TV

Unpopular Opinion Suggests Penelope is the Worst Bridgerton Character

Unpopular Opinion Suggests Penelope is the Worst Bridgerton Character
Image credit: Legion-Media

Netflix's historical fiction romance series will soon be going into its third season, and some fans hate one of its main characters.

Julia Quinn's series of novels set in the fictional Regency era got a second wind when the streaming giant decided to turn it into a blockbuster series starring Britain's best young actors. The first two seasons saw Bridgerton break many streaming records, making Rege-Jean Page, Phoebe Dynevor and Nicola Coughlan overnight celebrities.

All these actors are very talented and got much love and recognition for their roles, but their characters, not so much, with Nicola Coughlan's Penelope being perhaps the most hated character on the show right now.

Penelope Featherington, a.k.a Lady Whistledown, a major character in the series, is best known for her extremely popular and equally controversial gossip newsletter, which has brought about many breakups and caused a lot of suffering.

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In her day-to-day life, Penelope is very nice, but having to maintain an evil alter-ego takes its toll on her personality. It's now been confirmed that the upcoming third season will be primarily about Penelope and some fans have spoken out against this decision by Netflix.

There is a small but very vocal group of Bridgerton fans on Reddit who are not impressed by Penelope and claim she is by far the worst character in the entire series.

People still can't get over the fact that Penelope betrayed Marina by destroying her marriage to Colin, whom Penelope has a crush on.

It was no doubt very selfish of her, even though some fans have tried to defend her actions. Does that make her the worst character? Not really. We need to bear in mind that her character's arc isn't over yet and she may very well redeem herself in the future.

After all, Penelope is only 18 and her immaturity may explain a lot of her questionable choices. Her entire Lady Whistledown persona is very ill conceived and her entire family is struggling because of it. And while she may well be the most controversial character on the show, she's far from being the worst.

We can only hope that the third season gives a perfect ending to Penelope's story and silences the haters.