Despite multiple delays due to COVID-19, Netflix has delivered unto us a Fall treat, a clip from the upcoming second season of its hit show Bridgerton.
The series explores the love lives of the Bridgerton family, which is eight siblings strong. Last season, we saw the journey of the eldest daughter, Daphne, as she went from fake lovers to messy/problematic marriage with Simon, Duke of Hastings. Part of the series’ appeal was its mixed-race casting in the Regency era, which brought in a new audience and illustrated that such a thing could be very successful—even though the source material is very white.
With Daphne and Simon love matched and Happily Ever After’d, it is time to move on to Anthony, the eldest son.
We got this first look at Bridgerton season 2 during Netflix’s TUDUM fan event, where we saw Anthony Bridgerton’s (Jonathan Bailey) charm flounder badly under the cutting tongue of Kate Sharma as Simone Ashley, who you might remember from Sex Education. In keeping with the plot of the second book, Anthony will try to secure a marriage to her sister, Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran), but will find himself drawn towards Kate.
Just in this clip alone, I love the Darcy/Elizabeth chemistry and banter that is being showcased. Noble brown woman talking down to a white dude for having unrealistic standards for a wife while being mediocre? Pump it into my veins like Bane’s venom. I also know that Ashley has shown amazing comedic chops in Sex Education, so I’m glad to see her in a lead role where she can be the one dressed up and ready to mingle.
As with before, Bridgerton is going to be racebending, and Kate and her family are now Asian, a community that was underrepresented in the previous season. I’m also glad that Kate is a darker skinned Indian woman, because colorism is still a thing, and I’m glad to see Bridgerton improving. I enjoyed the second book a lot more than the previous one, so I’m hoping that this season will also be even more enjoyable than the last—especially because there is no rape/rape-adjacent scene to turn people off from being able to just enjoy the main couple.
Bridgerton has been a huge success for Shonaland and Netflix. Not only has it already been renewed for Seasons 3 and 4, but a Queen Charlotte spinoff is in the works that will actually be written by Shonda Rhimes.
This current season has dealt with some delays due to COVID-19, but it seems as if they are still moving forward with bringing us back to the Ton. It may not be for Christmas this year, but it’ll be something fun to watch in 2022, perhaps.
(via Yahoo, image:)
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