Season Two of Bridgerton is here and we have thoughts!
In the second season, a widow and her two daughters, acerbic spinster Kate and her sociable younger sister Edwina, spend the last of their funds to travel from Bombay to London, and find Edwina a husband.
Anthony, the head of the Bridgerton clan, thinks Edwina would be the perfect wife for a quiet, unromantic life; he just has to convince Edwina’s sister to stop hating him.
Too bad said sister is very hot, especially when she’s mad at him, which is most of the time.
Plus, we get Bridgerton scandals, Featherington scandals, and female friendships.
Mild spoilers ahoy!
What did we like:
Shana: Kate and Anthony’s enemies to lovers story was addictive to watch; I binged the whole series in a few days. They’re both driven by duty and determined to deprive themselves of love, which is serious catnip for me, y’all. The slow burn between them was intensely sexy, all longing looks and desperate attempts to pretend they weren’t affected by one another.
I was also excited to see the South Asian rep, especially having Kate and Edwina played by darker-skinned actresses. Although they never really resolve…
…the conflict between Kate missing Bombay and wanting to go home, and her decision to stay in Britain with Anthony
…there are plenty of poignant moments, like Kate oiling Edwina’s hair, or Edwina calling her didi, and hilarious ones, like Kate’s making fun of the blandness of British tea.
I’m always obsessed with period costumes, and they were fabulous here. The Sharma sisters’ vivid orange and pale pink dresses made me drool, and Kate has the best collection of sexy regency undies that I’ve seen on tv. Plus, Nicola Coughlan finally gets gowns that fit her boobs!
One of my favorite moments was when Edwina compliments one of Penelope’s lurid gowns, reminding us that not every culture hates bright colors.
Kiki: The chemistry between Kate and Anthony was “I am intruding in a private moment” incredible.
Like Shana, two people trying so hard to deny themselves of each other and still being magnetically pulled toward one another is romance perfection to me. I was left feeling really cold about Anthony after the first season, slightly warmer about him on my rewatch, and completely delighted by him in the second season.
The (largely self-induced) pressure he feels to live his life a certain way makes him appear to always be teetering on the brink of a conniption, but in a hilarious way that is supported by the humor of the show.
Combined with Kate’s protectiveness, stubbornness, and her own slipping control over her composure–anytime the two of them were in a scene together it felt electric.
I also really adored the South Asian rep and cultural nods, and the inclusion of really fantastic darker-skinned actresses. It was beautiful to see the way South Asian fabrics and jewelry were woven into the Sharma family’s wardrobe, among other things. I’m desperately hoping that we get to see Kate in further seasons, because she jumped up the list to become one of my favorite characters on the show.
What did we not like:
Shana: Two much Daphne Bridgerton, and no Simon.
I watched season two with my wife, who hadn’t seen season 1. Even without the baggage of Daphne’s consent issues, my wife still found Daphne annoying every time she appeared on screen. She seemed to have no purpose beyond popping in each episode to lecture Anthony on the importance of finding love.
I’m also not a fan of the way Penelope was written. In the books, she’s sympathetic and kind, while also being a shrewd businesswoman. We see plenty of the latter in season 2 but not enough of the caring bookworm that I loved to read.
Kiki: I wanted…more Kate and Anthony? In part because I just can’t get enough of them, and in part because this season felt pretty ensemble heavy. This absolutely may just be a personal perception issue, but I found myself saying “go back to the main plot!” more than once. A lot of the things I did not like are about how this season deviates from the book, which is rare for me!
How did it compare to season 1?
Shana: Season 2 fixed most of the elements that annoyed me about the first season. It has the banter and romance that I craved in season 1, during which everyone just seemed miserable. I thought this season of Bridgerton was sweet, and even funny. Anthony and Kate try so valiantly to keep from falling in love, I couldn’t help but laugh at them.
We get to see more of the middle-aged ladies, like the mesmerizing Lady Danbury, and they’re given a bit more to do. I also thought season 2 hit a better balance between the fantasy of the Regency, and acknowledging the oppressive reality of the past.
I love a big, rollicking family with lots of teasing, and the Bridgerton clan felt more cohesive this season, with more fleshed out subplots.
Artist Benedict and bluestocking Eloise shine; they’re both consistently ambitious and amusing. I have a serious crush on Benedict now: no one lolls languidly on a settee like he does.
Overall, it feels like Bridgerton has further embraced its romance roots, and designed a season to appeal to trope-loving romance fans.
But I missed the hints of queerness from season 1. Part Two of Bridgerton was very straight.
Kiki: Season 2 is better in pretty much every way I can think of. The chemistry between the two leads (have I talked enough about that yet???) absolutely changed this season for me.
Daphne and Simon’s relationship, for more reasons than their consent problems and general mopeyness, made season 1 a bit of a drag. They were my least favorite part of the first season.
Kate and Anthony were like turning on the lights for this show in a major way. Every character felt a little bit more on this season–both messier and more themselves. There was overall just more energy in the storyline. I also developed a huge Benedict crush this season. Out of all of the siblings, I think he really shone.
There were also several changes to character design (clean shaven Anthony was the right choice) and the overall look of the show that I think cleaned it up a bit.
How does it compare to the books?
Shana: It’s been so long since I read The Viscount Who Loved Me, I can’t remember the details. I did notice that the show deftly avoids any potential consent minefields that might translate poorly to film, although that means…
…losing the scene where Anthony sucks venom from Kate’s bee sting.
My biggest concern is Colin Bridgerton. He’s my favorite brother in the books, because of his rakish charm, playfulness, and writing talent. But on the show, he feels like an earnest schoolboy who drones on about his boring trip to Greece, while arrogantly ordering adults around like a petulant child. And I feel like his hair should be longer…is that canon or just my personal fantasy?
Either way, I don’t know how they’re going to turn him into a viable romantic hero in future seasons.
Kiki: Okay. So.
Besides the several subplots that are necessarily added to give the ensemble characters something to, ya know, do, folks should know that the show makes some pretty hefty changes to the entire second half of the plot.
The show chooses to forgo Anthony sucking on Kate’s chest and getting caught by Lady Featherington, for which I thank the showrunner’s immensely. It is a scene that haunts me, and I was actually very happy by the way they adapted the scene to be something different.
I can respect the decision to avoid another season in which the leads are forced to get married because they’ve been caught in a compromising position, but the changes to the plot and characterizations that lead to Edwina being in love with Anthony (as opposed to her much cooler feelings in the book) and led to a FULL-ASS wedding for them in the show felt like a bad call to me.
I am still re-listening to The Viscount Who Loved Me, but I’m fairly sure that Edwina and Anthony don’t even end up engaged in the book, let alone a mere few words away from being married.
That part just didn’t feel…good.
I know that this was done in part to give Lady Danbury and Queen Charlotte bigger roles this season, which I certainly do not begrudge them, but it also just felt kinda crappy to watch Edwina be so in love and know how messy the confrontation was going to be.
I do love mess, but not so much mess between sisters over a man, even if that man is played by Jonathan Bailey.
Shana: Totally agree.
Do you recommend it?
Shana: I would definitely recommend the new season of Bridgerton for historical romance fans. It’s beautiful and compelling, even if you haven’t seen season one. The plot is so over-the-top, it veers into camp at times, but the acting is strong enough to keep you caring about the characters. If you skipped the first season, it’s okay to start here.
Kiki: Yes! Season 2 definitely feels like the show is hitting its stride with a bit more confidence. The acting and chemistry of the leads is incredible (and is actually present, unlike season 1), and despite the fact that I really didn’t love some of the changes they made to the plot, I would and will happily rewatch.
What about you? What did you think of Bridgerton Season 2?
While I enjoyed season one, I LOVED season two. Kate and Anthony are hugely appealing together. Kate especially shines. My only complaints were that the Edwina storyline went on too long but it was gratifying when she found her backbone and confronted Kate. And while I love Penelope and the the actress, Nicola Coughlin who portrays her, I’m not sold on Colin. I just don’t see him as a romantic lead. He’s almost too bland.
Lady Danbury and Queen Charlotte shine together. Their scenes were a hoot. The friendship breakup between Eloise and Penelope was devastating.
I read the books so long ago, I only have vague memories. I remember that I stopped reading the series after To Sir Philip with Love. I’d had enough of the Bridgertons.
I’m curious what they’ll do with season 3. I wonder if they’ll give separate seasons to Benedict/sophie and Colin/Penelope or combine them. Whatever happens , I’ll be watching.
I do think representation is a complicated concept, and had questions about what is represented, and how, when I saw the trailer (I’m south Asian). After reading some of the critiques on Twitter, I decided to skip this season for now. Some of the concerns are summed up in this article pretty well: https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/television/2022/04/14/what-did-bridgerton-get-wrong-in-its-depictions-of-south-asian-characters/
South Asia consists of hundreds of different languages, ethnicities, and ritual variations. Some of the mistakes here are too glaring for me to ignore in a story that’s meant to be an escapist fantasy version of the regency era.
Agree with your assessment in almost everything. I didn’t care much for the role of queen Charlotte tbh – like, what’s this need for her to crown a “diamond”? It feels forced, even though it is used to drive a lot of the plot. Same for the hunt for Whistledown – I mostly skip on rewatch.
Absolutely LOVED the chemistry between Kate & Anthony – I like to pretend Season 1 Anthony never happened because it’s completely out of character for him given the backstory we’re given in S2 (doesn’t hurt that he has a better haircut here too!).
Don’t think you mentioned it, but the scenes between Violet & Anthony were some of the best and most heartbreaking of the show, and also loved the ones between Anthony & his younger siblings (who were barely there in S1) – those really added poignancy and weight to Anthony’s struggle.
Regarding Edwina, I don’t like it went all the way to the wedding, but I don’t think Edwina really fell in love with Anthony – she seemed like she fell in love with the idea of becoming part or the Bridgerton family and the image of the perfect viscount Anthony was presenting to her – she never truly saw him & his personality (which is a contrast to Kate’s “it takes one to know one” journey with him)
all in all, I’ve watched it 3 times now and tend to skip any scene that is not pertinent to the main Kate/Anthony plot 😉
Great review! I loved this season for the chemistry between Anthony and Kate, Benedict (who should have been cast as Colin IMO), Eloise and the sibling interactions (although how are they ever going with Francesca’s story when she/the actress is either so forgettable or she’s physically not even there in most family scenes), the amazing south Asian costumes and jewelry, Edwina hitting all the right points when she stands up for herself, Lady Featherington winning as a mother!
Hated sanctimonious Daphne with a passion! Colin is so boring/not fun and Penelope is pretty unlikable (even with the charming NM) and they were the best characters in the books!
@GradStudentEscapist I am south Asian too. Seeing dark skin South Asain leads with a touch of Indian in their British accent really was great! The show has put a decent amount of thought into costumes and jewelry so I choose to believe that the mash-up of words/names from different areas of India was intentional (maybe even an attempt at inclusion?) and didn’t bother me. The colonialism aspect, like the mixed race characters is something I feel is better enjoyed as a cultural utopia that we wish could have been versus anything to do with reality!
@zana thanks for your perspective! Yes the mash up was annoying me because it felt like they created some kind of south Asian composite (ticking a bunch of random boxes rather than anything I can specifically pin down in a realistic way) but you have a point 🙂 the lack of colonialism aspect didn’t bother me either because clearly this is not the real world.
I liked Season 2 much more than Season 1. Kate and Anthony were great and I liked Eloise and Benedict. I wasn’t sold on Penelope, who comes across as somewhat cruel in both seasons. Colin also comes across as boring rather than funny. The show saved Anthony’s character after season 1 and I’m willing to give the Penelope/Colin season a go.
I might finally watch it… have not watched any of it so far! I read the first three books years and years ago, in German, when they were published by Cora, which is sort of the German pendant to Harlequin. Not sure if they actually belong to them, they published a lot of category romance and stuff from Harlequin – their category Regencies called “MyLady” were my entry into romance reading, and I read a lot of classics there like the early Baloghs or Barbara Metzger. The Bridgerton novels appeared in their “Historical” series I think, which wasn’t limited to Regency and which I bought only occasionally (meaning when it was a Regency). Also, “Historical” had sex, the normal “MyLady” ones were closed door (I guess in some the sex was just written out or faded out in translation, it seems some of the Baloghs have occasionally more sex in the original than what I read in the German version). Anyway, they weren’t even marketed as a series, and I only realised when I read Benedict’s story that it connected to Anthony’s, and only later still noticed the connection to a larger series and Daphne’s story when I stopped buying the Cora books and started reading romances as e-books in English. I reread book one as an e-book and only then remembered I’d read that one before as a Cora issue. From a marketing point of view, I do not understand why they didn’t market these as a proper series then in the German-speaking market. You just had to figure that out on your own as a reader, and I did so with a few other books, though I may have missed others, because I was never a 100% faithful buyer, if a book’s blurb didn’t interest me, I didn’t buy it.
Anyway, the bee venom sucking thing was the scene that made me DNF Anthony’s book originally, I thought that whole premise was so ridiculous. Maybe I’ll fare better with the TV version.
Funny enough, the non-consent sex in the first book didn’t bother me as much back then – today it does. As well as I find that every Quinn book I’ve tried since going back to them had at least one dealbreaker for me in it, even though I love the way she writes banter.
I loved all of Kate’s costumes (especially that peacock blue one with the top hat pictured above and all the purple dresses.)
I actually thought the Lady Featherington subplot was a high point. Polly Walker is a great actor and pulled off the high wire act of a widow dealing with a new heir beautifully.
And I agree that Penelope came across as unsympathetic this season—they leaned too hard into her role as Lady Whistledown and I thought Colin’s comment about never marrying her was too offhandedly cruel (I am expecting some serious grovel later!)
Oh, boy guys, this is long. But if you can’t have a long rambling post on Smart Bitches about getting deep in your feelings about romance novels, where can you?
So, I like Julia Quinn. I consider her a reliable comfort read, if not an absolute standout favorite. But the one thing I could never get into was the Bridgerton series. I was in college when THE DUKE AND I came out and didn’t have a lot of time for leisure reading. Then I was kind of afraid of being letdown by the hype. Then even more time passed and I read more about the poorly handled consent stuff, I avoided it. I felt like I had missed the window where I might have enjoyed it. And I was sure I absolutely couldn’t read the series if I didn’t read all of them in order (I become more pedantic about it the older I get).
But I was still excited when I heard there was going to be a series of Bridgerton. I gave it a try and I just could not get into Daphne or Simon. They’re both attractive, but there just was something overly earnest and serious about it that didn’t vibe with me.
Instead I fell in love with Penelope and Colin. I agree with all the comments about how Penelope and Colin are written, but friends to lovers is my catnip. But I absolutely felt I had to read in order. So I tried one more time to read THE DUKE AND I. Nope. I skipped to THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME. Nope DNF. Then I tried to AN OFFER FROM A GENTLEMAN, even though I generally dislike Cinderella stories and ‘be my mistress’ stories. Nope, still no. Now, just determined and stubborn, I plowed ahead read ROMANCING MR BRIDGERTON and loved it. I proceeded to gobble up the rest of the series and found most of them solid b reads, at the least.
I didn’t think I would like the second season of Bridgerton, but I decided to give it a try and I loved it. I feel like it has more of that Julia Quinn banter feel that just didn’t seem to come across in the first season. Maybe it helps that I love enemies to lovers almost as much as friends to lovers. I also feel like Anthony being a bit of highhanded ass (always a risk with historical romance heroes IMHO) is softened by being around a family that he loves and clearly loves him. Also Pall Mall, give me all the bickering family Pall Mall scenes. I may even try THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME AGAIN (for at least the third time. . .
I still don’t love the more soapy super dramatic elements, but I accept that it is just part of what happens when you switch from a book (particularly a romance) to TV format, particularly anything by Shonda Rhimes. I love that she’s added so much diversity to the TV landscape, but I’ve never been able to get into her other shows b/c too much high stakes drama just annoys me and turns me off. At least here I know one storyline each season will have a definite happy ending.
So I guess the moral of the story is, don’t give up on trying something you suspect might be for you? Or do give up? Or that the pandemic has made us desperate enough to try new forms of entertainment? Anyways, no one I know IRL shares my TV Bridgerton love, so thanks for letting me get that off my chest 😉
SPOILERS AHEAD
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I think they’d tried to cover Kate’s missing of Bombay with Anthony’s ‘I want a life that works for both of us’ and the fact they’d spent six months traveling. And while Kate did obviously miss it, I was also not sure how much Kate actually wanted to return permanently versus how much she didn’t think there was a place for her in England.
@FashionablyEvil: Totally agree about Lady Featherington. I loved that scene at the end where she basically turns Jack’s plot against him and takes all the money. Polly Walker being a boss like usual.
Overall, I enjoyed season 2. Kate was much more interesting than Daphne. I also think Kate/Anthony have also perfected the art of the almost-kiss.
I also liked that Anthony was much less of a jerk in season 2 and that we got to see just how heavily his father’s death and duty towards his family weighs on him. I liked how similar he and Kate were in thinking that they had to watch out for their families all by themselves with no help from anyone else.
Another standout scene for me was Edwina comforting the king, even though she is having the worst day of her life.
I did think the love triangle went on too long and that some of the episodes were too long in general. The wedding episode was sooo long. I also didn’t care about some of the subplots, like Colin going to see Marina and Eloise and the printer’s apprentice.
I’m not sure how I feel about Eloise/Penelope. I can understand why Eloise feels betrayed and why Penelope was desperate to protect her. Although I wonder if Eloise would have been so harsh if she knew how broke the Featheringtons really were, and she seems oblivious to the fact that Penelope is in love with Colin. I also think Penelope is more like her mother (sly/crafty/clever/determined) than she cares to admit.
The costumes/scenery were once again fantastic. I think it would be really interesting to analyze the costumes and see how the colors, etc. relate to the characters’ personalities, what they are going through at the time, etc.
I wish we had seen more of Newton, the Corgi. He’s the true diamond of the season! 🙂
@Zana – I’ve also been wondering how they’re going to do Francesca’s story (book 6). It’s been a while since I read any of the series, but I recall that I actually liked When He Was Wicked almost the best of the whole book series.
BUT her story was led into over a few previous books – and in the TV series, Francesca is currently shown as too young and too much of a nonentity to credibly throw her into such a gut-wrenching plot. Hopefully they’ll start doing some setup for her story in S3 so that the story flows better once her season starts.
I mostly agree with everyone, so far – I have complicated and contradictory feelings about this series. A few things that have not been greatly touched upon however that I would like to note:
The book I cared about was Francesca’s so we have to keep going until season 6. Play the episodes while you are out of the house if you must, but pretty please do your part to keep this going for me k thanks.
If you’re kinda enjoying it but also irritated and struggling, I suggest you do a shot every time someone says the word diamond.
Finally, if we could please, please, omg I am begging but please just collectively accept that Eloise and Penelope are endgame, it would fix everything.
I mildly disliked Season 1 (but I hated the first book so was not expecting much). I absolutely adored this season. The scenes with Anthony and Violet were exceptional, and Polly Walker absolutely owned her whole plot. I never imagined wanting more Lady Featherington. I am deeply worried though about how they are going to handle Eloise’s storyline, especially after the scenes in Season 2. I’m trying to avoid spoilers, but l truly hope they completely redo her book plot and find a different love interest ( I’m all for the printshop boy).
@kkw Actually you are right, disregard my prior comment and I throw all my vote to Eloise and Penelope. I loved Penelope’s book but in the show version of things Eloise and Penelope are clearly the OTP.
@Dreamingtrees—I’ve been worried about Eloise since I read her book. Eloise deserved SO much better.
Also, I am probably going to watch every season that they make of this show, but I think the only book that I actually liked was Colin/Penelope. (Have read them all except Gregory and Hyacinth.)
I just read the book, and I’m still undecided whether watching the series — I’m not sure if I’ll be able to watch the series and not think “that’s not the way it was in the book.” I know that it’s not supposed to be true to the book or the period, but’s really a VERY loose adaptation, because the central romance, and thus the tensions and relationships surrounding it, are completely different. [spoiler??? In the book, Anthony and Edwina’s relationship is a nonstarter from the beginning — he halfheartedly pursues her because in theory she’s what he wants in a wife, but the courtship never goes beyond a few dances and calls and the invitation to the house party; meanwhile Edwina is falling in love with someone else and actively encouraging the romance she senses between Kate and Anthony. It changes the story (and cheapens it, IMHO) and characters completely if there is tension between the sisters. In fact, the book is in large part about Kate and Anthony resolving their own issues surrounding the deaths of their mother and father, respectively, after their marriage before they can fully commit, emotionally. So it’s not just the plot, but the whole emotional story arc that’s different.]
The changes from the book were really interesting to me as a matter of adaptation–as a romance reader, the basic framework of “these two flawed people are sort of antagonistic but obviously attracted to each other, and it takes the somewhat unwished for marriage that results from scandal and inconvenient sparks for them to work through their issues and fall in love” is a fun and time-honored trope, but I can see how seeing that plot portrayed by real actors can be kind of stretch, especially for less romance-trope literate audiences, and especially since the first season was kind of similar plot-wise. But I do think this show kind of floundered a bit trying to replace that basic plot with something else. There were to many threads that often contradicted each other. Kate has basically raised Edwina to be the perfect English bride and secretly needs her to marry landed gentry for the rest of the family to be okay (a plot the show introduces, I think needlessly) but also she really wants Edwina to marry for love and not sacrifice herself (like in the book) but also Edwina maybe does love or at least think she could love Anthony (not like in the book, where Edwina is willing to reluctantly go along with it but isn’t into at all, and it makes the whole Kate and Anthony thing feel like a huge sisterly betrayal!). If they were going to go the whole genuine love triangle route, I wish they would have developed Edwina’s character a little more–cutting out book Edwina’s shyness, preference for reading and scholarship, and crushing sense of her duty to marry well doesn’t leave much for show Edwina to portray besides naivity and general niceness (though I do think the actress who portrays her is lovely and her performance adds an aspect of the character’s graciousness and poise that isn’t necessarily in the script). Also, as much as I enjoy the colorfulness and dazzle of the costuming in general, I do think some characterization suffers because everyone’s dressed so similarly. Penelope’s supposedly garish dresses that she hates and wants to change really don’t look that different from everyone else’s! And we’re supposed to believe that Kate is deliberately positioning herself as a spinster romance has passed by, even including a scene where she wistfully holds up one of Edwina’s dresses to her reflection in a mirror and then firmly puts it away, but her costuming is exactly the same! Obviously it’s not new to cast someone absolutely radiantly gorgeous as a supposedly plainer character, but usually there’d be at least some effort to dress her down a bit.
All that ranting aside, I found almost all the actors likeable and thought the chemistry between the main couple this season was great and will probably watch season 3! Oh well.
Also I have no idea how they’re going to portray the Penelope and Colin relationship in a way that makes sense, at least to me. Colin’s comment about not wanting to marry Penelope is so vastly different in the books, where it happens in a bigger conversation with his brothers about not wanting to just settle down with a family friend and feeling restless and wanting more for his life in general, and he’s immediately hugely apologetic when he realizes he hurt his friend’s feelings. In the show it’s basically locker room talk (in public!) with a bunch of bros he’s embarrassed would even think he’s into Penelope! It’s so much worse and completely at odds with the crucial characterization of Colin (and the Bridgertons in general) as people essentially good-hearted people. Totally agree with everyone above saying Penelope and Eloise should be end game–in the show they have way more chemistry and emotional stakes.
I realize this would have been a deviation from the original book, but I think it would have made more sense to re-frame this love story as a “taming of the shrew” type romance, where Anthony’s original goal would have been to distract Kate (the name fits!), while someone else romances the sister. This would also have solved the problem of how jerked around the younger sister is by what happens.
Not even from a consent perspective, but I’m glad I’m not the only person who found the bee-sucking breast scene in the book incredibly gross and un-sexy. *shudders in multiple allergies*
I’m not allergic to bee venom, but it sounded about as erotic as a guy rubbing steroid cream onto my eczema as foreplay.
I’m also with the general consensus here that S2 was much better than S1. What I didn’t like at all was Eloise’s character. In the books she was a strong woman with a mind of her own in a period when it was difficult to be that person, and she was kind. The tv Eloise comes across as completely self absorbed, unsympathetic, and for me, pretty unlikeable. I’m not rooting at all for Eloise, but I loved her in the books (and was actually pretty bored and disappointed in the story she ended up with).
After Season 1 I was also kind of hoping that for Benedict, they’d write the Sophie character as a man, but I don’t think that’s going to happen now.
But yes to the costumes, sexual tension, Anthony’s hair, Pall Mall, and different outcome of the bee sting scene!
@DeborahT oh l hadn’t thought of that for the Sophie character. They could keep all the ending beats the same, the concern about family acceptance, preferring to live out of the eye of society, all of it. That would be such a good move. If only.
I too enjoyed Season 2 far more than season 1. Some spoilers follow…
I didn’t mind THE CHANGE they made to Kate/Anthony as it was deliciously complicated BUT it did make it difficult to end the season quickly if that makes sense the resolution between the sisters should have taken longer and not had ye old head wound speed it up. I am hoping there is some follow up with Edwina and Kate next season and the whole situation is not just dropped like Simon/Daphne was dropped.
I too really really enjoyed the Franchesa book so I really want that one to play out.
I also have NO idea how they are going to do Penelope/Colin, Eloise/Her Man (UGH that book! He seems like a perfectly nice person but its like a giant NOPE for Eloise and what it means etc) or Benedict/Sophie.
I feel they will have to make a lot of changes from the books, which is pretty much fine with me I think.
DeborahT count me as another who would have LOVED Sophie being a….Socrates? (No idea what a male version of Sophie is lol)
I find it interesting that we have actual South Asians expressing concerns in the comments, and they are being completely ignored. It’s like a comment thread within the thread.
@ Deborah T
I had the same impression of Eloise. I’m a Penelope fan, not least because she’s so brave in the face of the social humiliation and financial danger she’s in. At the end of S2, I was sorry Penelope had gone so far and suffered so much for a friend who doesn’t bother to understand what her life is like.
@Juli Thompson
As the comments you refer to have been liked a total of 22 times so far, they have not been ignored. I haven’t jumped in because I’m not qualified, not being South Asian. All I can say is that I’m thrilled to see so many actors of color getting a chance to shine, as well as how the fabric colors pop against darker skin tones. And I’d watch anything to see Adjoa Andoh, an actor I much admire.
For myself, I found S2 rather drearily predictable (main plot), though I enjoyed the other plot threads. Good that the financial bottom line is shown to counterbalance the fluffy parts. Though not terribly interesting, the two leads were certainly gorgeous to look at.
Shem, thanks for your response. I am also not South Asian, so I don’t feel like I’m enough of an expert to comment. But I do see (not only in this context) a lot of white people who think that a scattering of culture is representation, and never realize or acknowledge that the people being represented have opinions. I think it’s important that we say to creators – different colored dresses aren’t enough! Get the language right! Get the culture right! We expect better!
Disclaimer: I’ve not read the books, and despite being a lifelong romance lover and being vaguely interested, I’m in no hurry to read them. I also think that I’ve come to the conclusion that the ‘romance’ part of romance on screen doesn’t seem to work the same for me as it does when I read it as I really enjoyed all of the peripheral things about season 2 that many others disliked about it!
Unpopular opinion (aka TED Talk!) alert…
I think that Johnathan Bailey’s skills as an actor are better served on stage. I find his screen performance overbearing (OVERacting which is much less obvious on a stage in a large theatre where it’s a necessity) which I’m sure adds to how very much I dislike Anthony as a character. I felt very much the same about him in Season 1 but wasn’t able to pinpoint why until now, and it pains me to admit, but also I also feel the same about Adoah Anjoh as Lady D a lot of the time (although I do love her character) in both seasons. In S2 I add Ashley Simone (but again I love her and her honest and outspoken self) as Kate but only when she had scenes with Jonathan as other times she seemed far more natural. It felt to me like they were both trying far too hard when they were together. Like I said, Unpopular Opinion.
Yes we got more humanity from Anthony this time, and I felt for his trauma from his father’s death and taking on the responsibility of the entire family at such a young age, but he was still an entitled a-hole that just irritated me no end.
S1 had a lot of issues IMO far more than S2, but I still enjoyed it so much more than this one because of both the acting of the leads AND the story. One thing that also irritated me no end is why on earth Kate is the one in control of her sister and her wellbeing rather than their mother? I get it with Anhony and Violet (because, sexism) but that makes no sense to me why Mary is not the responsible one in the Sharma family.
The chemistry between them is undeniable, but the whole push and pull and the neverending ‘will they won’t they’ just felt… too much and had me eye-rolling every time they were onscreen together. I half expected them to end up throwing punches before ending up kissing or anything else. let alone banging!
With Simon and Daphne in S1, their chemistry was far more natural and I found the simmering tension (despite my immense frustration with how naive Daphne was) to be far sexier than the melodramatic tension of the hate/love between K&A. The subtleties of Pheobe and Rege’s performances are far more compelling to me. This is not a condemnation of their abilities as actors – far from it, but based on what I like to see onscreen. I’ve watched S1 more times than I can count, and am not sure if I ever want to watch S2 again.
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However, saying all that, the sex scene we got from K&A was far more sensual than all the jackhammering that S&D (well Simon!) engaged in – even if the start of many of those scenes I did find sexy – and the set up of it kind of made sense given their story arc. Also, Jonathan is a nice looking guy, but Rege is… divine to me!!!
Lastly, I loved all the messiness of the Fetheringtons, seeing the PenElosie, ALL of the Violet/Lady D/Queen C and Benedict shenanigans!!! Those are the parts that kept me watching this season. And I have to say that I worry about Luke and Luke (Colin and Benedict) as I don’t see either of them as romantic leads and Colin in particular has as much charisma as a wet blanket!!! AND.. what happened to all the queerness we were baited with in S1???
That’s all folks… 🙂
Unpopular opinion from me, as well, but I just thought that Anthony was irredeemably terrible. I kept coming back to how this dude just completely jerked around these two sisters. It feels super weird to me to fantasize about someone who literally was like, “I’m going to marry your sister!” till like the last episode. How is that sexy?? Are we really so starved for romantic leads that he’s the best we can do? I would have loved if Kate and he married earlier and we got to see some of their relationship mending (and her relationship with her sister mending.) As it was, it was really jarring for me to go from him almost marrying Edwina to suddenly being with Kate. He didn’t have a chance to become likeable.
I also had issues with the will they or won’t they plot. It just felt really tired to me… And dare I say, boring? By the time they finally boned, I was so over it.
I am only in the 2nd episode, and I love the whole lushness of the sets and costumes, and thrilled that there is a series that gets romance tropes, even if it’s a little OTT sometimes. That being said, Eloise has already irritated the crap out of me. She’s so oblivious to the feelings of other people and irrationally obsessed with the Whistledown mystery. And I don’t understand why Kate seems to be running the whole show with her sister, while her mother is quietly in the background? Why doesn’t Edwina push back a little against her sister’s control? She’s too sweet to be real.
This season’s story editor is Geetika Lizardi, who is an Indian-born American, and I think the article linked above doesn’t give her contributions and intention proper acknowledgement.