As the new Lord Featherington, Jack was viewed as a savior to the Featherington women. However, his big twist was hidden in his name all along.

Jack Featherington’s big twist in Bridgerton season 2 was hidden in his name all along. Throughout the season Jack (Rupert Young) was supposed to be providing financial support to the Featherington women and it seemed his ruby mines would do just that. However, in a big twist, it was revealed his mines were worthless and he had no money to his name.

Jack became Lord Featherington following the death of Archibald Featherington (Ben Miller), in season one. He inherited the estate as Archibald’s closest male relative and gave hope to Portia Featherington (Polly Walker) that he would provide financial and social stability after the mounds of debt Archibald had gotten them into. On learning his mines were worthless, Portia set up a scam with Jack to gain investors and any money possible.

Portia planned the scam in an act of desperation but the twist that his mines were worthless was hidden in his familial nickname, "Cousin Jack." Bridgerton is set in the early nineteenth century, and loosely based on the real King George and Queen Charlotte, but is not strictly historically accurate. However, the term "Cousin Jack" was used for the Cornish miners, particularly emigrant miners in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The diaspora of the Cornish miners occurred after the tin and copper mines were mostly closed down so they emigrated to parts of America and Africa in search of work. A "Cousin Jack" was a miner without any mines and searching to find new ones that had worth, and Jack Featherington’s big twist makes his nickname very fitting.

Bridgerton season 2 often emphasized his Jack's nickname too; when Penelope (Nicola Coughlan) first refers to Bridgerton's Lord Featherington as Cousin Jack, Portia is shocked and slightly unnerved by the familial term. Additionally, when Jack is engaged to Prudence (Bessie Carter), she still refers to him as Cousin Jack despite Portia’s objections. Portia knows about Jack’s empty mines at this point, and although her objections are against highlighting the cousin relation between Jack and Prudence, it could also be a rejection of the nickname which reveals his worthless mines.

The emphasis on the nickname Cousin Jack throughout Bridgerton season 2 suggests it was not just a coincidence but a big easter egg to Jack Featherington’s big twist. However, it was only his family who called him this, and Bridgerton is set in 1813, before the Cornish diaspora. This would imply that the nickname was an easter egg for the audience to pick up on, particularly as Bridgerton uses plenty of Jane Auster easter eggs and is not something that the characters could have worked out. especially as none of his and Portia’s investors would have known him as Cousin Jack.

In Bridgerton season 2's final episode, “The Viscount Who Loved Me”, Portia sends Jack back to America penniless. This makes his nickname of Cousin Jack still very fitting as he is emigrating back to America due to empty mines. Therefore, Jack Featherington's nickname, which hid his biggest twist also predicted the character's season 2 ending.

Next: Bridgerton Season 2 Confirmed Its Real Hero & Made The Title A Lie