Bridgerton Showrunner Breaks Down Eloise’s Season 3 Friendship

Bridgerton‘s showrunner broke down the Season 3 alliance between Eloise Bridgerton and Cressida Cowper. Jess Brownell talked to Vanity Fair about how the young woman forged this curious friendship. Cressida has been a bit of an antagonist in previous seasons of Bridgerton. However, after Penelope Featherington fell out with Eloise at the end of the last volume, there is a friendship of convenience brewing. Brownell said viewers are going to have “opportunity to get to know Cressida a little bit more.” 

The showrunner continued, “I love a mean-girl character, but even more, I love understanding why a mean girl is a mean girl. Because mean girls are not born, they’re made. You have Cressida, who has been this queen bee all along—but three years in without a husband, I think there’s some room for reflection with her. You’re going to see some new sides from her this year, and understand why she is the way she is.”

“Last season, Eloise had a bit of a bumpy ending,” Brownell also mentioned. “She got a little political with the printer, Theo (played by Calam Lynch), and nearly got herself and her family in big trouble. Then, on top of that, she realized that her best friend had been lying to her about Whistledown all along. So Eloise enters this season having lost a little bit of her fight, at least temporarily. There’s a little feeling of, if you can’t beat them, join them. When we were talking about who would be interesting to pair Eloise with, in terms of underlining how different she’s feeling this year without Penelope by her side, Cressida made a lot of sense.”

Bridgerton Season 3 Puts The Friends At Odds

Obviously, people have had their eyes trained towards Pen and Colin’s romance. But, the friendship of Eloise and Penelope has been a saga of its own. Each of these young women felt like the other let them down in a big spot last season. Now, with Eloise trying to find her way in the Ton and her friend needing a husband so urgently, a lot of viewers are eager to see the dynamic evolve in Bridgerton Season 3. Claudia Jessie actually spoke to Shondaland about this dynamic recently. Will there be a reconciliation? Only time will tell.

“I think we see her sort of stiffen slightly,” Jessie began. “[But] I actually feel like the best thing for Eloise is to find out who she is and be more comfortable with who she is. Because I think everyone’s reaction to Eloise is like a lovable eye roll, [but now] she’s trying this other way. And I don’t know if that’s necessarily going to work for her full-time either — I don’t know if it’s sustainable for someone with her character. So, I think we’ll see her internal battle. But I can only imagine it would be a good thing because she’s 19, and that’s a great age to figure out what you want for your future.”

Do you think the friends will reconcile in Season 3? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!