Bridgerton Season 2

Season 2 of Austen-inspired Gaslamp frock-flick Bridgerton has just released, and fans are in meltdown mode.

While they're getting over the shock, I thought that it was a good chance for me to get my thoughts down, about the show overall and as an adaptation of a book series.

First, Some Background...

Based on a book series by YA author Julia Quinn, Bridgerton follows the lives of the 8 Bridgerton siblings as they navigate Society, Family and Love.

Season 1, based on the first book "The Duke and I", follows the 4th sibling and oldest daughter, Daphne.

Season 2, based on the sequel, "The Viscount Who Loved Me", follows the oldest sibling, Anthony, and we can guess that the following seasons will continue the book order, following Benedict, Colin, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory and Hyacinth in turn.

Originally, Bridgerton was just the first book, Daphne's story, and a bunch of epilogues wrapping up the stories of Daphne's siblings. However, the Creative Bug bit, and Quinn decided to build on those epilogues to flesh out the characters in the sequel books.

Season 1

Season 1 was a hit before it even hit the small screen. With Julie Andrews narrating as Lady Whistledown, to eye catching costumes and actors, and a trailer that hit everyone's favourite feel-good Period Drama sweet spots.

Right off the bat, there are some creative licence changes. In the book, Daphne is in her third season, having already turned down a proposal or two with her oldest brother's support. She isn't the centre of attention, and her initial connection with Simon Basset is more of a "well, you're here" than anything.

The Netflix Series, however, opens with Daphne making her curtsey to Queen Charlotte as a debutante. Being acknowledged by the Queen makes her the centre of attention, though she faces competition in several corners, and the chemistry between Daphne and Simon is a thing of beauty.

Other characters are interwoven into the plot, setting up future seasons, and there is a focus on the cast as a whole, rather than centering entirely on a single character and their arc. It was actually quite interesting to go back and play "spot the future book" when re-watching.

Marina Thompson, for instance, was a flashback character in book 5, as was Sir Phillip Crane, but giving her an actual backstory and character complexity was a good creative choice.

Anthony gets the short end of the stick a little, coming off as someone who is trying to be both brother and stand-in father, and not quite succeeding at either. He wants to be a young gentleman enjoying his youth before settling down, but all too often that clashes with his responsibilities as Viscount and head of the family. He wants to do right by his family, but his attempts to copy what his father might have done - arranging a betrothal for Daphne, parenting his younger siblings - tend to backfire. It's a good set-up for his own season.

Other than that, Season One was fairly faithful to its corresponding book, which can be summed up as "Fake Dating Friends To Lovers AU", for those conversant in Trope terms.

Simon wants to keep the Marriage-Minded Mamas off his back, and Daphne wants to make a good marriage with someone she can respect. While joining forces, they have the opportunity to actually talk and become friends in a way that was rarely afforded to courting couples in the time period. Of course, feeling get involved, but run up against the usual miscommunications and Simon's vow to never marry or produce an heir, because he's terrified of becoming as obsessed with a perfect male heir as his father was. This is overcome by Simon and Daphne getting caught in a compromising situation, marrying in haste, and then having to actually deal with those problems as a married couple for whom there is no going back.

There are sub-plots, not the least of which to do with the search to expose the identity of the elusive Lady Whistledown, something originally not revealed until Book 4, but they're handled quite well.

Lady Danbury is a sassy gem; Widowed, old and wealthy enough to get away with doing and saying whatever she wants, respected by mothers with children to marry off, and feared by young men across London. If you can't watch Bridgerton for the Romance, watch it for Lady Danbury's magnificent side-eye.

Season 2

Season Two opens with Viscount Anthony Bridgerton determined to finally find a wife and fulfill his duty by getting an heir. Having witnessed the love between his parents - and his mother's devestation when she was widowed - Anthony is determined not to love his wife, and wins some points by acknowledging that whoever he marries will be not only his wife, but the new Viscountess Bridgerton and responsible for helping guide his younger siblings into Society. Duty over desire, as it were.

To this end, he settles on a young debutant, Edwina Sharma, who is kind and sweet and innocent, but comes with a protective older half-sister, Kate, who proclaims herself happy to be an on-the-shelf spinster and is not impressed by the Viscount's former status as a Rake.

It's very much an 'Enemies To Lovers AU', and those of us who grew up in the 90s and early 00s might see similarities to such hits as "10 Things I Hate About You".

In the book version, Kate and Anthony are also compromised, when Anthony has a PTSD flashback to his father's death when Kate is stung by a bee and over-reacts in front of witnesses. This leads to a storyline very similar to Daphne and Simon, with the not-so-happy couple having to get to know each other after marriage, rather than beforehand.

Admittedly, most readers saw that twist coming in the first few chapters, as Anthony treats Edwina almost like one of his sisters, rather than a prospective wife, while his battles of will with Kate indicate that they do, at least, value the other's opinion, if not their personality.

That's probably why Season Two got it's reputation as being so different to the correstponding book: the "Sexual tension leading to Compromise and misunderstandings" storyline had already been done to great effect in Season One. Season Two, therefore, had to chose between being faithful to the book and written off as having nothing new, or change some of the events and keep their reputation as the show to watch.

The Incomparable of the Netflix Season, if you will.

Overall, the changes are good, and consistant with the storylines from Season One.

It's Eloise's turn to be thrust into the marriage mart, and true to Early Sufferagist form, she hates every minute of being treated like her only value is in marriage. But, being Out in Society, Eloise's impulsive nature and blunt, freely spoken opinions are no longer as easily overlooked as it once was, and comes with consequences, not all of them easily brushed off by virtue of a supportive family.

Likewise, Penelope Featherington struggles with her secret life as Lady Whistledown, torn between doing something she loves and its effect on her family and friendships. Having access to all the juicy gossip, there is still morality to consider. Is it better to write and stay relevant, or to remain silent when gossip has real effects on people's lives? Penelope's S2 storyline ends on a sadder note; Lady Whistledown is the name on everyone's lips, but Penelope Featherington finds herself increasingly disregarded.

Benedict and Colin, the second and third Bridgerton sons, are struggling with self-determination. They have their passions, and as younger sons have the freedom to pursue them, but is that all they want out of life? Gregory and Hyacinth, the youngest siblings, are of an age to ask questions about the father they never knew, turning to the brother who is the only father they have ever known.

Other changes include the origins of the Sharma family. The essentials are the same: Kate is the daughter of her father's first marriage, and while her stepmother and half-sister have never cared about the distinction, Kate herself feels like she has to earn her place in the family by taking care of everyone. She's accepted that she's going to be an Old Maid, and focusses her attention on making sure Edwina gets the advantageous love match she professes to want.

In the book, the Sharma family are English, coming into prominance by virute of Edwina's first season, Kate having put hers off so they can come out together. In the Netflix version, this is explained by the family having been living in India - yes, it's possible, India was an English Colony at the time, and while interracial marriages weren't common, they did happen - and the scandal of Lady Mary having been her season's Incomparable, before marrying far beneath her and essentially getting disowned by her family, the wealthy Sheffields.

The Sheffields are willing to look past that and accept their granddaughter, however, as long as Edwina makes a respectable match with a member of the British Nobility.

This lends an additional sense of 'othering' and being on the fringes, giving a lot more justification to Kate's occasionally hostile attitude toward Anthony and the extent to which she shelters Edwina. Her views have been coloured by step-grandparents who hated her father and want nothing to do with her, but are willing to accept her half-sister if Edwina intergrates to their standards. This will be arguably good for Edwina, but also for Kate and Lady Mary, who are suffering financially.

It also explicitly calls out the popular YA trope where the Heroine has to support her family, with Lady Mary stating that Kate shouldn't have taken that burdan on herself, and apologising for not having noticed how much her eldest was struggling in the wake of her father's death. Lady Danbury, acting as the Sharma girls' sponsor, has equally frank discussions with Kate, pointing out the differences in their situations and that she shouldn't hide the truth from Edwina.

Meanwhile, Anthony is courting Edwina, while firmly in denial about his growing feelings for Kate, who has exactly zero problems calling him out on his more jerkish actions, but also showing her gentler moments with not only Anthony, but his siblings, too. Kate is a little more in touch with her own emotions, but shoves them aside when Edwina proclaims herself in love with the Viscount, refusing to get in the way with what she percieves as Edwina's happiness, but the audience can clearly see as a childish fantasy.

Coming from the perspective of older, more mature protagonists, Season Two is a little more serious and character-driven, based more on decisions and their consequences, and the line between selfishness and self-care, than Season One did. It also has a greater focus on family, and the complicated bonds that tie them together, for better or worse.

Detractors of the show are already complaining that the season is nothing like the book, or the previous season, but I'd argue that's a good thing.

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