Penelope faints. As Colin attends to her, Eloise is unable to disclose the truth. And thus, Penelope's secret is safe for now.
The identity of Lady Whistledown is quite important for Cressida and she will not let Eloise stop her, especially since Eloise doesn't really care about Cressida's problems.
However, the only twist could be if Eloise accidentally tells Cressida that Penelope is Lady Whistledown.
In Julia Quinn's books, upon learning Penelope's secret, Cressida blackmails her for money. So we can gather that Penelope hasn't completely dodged the bullet and sooner or later, she will have to deal with Cressida's lies.
'Bridgerton' Season 3 is available to stream on Netflix.