Bridgerton stars tease what to expect from season 2's new love triangle

Based on Julia Quinn's second Bridgerton novel, The Viscount Who Loved Me, season 2 of Bridgerton embraces the beloved romance trope of "enemies to lovers."

For Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) and Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey), it's loathe at first sight. While Simon (Regé-Jean Page) was a rakish duke educating Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dyvenor) in the ways of the world, Kate and Anthony are on equal footing, urbane and closed off.

"They're outside of their own lives and incredibly lonely," teases Bailey. "They're two magnets, and they repel and attract each other. Their heads are both above the parapet of their families, and they do everything to help other people, but in doing so control everyone."

But control is an illusion, and Kate is here to knock Anthony off his patriarchal pedestal, even as he tries to pursue her sister, Edwina (Charithra Chandran), out of a misguided belief that she will make an ideal wife for a man who wants a loveless marriage. "We meet Anthony at a time where we can understand his decision to find a suitable lady who will be able to serve the purpose of being a viscountess," Bailey says. "As opposed to someone who he is falling in love with or has any sense of emotion towards."

Yet, it won't be as simple as falling for the wrong sister. Anthony and Edwina also forge a genuine connection. "Edwina and Anthony have a real, genuine relationship," says Chandran. "They connect, and you can see clearly that in many ways they do belong. But there are other competing forces."

"The Bridgertons are pretty special within the ton, so when he becomes the eligible bachelor, it would only be right in his hunt for perfection that he matches himself with [the "It" girl]," Bailey says. "That's the easiest way that he decides how he is going to find his match. Whoever it would've been, he would've set his eye on. But there is a real head and heart between the two [women], and you can understand why he's drawn to both — and they're both drawn to him in turn."

"Love triangles through time have always been intensely appealing," he adds. "Triangles are sharp and edgy; they can cause a lot of damage, but they're also pleasing to look at. With Anthony and Edwina and Kate, they are the embodiment of his approaches to love at the beginning of the series."

Chandran views their relationship as one built on mutual understanding of their responsibilities and place in life. "Both Anthony and Edwina have been brought up to fulfill a role," she adds. "In her case, it's to be [the perfect wife]. In his case, it's to be the viscount. And that is something they connect to each other with and understand each other in a way a lot of other people wouldn't. Edwina genuinely falls in love with the viscount. It's a naive love, but her feelings are very genuine."

Much of season 2's journey for these three characters will be about allowing them to realize that there's a different way than the pre-established course they've determined for themselves (or had dictated by society). "There are people like Edwina all across the world — brought up to be the perfect wife and perfect mother," reflects Chandran. "The show and this character hopefully will show them they can be so much more than that."

"It's going to take something completely other to snap Anthony out of his hypermasculine fog," adds Bailey. That's Kate, whose sharp tongue, penchant for riding horseback astride, and ability to see through her sister's suitors intrigue Anthony. "She's outside of the rules," Bailey muses. "She's literally outside of society. She's got a lot to work out, and that's intriguing to him. He's probably never seen a woman ride astride before. She comes through and blows the debutantes of London out of the water."

For both Kate and Anthony, their reluctant connection is largely predicated on their dedication to their families and their trenchant refusal to allow themselves to fall in love. "There is something undefinable and very human about the two of them that brings them together," adds Bailey.

An initial mutual loathing arises from their own inability to process their feelings. "They're compelled towards each other in a way," reflects Bailey. "They're not wired in the right way. They've experienced things in their lives, which means the things they're feeling don't allow for curiosity but goes straight to hatred and aggression."

It will take a lot of hard work — and butting heads — before they can see their similarities. In wanting to ensure her sister secures the best future, Kate also refuses to follow her own heart and avoid anything that might risk causing her hurt. She is still weighed down by the grief of losing her father, so her primary tactic is to hold everyone but her sister at arm's length. "That transition from enemies to lovers — they both teach other how to drop your defenses and dig a bit deeper and put yourself in a vulnerable position," says Ashley. "They hold so much duty and responsibility for their families, and their whole transition is that beauty of them finding those secret pockets where they can let go and just be themselves."

If season 1 was about the education of one Miss Daphne Bridgerton, season 2 is about bringing Anthony Bridgerton to his knees. And there's no one better poised to do that than Kate Sharma. "What does it take for Anthony to really break?" Bailey says, noting Anthony's initial commitment to a refusal to allow himself to be vulnerable. "He has to break in order to rebuild himself. Kate calls him out on absolutely everything and has a very good sense of how men should and shouldn't be. Anthony becomes a figurehead for the values and ideals of that society and that sense of privilege, but through Kate you see exactly what behavior is toxic."

While Kate is also consumed with concealing her own soft heart, she has something more of an open wound that enables her to understand and empathize with Anthony against her own better judgment. She is a literal repudiation of the misguided construct of toxic masculinity he's allowed to guide his life choices. "There is strength in her vulnerability," says Ashley. "Strength to grow, and that's intertwined with her love story — learning how to love, how to let it in, how to give love."

When it comes to Bridgerton, though, that's spar for the course.

A version of this story appears in the March issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands Feb. 18. Don't forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.

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