What is a brooding romantic hero without a tragic past? In the third episode of Bridgerton Season 2, we spend only part of our time in the show’s present. The rest is devoted to a series of flashbacks to the titular family’s past which reveals that, much like Simon (Regé-Jean Page) in Season 1, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) also has some unresolved daddy issues that keep him from finding true love — though, to be fair, the viscount’s trauma falls a little more on the tragic side than the duke’s. Apart from this blast from the past, the episode also features Benedict (Luke Thompson) accidentally inventing abstract art about a century in advance and the Featheringtons trying to use their… uh… seduction skills to win over Jack (Rupert Young).
The first scene of “A Bee in Your Bonnet” takes place a decade prior to the events of the show. After enjoying a nice deer hunt together, Anthony and his father, Edmund (Rupert Evans), return to Aubrey Hall, the Bridgertons’ country manor. In the garden, Edmund decides to pick flowers for his wife (Ruth Gemmel), who, at the time, was pregnant with their youngest daughter, Hyacinth (Florence Hunt). Upon remarking that Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) would be jealous if she didn’t get her own bouquet, Anthony decides to join him. The two men are all smiles as they pick the flowers, but the mood shifts when a bee comes out of the garden and stings Lord Bridgerton on the neck. At a time before EpiPens, Edmund suffocates and passes away from the sting immediately in front of his eldest son and his wife, who came out of the house when she heard Anthony screaming.
Edmund’s death took a toll on the Bridgerton family, especially on Anthony and Lady Violet. The newly appointed viscount didn’t have time to grieve as servants, doctors, and morticians came up to him for decisions about his father’s burial and his mother’s life-threatening difficulties in childbirth, among other things. As for Lady Violet, she could hardly force herself out of bed for months after her husband’s death, not even to care for her baby. All of this is what made Anthony vow to never marry out of love, since it would be too cruel, even for a man as heartless as him, to inflict this pain upon someone else.
And so Anthony settles for an upcoming loveless marriage to Miss Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) just to fulfill his duty as the Viscount of Bridgerton. Or, at least, a marriage is what he and Edwina are counting on. So far, Anthony still hasn’t proposed, but he’s hoping to pop the question at the dinner he and his family are hosting at Aubrey Hall for the Sharmas and Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh). The event is supposed to be the high point of a joint trip to the countryside that will also feature the Bridgertons’ traditional game of pall-mall. It’s the perfect moment for a marriage proposal, since the two families will later be joined by other guests that are coming all the way from London.
Some of these guests are the Featheringtons, who are planning to pay a visit to the modiste to renew their wardrobe before the trip now that the new lord has arrived to put the finances in order. As Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) worries about what Madame Genevieve (Kathryn Drysdale) will say about seeing her at the market, Lady Portia (Polly Walker) tries to find a way to ensure that the Featherington estate will remain under her control. She confers with Mrs. Varley (Lorraine Ashbourne) about where to find a girl suitable for Jack that doesn’t have the intelligence needed to manage a household, thus requiring her continuous help. The solution to her problem quickly arrives in the form of her daughter Prudence (Bessie Carter). Initially irked by the idea of marrying her cousin, the girl is soon swayed by the prospect of becoming the mistress of the household and throwing as many balls as she wishes. He is only her fourth cousin, after all…
However, there’s still the issue of convincing Jack to marry Prudence. Lady Portia tries to teach her daughter the proper ways to laugh, fan, and feign interest in what men have to say, but Prudence doesn’t really excel at any of this. She also tries to get Prudence some more revealing dresses, but is disappointed with the fabrics Genevieve has to offer. The two decide to go looking for other options at the new modiste in town, that has just arrived from Vienna, giving Penelope the perfect opportunity to explain herself. But Genevieve has no interest in harming Penelope’s business. As a matter of fact, the two women strike up an agreement: Genevieve will provide Penelope with more hot gossip for Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers, and Penelope will make sure that the other modiste’s shop never takes off. Getting to make fun of Cressida Cowper’s (Jessica Madsen) new outfit is just a perk of the trade.
Back at Aubrey Hall, Edwina and Anthony make some deals of their own. While the youngest Sharma girl makes her sister, Kate (Simone Ashley), promise to be civil to her intended, Anthony asks his siblings, particularly Daphne, to talk him up to the Sharmas and make sure he gets enough alone time with Edwina. But even though Kate and the Bridgerton siblings all keep their promises, things don't go exactly as planned. The first problem is the Sharmas’ corgi, Newton, who doesn’t seem like Anthony very much and is, according to Kate, an excellent judge of character. Then, during the pall-mall game, Edwina feels bored and left out. Not even Daphne’s constant attempts at making her feel welcome are enough to stop the young lady from leaving the field before the game is over, after shooting her ball into the woods. She assures Anthony that everything is fine, but her face tells a different story.
Kate, on the other hand, has a great time playing pall-mall with the Bridgertons. She even gets to actually enjoy Anthony’s company for a while when both their balls are knocked off field, and they have to retrieve them from a large puddle of mud. Kate accidentally gets stuck in the mud and has to ask Anthony for help. As expected, they both tumble down repeatedly, and what starts as a nuisance soon turns into a good laugh.
Taking advantage of this moment of pleasure, the viscount tries to smooth things out with Miss Sharma, and the two agree to a truce. Back to the game, Kate hits Anthony’s ball and accidentally shoots it near his father’s grave. The viscount leaves in a hurry with a gloomy expression on his face, forcing Kate to realize that he does have feelings, after all, and that she has hurt them greatly.
With the game over, Anthony finally gets a chance to talk to Miss Edwina. He explains that he will have to spend a great amount of time away from home after he is married to tend to his business, and Edwina assures that she shall have no problem with it. Due to her love of books and learning, she is easily adaptable and finds comfort in many different circumstances. Anthony doesn’t like to read very much, but, lucky for him, Edwina likes to tell people about her books. The conversation goes as smoothly as possible, and Edwina is more than excited to share the good news with Kate. In another room of the manor, Anthony does the same with Daphne, stating that Miss Edwina has won his heart. Daphne doesn’t seem convinced, but if her brother is telling her that Edwina is the one that he can’t look away from, and that makes his body and soul feel about to burst into flames, then who is she to question him?
Taking a break from the viscount and his potential fiancée, “A Bee in Your Bonnet” takes us to the Featherington residence, where Lady Portia and her daughters are enjoying a particularly unpleasant dinner with Jack and the Cowpers. Prudence tries to use her recently learned tricks to draw her cousin’s attention to her and even offers to sing him a song after the meal, but the poor girl is no match for Cressida, who leaves the Featheringtons’ with an invitation for a promenade. Then, Eloise shares a nice moment with Kate, in which they talk about whether being a spinster is a fate worse than death. Unbeknownst to her family, Eloise has been doing some reading on women's rights, and seeing Kate happily unmarried has emboldened her to question social conventions even further.
Between these two scenes, however, there is another one that kicks off what is easily the episode’s best subplot: Benedict’s first acid trip — or, rather, his first trip on whatever powder Colin (Luke Newton) has brought back from his travels. During the pall-mall game, Benedict confides in his brother that he has applied to be an art student at the Royal Academy, but still hasn’t heard back. Trying to ease his mind, Colin offers him a powdery substance that is supposed to open his mind. Brimming with anxiety, Benedict empties the entire bag in his teacup and spends the entire dinner with the Sharmas seeing bright colors all around. When his acceptance letter finally arrives, he’s in the middle of creating some new works of art that are sure to shock the great masters of 18th-century England. “You shall all bear witness to my talents!” he screams to Colin and an oblivious Eloise.
While Benedict is, for lack of a better expression, tripping balls, Anthony musters up the courage to propose to Edwina. He has everything he needs to do it, including his mother’s engagement ring and Kate’s blessing. However, his conversation with Daphne is still echoing in his mind. So, when he gets up to make his proposal-infused toast, he chickens out. Instead of asking Edwina for her hand, he simply tells her not to mention his defeat at pall-mall to anyone else.
Poor Edwina is understandably heartbroken. She vents to her sister, who tries to comfort her. The following day, Kate makes sure that Anthony knows exactly just how mad she is. The viscount tries to apologize but loses his voice when a bee appears near Kate's neck and stings her. Certain that Kate is about to die, Anthony has a panic attack. In an attempt to soothe him, Kate takes his hand and puts it on her chest so that he can feel her heartbeat. She then mirrors the movement with her other hand, placing it on Anthony’s chest. For a moment, the viscount can’t look away from her and, to anyone looking from the outside, it seems that his body and soul are about to burst into flames. If there was still any doubt up to this point, it is now clear that Kate is the one Anthony is bound to marry, not Edwina.