*WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD*
Bridgerton is a show that sprung onto the Netflix scene in 2020 with its first season. The show captured the eyes and hearts of many looking for something to watch to escape the dread that was the early days of the pandemic.
Haven’t heard of it? Essentially, Bridgerton is a period drama that takes place during the Regency period of George the fifth in England and is based on a series of books written by Julie Cotler Pottinger.
Though I haven’t read the Bridgerton books specifically, I did go through a brief phase where I was into Regency romances and romance books in general. If you’re familiar with romance books or just books in general, it may have an aspect of romance you’re probably familiar with and have one or a few common situational patterns the characters are placed in. Enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, forced or fake marriage or dating/relationship — the tropes are endless.
Summary of Seasons 1 & 2
Well, so far, Bridgerton has used two tropes: the fake relationship trope in season one and the enemies to lovers trope in season two. Though somehow they’re not as cringy as they can sometimes appear in books.
Some who have heard of the show dismiss it as not worth watching due to the number of sex scenes in its first season. But those scenes don’t stand for the entire show, they’re just a part of it. The whole show is actually very well thought out and engaging.
The basis of the story is that young Regency-period noble sons and daughters of approximately mid-adolescence to early adulthood must find a match by the end of the English social season that takes place in the spring.
The first season of the show focuses on the efforts of one family, the Bridgertons, and the social season in which Daphne Bridgerton, tries to find a husband. She meets a Duke named Simon, who shares that he has no interest in marriage. She discusses her struggle about not being able to find a suitor due to her brother having “scared them away” with Simon.
Daphne agrees to help Simon drive away potential matches for him by pretending to be his match, and Simon agrees to help her attract other suitors by pretending to be her match to make them jealous. Of course, this plan ends up turning into way more than a fake relationship through various events, and they eventually get married.
Season two revolves around Anthony Bridgerton, the oldest brother of the Bridgerton household. Though he says he has fallen for the Queen’s chosen Belle of the Ball, Edwina Sharma (AKA “the Queen’s Diamond”), in truth he ends up falling for Edwina’s sister, Kate, but doesn’t admit it to himself or others. Kate falls for him too, but also doesn’t admit it since she wants the best for her sister. Thus, the annoying yet somewhat sweet and entertaining will-they-won’t-they tension buildup begins.
In the background of the entirety of these two seasons, there is an unknown author of a town gossip newspaper, that spreads scandalous information around the elite. Both the Queen and Eloise Bridgerton, another daughter of the Bridgerton family, try to track down and find out the real identity of the author — who goes by the name Lady Whistledown
The show explores almost every important character backstory, which explains why they are the way they are, why they act the way they do, etc. Through this exploration we discover why Anthony seems so aloof and stoic in season two, generally fitting into the dark and brooding character type. The reason is that, since his father’s death, Anthony has had to fill his father’s shoes by being responsible for the estate and his family’s well-being. Thus, he feels the pressure of that and focuses on finding a bride for the sake of duty instead of love.
This turns him into a bit of an ultra-perfectionist and a generally not-so-nice person, critiquing women he interviews, (yes, there is a full montage of him interviewing various women to be his bride) for even the tiniest flaw until pretty much every woman in town is turned down by him.
We discover why Kate also feels the same sense of duty to protect and guide her sister towards what she believes is a good future, leaving Kate having to sacrifice her own feelings in the process.
Each character has their own compelling story that is woven with the others in the show to create a plot that may look straightforward and obvious on the surface but is actually quite layered.
COMPELLING CHARACTERS or Confused Men?
As far as my opinions on the characters go, Anthony and Colin Bridgerton are characters I found myself both loving and hating at the same time.
Let’s start off with Anthony.
While his sense of responsibility is appealing and he seems very put together, his ultra-perfectionism to the point of being rude and mean is definitely not appealing in the slightest. It’s totally okay to have high standards, but you don’t have to straight-up insult people just because they don’t fit them. Anthony pretty much called a girl stupid because she didn’t remember a historic fact. History isn’t everyone’s specialty and it’s kind of arrogant to criticize people for not knowing things.
Anthony says he wants someone with good wit as he says in the show, but when someone like that actually comes up to him, (i.e. Kate) he folds because he can’t seem to handle the fact that someone can actually disagree with something he says. He shows a bit of this trait in season one as well when he and his sister Daphne are fighting over why he had initially arranged for her to marry Lord Berbrooke (who is a bit of a creep) and continues to show this trait throughout the entirety of season two. He also talks a big game about duty and responsibility, however, throughout season one he does anything but that — continuously putting Daphne’s eligibility and prospect of marriage at stake.
All I’ve got to say about that is if you have high standards, you have to be prepared to be able to handle it, or at least work on yourself until you’re sure you can. This is a lesson Anthony definitely needs to learn.
The thing with Antony’s character type, the dark and brooding kind who acts cold but who’s really just hurt inside and doesn’t want to show it, is that it’s easy to romanticize those kinds of characters in T.V. shows, books and other forms of pop culture. In real life, it’s a little less so. In my opinion, whether or not these kinds of people are appealing depends on how they manage and process their emotions. If they do it in a way that is productive and mature, then that’s appealing. If not and they handle it with the maturity of a five-year-old… yeah, no thanks.
Anthony’s the sort of character who fits both of these qualities in terms of how he handles things. He fit the second category pretty well last season. In the second season, he finally grew up and mostly realized who he was, though he still had a bit of the second category in him. This is why, despite my mostly liking season two Anthony in season two, there are some scenes where Anthony really annoyed me.
Next up, Colin Bridgerton.
He’s sweet with a sophisticated wanderlust kind of charm. I found the little moments between him and Penelope Featherington pretty wholesome. Though when it was clear that Penelope had feelings for Colin and she confessed her feelings, well… let’s just say the way he responded, while nice, wasn’t exactly the best way to go about it IMO. He kind of made it seem like he loved her when he was responding to her confession, but then ended with just calling her a friend.
The whole thing could’ve been better if Colin just got to the point and told Penelope directly that he didn’t like her that way, rather than hiding it all behind flowery language. Yes, Penelope still would’ve been heartbroken but at least you’re getting to the point rather than giving her false hope.
Of course, Colin has his own little situation with Marina Thompson from season one, who he was briefly involved with, but you’ll have to watch season two to find out more about that situation. I’ve already given enough spoilers. All that to say, I eventually grew to completely hate Colin by the end of the series.
Which season takes the cake?
Out of the two seasons, I like season two better. I’m not saying season one is bad — both seasons have good stories. But for some reason, season two’s use of the “will they, won’t they” trope makes it more exciting because when they finally admit their feelings, the conclusion feels so much sweeter. Also, the moments of tension throughout are so adorable!
Also, the lines… specifically the ones conveying a message of love? It’s hard not to feel swept away by them. They’re poetic and spoken so earnest in the show. Of course in real life, talking like that unironically can come off as a bit cringy unless it’s in a play or a person is just doing it to be dramatic. Very few people can make it not feel that way otherwise.
Regency romance shows like Bridgerton where characters say these lines and talk in a very flowery language make it all feel less cringy because of the time period they are set in. It allows viewers to be transported to a time where talking like that was perfectly normal and you could hear romantic lines and feel touched because it’s real.
The entire show, season one included, reads a lot like a classier more storied version of The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Only unlike reality dating shows, it doesn’t feel fake or forced. The story flows nicely and everything is done for an actual reason, so it’s easy to keep us engaged as a viewer.
Since the Bridgerton T.V. show follows the events of the book series, more seasons are expected to be aired on Netflix soon!