Dearest Gentle Reader,
One month ago, I had not seen a single episode of Netflix’s beloved costume drama “Bridgerton.”
Now, I have seen every episode of “Bridgerton” after binge-watching the entire series with my wife (her second time through) in order to catch up in time for the final batch of Season 4 to drop on Netflix this Thursday.
I hereby declare that I am officially hooked on this delicious confection of palace intrigue, steamy romances, family squabbles and royal scandals, wondering why I ever resisted the genre in the first place, despite enjoying many of its greatest works on the big screen, particularly those magnificent Merchant-Ivory Productions.
(Right now, you’re probably reading this in Julie Andrews’ voice, even though someone else is actually penning these words, just like the secret identity of the kingdom’s mysterious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown)
Based on the novels by American author Julia Quinn, showrunner Chris Van Dusen and executive producer Shonda Rhimes have delivered a brilliant premise of alternative history, imagining racial equality in the London Regency Era of the early 1800s. This time, King George III has married a woman of African heritage, Queen Charlotte, enabling other people of color to rise into the same levels of nobility as their traditional Anglo peers.
The first season wonderfully introduced the romance between the jaded Duke of Hastings, Simon Bassett (Regé-Jean Page) and the innocent Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), deemed the “diamond” debutante. The writers deftly created conflict by juxtaposing Daphne’s desire to raise a family with Simon’s back story, his cruel father mocking his childhood stutter, causing an adult Simon to vow on his father’s deathbed to never produce an heir.
Sadly, the Simon-Daphne story vanished when Page refused to return for season two, but that didn’t stop us from exploring the Bridgerton family. This time, Daphne’s oldest brother Lord Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey) worked out his childhood trauma of losing his father to a bee sting. He carried this grief into a love triangle between the new “diamond” prospect, Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran) and her older half-sister Kathani (Simone Ashley), who was love at first sight in the forest as the heated frenemies became forbidden lovers.
The third installment “Queen Charlotte” (2023) was technically a spinoff but arguably the best season yet. Not only did we get the back story of Lady Danbury (Arsema Thomas and Adjoa Andoh), we learned the complex roots of Queen Charlotte. India Amarteifio was perfectly cast as a younger version of actress Golda Rosheuvel, who we’ve grown to love for her cold quips and elaborate hairdos. She showed a softer side by caring for King George (Corey Mylchreest and James Fleet), battling mental illness by adorably crawling under the bed together.
Finally, the fourth installment dropped last month (technically labeled Season 3, but we all know it’s the fourth). While a subplot involves the Bridgerton matriarch Violet (Ruth Gemmell) returning to romance as a widow, the main storyline involves Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) manifesting her childhood crush for neighbor Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), a roaming womanizer who is finally ready to settle down with Penelope.
Can their romance survive the revelation that Penelope is indeed Lady Whistledown, a twist that we gentle viewers learned at the end of the first season but the news of which still eludes Colin? Like everyone, I was shocked at the reveal, though the clues were there all along (Penelope Featherington is literally “pen” and “feather”). I didn’t initially buy the young wallflower as some wise esteemed writer, but it’s grown on me since.
Either way, the news is stunning to the few characters who know, namely Penelope’s former best friend Eloise Bridgerton (Claudia Jessie a.k.a. Zooey Deschanel’s clone), who has recently befriended that nasty meddler Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen). I won’t spoil what happens in this new batch of episodes, but twists and turns await after that midseason cliffhanger of Colin and Pen romping in the carriage (that chauffeur deserves a raise).
In such moments, the show will prove to be too risqué for some viewers with graphic brothel interludes to rival “Game of Thrones.” However, when it comes to the main characters, it’s often tastefully done with a romantic “will they, won’t they” storyline that builds to a big payoff. If you turn on the subtitles, the “moaning” descriptions can be hilarious; the text also helps us play “name that tune” as modern pop music gently plays on ballroom violins.
I sincerely hope you enjoy this new batch of episodes. Surely, many of you will binge them all Thursday night and have nothing left to watch this weekend (good luck transitioning to Pixar’s “Inside Out 2” in theaters Friday).
Might I suggest revisiting Brontë flicks like William Wyler’s “Wuthering Heights” (1939) or Cary Fukunaga’s “Jane Eyre” (2011); Jane Austen in Ang Lee’s “Sense & Sensibility” (1995) and Joe Wright’s “Pride & Prejudice” (2005); the great Merchant-Ivory productions of “A Room with a View” (1985) and “The Remains of the Day” (1993); and auteur gems like Martin Scorsese’s “The Age of Innocence” (1993) or Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” (2019).
There, that should keep you busy until the fifth installment of “Bridgerton” arrives in 2026 following Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson). Fortunately for fans, there are eight official novels to adapt, not to mention various epilogues, compilations and anthologies for an endless amount of material just waiting to arrive on screen.
Now run along, dearest gentle reader, I must put down this pen to record your daily radio address.
Yours Truly,
Lord Whistledown
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