The Real Reason Peloise's Path to Reconciliation Will Be Difficult in Bridgerton S3 Part 2

Summary

• Eloise and Penelope's friendship is at the heart of Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2.
• Both characters are at fault for the deterioration of their relationship.
• Pen and Eloise will have to learn who they really are.

Season 3 of Bridgerton is arguably the biggest television premiere of the spring. Clearly, there are several reasons for the buzz surrounding the third installment of Netflix's hit period romance drama.

First and foremost, it's the wait, as Season 2 of the show was released over two years ago and fans have grown thirsty for their favorite series. Secondly, it's the exciting friends-to-lovers story of Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington that viewers have been anticipating since Season 1 when it became clear that she had a crush on him. But perhaps more importantly, viewers have been looking forward to the resolution of Pen and Eloise's conflict.

The best friends, who fell out over Penelope's Lady Whistledown business, seemed to be slowly mending fences in the first part of Season 3. But their conflict may be more serious than it seems.

Penelope and Eloise Are Both to Blame for Their Falling Out

If you think about the way Eloise and Penelope's friendship has been portrayed throughout the show, in hindsight, their relationship has never been very healthy. And they're both to blame for making their relationship the way it was.

Sure, Eloise is a flawed character. She's terribly self-involved and delusional about a lot of things. She's also very idealistic and privileged, so she doesn't understand many aspects of life and people's motives – especially women's motives when it comes to marriage. But Penelope has a lot of problems herself.

She is extremely secretive and reserved, which is not a good thing when trying to make friends with someone. Even though Penelope considered Eloise to be her best friend, she didn't trust Eloise enough to really open up about her desires and fears.

When Eloise asked Pen directly if there was anyone she liked, Penelope lied and said that there was no one. Obviously, she was afraid to say that she had a crush on Colin, but she could have at least said that there was someone she was interested in.

Season 3 Part 2 Will Put Peloise to the Test

In this light, you cannot expect either of the girls to really understand each other. They approached their friendship differently and it meant different things to them. They never paid attention to each other's personalities. And the most heartbreaking thing is that they probably weren't friends with each other so much as they were friends with what they thought each other was.

Obviously, they aren't, which is why both characters struggled to understand each other's actions in Season 3 Part 1. And with Part 2 focusing on Pen's secret about Lady Whistledown, Eloise and Penelope will have a hard time learning who they really are before they can try to rebuild their friendship.

Part 2 of Bridgerton's third season premieres today, June 13.