Hello everyone. After a long semester that left me very little time to think about anything other than school, I now have time to think about my favourite shows and movies. And thank god because I have so many thoughts about the new shows I’ve been watching that I’m dying to share. So without further ado, let’s talk about Bridgerton.
t wasn’t my choice to start watching Bridgerton a few years ago. As someone who primarily loves watching people in costumes duke it out for the fate of the city, it certainly wasn’t something I sought out on my own. I was forced to watch it by my partner, (who has great taste in shows) so I took a chance watching it with her.
I was not sold at first, the concept of a girly show about rich olden day people trying to marry didn't initially appeal to me. I didn’t mind romances in TV and movies. Pretty much all shows have some romance component, it’s usually a nice switch up for viewers from the other chaos going in the show. For Bridgerton, they put love at the forefront and created one of the most realized concepts I've ever seen in a show. This is how Bridgerton masterfully uses love as a theme.
(I know that the series is based off books that I have not read, I’m going to give all the praise to the show as that’s the only medium I’ve consumed.) To quickly debrief the themes of the show to support my talking points:
Violet Bridgerton wants only one thing for her children, to find a lovematch. That can be quite the task in pre industrial revolution London, with constraints on dating and many marrying out of necessity. However in this large family, they will do whatever is necessary to find a lovematch, even if that means scandal.
Although there’s no epic cinematic fight scenes, Bridgerton's expert writing manages to keep a viewer even as distracted as myself on the edge of their seat. This is not easy to do when you know that they are gonna end up together in the end.
The first season of Bridgerton starts with Violet’s eldest daughter, Daphne looking to find a lovematch that season with a nobleman just like her mother did. She jumps through a number of hoops including her brother’s protection and miscommunications before she found her happily ever after with the Duke.
In season two we see the eldest son, Anthony trying to fulfill his duty as the head of the Bridgerton house by marrying the most suitable lady; however he falls head over heels for his fiance’s sister.
Queen Charlotte, a bridgerton story (which is probably the best season) sees queen charlotte learning to love a mentally ill king amongst a new and confusing country that sees countless societal pressures.
Season 3 explores a friends to lovers story between Colin and Penelope, at the same time explores Francesca’s unique quirks that lead her to John Stirling.
And finally season 4 sees Benedict look beyond what society deems acceptable and seeks a partner in a lower class. The season also deeper explores the theme of loss in a partner as a number of widows mourn their loved ones.
Amongst all the seasons is Lady Whistledown’s lovely narrations that ties all the episodes together.
Unlike other longform netflix shows, romance isn’t just a side plot to keep the story moving, it’s the main theme. The characters aren't trying to manage their relationships through inter-dimensional invasions or even gang-affiliated crimes in the 20’s. The only real focus is love and it’s spectacular.
As I have gotten older, I have found myself more and more interested in the romances of the shows I watch. I used to think it was a boring side plot and only written in as a change of pace from all the action. Now I see romance as more of a focal point in everything I see. Every minute that I’ve rewatched a show like Peaky Blinder’s I’m just hoping that the characters can escape this crime ridden lifestyle and settle down with their families. I try not to think about their tragic fates that are to come in the show. I love Dark for all the time travelling madness but I come back to watch the romance play out between Jonas and Martha.
Love has new meaning for me now, it drives me in my day-to-day life. I think that is why the new season of Bridgerton and rewatching all the previous ones before it has stuck with me more than many other shows. Love is the theme. People finding love, the challenges it brings and coping with the loss of it. Those are all very real things in people’s lives.
I love the way that the show is written, I think it should be used as an example for many shows to come. With a large cast of characters it can be hard to give them all the time and attention that is needed to keep the viewer 100% engaged. Many shows have plotpoints that I really care for and others that I don’t as much. I'm usually quite disappointed when I’m waiting for scenes to end and get back to the storyline I’m actually following.
Bridgerton manages somehow to give all the characters just the right amount of spotlight even if it’s not necessarily their season to shine. In season two, we see Anthony find love and it’s satisfying when he does as we’ve seen him develop over the previous seasons. We care so much about Colin and Penelope’s romance in season 3 because we’ve seen their story playout over the previous two. Violet’s urge to find love again has meaning for us because we can see all the love she has for her 8 children and we just want to see her be happy.
The trope is that the viewer knows that the main characters of that season will find love in the end, leaving out any suspense. But this couldn’t be further from the case. I was so happy knowing that Benedict was going to find love this season because the show has shown me his journey and made me care about him through all the prior ones. I was so excited to see how it unfolded that my girlfriend binged it in two days. (the two release days)
Benedict wasn’t the only character that we got to see grow and find connection. We got to see Lady Danbury try to break off from society and her struggles to do so with the queen. Something all of us have wanted for her since Queen Charlotte. We got to see the Queen find community in the new gossip with the help of Mrs. Mondrich and we got to see Violet continue to play out her romance with Lord Anderson.
Along with all that we got to see Francesca's relationship with John and her trying her best to come to terms with his passing. When she was crying in her mom’s arms because she was not able to salvage any part of him though children, it genuinely brought me to tears. How could I forget one of the biggest plotlines was Penelope struggling to figure out Whistledown after being uncovered.
The show touched on all the plotlines that I cared about and thankfully didn’t really bring up the ones that I didn’t. I think that the writers have confidence in their characters and can tell new stories instead of relying on old ones that worked in previous seasons. I loved watching Lady Featherington’s character arc in season two with the new Lord and the dowries but I’m glad they could put that to rest for the coming seasons. The amount we saw with Lady Featherington in season 4 with a small back and forth with her and Varley was a perfect match for the season.
I find that many shows have the disease of having too many characters. They start with a small group of interesting stories to hook you in but as the seasons go on they introduce more and more players in the story. Suddenly you have a cast of 20 characters and with only so much time in an episode, it gets increasingly difficult to get plotlines you actually care about.
Bridgerton takes a formulaic storyline that you think would grow stale after two seasons and they make an evergreen story about love. I don’t know what Bridgerton has coming for us in the upcoming seasons but I do know that I am 100% on board.
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