‘Bridgerton’ Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: Into The Fire

We are in the penultimate episode of Bridgerton Season 2 (Episode 7, “Harmony,” was written by Oliver Goldstick and directed by Cheryl Dunye) and things are hella awkward between Kate and Edwina, Anthony and everyone, the queen and Lady Whistledown, just lots of tension and upset going around. What is not awkward are the AMAZING copper bathtubs the Sharmas have, but alas, one cannot spend all one’s time in the bath. Following the aborted nuptials between Anthony and Edwina, the Bridgertons and the Sharmas are on the brink of social ruin, the object of scrutiny by the ton, and served more than one cut direct. Is that stopping Anthony from huffing Kate’s scent every time she’s near? No, absolutely not, even if the families are working to present a united front to allay further unflattering speculation.

I’m not sure how having super intense conversations in public is supposed to help and not make it look like something is definitely up with the Bridgerton-Sharma pact, but Anthony and Lady Mary do get a chance to square up after everything that happened, and here Lady Mary acknowledges that Kate’s behavior is at least in part due to the amount of responsibility she assumed for their family after Mr. Sharma’s death. If only even one Bridgerton would make the same observation about Anthony! Alas, they’re still clueless about why he’s such a basket case. Edwina, though, is not ready to let go of her hurt—nor should she be! She is the wronged party here!—and she is RAKING Kate and Anthony over the coals. She deserves to get a few good licks in, even as the families plot a harmony-themed ball to make their social comeback.

But it’s all for naught. The Bridgertons managed to evade scandal last season, when Daphne and Simon sorted their sh-t out just in time, but they are not so lucky. Unfortunately, the scandal that eclipses the love triangle’s drama is that Lady W reveals Eloise’s “ruinous” dalliances with the political class on the dodgy side of town. To save Eloise from the queen’s accusations that she is Lady Whistledown, Penelope writes something so scandalous Eloise would never write it about herself. She doesn’t name Theo Sharpe directly but revealing Eloise’s trips to the dodgy side of town is enough, and the jab that Eloise’s interests are politically radical is a step too far for the ton.

Much as she did to Colin, Penelope uses her pen to save a friend by destroying them. But Eloise is not a man, she cannot walk away from scandal so easily, and the widespread knowledge she has been consorting with undesirable types unchaperoned is over the limit. No one comes to the Bridgerton harmony ball because Eloise has dragged the family a step too far into scandal. It does, however, allow for a moment of collegiality between the Bridgertons and Sharmas, and Anthony and Hyacinth—the Bridgerton “bookends”—have a nice moment, too, where we actually get to see Anthony being a surrogate father for a second.

Still—scandal abounds. And honestly, for the second-to-last episode, it feels like a LOT is still going on. Besides the central plot between Anthony, Kate, and Edwina remaining unresolved, there is now Eloise’s scandal and Colin on the brink of investing with the fraudulent Cousin Jack, while that man also threatens Will Mondrich. There’s only one episode left! This is TOO MUCH left to wrap up! Especially since we’ve only JUST got to the good part as Kate and Anthony finally consummate their relationship. For a show that was esteemed in its first season for its portrayal of pleasure, Bridgerton has been remarkably chaste this season. Sure, the stares and the pining between Kate and Anthony are their own kind of sexiness—the yearning is palpable, and all that tension is delicious—but with so many subplots still to resolve, and Kate ending this episode unconscious after a fall from her horse (a beautifully photographed sequence, by the way), it feels like we’re going to have to ram through the resolutions to all these storylines without much ceremony. And after this buildup—all this foreplay—Kate and Anthony deserve their moment in the sun. Or the moonlight, as the case may be.

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Sarah Marrs is a film critic and the deputy editor of LaineyGossip.com, and a programmer for the Chicago Critics Film Festival. She also has bylines at Pajiba, SYFY Fangrrls, and Consequence of Sound. She can be yelled at on Twitter @Cinesnark. Sometimes she goes places and does things.