Of Bridgerton Season 2

Dear readers,

That time of the year has come when the ton is ablaze in buzz: the arrival of Bridgerton season 2. Upon its grand debut, viewers crowned last season as the diamond of Netflix. Will this season continue the tradition? Read on to find out.

A rainbow of exquisite dresses. Sunny views of the Jane Austen-like Mayfair. Invigorating orchestra music. The first scenes of season 2 made it hard to not squeal in my tiny, economy-class airplane seat. I had been storing Bridgerton as my entertainment for a nine-hour flight, and while it was grueling to wait for a few days since its premiere, it was more than worth it.

The Perfect Match

Were you disappointed to hear that the OG couple, Daphne and Simon, was not coming back? I have to raise two hands. And don’t try to fool me because I know you were as well. Luckily for us, this season leaves no room to miss them. We must thank Kate Sharma and Anthony Bridgerton, the perfect couple.

Kate and Anthony are the same person: both older siblings obliged to hold their crumbling families together after the death of a patriarch, they are (very) competitive members of a society that needs them to sacrifice their true desires in order to fit in. But they are also what each of them need to stop caring and fight for their happiness. They free each other, and that’s gorgeous.

But…

*Breathes* I am a Gentleman

The romance falls short, because sometimes nothing really happens. I was rooting for them whole-heartedly to get together, so it was strenuous to contain myself from physically demonstrating my frustration in front of the other airplane passengers. Can the writers tell me why 50% of their romance involves breathing sounds, unnecessary flashbacks, and Anthony trying to convince himself that he “is a gentleman”?

I am thankful that nothing physical ever happened between them when Edwina was still in the picture (if it did, that would’ve changed my positive opinion of Kate and my lukewarm perspective of Anthony). But there are other ways to create romantic tension between two impossible lovers besides breathing sounds. I leave an example here:

The key (for me) is getting the right dose of ultra-fixation on an otherwise trivial (yet crucial to the characters) interaction without unnecessary sound effects or additional minutes that just drag the scene out.

I must clarify that I was only disappointed by 50% of the romance. The other half is lovely: they connect through their past trauma and present struggles. And I must concede that there are some good moments of tension, albeit dragged by exaggeration (ex. the bee sting scene). We could have more of those instead of just breathing.

But we were not just in it for the romance.

Diamonds, emeralds, and more!

Unlike season 1, we enjoyed more than just a romance storyline. I believe that’s what makes this season so strong: we see character development, particularly from all the ladies.

Edwina was born to be the diamond of the season. Beautiful, gentle, talented, and knowledgeable on how to thread society’s rules with strength yet scandal-avoidance, I must 100% agree with the Queen’s choice. And I am sure the Queen does as well, as Edwina allows us to see another shinier side of Her Majesty: one that is vulnerable and has the capacity to care for others. I absolutely loved that!

We also got to see Kate and Lady Danbury’s admirably strong personalities clash at the start to develop into a complex mentor-mentee relationship. The Sharmas are up to par with Lady Danbury, allowing us to see through the cracks of the lady’s perfection, who this season has it rough. We even see her laugh in misery upon the realization that she does not always have a solution for everything!

We also see Lady Danbury struggle to mend her friendship with Lady Bridgerton, another character who invites us to see her darkest moments through flashbacks of her mourning. I just loved seeing these women show us their weakness: it makes them even stronger in my eyes.

And then we have the “emerald” of the season, Eloise! Probably the audience’s favorite, we finally see her breaking Mayfair’s walls and exploring the world outside her bubble, even surprising herself with a CRUSH. Yes, a crush… that is stomped on by Lady Whistledon.

A.K.A, Penelope Featherington. This season, we see her care about something other than Colin. She allows us to see a side as cunning and strategic as Lady Featherington herself, and the later episodes show us a more sinister side of who we once considered a ray of sunshine.

Penelope was not my favorite this season, but I loved seeing what she and Madame Delacroix provide us this season: women caring about something other than husbands. Which I can’t blame them for, considering the men surrounding them…

Rocks and Pebbles

Why can’t Bridgerton writers give us good men? Why can’t we ever have a season where the men acknowledge that they don’t have a problem with objectifying women of lower classes and treating prospects as a business transaction? It happened last season and it keeps happening this season. I was expecting some sort of acknowledgement at least from Anthony during his transformation, but alas, there was none.

And the other characters are not helpful. We have Benedict, who I cannot hate because he made me laugh, but who acts like a spoiled, irresponsible rich kid. I admire him for pursuing his artistic passion, but there are no struggles, self-sacrifice, or self-awareness. Just him doing whatever he wants and facing no consequences. And then Colin… I can see that he is slowly learning that the way he views the world is not the best. I hope this continues the next season with him realizing that the women around him are capable of making their own decisions, even if they don’t please him (ex. Marina).

I will not spare more than this sentence on this season’s addition, the new Sir Featherington: still not over that disgusting kiss with Lady Featherington, goodbye.

But we also get to see potential diamonds in the rough among the pebbles…

Anthony’s Redemption

My least favorite character in season 1, he was the main reason why I thought I would not tune in to watch season 2. But he turned that around. While I still hold a grudge at him for his perceptions of women, his flaws shine. Viewers can understand and empathize with him.

His backstory is *chef’s kiss*. It is realistic (even more so than Simon’s at some points). The show reveals each building block of his past at such a beautiful pace. If it weren’t because I was in a crammed airplane, I might’ve shed a few tears. Please give a standing ovation to the writers and to the actor, Jonathan Bailey, for such a performance. His behavior now makes sense to me, and I found myself rooting for a character that I didn’t even care about before (I thought Anthony and Benedict were the same character up until halfway through season 1).

I actually wish this season would be longer so we could see Anthony becoming an even better person (and maybe enjoying more Kanthony scenes, as I believe the original book invited us into their married life). I guess we might see more of this in season 3.

Which is another whole year away. Let's all sigh. I think my longing for a new season is a sign that Season 2 is just delightful. Even if the romance is not quite up to par with season 1, all the characters flourish, and that made me enjoy it even more than the previous season.

Now, dear readers, we’ve reached the end of this Bridgerton exploration, but make no mistake… we will see each other soon. Until the next scandal of the season!