There are some fans that are looking forward to seeing a close friendship between Kate and Penelope in season 4. Some of the reasons for why Kate and Penelope will be close friends is because they are both married to a Bridgerton son, they are both mothers, and both their sons are heirs to titles (the assumption being that they keep baby Edmund as Kate and Anthony's first). These seem to be very tenuous connections on which to build a close friendship that is believable in the show - especially between two characters that have not really interacted in any meaningful way. But more than their lack of interaction in the show, the biggest obstacle to building a believable friendship - close or otherwise - lies in Penelope's use of a slur against Kate when she first arrived in the country.
I can hear some fans groaning, saying it was two years ago and to get over it, however, this in itself is part of the problem as they dismiss concerns of women of colour around how Bridgerton writes for, and treats, the characters who are women of colour. What I see within the fandom are opposing groups of fans that have markedly different views of the use of the slur by Penelope towards Kate, (I am not going to go back into the problematic aspects of it I have written about it here). One group of fans that think there was nothing wrong with it - it was 'the truth' (because Penelope only spoke the truth according to these fans), or it was a reference to The Taming of the Shrew, or Kate wasn't bothered, (actually the show never gave anyone the opportunity to know how Kate felt about it) and other excuses are used to diminish the use of the slur. Another group of fans (including myself) were offended, insulted, and hurt by the use of a word that is a slur against people of colour - especially in a show that uses diversity to market itself. Unsurprisingly these opposing groups of fans hold different views of a friendship between Kate and Penelope, especially a close friendship, with the former thinking it would be a great thing whilst the latter see it as problematic considering Penelope has not addressed what she wrote about Kate.
Image Credit: Netflix
As a newly arrived immigrant in season 2, and of a lower social status to Penelope, Kate was an easy target for Penelope's poison pen, with her use of misogynistic and racist language towards Kate being particularly nasty, marking a turning point for some fans in how they viewed Penelope as a character. This change in how these fans saw Penelope as a character was not moved in season 3, partially in the lack of acknowledgement of Penelope's words against Kate, something that I wonder if the writers were cognisant of as they ensured that neither Kate nor Anthony were present for the Lady Whistledown reveal. There was no need for Penelope to go as far as she did with the insults towards Kate in her Lady Whistledown column, and that the writers thought this was a good idea for the character who was going to be the lead in season 3 shows a lack of judgement on their part, and a complete lack of awareness of how that would be perceived by many viewers.
So, with this background, could a friendship between Kate and Penelope work in the show? Well of course it could if that is what the writers want to have happen, they can make anything happen, which means the question that should be asked is whether such a friendship will be accepted by viewers? With some viewers it will be accepted and welcomed, but with others it may be a harder sell. How could the writers believably have Kate be friends with the woman that so publicly dehumanised her with a racial slur, and then not address it onscreen?
it is in the dealings with Lady Whistledown that we see a disconnect between the Bridgerton production and many of the viewers. Whilst the producers and writers appear think that all is well in the world of Bridgerton, and that they have brought diversity to a genre of television that hasn't had much diversity, many viewers see issues with the representation in the show, and a tone deafness from the writers. Any potential friendship between Kate and Penelope that the writers might try to force on the viewers will definitely be met with pushback without properly addressing Penelope's words, and some viewers may wonder why the writers think it is a good idea. When they allowed the racism to seep into the character of Penelope via Lady Whistledown, and then ignored it as if it never happened, the production left themselves in an impossible position of having it taint anything they write between Kate and Penelope in upcoming seasons.
Personally, if Kate is back for season 4 (which I doubt), I don't want to see a friendship between Kate and Penelope without this issue being addressed in the show, until that happens the writers have no right to try and make the viewers buy into such a friendship. Will the writers be brave and address this can of worms they opened in season 2, or will they continue to pretend it didn't happen and seemingly use the women of colour on the show to validate Penelope and her actions?
