SPOILERS for Bridgerton Season 2.
I watched Bridgerton Season 2 over the course of two days. I enjoyed it, even though I felt like the second season was much more scattered and uneven compared to the first season. Granted, the first season had some subplots which I didn’t care about that much, but they gave us so much of the core love story, from courtship to wedding to the first months of marriage. That… was not what happened in season two. The core love story was often put aside for endlessly awful subplots involving Eloise Bridgerton (who is a waste of time, space, books and privilege) and Lady Whistledown (omg, printer drama!) and Benedict Bridgerton (a chaotic bisexual who feels way too modern).
In the second season, it felt like they were NOT focusing on the core romance on purpose, like they didn’t believe it would hold up or something. Maybe that’s just me being oversensitive, but it absolutely feels like fans didn’t get the same emotional and romantic journey for Kate and Anthony that we got for Daphne and Simon in Season 1. Notably, they didn’t even show Kate and Anthony’s wedding! They just got together and then bam, we saw them as newlyweds at the Bridgerton country home. So why didn’t Kate and Anthony get a wedding? Allow a producer to try to explain:
Bridgerton fans now have an answer for why they never saw Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) and Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley) walk down the aisle.
The hit Netflix period drama, which premiered its second season last month, skipped over Anthony and Kate’s wedding and instead showed the couple after their honeymoon. Bridgerton director Cheryl Dunye explained the decision to Insider Monday, saying that nuptials had already been seen on screen.
“There was a big wedding before,” Dunye said, referencing the would-be wedding between Anthony and Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran), Kate’s younger sister. She said the Bridgerton writers chose to only include one wedding in season 2.
“Two weddings in a show that were that spectacular, one could not do after the other,” Dunye — who was not directly involved in the decision to exclude Kate and Anthony’s wedding — told Insider. “I was just like, ‘Yeah, you’re going to make the other wedding look paltry if this wedding was bigger,’ ” she added.
No. This is bullsh-t. I can’t believe this is the thought process from a production point of view. “Y’all know how this is a frothy, fun romantic drama? Well, let’s not give fans an emotional payoff or allow women to enjoy a second wedding on the show!” What a stupid decision. And I mean, of course Kate and Anthony’s wedding wouldn’t have been as grand as Edwina’s. Kate and Anthony likely just went off and did something quiet, and producers could have spent all of FIVE MINUTES giving us that kind of payoff and I would have loved it. Such an absolute disservice to fans and Desi women. All of that f–king time wasted on Eloise being a f–king brat should have been spent on Kate and Anthony!
Photos courtesy of Netflix.
Honestly I’m having a hard time going back and watching more episodes after a couple because Eloise annoys the f**k out of me.
I just fast forward through Eloise, the Featheringtons, Benedict and Penelope. Snooze and annoying the lot of them. Well, not so much Benedict, he’s just boring.
I found Eloise very annoying as well and extremely two-dimensional. And the love triangle was overwrought and so different from the book.
The Viscount Who Loved Me is a my favorite Bridgerton book, and Kate and Anthony have a beautiful story in the book. I think the show really did the book story a disservice. I attended a book talk with Julia Quinn this winter, and she said she handed over all creative control to Shondaland. I think it shows.
I have to wonder what Julia Quinn thinks of the major changes the TV people made to her stories. I really hope they can veer back into the thematic direction of the books by the next season, or I can’t see myself continuing to watch this Netflix version. I’ve read and totally enjoyed the whole series, and I liked season 1, but season 2 was to me just mostly joyless with too many new unhappy situations the characters were thrown into; including Eloise’s petulance, how she treated Penelope, the whole drama around the Featherington’s scams, the constant fighting between Kate & Anthony with not nearly enough love and joy to offset it (the book played out their dynamic so much better).
I really didn’t understand why they were trying to make Eloise happen. She has shown no real growth from season 1 and no real maturity even though she is now the same age as Daphne would have been. She should know how much is at stake in finding a match. Her future depends on it unless she plans on living off her brother.
It was especially annoying seeing her disdain for everything as she happily snacks on fresh fruits, candies, buys two copies of Lady Whistledown on someone else’s dime, and takes the carriage out to sneak out to see printer apprentices.
I really would have liked to see Edwina marry the prince as I don’t feel the consummation of Kate and Antony’s relationship merited a big wedding. I mean…they were wrong. But Edwina deserved so much more than what she got!
I think season 3 covers Eloise and Colin so maybe the goal was to set them up for what is to come. It would have been great if Edwina had been introduced to the Prince and immediately falls in love. I think it would have helped Kate’s character look a little better.
@PaulaH – I agree. A lot of the stuff between Colin, Eloise, and Penelope felt like groundwork for future seasons, all kinds of dramatic tension between the three of them, given Penelope’s role with Marina Thompson, Eloise’s reputation, etc.
Also from a purely narrative structure point of view, I don’t think they really were trying to make Eloise happen. Growth is easier to write for a character audiences already dislike– all you have to do is make the character likeable. Trying to show growth in an already likeable character is harder because the changes are usually much subtler.
I am glad I am not the only one to be annoyed by Eloise.
And when she was fighting with Penelope, Iat first yes, I was nearly on Eloise side, in the end I was giving Penny a standing ovation, when she shot back that “At least I did something”.
I liked season two way more than season one. And I found season two maddening, repetitive, and full of stupid subplots (such as when Whistledown just watched other people with concern on her face).
My theory as to why we didn’t get a wedding is because, yes, it would have been too expensive, but more importantly, sex! They gave us virtually no sex this season so the pay-off, so to speak, was to give the viewer contented, loving, not-scandalous-in-any-way, hot lovemaking that had been missing for a full eight episodes. To be honest, I liked the tension between the two that built this season, but there were six too many moments of them up in each other’s faces and almost kissing, only to stop themselves or be stopped by others.
I liked Season 2 way more as well. And yes this lacked sex but I think they had phenomenal chemistry and the yearning to me was way more potent than Simon and Daphne. Both seasons have extra unneeded fluff. But I did like that this one had less sex. I’m not a prude and I think Anthony and Kate were beautiful together, but last season the sex got repetitive.
Same! I found most of the sex scenes last season pretty cringy. I liked the tension this season between the romantic leads and didnt miss the ackward soft-core p0rn.
Yes! I completely disagree that people weren’t invested in Kate and Anthony, their chemistry was off the charts! Season one was about the Duke, while Season 2 was about the couple, which in my mind made it way better. Would I have liked less Featherington and more Kate and Anthony ? Sure. But otherwise, I really liked it. Honestly, what really annoyed me in this season was Daphne being so pretentious.
Let’s be real the wedding between Simon and Daphne was a bit of a downer. They didn’t reveal their true feelings until their wedding night when he told her that he burned for her. I would have loved to have seen a Kathony wedding but I DO see the producers point. Two weddings in the same show would have been a lot, especially involving the same people but in different positions. I loved seeing them together in their bed in their home and look forward to seeing them in the 3rd season. I do wish we’d gotten more of Kate and Anthony this season all together though. They’re minutes on screen totaled 103 minutes.
I agree that it was probably because of the wedding with Edwina already having been there in the season.
It would be the same thing, except then with a happy ending.
Also, as I understand it, all the siblings will get married, so that would be lots of weddings and repetitive in the series total if they do it each time + perhaps even more weddings of other characters (like the Edwina wedding).
I liked that they flashed forward to them being a happy couple doing Pall Mall instead, as that is where they first seemed to connect earlier in the season.
Nice to see someone else call out Eloise for being a privileged, grating waste of space this season. By the end I was wanting to fast forward every time she came onscreen.
*Spoilers*
IMO the love triangle aspect should have been resolved halfway through the season, leaving the second half to focus on Kate and Antony living as newlyweds and Edwina finding her love match.
The love triangle with her SISTER ruins the whole show IMO. Shame because Kate and Anthony have major chemistry.
Out of all the secondary characters I only liked Penelope
@Mmc, I completely agree with both of your points!
Glad we wasted all that screen time on the Featherington heir, who was booted anyway. I wanted more Anthony and Kate time but didn’t feel like another wedding would be necessary. Just more “happy THEM” time, after a lot of angst.
Just finished rewatching S2 and it’s actually pretty good. Things hold together better and the subtlety of some of the interactions really shine when not binging. Not repeating the wedding scene kinda made more sense too. That’s my 2 cents.
Not seeing a second wedding did not bother mw either.
” Benedict Bridgerton (a chaotic bisexual who feels way too modern).”
I find Benedict Bridgerton a very interesting character and look forward to a season focused on him and his love life.
I agree with everything you said, especially Eloise. I think the problem was that the writers ruined Anthony in season one to make Simon and Daphne more sympathetic and likable than the book versions and then because of that people didn’t like Anthony, so they decided to give less focus to his story and more focus to the characters who were popular in season one, such as Eloise and Penelope. And Queen Charlotte because Shonda is writing a series based around her. It’s such a shame. Kate and Anthony’s book is the most popular for a reason, and if the writers had a little more faith in it, and stuck a little closer to it, I think this season would have been incredible. Jonathan and Simone are so talented and have amazing chemistry and all the elements were there for a truly epic season, but the writers wasted it. I still loved the season, but I do wish it had been 10% closer to the book.
I fast forward through the scenes with Eloise too, lol. I just don’t care that much.
I think they just made a critical error with having Anthony and Edwina almost get married. It took the plot in a direction that was hard to correct, so to speak. I also thought Edwina’s anger at Kate was completely ridiculous. She told you not to marry the viscount, and when you insisted she made an effort of covering her feelings, which maybe would tick Edwina off but she got REALLY mad and mean to Kate.
I would have much rather seen Anthony and Kate get married and more of their post-married life, but I wonder if the concern was that would be too similar to the first? Courtship, marriage, some issues that get worked out, happily ever after.
I do think the last two episodes are excellent (minus Eloise of course) and I cry when Mary tells Kate she never had to earn her place in the family.
Books 1 and 2 are very similar in how they get their protagonists together, so I think the showrunners were trying to change things up a bit from season 1. I thought the tension between Kate and Anthony was fantastic, but the show’s creative decisions led to the ending being very rushed. It would have been nice having more time with them as a couple.
While I was fine with them making changes from the original plot, I think going all the way to the altar with Edwina changed the dynamic more than it needed to, especially since you aren’t supposed to hate any of the three in the triangle. And then once the wedding was off they spun their wheels a bit before finally letting kate and Anthony get together.
There was still great chemistry between Simone and Jonny which made you forget some of the plot issues until the end.
The chemistry between them and both of their acting saved the season, IMO. The moment when Violet tells Anthony that she’s awake and the emotions on his face…..that just kills me. And the literal fireworks at the end…swoon.
I am okay with TV shows or movies being different from the source book, I’m not a purist, but the changes have to make sense to me, they have to move the plot a bit or something. I guess here they wanted to highlight the relationship between Kate and Edwina and add some tension and drama to the plot that way, instead of having it just be about Anthony and Kate’s relationship, but I think they went a little too far.
I also wish they had highlighted Anthony’s issues with his father’s death more, they had that one episode about it but that was kind of it. I understand why – the first season had so much to do with Simon and his father and their toxic relationship, that they probably didn’t want to have another season with a son wrestling with the memory of his dead father, but I think it meant that there was a part of Anthony’s character that wasn’t fully revealed to the audience.
I enjoyed this season much more than season one, but I’m also a huge fan of a slow burn. All the longing looks and hand touching are totally hot, and when we finally do get sex scenes, they were great and centered on female pleasure. Plus, Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley have amazing chemistry. However, I 100% agree with everyone who found the ending rushed and the B-plots annoying. Benedict’s was especially pointless, which makes me nervous about how they’ll handle book 3 (the Benedict-centric book). Anthony and Kate are threaded throughout the book series because they’re the heads of the family, so I’m happy to see that Simone Ashley will be returning next season. I hope they’ll make up for lost time there. I could watch her and Jonathan Bailey together all day long.
Well put.
I also liked the couple more this season. Didn’t expect that as Anthony didn’t seem sympathetic in season 1
I thought Benedict was supposed to be disillusioned or disenchanted or something with his art when his book begins? Which is where we find him at the end of Season 2.
I find it ironic that the story of Kate and Anthony is filled with side plots that lay down the foundation for their younger siblings. Kind of like the story of their entire lives. We end Season 2 with loose ends for Colin, Eloise, and Benedict (and Penelope). Literally, Season 2 visually ends with scenes of Colin at Mr. Mondrich’s bar, Eloise watching the fireworks while crying, Benedict closing his box of paints and brushes as Penelope/Lady Whistledown has her dramatic voice-over. Kate and Anthony’s wedded bliss is more like a coda than anything else.
I read the Bridgerton books after Season 1 and loved them. I really didn’t like how they made Edwina a sympathetic victim and the main focus and Kate an angry conniving shrew. Kate was one of my favorite characters and she and Anthony had so much in common their story deserved more screen time, This season was all about the Featheringtons, and except for Penelope I don’t care about them. Also too much time on the queen, Eloise, and Benedict. It diluted Anthony and Kate’s story. It deserved so much more attention especially after they married which is when they really fell in love.
Yeah, one book element that I wish they hadn’t left out of the show is the backstory on how similar Kate and Anthony’s lives had been before they met and how that drew them closer together. Maybe they’ll get more into that in later seasons since it sounds like Simone Ashley is joining the regular cast.
You think Edwina comes off looking sympathetic? I don’t and none of the folks that I spoke to saw it that way either. She sometimes comes off as bratty and Kate comes off as a protective and loving sister and daughter.
Pretty bratty, IMO. She was shielded from so much and crucified Kate a bit after losing the “man / life she deserved.” What a spoiled, entitled person. I’m glad they had her mature a lot after that but she sure was dramatic and PUT OUT with it all. I wanted her to just shut up at one point and be grateful.
Speaking from a production standpoint, I’ll also say that while yes, another wedding would be expensive, they also filmed during the height of covid (and the production shut down several times). A big wedding with tons of extras? That’s just adding another risk of shutting down again.
I didn’t need a second wedding but I liked the bee scene in the book with Mrs Featherington discovering them in the garden. It was so unexpected and moved the plot along, as well as ending the sister Anthony triangle quickly.
i had a rule never read the books of films you watch and vice versa, i thought they didn’t do Kate and anthony justice in the romance department when they finally realised they were in love. so in the ending appeared quite abrupt
I thought season one was a bit trashy soap opera and season two felt more of a period piece. That said, having read six of the books, I’m not sure I like what they’ve done with the stories. Colin and Penelope are my favorite sub plot, and I liked Eloise too. I agree with other commenters here who have said she didn’t seem to have much growth. I really liked her book where she answered an ad, essentially, for a husband. I hope they don’t stray from that. The conflict between Eloise and Penelope re: Lady Whistledown is not my favorite. I understand the writers and show runners want to put their own spin on things, but why fix what isn’t broken? Use the really great story arcs and character development from a pretty solid franchise. I’ve read a looooot of romance novels, and I don’t usually find myself thinking of the characters when I’m not reading the way I did with Bridgerton. That, to me, is the sign of decent writing.
As someone who also thought S1 was a bit of a trashy soap opera, I didn’t come back for S2. But I’m seeing stuff online about it that makes me feel like this romance is a lot more compelling and I’d like it better — which makes me bummed to learn it’s often sidelined for subplots.
I think the problem with this season is the overall how the love story (book version) happens is pretty similar to the first book. There are minor differences in that Anthony is wanting to court her sister because he wants a wife and heirs but not love. Ultimately, however, mid way through the story, he is forced to marry Kate (they’re caught post bee scene by the moms and Featherington) and he tries to not fall in love with her because he doesn’t want to love his wife (because of his father’s death and how he thinks he will die young too). But he can’t resist falling in love with her.
He never proposes to her sister and they never get to a wedding, obviously. The sister is also not interested in him at all. There is focus on her sister needing to marry but it’s only because the family can only afford one season. Not the inheritance drama. I understand why they didn’t follow the love story from the books closely but I think instead they should have a) had Edwina know she needed to marry a titled gentleman but not be into Anthony at all – basically like he’s fine, he fits the bill because the emotional drama between her and her sister took away from the love story and made her sister look awful (I think a key reason the book works is the sister is pretty disinterested in Anthony emotionally), b) NOT GET TO THE WEDDING, possibly not even the betrothal so they can c) get Kate and Anthony togeher sooner.
YES!! You said it perfectly. The way Edwina “loved” him in the show made my eyes roll. I understand it was a conflict, but…..they couldn’t have gotten another conflict? Especially since they pretty much dropped all of the baggage regarding Anthony’s feelings related to his father.
Yeah, this would have worked better had the Anthony/Edwina courtship been cut off in episode 5 and Edwina not been so into Anthony. Of course, we might not have gotten the “you’re the bane of my existence and the object of all my desires” line, which was definitely the line of the season.
Yup, I just said something similar above. They were trying to create more tension than just the central love story but I think it ended up making things too messy.
***SPOILERS***
My edit for the season would have been to have Edwina reveal after the blow-up at dinner in Episode 5 that she knew all along and was going along to save her family. That would have allowed them to stop the wedding, still deal with the scandal of a broken engagement all while giving more time to Kate and Anthony’s relationship.
I really did love this season but I feel like that change (or something similar) would have made it way better!
^This would’ve been brilliant. Imagine if Edwina was like, “I don’t want to marry him either!!” It would’ve defused the whole conflict and allowed the show to pivot and focus on Kate/Anthony for the last 3 episodes.
Yes! That would have been perfect. Having her emotionally invested in Anthony was so cringeworthy on multiple levels.
Yes, that would have worked a lot better. Having Edwina basically be in love with Anthony (or think they were marrying for love) made the sisters relationship too complicated and I think it was then too hard to recover from that in 2 episodes.
I like that idea. This would have also made the ending feel less rushed.
I liked Season 1 much better than Season 2. In Season 1 the flow was much better and the subplots didn’t consume the show. Season 2 felt disjointed and I was actually bored watching it at times. I can rewatch Season 1, but Season 2, I’m one and done. Not rewatching it at all. But to each his own. As long as you found enjoyment that’s all that matters s.
Same, I liked Season 1 better as well. I really, really disliked not getting to see the wedding in Season Two, and ironically, at least to me, it felt like Anthony & Kate got less development as a couple. I don’t really care whether they have sex in episode 5 or episode 8, they simply didn’t get enough screen time together, and the payoff after all that angst (seeing their wedding and their HEA) was too brief.
I agree with everything you said @guest. I rewatched season 1 so many times I lost count, the second season however I struggled to get through it and will not be watching again.
I don’t know. Anthony told the Queen he wanted a small ceremony at his house when questioned about plans for his wedding with Edwina. I kind of just imagined that for him and Kate. He got what he wanted.
I agree completely with Kaiser’s assessment of the season 2. The first one was better “tailored”.
Eloise was self-centered neurotic in the 1st season but in the second she is pictured like complete brat. Annoying neurotic brat.
Also, Kate’s “self-deception” phase lasted too long to be believable. She is annoying too at least to me, not to the same degree as the caricature the script writer made of Eloise character, but still.
I liked the older generation: Violet, Lady Danbury, the Queen…
Or maybe if they followed the story then Anthony and Edwina’s wedding NEVER happened. They didn’t even get close to a wedding in the book. It was infuriating it got to that point in the show.
I thought the second season was TERRIBLE. The plot and pacing were off and they made the two main characters way too unlikeable for basically the entire season. Little character development, and it felt like Kate was made out to be a disrespectful brat instead of a more nuanced woman with wants, fears, and other complicating factors. The love triangle was taken too far and, despite the chemistry of the leads, it still felt pretty f*d up. Who almost immediately sleeps with their sister’s former fiancé right after she calls off the wedding? Hard pass. I’m so bummed because I’ve been so looking forward to this season after the escapism and fun of season 1.
I feel the same way. The leads were very unlikeable and although I did hate watch the whole season, it was such a let down.
Hate-watch is right. I kept waiting for it to get good…
Yes, I read the Bridgerton books after watching the first season. They were very vanilla but still had enough to keep you entertained. #2 was one of the better ones but instead of the show leaning in with some artistic liberties, it feels like they simply took the main characters and wrote an entirely new (and far less compelling) story.
I thought the lead actors were strong but they were given a terrible script to work with. It was missing the buildup of suppressed feelings with a payoff at the end. The characters were made too one-dimensional for 90% of the series. I wanted to root for them but found I barely cared what happened to them. Poor Anthony feels the weight of the world (but I didn’t feel at all sorry for him as conveyed), Kate was determined to be offensive to everyone around her, and Edwina’s character was pretty but lacked any substance. Snoozefest.
@browningmyarce…I’m with you, I read the books after seeing season one and I didn’t love them! To me they were very run of the mill romances and I wasn’t sure how they captured so much attention to be made into a film. So my view was that Shonda did them a massive favor by making them more interesting. In each book I found little pieces I liked, but nothing I was really rooting for. And I like romances. I’m not entirely sure why these books were more “special” than any of the other Romances out there. I do think Shondas fabulous casting gave the books a depth in the movies that they don’t have in the books!
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but Benedict isn’t bi in the book, correct? I sometimes feel like Shonda productions don’t allow natural shifts to characters. A lot of work is over-worked plotting and loopy storylines, i.e., Inventing Anna. I still assert that her representation of Black characters is uneven. I’m not a fan of the tv series, but I have read a couple of the Bridgerton books. There’s a way to make story changes to feel inclusive but not necessarily asynchronous to the time period. Personally, I’m a fan of Sorcha Mowbray Victorian romance stories they are spicer!
None of the characters are bi or gay in the books.
The books are a very trope-y type of romance series. Everyone is straight, white, and at least one character in the relationship is wealthy.
The books weren’t a lot of fun. I know when the show first started a lot of romance readers were lost to why that set of books was even made into a series. It’s an incredibly boringly straight-laced and standard presentation. It really leaves a lot lacking when you read.
Season 2 really disappointed me, as a reader of the entire Bridgerton book series. Naturally, one expects several stray-off’s from the book, but this was just waaaay to “off”.
I thought Kate was a marvelously interesting character and wish that they would have shown more of her! Agree with you about the wedding–they should have shown it. And Edwina was also a great character. I would love to see Season 3 show more of Kate and Anthony, more of Daphne and Simon, and focus on Edwina as well as Colin/Penelope and Eloise. It would be interesting to see Edwina figure out what she really wants, as distinct from following the path she was on before where Kate thought she knew what would make Edwina happy and Edwina was following the path Kate set out for her. I wish they would branch out a little and not feel bound to the books.
Eh…I didn’t need to see them get married. I’m more annoyed that they changed the story between the main couple and Edwina. And that my favorite scene from the book (Library scene) was not done full out. But even with all that, I still loved season 2 more. Also, unlike Simon and Daphne, Anthony & Kate will be mains in the other seasons, so hopefully we’ll continue to see their relationship grow. Also team Eloise. I love that girl lol.
I just finished S2 and I liked it quite a bit. It’s different from S1, less frothy and with less sex, but that didn’t bother me. I agree with the point made above, that in the books the Kate/Antony marriage happened under much the same circumstances as Daphne/Simon, so they didn’t want a repeat of that. I didn’t like all their choices but overall I thought it was a strong season.
I thought Jonathan Bailey did a great job portraying Anthony this season. He and Simone had terrific chemistry, even if they’re sniping got to be a bit much at times, especially in the beginning. But they both evolved a lot over the season, along with their relationship. I like that they both realized how their parental roles in the family had shaped their choices and blocked them from following their hearts for too long.
Eloise, Eloise. She was working my last nerve but I’ll still stand by her. I think that, like Anthony, she will improve next season, hopefully. I don’t think she broke it off with Theo for the wrong reasons. She told him she didn’t want to be the cause of him getting in trouble. At an earlier meeting, he had bluntly told her that she already had, to some degree. As an apprentice, if he got caught mingling with a young lady of her class he could get canned, and then he’d be SOL. Unlike her, he has no family with money and status to protect him.
But she also broke it off with him because of fear of gossip. Gossip had done her family a lot of damage and potential damage already. Last season, Lady W had proclaimed Daphne “all but ineligible” after Marina arrived. The suitors dried up and she had to scheme with Simon to find a match. Now that was partly Anthony’s fault, but Lady W’s influence had a lot to do with it too.
I saw that moment as Eloise thinking about consequences for the first time. Not just for her, but all of them. What happens to one sibling impacts the others. Anthony gets dumped at the altar, and society shuns all of them. The truth is, a romantic scandal involving Eloise and an apprentice would hurt not just her chances of marriage but those of her sisters and maybe even brothers as well. So, she had good reasons.
I thought she was too harsh with Pen but I understood why she was angry. Pen’s writings as Lady W did hurt her family.
As for Pen and the Featheringtons? Yeah, there was too much of their family drama. I love Polly Walker but the subplot was a little tedious. I like Pen but she crossed a line. I hope there is a redemption for her and Colin next season. I’ll curious to see how they’ll handle it.
Oh, and Edwina. I wish they hadn’t made it seem like she was in love with Anthony, or at least thought she was. That was tough to watch. Too much sisterly drama. But it all ended happily. She’s a good character and I hope to see her back and to see her find her own path and happiness, whatever or whoever it might be.
100% agree with everything you said Annel. I honestly didn’t like the book of Bridgerton #2. Far better authors out there. Hence why I liked this adaptation. But I get the interpretation that Kate was more of Anthony’s female counterpart. Hence her weaknesses were his. Her fears were minimal under the guise of DUTY!! Also I’d like to know timeline: how am quickly did they get married post proposal and I seriously wonder if they had premarital sex in the gazebo. I stand by the fact that Anthony is Honorable and didn’t want to have any baby Bridgertons just yet…
I stand by Anthony does not want to have baby Bridgertons early in his marriage. When he became Viscount at 18, if you go by the ages of the characters in the TV series, that means that Benedict was 16, Colin 10, Daphne 8, Eloise 7, Francesca 4, Gregory 2, and Hyacinth not yet born. His mother having deep depression for what seems like at least a year, if not longer, after Hyacinth’s birth means that Anthony was raising six children ages 10 and younger. Benedict probably would have been at Cambridge by that time, so Anthony was alone.
I sure as hell would want to spend as much time with my spouse before having to raise any more children.
(Yes, he had a house full of staff to assist, but I still maintain it’s a lot of kids. The family is close knit, he made a point about having family dinner and you can see that they regularly spend time together in the drawing room. It sounds like something Edmund Bridgerton established and Anthony continued.)
Agreed the second season felt more “scattered” and there was way too much time on the much less interesting subplots + characters. I would’ve liked to see more of Kate and Anthony finally being together openly and being happy (hopefully in season 3!) but I didn’t really miss the wedding scene. I think the producers were emulating a lot of the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie, where you also don’t get to see a wedding, but you only see the aftermath with Mr Darcy and “Mrs Darcy” hehe
I really enjoyed season 2 but I really wish that they would’ve brought together Kate and Anthony much sooner so that we could see them happy for at least 1-2 episodes instead of just 15 mins at the end of 8 episodes! The love triangle with her sister was terrible and it shouldn’t have been taken that far.
I get that duty weighed heavily on them but this is the first time that they’re both drawn to someone who they think can make them really happy. Who can be a partner while they overcome and manage the trauma they’ve both endured.
Simone Ashley is a good actress but she she seemed flat compared to Jonathan Bailey. He puts his entire body, all his facial expressions, lip micro movements, jaw clenched, body leans, and omg his voice modulations into his performance. You can see and hear the anguish in his voice. Simone I wish would have portrayed Kate as someone who was trying to hold herself back but then eventually succumbed. Her eyes are expressive yet she could’ve done so much more with her body, other parts of her face, and her voice. This is one of the first times I could totally see where an actor who has a theater background totally outshines his counterparts.
I’m glad we got to see some sex but the cuts were so quick! And when they kissed they didn’t really open their mouths, just mashed their lips together. I wanted to see more passion! If Anthony put his face near Kate, he didn’t want to initiate more bc he’s a gentleman but I wanted to see Kate be the one who just decided to free herself and lean in the rest of the way. Instead, they just ran towards each other and I found that less believable.
Hopefully we’ll see more intimate scenes of them in season 3. The rest of the siblings aren’t as interesting to me. For the life of me, I can’t see anything about Benedict that makes him even remotely interesting.
Bisexuality is not modern and should be applauded for included not criticized. Decolonize your mind🖤
I don’t think she was criticizing bisexuality or Benedict being bi. She was saying he feels a little too modern as a character, but not necessarily because of that. I see her point. I can’t quite get a handle on him as a character. I’m also distracted by how old he looks. He looks older than Anthony.
Honestly, and while I hope I’m wrong, I strongly suspect the show relied on queer baiting with Benedict. He has only had lady love interests and his love interest in the books is a woman. The show runner has also been very vague when pressed about Benedict being bi, which I think speaks to the issue the show seems to have with planning.
I’m so happy Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey are going to stay on. They are so good as Kate and Anthony and such have incredible chemistry. The show *needs* Anthony and Kate because good lord, the other siblings are all such duds.
Well Anthony is head of family, right, so he needs to be on the show and so glad JB and SA are going to be in the next series, after the disappointment of no Rege. That now feels so awkward that he’s not done at least a cameo. As a fan, just feels odd, with all the family gatherings, Phoebe and their child. Major fail there.
I liked this season’s love story better than the first one, and the leads have more chemistry. The sex scenes are also more realistic in my opinion. Having said that, a lot of it is due to the actors and the residual love from the book’s story. One thing that may have played a role is the departure of Regé-Gene Page, in the sense that Shondaland, not being new to actors getting better offers (or egos) was looking for a more ensemble feel that allows the show to have more legs (like what has happenned with Grey’s). It will be interesting to see if that ensemble focus continues next season.
Did anyone else catch the fact that *cheryl dunye* is directing episodes of bridgerton? No, just me?
I don’t know who she is…..off to Google.
ETA oh wow. I have heard of the watermelon woman but didnt make the connection.
I absolutely loved this season. I wasn’t expecting it since I wasn’t a fan of Anthony in the first season and the fact that Simon wouldn’t be in it. But how I loved Anthony and Kate! So much. And maybe it’s because I haven’t read the books… but Penelope annoys me. Hoping that changes. I feel like the producers are hinting that Benedict’s season won’t be next.
And PLEASE- enough Featheringtons!
aw, I’m sorry you didn’t care for it. I love it. rewatched season 1 afterwards, and it didn’t hold a candle to season 2 for me, and I’m saying this as someone who loved season 1 when it came out. Much prefer Kate and Anthony’s story to Daphne and Simon, prefer their intense, slow burn yearning chemistry. The sex scenes in season 1 got kind of repetitive and cringe, tbh. less is more sometimes. Also, narratively justified marital rape. Still gross.
We didn’t see the K/A wedding, yes, but we saw them happily married and in a blissed out honeymoon stage, and that works for me, especially considering they’re going to still be in the show moving forward since they’re the heads of the Bridgerton house now. Feel like we’ll get to see plenty of their happily married life.
As for the other subplots, I didn’t mind them even if I was invested in some more than others, but I don’t mind if the show turns slightly more into an ensemble drama than the books. Still felt like K/A romance was the A plot this season, and that was good enough.
IMO, the unevenness is probably because they had to cut a hefty amount. The second book is…bad. I’d break from popular opinion and suggest that while the characters are better (still bland as hell, mind), the plot in the first novel is stronger. TVWLM is completely unfocused, poorly paced, and completely meandering; it’s 100 pages of plot and 300 pages of boring padding. It was bound to show in the adaption unless they completely replotted it, which it sounds like they wisely did in some sections. If they cut the wedding and everything after, they did the story a huge favor because it was an ungodly slog after that point in the book.
I found Anthony and Kate so awful together, just didn’t get the romance or chemistry everyone says they saw. She is so stunning and gorgeous and it would take a gay man not to “burn” just standing next to her and that is exactly what we got, a gay man that didn’t have any real response to an absolute sexy stunning woman. Eloise was so annoying, but I found her annoying in season 1 too, awful character.
I liked the characters of Kate and Anthony better than Daphne and the duke. But i hated how they used Edwina. It just made her seem so naïve and silly to insist that she was “in love” with Anthony and that she’d been used badly by everyone around her, and to complain about her lack of agency when every time someone checked in with her, she doubled down that this is what she wanted. In fact, i felt SURE that they were going to pull her interest in Anthony back after the pall mall game – that she was going to realize that she didn’t really enjoy being with the bridgertons in regular life outside of the Ton’s parties- playing their games or their boisterous antics. That seems to be a real missed opportunity.
I completely understand that everyone brings their own experiences and expectations to any piece of media they consume. The first time I watched Season 2, I thought it was fine. But then I kept watching it over and over and I had no clue why. Bridgerton is entertaining, but it’s not something so good that it warrants obsessive rewatching.
Apparently, Season 2 triggered me in a huge way. I had this extended session with my therapist where I cried the entire hour because there are so many small details about Kate and Anthony’s parentification that mirrored mine. I don’t really have unresolved trauma over it– I’ve processed it over many years of therapy and just the natural effect of time. But it was a mirror. So many mainstream media stories have the dynamic between a parentified sibling and their younger brothers/sisters as this very close knit relationship, sometimes going so far as to make the relationship co-dependent. The love between the siblings is obvious; the younger sibling completely understands and appreciates what the elder does.
Bridgerton shows a different dynamic, where the younger siblings exhibit resentment, anger, bitterness, blame towards their parentified brother and sister. It shows weak mothers. I could write a goddamn essay on Violet Bridgerton and her treatment of Anthony. I don’t know how to describe the way years of being the parent to both your siblings and your mother crushes you. But watching the siblings say they “never asked for any of it,” never asked to be protected or shielded, never asked for Anthony to take on all those duties, or Edwina literally blaming Kate for all the choices Edwina pushed for– yet at the same time never seeing the siblings step up to the plate to relieve Anthony and Kate of the burden. Watching them throw the years back in Anthony and Kate’s faces while at the same time reaping all the rewards and continuing to live off those same protections– it was devastating for me.
There are certain words and actions, very small and minute details, which stick in my mind. Whether they were deliberate or not doesn’t really matter. I keep watching Bridgerton because apparently I need this visual validation of some painful parts of my life. Bridgerton simply isn’t a romance for me. As I said in an earlier comment, all I could see were two characters who reached their breaking point and finally shattered.