You know, I bet all Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) wanted was a simple solution to her little Lady Whistledown problem. Just a nice, easy way to get Eloise (Claudia Jessie) off her back, so that she can resume her lovey-dovey new engagement with Colin (Luke Newton). Well, be careful what you wish for, Pen, because now Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen) is claiming to be Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews). How is Penelope going to dig her way out of this, or will she take the easy way out? Luckily for us, Bridgerton Season 3, Episode 6, “Romancing Mr. Bridgerton,” absolutely hits the ground running.

Things kick off with the ton absolutely abuzz — first, because the latest issue of Whistledown wasn’t delivered at all, and second, because news spreads that Cressida is the one behind it all. Some can’t believe she is capable of it, while others can. Some are scandalized, while others are impressed. And while all of London waits to see what the gossip columnist will say next, we find the lady herself — Penelope, obviously, not Cressida — hard at work on the next issue. Her hilariously insulting attempts to debunk the revelation are cut short when Colin comes by for a visit.

At long last, Colin decides some follow-up questions might be a good idea and asks Penelope what it was she wanted to tell him. Of course, she can hardly reveal it with Portia (Polly Walker) hanging around, but she promises Colin that she swooned over the Cressida “revelation” and not because of anything he did. He muses that it makes sense for it to be Cressida, given how cruel the columns are, his only hang-up being that Cressida doesn’t seem smart enough. Penelope agrees to his first assumption extremely quickly. Girl, I get that you can’t tell him right now, but don’t make it worse. Before he leaves, Colin reveals the real reason for his visit: he finally has her engagement ring. The beautiful moment is almost shattered when he realizes Pen’s hands are covered in ink. She brushes it off as due to letter-writing, but is it me, or is Colin not completely convinced?

Cressida Is Caught in a Tricky Place in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3, Episode 6

Elsewhere, our faux Lady Whistledown is getting a stern talking to from her parents, as Lord Cowper (Dominic Coleman) informs her that Lord Greer has rescinded his offer of marriage. Cressida doesn’t even bother looking upset at that, but he follows that up with his second bit of news: due to the scandal she’s brought down on the house, he’s sending her to live with her aunt in Wales. After he storms off, Lady Cowper (Joanna Bobin) tries to get Cressida to take her statement back. Cressida is miffed her mother doesn’t believe her, but Lady Cowper also gently points out that Cressida isn’t as witty (read: smart) as Lady Whistledown is. Damn, this girl cannot catch a break. The breaks continue to be un-caught when messengers from the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel) arrive, summoning Cressida to the palace.

While Cressida deals with some major life changes of her own doing, so too are the Mondriches, although theirs seem a good deal more pleasant. Alice (Emma Naomi) informs Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh) that Will (Martins Imhangbe) has agreed to sell his club. Lady Danbury is delighted that they’re taking this step but immediately disagrees with Alice’s idea that they shouldn’t draw any attention to themselves anymore. Lady Danbury suggests instead that the pair do the opposite and throw a ball for the social advantage it will provide. If Alice looks worried, Will is downright panicking, until he reasons with himself that at least they’re used to hosting and entertaining.

Violet (Ruth Gemmell) might not be panicking, but her heart is certainly racing for a completely different reason when she finds Lord Anderson (Daniel Francis) has stopped by, ostensibly to pick up the hat he left behind. While Marcus isn’t lying about the forgotten article, it’s telling that he came to fetch it himself, and Violet is definitely aware of this. The two flirt lightly until Violet probes into the tension she sensed between him and Lady Danbury, and he assures her it is nothing that won’t resolve itself, a residual awkwardness from childhood — she was the firstborn, but he was the first boy. He takes his leave, with the hope of them catching up later, and Violet looks extremely interested in that idea.

She wanders into the drawing room in a flirty haze, where Benedict (Luke Thompson) is arguing with Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) and Gregory (Will Tilston) over cookies, Eloise is pretending to not watch Colin’s every move, and Francesca (Hannah Dodd) and John (Victor Alli) are sitting across the room and across from each other, watching the chaos unfold. Francesca prompts him to speak to the family about something clearly important to them, and he counters by saying they’re so preoccupied, they won’t hear him anyway. To prove his point, he announces to the room that he has the plague and has infected them all, eliciting no reaction at all. Francesca takes matters into her own hands by calling their attention and letting John tell them all that they’re engaged. While most of the family is happy, Eloise can’t stop giving Colin the stink eye.

She follows this train of thought straight into the study, where Colin is poring over his writing. Eloise tries to open with a joke, but Colin isn’t having it and asks her at once if she knew Cressida was Lady Whistledown. Eloise thinks he’s referring to Penelope, but quickly realizes he’s actually talking about Cressida. He’s furious to think Eloise might have known about this for a while and chose not to say anything. Oh buddy, if you’re mad now… Eloise tells him she didn’t know “about Cressida” — Obi-Wan Kenobi would be proud of this “from a certain point of view” version of honesty — and admits this might be the end of the friendship. Colin agrees, unable to imagine his sister becoming or staying friends with Lady Whistledown — keep going Colin, you almost got it — and Eloise asks him what he plans to do. He says his anger isn’t as fiery as it would have been pre-Penelope, and that she’s his only concern now. Eloise offers to make this all go away by speaking “with the scribe herself,” once again dodging the truth while also telling the truth so neatly.

Penelope Won’t Give Up Lady Whistledown in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3, Episode 6

Image via Netflix

She finds “the scribe herself” at home, furiously at work. Upon seeing Eloise, she tells her that she was planning on telling Colin, and Eloise replies that she had the chance to tell him as well and chose not to, seeing how upset the Cressida revelation made him. Knowing it was actually Penelope would be that much worse. Pen promises to tell him as soon as the next issue is out, but Eloise encourages her not to, and to instead stop writing altogether. Penelope says she can’t stop writing, especially now that Cressida is taking the credit, but Eloise counters that this is the perfect solution since Cressida can’t keep up the writing anyway, and the column will fizzle out.

This conversation mirrors and yet recontextualizes a similar scene in the novel Romancing Mister Bridgerton in a way that I find really helps the focus of the season. In the novel, Penelope has this conversation with Colin, rather than Eloise. Colin becomes aware of her Lady Whistledown identity partway through the book, before they get engaged, and it’s the fallout of that revelation that leads to the carriage scene. After that, the tension is split between the ton‘s hunt for Lady Whistledown — with the prize offered by Lady Danbury rather than the queen — and Colin’s attempts to get Penelope to let Cressida take credit and let the column go for good. Switching it up to have it be Eloise instead fits in well with the tone and the direction of the season, which thus far has kept the romance right at the heart. Penelope’s decision to tell the truth or not tell the truth will have a direct bearing on her romantic relationship, and it injects a refreshing level of tension into a now-established couple. Penelope doesn’t want to let go of the name she built for herself, especially to Cressida. Eloise replies that she can’t both be a Bridgerton and be Lady Whistledown. The two reflect on the devastating effects of getting everything you thought you wanted: Penelope wanted to be a Bridgerton, Eloise wanted to know who Whistledown was. But Eloise encourages her once again to give it up and takes her leave.

At the Palace, Cressida is brought before the Queen, who wants to know why she’s decided to come forward all of a sudden. Cressida tells her she did it to claim the reward, and the Queen is surprised that Lady Whistledown should be motivated by money, since she charges for the column. Cressida frames her desire for the reward as a matter of pride rather than one of necessity, and the Queen agrees to hand over the money as soon as Cressida hands over the latest issue. Cressida makes an excuse for why it wasn’t published that morning as scheduled, and the Queen grows immediately suspicious, accusing Cressida of not being observant enough to be Whistledown. Not to give Cressida any credit whatsoever, but her excuse that her publisher was hesitant to keep working with her following all the attention is actually really plausible.

But because Cressida is determined to undo all the pity I might have grown to feel for her over the last two episodes, she tells the Queen that, of course, she’s observant, since she saw Francesca and John together at Bridgerton House. She then offers to help the Queen sway Francesca back to the Marquess instead. Gotta love a girl who is so desperate to escape marriage to a man she dislikes that she… tries to do the same thing to someone else. The Queen reveals that she doesn’t care what Francesca does now that Whistledown isn’t there to serve as her opponent — Charlotte, you might want to look into a hobby that doesn’t involve playing with people’s lives like they’re Barbie dolls — and tells Cressida she will be banished from court altogether if she can’t print a convincing issue.

Lady Cowper tries to discourage Cressida from publishing. Societal ruin aside, the whole scheme will fall apart the minute the real Lady Whistledown publishes again. Cressida seems to think she’s scared her away for good and counters that this is the only way for her to have any control over her own life, and to remain at court. Lady Cowper then adds no one will marry Cressida if she publishes, to which Cressida counters that no one is willing to marry her anyway. She does seem really upset about it, but has she considered she might have better luck if she was marginally less heinous?

Francesca and John Want to Get Married Sooner Rather Than Later in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3, Episode 6

Image via Netflix

At Bridgerton House, John joins Francesca and Violet for tea to talk over the betrothal details. He acknowledges that he wasn’t the Queen’s first choice for a match for Francesca, but the two of them tell Violet they’d like to make it publicly official. Violet suggests waiting until the end of the season so they can have the wedding in the country — read: away from the Queen — but Francesca tells her they want to marry sooner rather than later, and asks Violet to speak to the Queen on their behalf. I understand the Queen is intimidating, but it is so deeply frustrating watching Violet pick and choose when she wants to put her kids first and when she doesn’t.

Across the square, Portia is planning all the elaborate details of the wedding, much to Prudence (Bessie Carter) and Phillipa’s (Harriet Cains) annoyance, since they aren’t used to their little sister getting so much (read: any) attention. Portia goes looking for her youngest daughter and finds her reading old issues of Whistledown. Penelope tries to get her mother to leave her alone, but Portia tells her that until she is officially married to Colin, she has to ensure she doesn’t lose his attention, and cater entirely to him. His dreams and his wishes. Penelope’s own dreams are immaterial, as ladies don’t have the space to have any. The conversation takes a heartbreaking turn when Portia adds that while Lord Featherington wasn’t a great husband or provider, he did give her three daughters, and all she’s ever wanted is for them to do better than she did — the refrain of every mother whose own aspirations were lost to circumstances beyond her control. Of all people, I can’t believe I’m now feeling bad for Lady Featherington.

If you’ve noticed these recaps have been fairly Benedict-light, that’s because the season as a whole has been light on Benedict. Oh, he’s certainly there, being his charming Benedict Bridgerton self, but he hasn’t had much to do all season. The writers seem to have fallen into a rinse-and-repeat pattern with him, where every season he finds something (more like someone) to hyperfixate on, and the whole thing falls apart by season’s end. And unfortunately, thus far in the season, it’s been no different. Benedict spends the morning with his current hyperfixation, Tilley (Hannah New), who invites him to a dinner party later that week she’s hosting, where he’ll have a chance to meet her best friend, Paul. He accepts, and later that day catches up with Colin, John, and Will at Will’s old club for a few drinks.

When they get down to one last glass, Colin offers it to Will, who refuses the so-called “pity drink,” prompting Colin to grab it for himself, as he is now so in love with Penelope he’s unable to edit any of his travel notes into a coherent manuscript. If you think this sounds like a flex, you’re right, and Benedict feels the same and claims the drink for himself, bemoaning his lack of direction in life — oh good, so he’s noticed — but he’s also too happy with Tilley to truly need pity. Good thing John spots a new bottle, and the game is brought to an end.

At church on Sunday, the priest publishes the banns of marriage for Colin and Penelope, and when he gets no objection, the wedding is set for three weeks from then. After the service, Colin and Penelope catch up in the aisle, and he presents her with an opportunity to come clean about Whistledown, saying he knows there’s something she’s not telling him. Rather than come clean in such a moment of happiness, she instead tells him that she’s loved him since the moment they met. It’s extremely sweet, but Pen, the longer you leave it, the worse it’s going to be.

Eloise breaks away from the group outside the church when she sees Cressida lurking behind the carriages, trying to get her attention. What Cressida wants, it turns out, is for Eloise to be her “collaborator” on the latest issue of Whistledown — I guess that whole writing thing isn’t going well for her — and Eloise refuses, reminding Cressida what she ostensibly wrote about her in the column last year.

Cressida Scrambles to Maintain the Lady Whistledown Lie in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3, Episode 6

Image via Netflix

When Eloise tells her that she’s also ending their friendship, Cressida says all Eloise ever does is talk a big game, when really she’s just jealous of her success. Though both of them know Cressida hasn’t had any success at all, she wasn’t entirely off-base. Eloise admits at last that she is envious of Lady Whistledown’s success, and can now understand her reasons for writing the column since it’s lonely being ignored in society. Finally, at long last, we get a shred of sense out of Eloise. Of course, it was hurtful for Penelope to write what she did about Eloise at the end of the last season, but in the interim, it almost felt like Eloise had built her old friend up to be so much more of a monster than she actually was. At least she has the self-awareness to realize where some of her anger was coming from. That’s more self-awareness than Cressida currently possesses. She may not know that Eloise knows who Whistledown really is, but the way she’s so ready to claim all the success when she can’t even write a single sentence? That’s a Mediocre White Man level of delusion.

During the service, Violet and Marcus were making eyes at each other, which did not go unnoticed by Lady Danbury, who finally takes matters into her own hands… by introducing him to other eligible, age-appropriate ladies after the service. With him out of the way, Lady Danbury comments that the Bridgertons will be back sooner rather than later to hear the banns read for Francesca and John, and Violet tells her they want her to speak to the Queen for them. She admits to still having doubts about the match but is willing to put them aside for Francesca’s happiness, but Lady Danbury points out that those doubts might be enough for the Queen to oppose the match if she’s so inclined. They’re interrupted when Colin and Penelope arrive and get a far warmer reception than John and Francesca do, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Francesca.

That night, Penelope seems to have taken her mother’s words to heart, and packs up all her writing implements. She even goes so far as to burn her back issues of Whistledown, officially putting it all behind her. Apparently when it comes to her and Colin, only one of them can be creative at a time, because as she puts her writing aside for good, his writer’s block has finally disappeared. Penelope instead throws herself into wedding planning, much to Portia’s delight.

Penelope heads out to visit Madame Delacroix (Kathryn Drysdale), whom she hasn’t seen since the engagement. Genevieve is excited for her until Penelope tells her that she’s going to let Cressida take credit for the column, as she doesn’t want to ruin what she has with Colin. Genevieve is shocked by this, and as she finds Penelope fabric for her wedding dress, she tells her that her favorite part of her work is the rush of getting to share it with her clients. Penelope makes the kind of face we all do when we’re trying to convince ourselves a bad decision was the right one, so I suspect her mind isn’t fully made up. And speaking of Cressida, the Faux Lady Whistledown is hiding in her childhood nursery, attempting to write the column while her father shouts that he’s pulling her dowry after getting kicked out of his club because of her actions. Her mother finds her there, and is glad to see she’s writing, telling her that the reward money will work as a dowry, provided they can get it before the real Lady Whistledown responds. Cressida reads her what she has so far, and it’s nowhere near enough to be convincing.

Francesca and Benedict’s Relationships Reach a Turning Point in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 3, Episode 6

Image via Netflix

At the Mondrich ball, Alice has outdone herself, planning a memorable night for her guests. Lady Danbury spies her brother and Violet looking at each other again, and brings over more eligible ladies for him to speak to instead. The Queen arrives, and Francesca asks Violet if she could try to speak to her now, so they don’t miss their chance. Violet tries to make an excuse about why they should wait, and Francesca finally snaps and says she doesn’t want to wait anymore. John excuses himself, and Francesca accuses her mother of not supporting the match. Violet tries to cover up her actions, but Francesca isn’t having it anymore. She tells Violet that she and John are not a lesser couple because their love story isn’t as dramatic as everyone else’s. I’m so glad she finally said something to her mother, because really, she’s right. Perhaps if there had been more screaming, snarling, and compromising involved, Violet might have been more enthusiastic.

Violet is rightly ashamed of herself and leaves the ball in tears. Marcus tries to chase after her, but Lady Danbury stops him, saying she will go herself, since Violet is her friend, not his. This is apparently a night for secrets and long-held feelings rising to the surface. Marcus wrongfully assumes her anger stems from their childhood, but she tells him the true reason: when she tried to run away from home the night before her wedding, he turned her in — to their father. With him now also feeling properly ashamed, Lady Danbury chases after Violet.

While the rest of the family is at the Mondrich ball, Benedict goes to Tilley’s for her dinner party. There, he meets Paul (Lucas Aurelio), who tries to get to know him better, and Benedict is finally forced to openly admit he hasn’t done much this season. A question about creative pursuits reminds Benedict — and the audience — that he hasn’t picked up a paintbrush in a long time. Tilley tells Benedict that Paul is a great theater supporter, and that’s how the two of them met in the first place. The tension dissipates as the men bond over their shared interest: teasing Tilley. Though with significant and longing glances being thrown everywhere around the table, this dinner party is about to escalate into something else entirely.

Benedict and Paul head out for cigars on the balcony, where Paul shares that he doesn’t much care for society and how judgmental it is. And if Benedict isn’t picking up on the look Paul is giving him then, he certainly picks up on it a few moments later when, after asking if Paul and Tilley have ever been together, Paul calls him charming. Paul excuses himself inside to go find Tilley, leaving Benedict to think that look over. When he eventually joins them inside, it’s to find them in an embrace. Before he can ask a question, the two of them propose a threesome with Benedict, who immediately flees into the night.

At this point, I need the series to pick a lane with Benedict. Paul and Tilley’s conversation before Benedict interrupted seemed to indicate Tilley wanted Paul to suss out if Benedict is also interested in men, and Paul seems to think he is. If this is the direction the series wants to take the character in, then fine, but then it needs to actually take that direction. We’ve already seen Benedict do a “no homo” escape from the home of a friend in Season 1. Either commit to the idea of Bisexual Benedict, or don’t. But you can’t tell a story of overcoming internalized homophobia — if that is what they’re going for here — if you don’t spend any significant time with that character outside those moments.

Back at the Mondriches, Cressida arrives, wearing the first truly gorgeous dress she’s ever worn, and waits for the Queen to call her over. Penelope overhears someone calling Cressida a “clever writer,” and is that doubt I see setting in? The Queen finally summons her over to chastise her for showing up before delivering a column, but at that very moment, footmen come in with a little notecard from “Whistledown,” promising to return with another column soon. The note is witty, clever, and well-written, so naturally, Lady Cowper is the one who actually wrote it. The development so throws Penelope and Eloise off that for the first time in a year, the former friends are united.

Eloise apologizes for convincing Penelope to let Cressida take the credit, and for befriending Cressida in the first place, which allowed her to rise to such a position at all. It’s hard to tell who is having more of a panic attack, Eloise or Penelope. Pen pulls herself together first and says she will write one more column to discredit Cressida. She finally accepts Lady Whistledown’s column for the power it is, and the voice it affords her. She leaves the ball right away, writing the issue as she goes, to get it to the printer before Cressida can. She drops the column off at her printer and turns around to see Colin standing right there. He heard the whole thing, and knows the full truth at last.