"All is fair in love and war."
Hello everyone!
Editorial, make no mistake, as well as production choices.
Back during the heart of the pandemic, Netflix decided it was going to release what quickly became probably one of the most-watched shows of all time, and that's saying something since binge-watching is a thing.
Then they said they'd be coming back for season two.
And they did.
And I'm not okay with it.
Listen, I have thoughts, and this is my corner of the internet to share those thoughts. So strap into your stays and corsets and make sure you've got that money ready for the latest edition of Lady Whistledown's paper.
Because Bridgerton's second season was an even bigger doozy than the first.
Links to previous related posts, including a recap and review of season one, can be found at the bottom of the page, as per usual.
When Netflix first announced it would be bringing Julia Quinn's story of a Regency family of eight children to life, everyone and their mother was excited. That excitement died down somewhat during the controversial ending of the first season, and I personally feel like there are more people now, too, who've stared to figure that Shondaland is in it only for the drama. Because the creative changes to The Viscount Who Loved Me, the book season two is supposedly based off, are HUGE.
Hopping right into the story, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), Viscount Bridgerton, is literally tossed to the sharks by his unhelpful mother at the opening ball of the season since he announces this is the season he'll find a wife. Of course his idea is to have an extensive list of questions each young lady must answer, but, you know.
Meanwhile, on the opposite end of the spectrum, Kate (Simone Ashley) has come to England from India with her younger sister, Edwina (Charithra Chandran), to secure her a suitable match because while their mother was disowned by her parents, they're prepared to offer their granddaughter a sizeable dowry if she marries a peer.
Once Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) chooses Edwina as the season's Diamond, it looks like the race is on for when Anthony's going to make her his Viscountess.
Naturally, as this is a romantic drama, things don't necessarily go smoothly because Kate overhears Anthony explaining that love isn't in the picture for him so she literally makes herself an obstacle the size of the Wall of China, forcing him to underhanded tactics to be able to even speak to Edwina, who isn't actually as immune to his charms as her sister would hope. So after some initial blunders, Anthony gives a heartfelt speech which tips the tide in his favour, and Edwina tells Kate that sometimes, an honest man isn't also a bad man, and chooses Anthony as her suitor.
This will, of course, cause friction and problems, especially as the season begins to unfold and we start to learn just what it is that keeps Anthony from falling in love, that is to say, he's made the conscious choice after seeing his mother fall apart completely when his father died from a bee sting. Considering the depression the mom fell into, is it ANY wonder Anthony wants to avoid that at all cost?
He does invite the Sharmas down to the ancestral Bridgerton country home a few days prior to their annual ball, though, to play some pall-mall, to get to know one another better, and of course for chemistry between him and Kate because apparently, the line between hate and love is even thinner in Bridgerton than it would be anywhere else.
This is also the stage for one of the more ridiculous scenes in which Edwina is devastated that Anthony hasn't proposed yet, and Kate is mad at Anthony for supposedly playing with her sister's feelings - yet at no point at all does she stop to consider SHE might be the problem, standing there like bloody Cerberus and turning Anthony away at every moment.
Literally. Anthony comes at Edwina, Kate smacks him back, then she's upset because he doesn't do what her sister wants. It's mind-boggling how so many people can find that appealing!
Anyway, the heat is on after KATE gets stung by a bee, and the biggest divergence from the books occurs when she and Anthony are not in fact discovered in a compromising position, and the charade of wanting Edwina continues. Especially as Edwina encourages Kate to spend more time with the Viscount, having properly deduced SHE is the problem he hasn't gotten down on one knee yet.
This creates even MORE problems since the chemistry Kate and Anthony share is off the charts, something even Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) notices and, in typical useless busy-body fashion, tries to convince Anthony about. Because love is just SO grand, you know, you have to drop everything in favour of it (is her argument). But in all honesty, no one in this show can give Anthony anything helpful whatsoever, even when they SHOULD (looking at you, Dowager Viscountess, because for some reason you want to convince your son that your depression was just a natural occurrence and he should embrace the possibility of being a zombie instead of giving him any sort of encouragement).
Anyway, Anthony says F this, and proposes to Edwina by the halfway point of the season, which for book readers makes NO sense, and yet here we are. The Queen is absolutely delighted and offers to sponsor the entire thing, which is overshadowed when Jonathan Bailey takes a tumble into the nearest lake in our modern-day Mr. Darcy recreation that somewhat excuses the season thus far, which will only get worse.
Because we finally get to meet the infamous grandparents, and it turns out Kate - who was so incredibly furious for the little, innocent scheme Anthony concocted to get close to Edwina - has been lying to everyone all along, and the reason Edwina needs to marry a peer is the dowry. Of course then the grandparents turn out to just be awful people in general so Anthony yeets them out of a place that isn't even his own home, but he also tells Kate afterwards that, really, SHE's going to preach to him about honesty?
She begs him not to break off the engagement because Edwina's fallen in love with him, and it doesn't matter what they themselves feel since she's the only one whose feelings really count. Which is some logic I'll never understand but, Anthony being presented as an honourable man (for all the wrong reasons) agrees.
Naturally, Daphne has by now clocked into more of the truth but somehow STILL manages to be completely unhelpful, even with the wedding literally on top of them, but thankfully Edwina isn't as stupid as they've made her seem all season long and realizes what her sister and the Viscount have been trying to desperately to hide, and calls the whole thing off.
She also tells Kate to F the heck out of there, in what is probably the best scene in the season in terms of someone putting the ridiculous hag in her place, because with the amount of sheer spite and hate she's been spewing all season long you'd think someone else would have by now, only for some reason Netflix decided that she was going to walk all over Lady Danbury (Adjoa Andoh), the most badass character ever, too.
How does that make sense?!?
It's one of the more baffling turns of the show, more confusing than Colin going to visit Marina because, I don't know, he feels bad or something? And more so than Penelope recruiting the modiste into her Whistledown scheme since it's grown so much, or even more confusing than Eloise hating society and its norms so much she starts hanging out with political radicals, because, reasons.
This doesn't help either the Bridgertons or the Sharmas when they throw a joint ball to save face, since everyone is currently shunning them, and NOBODY ACTUALLY ATTENDS precisely because of Eloise doing what she's doing, to which she responds by crying like a baby and throwing a hissy fit along the lines of I JUST WANTED SOMETHING FOR MYSELF OMG HOW CAN YOU BE SO MEANNNNNN TO MEEEEEE!
Then again there are other problems for the Bridgertons, namely that the show writers don't actually understand either how the family dynamic should work (aka that while the siblings poke and prod at one another they are actually SUPPORTIVE and LOYAL first and foremost), nor how the social dynamic works when Colin is so indignant that Anthony wants to know about his finances after withdrawing a large sum to invest with the Featheringtons, whose entire plot this season is to scheme everybody else out of their money so they can have some when the heir is revealed to be broke.
Has nobody explained to the writers' room that ANTHONY makes the money Colin is withdrawing? As Viscount Bridgerton, he's in charge of the family finances; Colin isn't independent - he has a portion of the money set aside for him, true, but it's Anthony who does anything with it, and he has every right to demand what the actual hell his younger brother is trying to do. This would be just as true in a modern day setting, too, not just Regency.
But as established, the family is literally useless, belligerent, and completely ungrateful, pretending the world is their oyster without actually indicating they understand WHY that is (the answer, if you haven't guessed yet, is Anthony Bridgerton, who goes so far as to make a sizeable donation to the Art Academy after Benedict applies, which is exactly how these things used to work and still work, honestly, but Benedict throws a fit about it too, later, because ... reasons).
Back to the show. Anthony and Kate finally give in to the passion between them, but she takes off before he wakes up and they can have a conversation, which then leads to a dangerous ride through the rain and her falling off her horse, hitting her head, and going into a coma for a week.
This terrifies Anthony out of his mind, because he's fallen in love with her, and his mother offers more unsolicited commentary on how happy she was with his father, which has nothing to do with the fact her firstborn son is having a near-panic attack, but as you do. Kate also won't let him even open his mouth to try and have a proper conversation together, then she mopes about like some sort of wet dust mop because he hasn't come to visit while she was out, because running hot and cold is COOL, y'all.
Thankfully this is the end of the season, both the show one and the Regency one, as the Featheringtons throw the final ball, kick the heir back to America, and Eloise figures out Penelope is Whistledown, which causes a rift in their relationship because Eloise is such a superiour little biatch that it's coming out of her ears by the time the show concludes. Thank GOD Penelope decides to keep on going, because Whistledown is the only bright spot in the entire mess by this point.
Kate also finally shuts up for long enough to let Anthony speak (after another GORGEOUS dance sequence which possibly could have saved the show if there'd been more of them), they end up confessing their feelings for one another and marrying, finally, while Edwina and the Queen seem to have grown even closer (PLEASE can Edwina get the Prince next season? She's the kindest and most consistent character of the whole lot and DESERVES it after this season's fiasco!).
The show ends with another game of pall-mall at the country and some happy cameos from Newton the Corgi who we don't get to see enough of during the season, sadly.
And I'm left wondering what the hell did I just watch.
Listen, season one, while taking some creative license, followed the book, The Duke and I, pretty loyally, whereas this one goes so completely off-track that it isn't even based off it anymore, but rather just loosely inspired. And while the costumes are lovely and the scenery breathtaking, there are so many character and plot changes that it becomes a disappointing mess.
I'll try and be brief.
In the books, the Bridgertons are portrayed as a family unit that's unstoppable precisely because they're so strong in their familial bonds; their matriarch is someone who all the kids love to take advice from and listen to her, the viscount, while having his days, is essentially always out there trying to ensure the best for all his seven younger siblings, and the drama that's contrived within the books doesn't take center stage like Shondaland's did.
Because, as you may have noticed, the family in the show is about as dysfunctional as it can get, the matriarch is basically useless, and they've completely destroyed the viscount.
The whole entire POINT of Anthony Bridgerton is his sense of honour, family, and loyalty. Everything he does is for the better of his siblings in some way or another, or for the people he loves. Book Anthony would have NEVER, in a MILLION YEARS, continued the charade with Edwina after so many compromising situations with Kate. That's where Show Anthony's honour failed him. Honour isn't just how he behaves on the outside, it's his own knowledge of behaviour when people CAN'T see him that counts almost more.
He's also the head of the family, yet none of his family in the show actually respect him, which makes no sense. None of them make any money or have any standing whatsoever WITHOUT Anthony and his title. Every penny they spend, he has to earn, or make sure the estates provide. If he wants to, he can pick the spouses for each of his siblings and they can't do or say SQUAT because - check this - HE OVERRULES THEM BY VIRTUE OF BEING THE PATRIARCH.
That alone should have warranted better treatment between siblings, but for the sake of drama, the family life is shown as completely fractured in a decidedly modern way to somehow appeal to the masses, and to excuse the ridiculous plotline they set Eloise on.
Eloise as a character bothered me in season one already because, for all intents and purposes, she has NOTHING that really should have pushed her onto this whole women's rights path. She grows up in a loving, doting family, with the world at her fingertips, constant support, constant money, and an intelligence born from the usage of the best tutors money can possibly buy because the family can afford it. She also lives with the knowledge she doesn't HAVE to marry for money, because she has a sizeable dowry (again, one HER BROTHER ASSURES), so she can be choosy.
However, the above only works if she actually HAS a supportive, loving family. But seeing as Netflix has cracked the Bridgertons so far apart that even Benedict is complaining when his older brother wants to help him (because ... reasons), you can see where this is going.
I hated that plotline. I hated Eloise. I hated the Dowager Vicountess, and I especially hated Kate, who became a spiteful, hateful harpy instead of a witty and charming young woman who kept Anthony on his toes. Did they spar in the book? Naturally! That was the whole fun of it. But they never outright INSULTED one another, nor would she dare.
Because Anthony Bridgerton is a VISCOUNT. This means he is a Peer of the realm, and Kate is so many steps below him in society that she should have been content if he asked her to polish his boots (I'm exaggerating, but the point is there). This also means that she has NO GROUND TO STAND ON to be able to bar him from her sister, because she's not Edwina's legal guardian, and her social standing is so much poorer than his. Anthony should have been able to snap his fingers and get an outing with Edwina, without batting an eye.
But alas, because Shondaland wanted drama, drama they created, unnecessarily too. Anthony and Kate's story in the books becomes a journey of self-discovery and dealing with phobias, family and society after they marry when they're discovered in the compromising position of a bee sting (yes, LOL), without the need to add any love triangles or hateful rhetoric into the mix.
Fingers crossed that season three is going to be Colin and Penelope's, because if we have to watch a spiteful, angry, weepy Penelope for one or two years, somebody better riot.
This thing is already way past an iceberg collision, it's just drama for the sake of drama at this point, but at least give us a break somewhere, yeah?
xx
*images and video not mine
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