Who else is excited for the next season of Bridgerton? Season 3 is due to hit Netflix on May 16, 2024, leaving us plenty of time to rewatch some of our favorite episodes.
These episodes are not only fan favorites—they’re also important building blocks in the overall story based on Julia Quinn’s bestselling romance novels. We’ve ranked the ten best Bridgerton episodes so far, with our ultimate favorite episode in the number one spot.
10. Diamond of the First Water (Season 1, episode 1)
The very first episode of the series introduces viewers to the major players in the Bridgerton and Featherington families, so it sets up all of the upcoming action. Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the eldest Bridgerton daughter, is poised to come out as a debutante in the 1813 social season. She receives high praise from the haughty Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) but none of her potential suitors strike her fancy.
Enter Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page), the new Duke of Hastings and a friend of Phoebe’s brother Anthony (Jonathan Bailey). The two agree to pretend to be courting to avoid courting less desirable suitors, but it’s only a matter of time before they no longer have to pretend.
9. Art of the Swoon (Season 1, episode 3)
The third episode of the first season sees Daphne and Simon growing closer, but then the Queen interferes and introduces Daphne to her nephew, Prince Friedrich of Prussia. She starts a reluctant courtship while Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) tells Simon to end things with Daphne. He does, leaving Daphne heartbroken and resolved to make things work with Prince Friedrich.
Meanwhile, Lady Featherington (Polly Walker) is determined to find a suitor for her pregnant relation, Marina (Ruby Barker), before the young woman’s pregnancy starts to show. She forges a letter from Marina’s lover breaking off their relationship, and Marina is crushed.
8. The Choice (Season 2, episode 6)
Edwina (Charithra Chandran) and Anthony are getting married, but no one is particularly happy about the nuptials. Kate (Simone Ashley) and Anthony can’t stop staring at each other during the ceremony, and Edwina can no longer ignore their connection so she leaves him at the altar. The Queen is furious, but Edwina refuses to go through with it and Kate and Anthony finally share a sweet kiss.
7. Capital R Rake (Season 2, episode 1)
The second season got off to a great start! Anthony decides to take a wife, and there’s no shortage of eligible young ladies in court this season. His sister Eloise (Claudia Jessie) and her friend Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) are also making their debut in society. Later, Anthony meets Kate while they’re both out riding, but she comes to dislike him after overhearing him saying he doesn’t require love for marriage. Kate is trying to find a match for Edwina, whom the Queen has proclaimed that season’s “Diamond.”
6. An Affair of Honor (Season 1, episode 4)
Eloise tries to discover the identity of Lady Whistledown, never realizing that it’s actually her best friend, Penelope. Marina and Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) begin a flirtation when he saves her from the geriatric suitors Lady Featherington sets her up with. Penelope, who is in love with Colin, is devastated when he hits it off with Marina, so she picks a fight with Eloise. Elsewhere, Anthony engages in a duel against Simon after he catches his friend kissing Daphne in the garden maze.
5. A Bee in Your Bonnet (Season 2, episode 3)
In this episode, we learn that patriarch Viscount Edmund Bridgerton died of an allergic reaction after being stung by a bee ten years ago. In a scene that made us cry harder than we like to admit, Anthony witnessed his father’s death. Returning to the country estate stirs these painful memories for Anthony as he and the family prepare for their annual ball. Anthony invited the Sharmas to stay for the weekend, and all of the siblings gather to play pall-mall. Kate and Anthony take things too far with their zesty competition, but when she is stung by a bee later we catch a glimpse of his true, tender nature.
4. The Duke and I (Season 1, episode 5)
Daphne and Simon are getting married, but the Queen rejects their marriage license because she’s mad Daphne didn’t want to marry her nephew. The Featheringtons are plagued with money woes, and Penelope is beside herself over Colin and Marina’s relationship. Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) attends a saucy artist party, and Colin pops the question to Marina without realizing she is pregnant. He says he wants a long engagement, which destroys her plan to trap him into marrying her.
The most monumental element of this episode, however, is the consummation of Daphne and Simon’s union. Finally!
3. Harmony (Season 2, Episode 7)
Society is shunning the Bridgertons, Sharmas, and Lady Danbury after Edwina and Anthony didn’t go through with their wedding. Kate and Anthony share a night together, but then she rides off on her horse and takes a bad fall, hitting her head. Meanwhile, Queen Charlotte thinks Eloise is behind the Lady Whistledown letters, so Penelope tries to clear her friend’s name but winds up making the situation worse.
2. Victory (Season 2, episode 4)
Edwina wants her sister Kate to get to know her intended husband, Anthony, but she has no clue that Kate and Anthony are developing feelings for one another. The tension between the pair has ratcheted up another notch after they share a moment while hunting, and Daphne is also not sure that Anthony and Edwina are a good match. She later catches her brother getting close to Kate in the library, so she urges him to accept his feelings, but he refuses and asks Edwina to marry him.
1. The Viscount Who Loved Me (Season 2, episode 8)
Season 2 wrapped everything up with a kiss. The Featheringtons host a ball, and Kate finally awakens from the coma brought on by her head injury. Anthony proposes to her when she awakes, but she says no and plans to return to India. She and Edwina make up, and Kate convinces her sister to go to the Featheringtons’ ball. There, Eloise finally figures out that Penelope is Lady Whistledown, and they have a big fight and end their friendship. Penelope later overhears Colin saying he would never want to date her, and she is devastated once more.
At the ball, the Queen decrees that it was her idea to stop the marriage between Anthony and Edwina, saving the families’ reputations and encouraging Kate and Anthony to finally reveal their true feelings for each other. In the end, we see the happy couple playing another game of pall-mall at the summer estate.
We love a happy ending, don’t you? The best thing about the Bridgerton series is that this isn’t really the end! Season 3 will premiere on Netflix on May 16, 2024. In the meantime, brush up on all of your favorite episodes in Seasons 1 and 2, which are currently streaming on Netflix.
(featured image: Netflix)
