Bridgerton's Most Intriguing Love Story Is Between Troubled Besties Penelope and Eloise

Warning: The following contains spoilers for Bridgerton Season 3 Part 1. Read at your own risk! 

Bridgerton Season 3 is the season of Polin — the shipper's name for Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) and Colin (Luke Newton) — and at the end of Part 1, the couple is already, well, probably engaged. Every season of Bridgerton and its spin-off Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story has ended with a happily ever after for the main couple, so we expect the same here, though we know Colin and Penelope still have some hurdles to overcome before they can settle into marital bliss. Though the notion that they will figure it out is a forgone conclusion, there's one relationship that is still on the rocks, with no guarantee that it will get sorted out: former BFFs Penelope and Eloise (Claudia Jessie). 

Penelope and Eloise had a potentially friendship-ending fight at the end of Season 2 when Eloise discovered that Penelope had been behind the Lady Whistledown column the entire time, and things were not been resolved at the end of Season 3, Part 1. In fact, things have gotten even more sour between the two. Not only have they not spoken, but Eloise has taken up with Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen), who has always been unnecessarily cruel to Penelope. Meanwhile, if Penelope accepts Colin's proposal, she's interwoven herself into the Bridgerton family while keeping a huge secret from them. 

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Bridgerton is a romance series, so it is a foregone conclusion that Penelope will say yes to Colin's proposal, either in the opening moments of Episode 5 or at some point in the season. The season of Polin all but guarantees that the pair will make it down the aisle somehow, and we'll just wait to see what obstacles will show up before they get there. At some point, Colin will have to find out what his new beloved has been doing in her spare time, but we can also feel safe in the fact that he'll find some way to forgive her for the Whistledown columns. If the rules of the romance genre didn't convince us, the fact that Colin and Penelope end up together in the books would. The same cannot be said for Penelope and Eloise. 

(Warning: Spoilers for the Romancing Mr. Bridgerton novel ahead)

Penelope and Eloise don't have a falling out over the identity of Lady Whistledown in Julia Quinn's novels. In the book, Colin is the first to find out about Penelope's alter-ego and she tells the entire 'Ton before Eloise finds out. When the book's version of Eloise does find out, she barely acknowledges it. It's essentially a non-issue once Penelope outs herself to society. 

Clearly, the show wanted to up the stakes, and it has. The first two seasons illustrate how close the friendship between Eloise and Penelope is. They understand each other like no one else does. They are smart and independent, and until this season, neither of them was marriage-minded. Colin has only just recently opened his eyes to how amazing Penelope is, but Eloise has known how special her best friend is for ages. And while the show's format demands at least one wedding every season, it does not demand that best friends make up. 

There's also a question of whether Penelope and Eloise should make up. Penelope lied to the closest person in her life for two years. She wrote disparaging things about Eloise and her family. Even if outing Eloise's flirtation with the printer's apprentice last season was out of a sense of protection, Penelope cost her best friend the first spark of romance she's ever felt. You can't blame Eloise for being apoplectic about that level of betrayal. 

Eloise also isn't innocent. There are many women she could have befriended in the ton, but she picked someone who has purposefully been condescending and, at times, downright mean to Penelope. She may be a wallflower, but Penelope has pride and Eloise spurning her to cozy up to Penelope's bully is not going to be an easy pill to swallow. 

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Every adult woman knows that few heartbreaks are greater than losing a best friend. You never forget it, but it is also a near-universal experience. Bridgerton is not obligated to mend fences between Penelope and Eloise completely, which makes the status of their relationship the most intriguing question of the series. If Colin and Penelope make it down the aisle (they will!), Penelope and Eloise will have to be at least civil to each other, but will they be the best friends that they used to be? It's not necessary, and it wouldn't really be realistic if they were. However, seeing the duo split up forever would be a tragedy. 

Penelope and Eloise became fan-favorite characters in Season 1 together. We, as an audience, fell in love with their banter and the sisterly love they have for one another. It was especially endearing because Penelope's biological family often ignored or insulted her. Penelope never judged Eloise for preferring to read books instead of looking for a husband. They were each other's safe harbor. We don't know if they will find their way back to their best friendship, but it would be the greatest tragedy of Bridgerton if they don't. 

Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2 will reveal whether Penelope immediately says yes to Colin's proposal or whether she comes clean about being Lady Whistledown. Meanwhile, we wait with bated breath to see what Eloise has to say about Penelope officially becoming her sister. That's the answer we want most. 

Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2 premieres June 13 on Netflix. Seasons 1- 3, Part 1 are now streaming.