'Bridgerton' on Netflix

This show premiers on Christmas Day on Netflix. 

I read Julia Quinn's novels about the 8 Bridgerton siblings finding love some years ago and remember enjoying a few of them. Never thought it would get made into a major TV series by Shondaland! The production looks awesome and the cast looks great too! And diverse - which is a treat!

I'm a sucker for Regency romances so I will be watching this! Would love to hear from others who are similarly hooked!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpv7ayf_tyE

Edited by LizzieBennett - 3 years ago

Update after my binge watch: [SPOILER ALERT]!!

The good:

- The sets and the costumes ❤️

- The string arrangements with modern music was so fun, the background music in the Simon-Daphne love scene was really good.

- Rege-Jean Page as Simon Bassett is gorgeous!  He looks every inch the royal Duke! ❤️

- Prince Friedrich (Freddie Stroma) is cute too (Lucky Daphne!)

- The diversity in casting (though I'd like to see more of them in central roles, including Asian and Indigenous).

- Ruby Barker is pretty as Marina Thompson

- Claudia Jessie shines as Eloise Bridgerton (despite her weird hairstyle)

- The whole Gossip girl esque Lady Whistledown storyline with Julie Andrews' narration.

- The LGBTQ storyline that was missing in the books.

- Jonathan Bailey as Anthony Bridgerton rocks (but his sideburns are ridiculous! 😆)

- I also liked Ruth Gemmell as Violet Bridgerton; her acting was on point.

- Penelope's sweet crush on Colin.

- The Benedict- Eloise dynamic

- The Eloise- Penelope friendship

- The female gaze (and more) ☺️☺️, Daphne lusting after Simon , and a lot of shirtless Simon 😳😆.

- "I burn for you"  ☺️☺️☺️

The not- so good:

- Overall, I found the pacing and the dialogues wanting. One of the things I noticed is that Daphne and Simon literally have nothing to talk about. How on earth did they become friends? 

- The humor from the books is completely missing. 🤔

- Pheobe Dynevor is pretty, and her acting is not bad either, but I didn't feel the chemistry between her and Rege-Jean. 😳 Also, Daphne, as a character, is pretty blah, and quite annoying and entitled!

- The problematic storylines- 1) Daphne taking away Simon's agency, and 2) How Marina is treated with the reveal in Whistledown, and Penelope's change of feelings towards her when she starts to go after Colin. 

- The whole Marina-Colin storyline which wasn't part of the books. 👎🏼

- Anthony being a rude, overbearing, pushy big brother 👎🏼

- A lot of the s*x scenes seem gratuitous, and more for titillation, especially the Anthony-Siena ones.

- The LGBTQ storyline seemed to lead nowhere. Julian Ovenden as Henry Granville was fun, I squealed when I recognized him from Downton Abbey.

- Golda Rosheuval as Queen Charlotte showed promise, then again they didn't do much with her character. Same with  Adjoa Andoh as Lady Danbury.

- Overall, I found the acting to be pretty underwhelming. I hope it improves in Season 2, if there is going to be one. Especially Colin, Penelope (I loved Nicola Coughlan in Derry Girls but in this one she left me unmoved), Benedict, and Simon. Pity, because I love the Colin-Penelope story and hope the actors are able to generate the chemistry by the time the series gets there! 

- I also missed the snarky interactions between the Bridgerton siblings that was so much part of the books; there were some, but not enough.

- The Anthony and Siena storyline was totally unnecessary (not part of the books) and seems to have been put in just for more gratuitous s*x scenes! 😆 And maybe to establish Anthony's reputation as a rake, though I don't quite know how it does that because he's shown to be pretty faithful to Siena.🤔

Overall, it was quite entertaining and I recommend people who like period romances to give it a go. I remember liking Anthony and Colin's stories the most, so look forward to Season 2 which I assume will be the Anthony- Kate story (their banter is quite fun as I recall).

Edited by LizzieBennett - 3 years ago

Oooh I binged watched the series couple of days ago! I really really liked it.Agree with most of your points here though, some bits I really didn't like (especially Anthony being overbearing, I don't remember him being this way in the book). Marina and Colin's plot just seemed to came out of nowhere and I didn't enjoy it at all. There was definitely OTT intimate scenes, some were just used as fillers I think. 

The bits I did like (kinda disagree with you here) - Daphne and Simon's chemistry ☺️ They were just perfect according to me!  I'm drooling over Rege-Jean Page ☺️ I especially loved Eloise's character - she reminded me soo much of Elizabeth Bennett from P&P. I can't wait for her series. I loved her book as well. I loved Lady Danbury and the actress who played the character. It was exactly the way I envisioned Lady Danbury 😎

I really do hope they come out with season 2 in the next year (I read somewhere that its for 2022 though)

i think you guys pretty much covered the points ! This show took over half of my Christmas. I liked it very much! Good dialogue and script, excellent. Costumes, castles, screen play - very catchy! The only thing i was apprehensive was that there were too many details which just did not fit to the 1804-1823 or something it was supposed to be of.

I still think the chemistry was off, could be because Daphne-Simon is not my favorite story because of all the problematic elements. Also, they did not give a chance for Simon to talk to Daphne about his daddy issues at all. I found Rege- Jean’s acting to be somewhat lacking, though I think he looks gorgeous! No complaints there!😳

Have they sanctioned a Season 2 yet? I hope so, I really want to see Anthony and  Colin’s stories and the younger siblings’ as well. Am eager to see who they’ll cast as Kate.

Edited by LizzieBennett - 3 years ago

Do you mean they included stuff that wasn’t true to the times? Could you cite some examples?

I found some people complaining about the presence of POC and the fact that it isn’t historically accurate! It’s a regency romance for god’s sake! Who cares about authenticity? Plus they kind of explained how Charlotte being Queen helped bring Black people into prominent positions in society. I’m satisfied with that! And if it helps bring more diversity into the show, I’m all for it!

Oh yes definitely agree about Simon’s childhood issues - I don’t remember any mention of it in the book either now that I think about it. I read the book about 5-6 years ago, might have to revisit it sometimes. It would have been such a strong bonding scene with the two of them. 

I read somewhere that season 2 is due to be out in 2022, don’t know how accurate it is! I really did enjoy this season so hoping Anthony and Kate’s story is even better - they’re def my fav Bridgerton couple ❤️

I feel a bit costume wise like I was going question the use of brightly-colored dresses or the wedding scene. Otherwise, plot-wise, I thought the show was good. I still let it go because overall, it was a nice attempt in indeed to showcase diversity in the show, like you said. 

Edited by Meena_J - 3 years ago

I am done with three episodes and OH MY GOSH i am deeply loving it. Cant wait for the next episode. 

Do post your final review after you're done watching. Have you read the books?

Watching this has sent me down a rabbit hole of Regency romances. I'm devouring books by Regency authors one by one and having a ball of a time! Literally, and figuratively! 😃

Edited by LizzieBennett - 3 years ago