Actually, Bridgerton's Diamond of the Season Is Nicola Coughlan

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2. Read at your own risk!]

The series might be called Bridgerton, but in Season 3, Nicola Coughlan — who finally takes wallflower Penelope Featherington from supporting player to the main event — is the real star. It's not wholly surprising, given that she's been turning in scene-stealing, compelling performances as the Regency romance's anonymous gossip writer from day one with aplomb, but stepping into the spotlight is an entirely different beast. Not for nothing, but on paper (metaphorically speaking, not in Julia Quinn's Bridgerton novel series) Penelope could be easy to hate. As Lady Whistledown, she's literally lying to everyone she cares about while also writing about their secrets and personal lives. In lesser hands, or played as one-note or full of bitterness, she could easily be a villain. But from Season 1, Coughlan has understood Pen to her very core, found the nuance in all of her decisions, and made her impossible not to root for. All of that character work pays off big time in the back half of Season 3, as her Whistledown secret comes to light.

It all comes down to the big reveal in the season finale, doesn't it? In Episode 8, titled "Into the Light," Penelope is cornered; the Queen (Golda Rosheuvel) is relentless in her pursuit of unmasking the gossip writer and is now offering reward money for info, and Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen) is blackmailing her for 20,000 pounds in order to ease the sting of ruining her own reputation after pretending to be the scribe herself, or else she'll reveal Pen's secret. Mr. Colin "No One Blackmails My Wife!" Bridgerton (Luke Newton) takes charge, first wanting to appeal to Cressida's mercy (it blows up spectacularly in his face), and then wanting to pay the blackmail. But Penelope refuses to do that to the Bridgertons, a family who welcomed her into their fold even before she married Colin. Penelope wants to handle this on her own. She writes a letter to Queen Charlotte to plead her case, and at the last ball of the season, the Queen arrives to hear what she has to say. 

The gravity of the moment is felt even in its initial blocking (the episode is directed by Tom Verica and written by Daniel Robinson): This woman who has been ignored and disregarded, left to hang out in the corners of rooms for years, is stepping into center stage, all eyes on her, the ton watching with rapt attention. Then Penelope launches into her defense. She starts off with a shake in her voice and a "dearest gentle readers" joke that absolutely bombs. It's bad! But the longer she talks and the more she is open, vulnerable, and authentically herself, she grows in confidence, and you can see it all in the physicality of Coughlan's performance: Her voice grows steadier and louder, and she commands the room. Pen opens up about starting Whistledown because she felt she had no voice, that no one took her seriously. She admits to the power of her gossip sheet and its popularity becoming "intoxicating." She apologizes for not fully understanding "the courage it takes to live a life out in the open, to honor one's weaknesses publicly for all to see, and to know, regardless of the outcome, one always has worth." Colin's right; her speech is "bloody brilliant." But it only works because we've seen this growth in Penelope all season. The writing and directing teams on Bridgerton Season 3 have made sure to provide room for this character development amid a season with an abundance of storylines, and Coughlan runs with it.

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It's certainly felt in the big mirror sex scene in Episode 5, "Tick Tock" (written by Azia Squire and directed by Bille Woodruff). In Part 1, we watched Penelope become resolute in her desire to find a husband and give up on her dreams of a love match, her dreams of Colin. And then suddenly, those dreams are coming true, to the soundtrack of Mr. Worldwide, no less. In Episode 5, after an interaction with her mother, Portia (Polly Walker), Penelope is brought back down to earth, reminded of all the years she's been told she's not good enough or worthy of a man like Colin Bridgerton. When Colin stands up for her, whisks her out of that pea green hellscape, and takes her to their future home to tell her he loves her, he has no idea what he activates in that woman. She feels loved, supported, and safe, and all of that confidence she was beginning to build by putting herself out there in Part 1 is back. You can see it in the sex scene that follows. It's clearly her first time having sex, and you can see she's nervous (so is Colin, which is a nice touch), but she isn't ashamed of that, and she isn't afraid to ask for what she wants. Colin might be taking care of her throughout, but she is in control. You can see all of the nuance and layers to Pen's emotions during that moment right there in Coughlan's face. 

But it's not just Penelope's interactions with Colin that change her. The entire season has been developing this gorgeous exploration of Penelope's relationship with her mother. Pen finally directly calls her attention to the cruelty that's been inflicted upon her, and once Colin dresses her down, Portia does attempt to make amends (even if those amends are still twinged with her desperation to gain standing in Mayfair society). It's not until Episode 8, however, that both mother and daughter are laid bare to one another. 

In a move to prove she's serious about her blackmail, Cressida informs Portia what her daughter has been up to with her quill all these years. Portia goes off on Pen for bringing scandal to their house and for putting everything she's worked to maintain in jeopardy, not to mention opening herself up to a possible annulment. It's not long, though, before Penelope learns about Portia's big secret: that she took the money their cousin Jack Featherington (Rupert Young) stole from members of the ton in Season 2 and has been lying about coming into a fortune thanks to a spinster aunt. The two finally have a no-holds-barred conversation about their actions and the motivations behind them. While what Portia has done is definitely punishable by jail time, the two women find similarities behind their ethically dubious activities. 

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Penelope has spent years humiliating the ton, but she did it to protect herself. She felt helpless and without any voice in her position, and she grabbed onto the only life jacket she could find. Portia, too, has done her terrible deeds in the name of protecting her family. Softened, she admits that she grew up being taught that "all power comes from a man," and she seized the opportunities that presented themselves to her. She can't believe what her daughter has built on her own. "What a thing you have made for yourself," she says, remarking on the power Pen wields in the ton. If they both survive what's coming for them, they need to do better. You can actually see the moment Penelope reconsiders her mother and discovers empathy on the other side. Seeing her mother's vulnerability brings down some of those walls she tossed up at the top of the scene, and she matches her mother's softness. Coughlan and Walker are powerhouses here. Pen has finally received what she's needed from her mother all along: for Portia to be proud of her for who she is, not who she is or isn't marrying. This reminder of her power, that there should be a sense of pride in what she's created, is certainly woven into the confidence Pen gathers up in her big confession. After all, it's Portia's hand Penelope reaches for when the Queen arrives to get down to Whistledown business.

Season 3 Penelope is worlds away from where we met the character back in Season 1, but the change doesn't feel shocking; we've been watching it happen gradually for three seasons. Coughlan slowly shed Pen's insecurities and awkwardness right in front of our eyes, in the way she carries herself, the way she speaks, and yes, in the emotional growth the character gets. When she fully owns who she is, mistakes and all, we believe it. Season 3 works so well thanks to Coughlan owning every shade of Penelope Featherington from the very beginning.

Bridgerton Season 3, Part 2 is now streaming on Netflix.