Gentle readers, season three of Bridgerton is upon us at long last—and introducing a friendship that is sure to be the talk of the ton. Bosom buddies Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) and Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie) are still estranged. But out of the ashes of their relationship rises a new alliance between Eloise and none other than Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen), who was once a shared enemy of the former friends.

New series showrunner Jess Brownell admits that Eloise and Cressida are strange bedfellows—at first glance anyway. “Last season, Eloise had a bit of a bumpy ending,” she tells Vanity Fair. “She got a little political with the printer, Theo (played by Calam Lynch), and nearly got herself and her family in big trouble. Then, on top of that, she realized that her best friend had been lying to her about Whistledown all along. So Eloise enters this season having lost a little bit of her fight, at least temporarily. There’s a little feeling of, if you can’t beat them, join them. When we were talking about who would be interesting to pair Eloise with, in terms of underlining how different she’s feeling this year without Penelope by her side, Cressida made a lot of sense.”

It’s a friendship that wasn’t in the Julia Quinn–written novels, meaning that few will have seen it coming. But the union serves as a delicious “opportunity to get to know Cressida a little bit more,” says Brownell. “I love a mean-girl character, but even more, I love understanding why a mean girl is a mean girl. Because mean girls are not born, they’re made. You have Cressida, who has been this queen bee all along—but three years in without a husband, I think there’s some room for reflection with her. You’re going to see some new sides from her this year, and understand why she is the way she is.”

The new season will feature a glimpse into Cressida’s homelife, which largely revolves around her success on the marriage market, where she’s competing against fellow singleton Penelope for the affections of a new character, Lord Debling (played by Sam Phillips). “For the last two seasons, there’s been this rivalry between Penelope and Cressida. It felt like we wanted that to come to a head this season,” says Brownell. “So even though Cressida, this year, is trying her best to be less of a mean girl, she can’t help but subconsciously want to go after the same guy Penelope is going after. It puts the two of them on a collision course that was really fun to play out.”

The bond between Eloise and Penelope is collateral damage from the revelation that the latter is actually tea-spilling Lady Whistledown. Their continued separation makes for some of the season’s most heartbreaking moments.

“Bridgerton is about love in its many forms, and so it felt right to focus on friendship as well, which I think is just as important as romantic relationships, especially at that age,” Brownell explains. “So Penelope and Eloise’s breakup is really, in many ways, the secondary love story of the season. They are childhood friends who grew up next door to each other, and a lot of times, those friends, you outgrow them. So what we’re looking at this season is, are they the kind of friends who it was just a phase and they’re going to outgrow each other? Or are they separately going to be able to mature in the same direction and come back together?”

Alas, the Lady Whistledown of it all will continue to burden a potential reconciliation between the two—and any burgeoning romance with one Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton). “Eloise knows the secret, and as soon as one person knows, I think it gets harder and harder to keep the secret,” says Brownell. “So that’s definitely a pressure that is playing on Penelope this year.”

Season three of Bridgerton will debut on Netflix in two halves—part one on May 16 and part two on June 13.