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
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