"What matters madness when true love flourishes?"
Hello everyone!
That's right, a month after the release on Netflix, I finally sat down to watch this show over the weekend.
See I'm REASONABLY on time for this merry-go-round.
I'll admit that I was a little bit apprehensive, because my past experiences with anything coming out of Shondaland have been ... skewed, really.
Because while most of the time it's OKAY, it then starts to deviate a little from what you'd expect, and not in the best way possible.
To my intense surprise, however, I truly, deeply loved this one. Loved it to the point I'm actually considering re-watching it, which hasn't happened with any of the regular seasons thus far.
If that isn't an endorsement I don't know what is!
So let's find our best manners, and have a look at Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
And yes, there's a number of them, because I've watched the first two seasons of Bridgerton and am slowly reading through the series (I think I only have the last book left, honestly).
Now if you recall, while the first season was reasonably faithful to the book it was being lifted off from, the second one did the heinous error of mangling the character of Anthony, who happens to be relatively beloved (and also, my personal favourite). Ergo, people were just slightly nervous about Queen Charlotte.
For me, those fears proved to be unfounded, possibly because this show is an original and not bound to the constraints of a book.
Charlotte (India A.) is sent to England to marry George III, but being the smart cookie that she is, she wonders why, specifically, did the empire want someone from the outside rather than one of their own for queen. So she does what any reasonable maiden might and tries to climb over the wall to escape her fate, only to be stopped by none other than George (Corey M.) himself.
Turns out, the two have a delightful rapport right from the get-go, and she immediately establishes some foothold when she switches to her French-made wedding gown rather than the demure English one her mother-in-law, the Dowager Princess (Michelle F.) stuck her into.
Then George takes her to Buckingham House, drops her off, and yeets into the night.
Everybody, Charlotte included, is like ... my guy?
How is this supposed to work? You need to father the next heir? Will you do it by pigeon carriers?!?
Alone but for Brimsley (Sam C.) who we know from the mothership is always about five paces behind the queen, Charlotte is reasonably sure she's done something wrong, the King dislikes her, or ... something. Either way, she's having a hard time adjusting to all the changes in her life and on top of that has no husband to speak of.
Brimsley urges Reynolds (Freddie D.), the King's man, to at least have the bloke send her some sort of gesture, and George does: a Pomeranian which she immediately declares to be a deformed bunny. Considering she's German and the breeds of dogs there are a la shepherd, dane etc., one can see the confusion.
Just as she warms to the dog though, so too does Charlotte do the same with George once he suddenly pops up to have dinner with her because ... well, he's the king, right? LOL WRONG. Charlotte wants nothing to do with him after he abandoned her, but he grovels a little, shows her his observatory (where, by the way, she found him at one time and he kicked her out, to add insult to injury) and they finally, FINALLY consummate the marriage.
As an aside, watching Reynolds and Brimsley get interrogated about it by the Dowager and the representatives from the House of Lords is a hoot, although by that point you start to wonder who actually holds any kind of power here, because is sure as heck doesn't seem to be George, and even less so Charlotte DESPITE the fact she was brought there to allegedly rule by his side.
Just when things are sort of okay between our protagonists, Charlotte overhears George arguing with his mother that he's done everything they all asked of him, even consummated the marriage, so could they please leave him be? Which, of course, leads to a complete disaster since the queen is now convinced all he's said was just a lie to get things done and out of the way, rather than a genuine want from his side.
So as they head into their coronation, they aren't on speaking terms and only get together on even days so they can have sex and hopefully conceive, which would then mean they wouldn't have to suffer each other's company any longer (and apparently George is in a tiff that Charlotte is in a tiff since he apparently doesn't even try to work out what the problem is here).
On top of THAT, Brimsley discovers the King being treated by a random ass doctor he doesn't know, though Reynolds brushes him off, and everyone's spidey sense needs to start tingling a little bit. Because if you know your history, then you know George III had some ... problems.
These problems come to a head, after Charlotte tells him that she gets him - through no help of his, mind you, but from outside influences - and the two sort of patch their relationship to try and make it work, again. And then she wakes up one night when he's having some sort of episode, is drawing on the walls, then runs out into the gardens to stand there naked calling to Venus.
Afterwards, George overhears Charlotte arguing with his mother, and we already know that he's got a doctor who's been treating him, but we haven't seen the brunt of the treatments yet, which is what we get when he returns to the man voluntarily.
And let me just say, these are NOT for the faint of heart.
See the doctor is convinced that George needs a routine and to have someone in control rather than be in control himself, so the torment he undergoes includes but is not limited to poor food, water boarding, getting poked by hot irons, and generally speaking any other matter of degrading methods you can think of, to try and snap him out of whatever's going on in his head (joke's on the doctor, however, because like with any other abuse, the person suffering will withdraw and disassociate, so they're only prolonging the fit rather than curing it).
Episode four is devoted to the background of everything that's been happening with George while we've been paying attention to Charlotte, from before the wedding, to after and during, and especially after learning that Charlotte's pregnant, which is what causes the whole, naked-with-Venus incident.
It also means the King is again out of Charlotte's reach for basically the entirety of her pregnancy, until she's so desperate (and annoyed with the Dowager who's breathing down her neck after relocating to Buckingham upon news of said pregnancy) that she writes to her brother to come get her, and even takes off, out of confinement, to try and be anywhere but in the palace(s).
And then - after a confrontation between Brimsley and her brother, which I thought funny and to the point - she decides that, you know what?
They brought her here to be Queen, but the only thing that everyone's seemingly thought she's good for is breeding; not even her body is her own until she delivers the coveted heir. So instead of pandering to them and being the good girl, she's going to do what she was sent to do: be QUEEN.
Popping up at Kew, she has a stand-off with the good doctor who tries to use the authority George placed over him over Charlotte, but she tells him he's lucky she's in a hurry, and Reynolds decides that he needs allies to get the king out of there, so he tells her where to find him. And in the end, it's Charlotte, with love and affection, that snaps George out of it, letting him feel the baby kick.
She sends the doctor away post-haste and moves to Kew to try and normalize things, declaring that she loves George enough to stand by his side through everything, but she needs to know if he loves her back. If he does - well, she'll move heaven and hell to keep them going.
Which is good, because he needs someone on his side as his mother is decidedly useless (though watching her navigate the arrogant Lords is something else) trying to continue her authority over Charlotte and Charlotte just smiles and tells her to have a good day. At that point, regardless of the fact that on a level I understand what the Dowager's been doing, I still cheered, because SERIOUSLY. How the hell did the old crone still have so much power even after the pregnancy announcement?!?
Anyway, Charlotte delivers a healthy boy (in a very touching sequence where we finally see George act as the king he is rather than the farmer he wishes to be), and yet fails to get George before Parliament for a speech, so after a little tete-a-tete under his bed, she decides they'll just have to bring Parliament to him and host a ball at Buckingham.
Charlotte theorizes that letting the people in will help them control the narrative, and it's the main reason why she's so keen on social engagements in present-day. And at this ball, finally, the Dowager acknowledges Charlotte as queen and takes a step back, everyone seems content that their King can still rule, and the queen may or may not be pregnant again (I'm thinking it's yes, to be honest).
And before you think this is it, it is decidedly NOT, because we also have a present day storyline running parallel to the past, one in which the Princess Royal is unfortunately dead, which means that there is no one to succeed after the Prince Regent, and the line of succession is in jeopardy.
Charlotte wonders how the hell her 13 kids managed to botch up the one job they have so horribly, and takes it upon herself to marry them off and get them procreating (lawfully, because there's more than enough illegitimate babies about!). This exposes frictions within the family itself, as it becomes clear that in her quest to be George's helpmate and the best Queen possible, she may or may not have neglected her duties as mother.
And indeed, she very much doesn't know her children well, but she shares some heartwarming moments with them just the same, like advising her son on love just before his wedding, though my personal favourites are always the ones in which she steamrolls them, like when she tells the Prince Regent to be a dear and approve the marriages she's arranged.
Overall, her efforts do pay off, because there IS a coveted pregnancy to be had - one that will result in none other than Victoria herself.
THAT is a triumph, if I do say so myself, and in case you're worried that the show is too Charlotte-centric, don't fret because we also have some Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton inserts. Lady Danbury's tells the story of how people of colour became titled after Charlotte married George, and how she was basically sold to her husband and raised specifically for him, how she doesn't enjoy anything in her marriage, and how much she's willing to do to achieve her goals.
She even spies on Charlotte for the Dowager for a bit! The important lessons here, however, are that there was a lot of tension with the Great Experiment, as they called it, particularly after Lady Danbury's husband dies (in the most hilarious fashion possible) and the question of will his son succeed him as Lord or not is opened up. It's only really solved at the end when Charlotte herself intervenes, since the Dowager keeps going back and forth about it (how did they expect this to actually not backfire if they were only going to have the experiment for one generation? The stupidity is mind-boggling).
And she also - Lady Danbury, that is - advises Violet in the present day (after they both advise the Queen about this whole marriage thing and love) that it's okay to want physical affection, even though obviously Violet loved Edmund deeply.
Of course what comes to light through the deepening friendship of these two women is that Lady Danbury actually had an affair with Violet's father back in the day - which, yes alright IS scandalous, but I have to say it ends up not being too terrible even so. Because Lord Ledger was unhappy in his own marriage, and wished only to offer comfort to Lady Danbury as well as help, and Lady Danbury didn't throw a tantrum after he pulled away.
I'm also glad Violet herself doesn't throw a tantrum in present when she figures it out, and it LOOKS like the two women will remain friends.
It's a story of perseverance and great love, and the struggles of women in that time, whether royal or titled or not - and it ends on a beautiful shot of present-day Charlotte and George under his bed (apparently the designated rendez-vous area whenever he was a little confused) as she tells him about the pregnancy, and they both thank each other.
It's filmed beautifully because we see both the young and old versions of the characters, signalling that both Charlotte and George still see one another like they were, so many years ago, and it tells us something about the strength of a love you choose, for yourself. And strength of character!
Because honestly, if you think Bridgerton as we know it is degrading or horrible towards women, you NEED to watch this prequel where they're sold like chattel, only good for procreation, talked over, walked over, and generally treated as if they're only living incubators rather than people themselves (something that hits dangerously and terrifyingly close to home in these times, actually). Bridgerton is based on love stories - Queen Charlotte only becomes that when Charlotte and George decide to make it so.
It's a rather harrowing tale and yet so astonishingly gorgeous because of the human connections it uncovers, whether it's our protagonists, Lord Ledger and Lady Danbury, or even Brimsley and Reynolds, deeply in love and knowing their love is forbidden and illegal, not to mention heartbreaking because there is no Reynolds in present day.
And as a general observation, it just gives us SO MUCH Charlotte, who's been a hoot since day one on Bridgerton. Here we understand her motivations better, where she gets some of the things she does or says, and learn just how deeply her love for the country she married into goes, and what she's willing to do to ensure her subjects are happy and safe.
Given that it's also wrapped up in a love story for the ages - choosing someone regardless that you know it won't be perfect, or always happy - I'd say this was a solid and hearty win!
10/10 recommend.
xx
*images and video not mine ... sorrows, sorrows, prayers 😂
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