Attention, fair readers, the season is upon us once again — Bridgerton is returning to chronicle the tale of a new Bridgerton sibling’s journey on the marriage mart in Regency-era London. Season 2 will follow Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) as he embarks on a quest to find a wife and, in the process, meets the stunning Sharma sisters, Kate (Simone Ashley) and Edwina (Charithra Chandran). In anticipation of the March 25 return, we’ve created this handy guide of everything you need to remember before watching Season 2. 

The setting

The Bridgerton story begins in 1813 London, where the high society ton have begun another season of the marriage market — the circuit of social events where eligible (read: rich) young men and women try to find a spouse. In this Regency-era romance series, the eight close-knit Bridgerton siblings attempt to find true love. 

The key locations of the show’s first season include the family home in Grosvenor Square — where their neighbors, the Featheringtons, live across the street — and the Duke and Duchess of Hastings’ two estates, the stately London Hastings House and grand country estate Clyvedon Castle. The royal residences include Buckingham Palace (called “Buckingham House” at the time) and St. James’s Palace, and several key scenes take place in parks and at the modiste’s shop — the local dressmaker.

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The Bridgertons

Season 1 followed eldest daughter (and fourth-oldest child overall) Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) as she faux-courted the most eligible bachelor of the season, the Duke of Hastings, aka Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page). They were both being pestered by unsuitable would-be paramours, so why not pretend to court and get the wannabes off their backs? Eventually, after being caught in a compromising situation — kissing alone in a romantic garden? The scandal! — their relationship turns very real and the couple marry. Although Simon’s friend and Daphne’s meddling eldest brother, Anthony) — the rakish subject of Season 2 who’s terrified of love himself — isn’t sure of their relationship, at first, he relents when he realizes that they’ll have to marry to avoid scandal — and further softens once he realizes Daphne and Simon are actually in love.

The Bridgerton family is headed by Dowager Viscountess Violet (Ruth Gemmell), mother of the eight siblings who lost their father when the youngest wasn’t yet born. The siblings, named in alphabetical order, include Anthony, artist Benedict (Luke Thompson), rogue Colin (Luke Newton), Daphne, troublemaker Eloise (Claudia Jessie), and youngest siblings Francesca (Ruby Stokes), Gregory (Will Tilston) and Hyacinth (Florence Hunt), who will feature more prominently in later seasons as they grow up.

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The ton

The posh crowd known as the ton spend their days socializing with the most elite members of their community. They’re all subjects of Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) and George III (James Fleet), the real-life royals of Great Britain and Ireland at the time. The de facto social leader is Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), a fearsome woman with connections throughout the ton. The Bridgertons’ neighbors are the Featheringtons, led by Lord Archibald (Ben Miller) and Lady Portia Featherington (Polly Walker), with daughters Prudence (Bessie Carter), Philipa (Harriet Cains) and Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), Eloise’s best friend and close Bridgerton family confidante who’s crushing on Colin. The Featherings take in a distant cousin for the season, Marina Thompson (Ruby Barker), who turns out to be a graceful beauty rather than a country bumpkin.

While the elite can more than hold their own on the gossip front, they’re all united in an obsession with Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews), the author of a scandal sheet delivered to London society that details all the juiciest gossip. The Queen and Eloise both quickly become obsessed with figuring out Lady Whistledown’s true identity, though Eloise’s interest is partially piqued because of how little interest she has in the ton (and marriage) altogether, and it gives her a fun distraction from the future in which she sees herself trapped.

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The conflict

Season 1 follows the blossoming love story between Daphne and Simon as their mutual respect for one another turns into true love. Though not without their arguments — like, for example, how Simon refuses to procreate in order to spite his jerk of a father, but all Daphne wants is to become a mother — the couple end the season more in love than ever with a child of their own.

Meanwhile, the Featheringtons are down on their luck as Archibald is a gambler and spends all of the family’s money before an untimely death in the season finale. Which distant relative will take the title next? Oh, and it turns out that Marina was sent out of town by her family because she was expecting — but her deceased boyfriend’s brother showed up at the end of the season to do the responsible thing and marry her.

It’s not all bad news for the Featheringtons, however, as youngest daughter Penelope has been harboring a secret of her own: She is Lady Whistledown and has managed to save a great deal of money that could potentially help her family — if they knew she had it.