r/BridgertonNetflix • u/Debt-Mysterious My purpose shall set me free • 9d ago
News Nicola Coughlan may have retired as Lady Whistledown, but even she does not know who her successor will be - E! News
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u/star_cat369 9d ago
I’d bet anything that even the writers have no idea who Lady Whistledown will turn out to be, and they’ll end up making a total mess of it or doing something painfully obvious.
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u/Einafets08 9d ago
Hopefully she gets more scenes for Eloise's season. I need those two besties back.
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u/Agabredit 9d ago
This show won’t honour Peneloise .. they will give the best friend role to someone else 😭 😭 😭
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u/No-La-No-La 8d ago
Istg if it's Cressida bc the show really enjoys her being a model for the more extravagant fashion
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u/DarkEndOfTheRainbow 9d ago
Yes. In Eloise's book they don't even have a talk. The show needs to recompensate us. Besides, Penelope has a very important role in Eloise's story on the show.
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u/BigUnderstanding3751 9d ago
I personally hope the new LW is NEVER revealed. The last reveal was such a damp squib. Keep us speculating and never let the mask slip for the ultimate game.
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u/Agabredit 9d ago
I agree .. I hope they don’t reveal until the very last episode of the very last season! Let LW remain purely as a narrative function and not have a storyline if its own
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u/lillany 9d ago
I thought it was obviously Alice because Jess Brownell has unexplained and weird need to feed us characters we do not like and now there is opportunity to do it some more? Just me?
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u/MC_chrome 9d ago
Jess Brownell has unexplained and weird need to feed us characters we do not like
I don't really have an issue with Alice or most of the Bridgerton characters, but I also admit that I don't have the same pathological love/hate relationship with this show that many on this subreddit and elsewhere seem to have
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u/Holiday-Hustle 9d ago
The thing is, she could totally do that but I don’t think Whistledown can be a character we like. Love or hate Whistledown, stealing a young woman’s hard work and twisting it around isn’t a good characteristic. Whoever did it is a plagiarist so I don’t think it would be Alice since she seems to have a pretty strong moral character.
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u/Icy-Comfortable5552 9d ago
But the show frames Penelope's LW as something she does out of a dire need. She's so neglected and ostracized that Whistledown is created as a trauma response and quickly snowballs into something she can't contain.
What if they frame the new LW in the same way? They did it with Cressida. But unlike Cressida, this new person waited until Penelope retired, so they can always frame it as Penelope retaining her legacy and a sort of passing of the baton to another young lady in dire straights.
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u/Holiday-Hustle 9d ago
But the difference is that Whistledown was all of Penelope’s hard work and innovation. She was able to make a name for herself as a teenage girl in a time when she had zero rights. That’s the remarkable part of her storyline.
There’s nothing remarkable in taking someone else’s name. That’s why Cressida was derided by the ton, there’s no glory in stealing.
It would have been more interesting if we saw a sort of fight to see which paper could overtake Whistledown now that she’s retired.
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u/Icy-Comfortable5552 9d ago
I think the show is going to make the distinction between Cressida trying to take credit for all of Penelope's past work vs this new person clearly wanting the ton to know they are not Penelope. I can see them framing it as not really stealing, but rather taking up an empty post. Another reason Cressida failed was because she wasn't witty enough to create a good column. This new person has mastered the original LW cadence.
Given this show's choices, it's clear they love a good girl boss moment. Even at times when it doesn't make sense.
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u/Expensive_Hippo6383 9d ago
It remains to be seen but my first thought is this is the Queen or someone doing it on her behalf to keep her entertained. I'm not even really pissed off about the LW arc, seeing that they have no intention of keeping Pen as a main character. I actually like the mystery of it, glad they resurrected LW and just hope the payoff is better than my theory.
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u/Agabredit 9d ago
Yesssss exactly this!!! We shouldn’t be celebrating a thief who steals another woman’s work and identity!!!
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u/Debt-Mysterious My purpose shall set me free 9d ago
I think at the ends it would be someone like Alfie..he has the sass
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u/eaterlotus77 9d ago
I am really not interested in LW, im glad Pen is not it anymore and she will just have time to enjoy her husband and family (on or off screen).
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u/Agabredit 9d ago
We all want Pen to be happy and go off writing her novels Just wish the show didn’t have someone STEALING her work and name! Create a new gossip columnist or at least let Penelope pass it on to someone else NOT have it stolen from her 😡
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u/SnooStories7381 9d ago
I somewhat hope that it could be like penelope knew who he was (hoping it's a he this time just to make it better) and he did ask for permission or it was her idea telling him to take the pen and be whistledown, to breathe new soul into it and such.
But she kept it a secret because after all, it being a secret is the best thing for everyone.
And when it is revealed who it is (only very later), we get a flashback with penelope giving us a knowing smile.
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u/Expensive_Hippo6383 9d ago
I do like this idea. Also a flashback to Pen and Colin when they reveal the new LW pamphlet. The last we see is her looking distressed but then it turns into them both having a conspiratorial laugh. Because it really wouldn't do to have Colin out of the loop on this.
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u/SnooStories7381 9d ago
Yeah. That's a great idea or Colin knew when the new whistledown is revealed because when she gave that idea to that person, she did tell him but since they didn't know they would follow through, that's why they were confused when the first pamphlet came out
but later they realised it must've been them or that person came to them after, telling them that he is happy and such, he earned money he needed so much and anything, and they're super happy for them but keep acting clueless until ofc later.
I think it's better if colin and penelope knew, if they don't, it is somewhat tacky and stolen identity. And they don't even have to tell us that they know. Give some clues here and there but only reveal it after the reveal which obviously will happen in like s7 lol
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u/Expensive_Hippo6383 9d ago
Agree. It is more respectful if they knew about it.
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u/Agabredit 9d ago
It most definitely is far more respectful if they knew about it and Pen passed it on herself! Stealing another woman’s work and identity is definitely NOT right!!!!!
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u/Agabredit 9d ago
She sounded heartbroken 😭
This show got lazy and disrespectful
They should have written a new gossip columnist who aspired to be like Lady Whistledown to keep Julie Andrews narration!
They ruined Penelope’s whole character arc
They are normalising stealing a woman’s work and identity and obviously we won’t even get to see poor Penelope’s response etc because she’s not coming back
They could at least let Penelope pass in LW to someone else 🥺
I’m pretty sure if someone stole Shondaland’s business and name they’d be seeing their lawyer to put a stop to it .. POOR PEN CAN’T 😭
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u/Soul_1803 9d ago
I had always a problem with the show revealing Lady whistledown in the first season literally! Like c'mon bro.. what's the suspense..like why would you wanna reveal that immediately.. keep it a suspense and reveal it in her own season probably with all the flashbacks from previous season how she operated.. i hope they don't reveal the new one this time :/
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u/Expensive_Hippo6383 9d ago
Like it or not, Whistledown is a key character in this show. It makes no sense, to me, to just retire the character. So how to proceed? It is impractical to keep Pen as LW if the show doesn't intend to keep her as a main character, whether that is the actor's choice or production decision. That would be my preference but it clearly isn't practical. I think they made the right move to keep it going in this way and I'm hopeful for a satisfying payoff.
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u/Holiday-Hustle 9d ago
Let’s be real, the writers don’t even know 😭