Dearest gentle reader,
It has come to this author’s attention that a new character has made his debut in this season ofBridgerton: Theo Sharpe, portrayed by the talentedCalam Lynch(Mrs. Wilson, Black Beauty). Theo is a printer’s apprentice and meets Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) early in the second season. These two don’t exactly start off on the right foot: Eloise is on the hunt to unmask Lady Whistledown, and she meets Theo at the printer shop where the scandal sheet writer goes every week. Theo Sharpe has been specifically written for the series and does not appear in the books. However, his addition to the cast ofBridgertonand his relationship with Eloise was a most wonderful idea, indeed.
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of the Netflix series Bridgerton.
While Theo turns out to be a firm defender of women’s rights and equality for all, Eloise believes him to be yet another man who thinks that women have “feeble minds.” As for Theo, he believes Eloise to be yet another rich young lady on the search for the latest gossip and the most eligible bachelor of the ton. In short, they both come with their pride and prejudice. However, they soon realize that they have a lot in common, and what some would consider as a most unsuitable friendshipsoon blossoms between our two young characters.
Eloise is an absolute fan favorite: her humor and convictions truly charmed the audience from the very moment she appeared onscreen in the first season. In this second season, she makes her debut in society (to her dismay). Her mother is convinced that one day, Eloise will find pleasure in attending balls and dancing with a bunch of potential suitors, while the young girl makes it rather clear that she is thinking of being a spinster. She even asks Miss Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) if that would be such a terrible thing.
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In truth, Eloise is quite repulsed by the marriage mart, and has yet to meet a man worthy of her conversation. That is until she meets Theo, thanks to whom she quickly discovers that equality can have a place in a relationship between a man and a woman. They can share the same ideas and believe in the same causes. It is worth considering the fact that Eloise might feel a lot less petrified by love and relationships, now that she knows Theo. In fact, she simply rejects courting and marriage the way they were introduced to her whole life: suitors, balls, callers and dowries don’t mean anything for her. She doesn’t want to be a man’s property, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t care for romance at all. Her interest in books, culture, meaningful conversations, freedom, however, are all mirrored in her relationship with Theo.
Even if Eloise was very interesting and an essential part of the show from the start, the arrival of Theo truly makes her a three-dimensional character (of course, Eloise would say she doesn’t need a man to be three-dimensional). But the way she navigates through these new confusing feelings she never thought she could have, make her that much more relatable. She even goes as far as asking the young apprentice if he sometimes thinks about her, just as she thinks about him. Their friendship evolves into something more profound, when Theo offers her a pile of books as an answer to her question. Had he tried to win her over, he couldn’t have done better.
Unfortunately, their relationship is reported by none other than Lady Whistledown aka Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), aka Eloise’s best friend (quite the treason, indeed). Let us not forget that the young apprentice almost kissed Eloise, which is when she truly decided to put an end to their “absurd” meetings. The fact is that she could never forgive herself if the young man were to find himself deep in scandal because of her. Theo doesn’t take it very well and tells her that she is exactly like the other young ladies. He basically thinks she can’t deal with his social class and that she would rather go back to her golden palace. This felt really unfair to the fans, who know very well that Eloise doesn’t care about that. He makes it about class, whereas she was merely trying to protect him. Of course, it is hard to blame him, he’s young and heartbroken after all (and so are we, after seeing him walk away like that…)
This declaration makes it even harder for us to watch Eloise discover the true identity of Lady Whistledown at the end of the season.
Can there be hope for Theloise? Since Theo Sharpe isn’t a character from the books, it is very hard to tell if there is a future for them, or even if Lynch will appear in the third season. However, if he doesn’t, it will be a very hard pill to swallow for the fans who are now fully shipping their relationship. Even lovers of the novels now wish for Theo and Eloise to be endgame (sorry, Sir Philip Crane).
Was Theo only there to show Eloise a world where a love match between two kindred spirits is possible? Did she need Theo to realize that her certainties can also be questioned?
We can also imagine that, since things ended so abruptly between them, Eloise would go back to see Theo after a while, at least to make it clear that their fall-out wasn’t about social class. After all, Eloise is a young woman who always speaks her mind — quite directly, too. It is hard to believe that she would let a young man she clearly had feelings for, think so little of her (She definitely should make haste, go back to this printing shop and explain herself, at once!)
We can be certain of one thing: The wait to know what will happen to Theloise in Season 3 shall be quite insufferable, indeed.
