Dearest gentle readers,
After a sizzling first season, the second season of Netflix’s raunchy hit period drama Bridgerton is here. This season, the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), is on his search for a perfect wife. He is determined to marry for practicality rather than love, particularly this year’s diamond. Kate (Simone Ashley) and Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) quickly derail that plan with their arrival from India.
If there’s one thing the new season gets right straightaway, it’s the foundation of any good love story: the chemistry, the writing, and the character arcs.. Luckily for us, Bailey and Ashley serve up more than enough chemistry in an enemies to lovers arc — the bread-and-butter of the romance genre. Anthony’s pursuit of the charming and accomplished Edwina sets her protective elder sister’s hackles rising. Their barbs and tension practically crackles off the screen.
The relationship between the sisters is one of the most important elements of the season. Their dynamic is totally believable; they dance expertly between the fierce protectiveness Kate shows everyone else who nears Edwina and the tender affection she reserves for Edwina herself. They call each other “bon” and “didi” respectively — the latter a Hindi term of endearment for an elder sister — and beautifully bring to life the uniquely powerful sibling bond that can forge between immigrant children, as strangers in a strange land, with only each other to rely on.
Mary has some truly lovely interactions with her daughters too, an interaction between her and her stepdaughter Kate is especially moving, easily a standout parent/child moment in a season whose focus is so heavily on family. The Haldi ceremony is all the more powerful for uplifting the bond between this little family of women alongside how beautifully they celebrate their culture. Add in a string cover of Bollywood hit Kabhi Khusi Kabhie Gham playing over the sequence, and you can only imagine the state it left every desi viewer: weeping. This really is a season that explores the complexities of family, and for the most part this results in some genuinely poignant character work.
The sizzling chemistry serves an agonizing slow burn — huge emphasis on burn here as I burn for them, because this season understands that there’s nothing hotter than tension. There’s a scene where the pair share a reluctant dance. The tension between them was so taut it felt like it could snap and explode if I breathed wrong. Charged glances? Tiny hand gestures that speak volumes? They’ve got it all in spades and it’s a goddamn delight.
Honestly, my only real complaint about their relationship is that I wanted more of it. Admittedly, I would have happily watched 50 episodes of the two of them circling each other in an empty room.
Your Author,
Miss Singadown