Bridgerton, Reviewed
Liam Daniel/Netflix.
You know Bridgerton is going to be a good show when it opens with Julie Andrews’ golden voice introducing our characters against the backdrop of a macaron-toned London. With all of Jane Austen’s warmth and Gossip Girl’s raunchiness, Netflix’s new show Bridgerton gives us exactly what we all need: a warm, cosy escape after the horrible train wreck that was 2020. Set in Regency era London, albeit a more fantastical version of it, Bridgerton offers a look into society life and the many tribulations that come with it. The show is an aesthetic carnival, brimming with sprawling garden estates, vibrant gowns, and pastel interiors where our characters giggle and flirt, smile demurely and exchange stolen glances.
This eight-episode series follows the Bridgerton siblings, four boys and four girls, as they navigate their romantic lives in high-society London. While this season mainly revolves around Daphne Bidgerton, the breathtakingly elegant eldest sister and the “incomparable” of the season as declared by Queen Charlotte herself, her siblings indulge in their equally exciting sub-plots. Viscount Bidgerton, the eldest sibling, is wrapped up in a romance with an opera singer born on the wrong side of town. Eloise wants nothing to do with courtship and instead dedicates her efforts towards unmasking the mysterious Lady Whistledown (à la Gossip Girl), whose anonymous scandal sheet has the whole town hooked with its juicy reveals and scathing comments.
Liam Daniel/Netflix.
Daphne’s love interest is the ridiculously attractive Duke of Hastings, played by René-Jean Page. The two are diametrical opposites; Daphne wants to marry for love and the Duke wants nothing to do with marriage, but the tension between the two is enough to slip and cut yourself on. Indeed, while the show was released on Christmas day, don’t make the mistake of watching this with your family. The bawdy sex scenes and titillating flirtations are at the forefront throughout. One memorable scene is of the Duke amusingly explaining the concept of “touching oneself” to a clueless Daphne against the backdrop of a serene London park. While I wouldn’t go as far as to compare Bridgerton to Fifty Shades of Grey, there are certainly similar elements.
Sexy dukes aside, there is much more that Bridgerton has to offer. The show gives us a glimpse into what it means to be a lady in the Regency era, albeit in a more lighthearted fashion. Anxiety-fueled social seasons, vicious whispered gossips, and a ridiculous lack of any sex education are the norm. And yet, the show feels incredibly modern. Showrunner Chris van Dusen’s Regency era London is far more ethnically diverse than history allows. Violin editions of songs like ‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Eilish and ‘Thank You, Next’ by Ariana Grande waft through lavish ballrooms as our characters do the foxtrot.
Bridgerton is not an accurate or witty period drama, nor does it pretend to be. Many of the plotlines are silly and exaggerated, much like any other teen drama, and nowhere near the cleverness that one might expect from a Regency era story. Yet, what it does deliver rather spectacularly is a lighthearted story one can enjoy on a cold winter evening, perhaps tucked under a warm blanket while sipping a glass of merlot. In terms of warmth and aesthetic appeal, the show comes out triumphant. It is, as Lady Whistledown would write, a “diamond of the first water.”
Liam Daniel/Netflix.