Bridgerton‘s second season was a huge improvement over the first due to the chemistry between the two leads, but they decided to make a change from the books’ trajectory that was deeply frustrating: the unnecessary love triangle.
****Major Spoilers for Season Two of Bridgerton****
The major romantic drama this season is that Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) is in want of a wife and sets his eyes on Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran), the diamond of the season. His intentions are not for a love match, but instead for an easy, satisfying marriage. This plan goes asunder when he ends up falling in love with Edwina’s elder sister, Kate (Simone Ashley).
Their mutual stubbornness stops them from acknowledging these feelings—all while Edwina slowly develops some feelings for Anthony, and is oblivious to the burning connection between her sister and her intended.
As someone who has read the Julia Quinn novel this season is based on, The Viscount Who Loved Me, I was really surprised by this change in the story. In the original books, while Anthony does initially court the sister, Edwina is not invested in Anthony as a match. She ends up meeting and falling in love with a cute nerdy guy. So why did the series make this change?
Well, the reason Kate and Anthony get married was very similar to why first season Daphne and Simon got married. In the book during the bee incident, Anthony attempts to suck the poison out of Kate’s bosom. It is over-the-top and silly, but man, in that moment in the book as I was reading, I was living for the mess. Anthony and Kate are caught in this very explicit action and are forced to wed for the sake of propriety.
Since that happened last season, it would have been too ridiculous the central pair get together in a similar way again. Also, while we can suspend disbelief in a book, that action on screen would have very likely shattered whatever believability the audience might have. After they are married, other than dealing with some emotional conversations about trauma, it’s a slow burn of Kate and Anthony becoming fully comfortable in their love for each other.
Of the Bridgerton novels I have read this far, this one was by the best of the bunch. Kate and Anthony have a great chemistry and while their post-wedding stuff is sweet, the story does slow down at this point. Good for a romance novel, but for a romance television show it doesn’t translate as much.
I get the need to add extra tension and drag out the will-they-won’t-they.
But did it have to be at the expense of the close sisterly relationship. I love Kate and Edwina in the books, they really love and care for each other. Plus, it is refreshing to see half-sisters be treated like sisters without hyphens. So when Kate manipulates Edwina so badly that Edwina calls her “half-sister” it breaks my heart. That wasn’t fair to them and their characters. Especially when they could have come up with so many other reasons to add conflict to the series.
It didn’t stop me from enjoying Kate and Anthony, because their chemistry is beyond fantastic, but it is a complaint I see from a lot of people about season 2 that I fully agree with.
Moreso, I wish Bridgerton would trust that a core romance story with small background plot lines is fine. We don’t watch the series for Eloise, Pen, etc. Anthony was annoying until his storyline this season, and imagine how many more people would have found him likable if they didn’t fudge his character at the beginning?
Justice for Edwina and here’s hoping that we can look forward to Benedict being more interesting (and hopefully bisexual) in the coming season.
(image: Netflix)
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