Bridgerton

[technicolor]

Mar 27, 2022 18:07:26 GMT -4 Neurochick said:

I think the differences of opinion are great. Some message boards loved Kate/Anthony. Some message boards don't like the Kate/Anthony pairing because both of them were so awful to Edwina. I am of that opinion too. By standards today, I think Kate and Anthony were cheating and it was very hard for me to root for them as a couple. I hated in the last scene Edwina was no where to be found. What about her happiness?

I thought Bailey and Ashley had good chemistry and Bailey in particular really deliverd a strong portrayal which made it understandable why Anthony is so tied up in his duties and in creating misery for himself because he's been forced into being the head of the family at a much too young age and because he has unprocessed trauma regarding his father's early death. But they should have stayed closer to the book, which was less melodramatic and without the love triangle. Shondaland lives for the soap opera, though.

And so I sorta understood why Anthony and Kate were bound up in what they perceived they had to do, but Edwina became collateral damage in their self-denial. Anthony seemed to get more clear-headed about what a mess it was earlier on, but by that point he couldn't break the engagement anymore without ruining Edwina. Kate was very frustrating in how very long she took to gain some self-awareness, that was misjugded by the script IMO. It was totally understandable that Edwina was angry and hurt by their behaviour.

Another "problem", if you will, is that IMO they inadvertedly showed that a pairing between Anthony and Edwina was feasible. The actors had nice friendship chemistry and though Edwina had more of a crush and Anthony liked Edwina but wasn't attracted to her, there were marriages made of less solid stuff... They could have learned to care for each other and made a successful go of it. I don't think the show wanted me to get that idea. ;-)

[Deleted]

Finished this morning! I still kind of don't buy Anthony and Kate though. It was better at the end but there's something about Simone Ashley that I don't like in this role. Even when she was supposed to be pouring her heart out she still seemed frigid. I've never seen her in anything else so I'm sure she's talented, I just feel like there was never that moment of her truly letting her guard down, whereas with Anthony there was.

Loved the final scene with Eloise and Pen. And I know that she's on an emotional rollercoaster but I didn't feel that bad for her when she overheard Colin. She's basically the villain at this point. Unlike her mother, who, go Lady Featherington! Look at you, choosing your daughters over everything else! You're still bad at scheming but you occasionally get it right.

Next season will be interesting. Chronologically, Benedict (the artist, for those who can't tell the guys apart, I don't blame you) is up next, and he hasn't had much development thus far. He's a painter who sleeps around a lot and is the only sibling who seems to understand Eloise. Him suddenly turning monogamous and finding true love doesn't really jive with him being a libertine, but, we'll see.

I want more Newton.

[kostgard]

Mar 28, 2022 13:23:23 GMT -4 @ximena said:

Finished this morning! I still kind of don't buy Anthony and Kate though. It was better at the end but there's something about Simone Ashley that I don't like in this role. Even when she was supposed to be pouring her heart out she still seemed frigid. I've never seen her in anything else so I'm sure she's talented, I just feel like there was never that moment of her truly letting her guard down, whereas with Anthony there was.

Loved the final scene with Eloise and Pen. And I know that she's on an emotional rollercoaster but I didn't feel that bad for her when she overheard Colin. She's basically the villain at this point. Unlike her mother, who, go Lady Featherington! Look at you, choosing your daughters over everything else! You're still bad at scheming but you occasionally get it right.

Simone Ashley is also in “Sex Education” where her character is pretty similar. I feel like she doesn’t have a whole lot of range.

I’m fine with Penelope spinning her pain into being a villainess. It must suck in that world to be the one (according to her mother) with no hope of any prospects, and she’s perfect as a spy because no one pays attention to her. She gets ignored for stupid, shitty, shallow reasons, so why not use those very attitudes against those who wield them against her? She did hurt Eloise, but it was to protect her from the Queen, and she had hung up her quill until she was basically reminded all night why she gets ignored and then Colin’s shittiness was what drove her back to it (and seriously - it would have stung her enough to hear Colin tell his buds that they were only friends and he thought of her as a sister, but instead he was all, “Me and Penelope? Ew! Gross!” after telling her how important she is to him. That dude can suck it). I want Penelope to make enough money off the people who ignore/shun her to go live comfortably in Paris or wherever for the rest of her life.

[technicolor]

IMO Ashley was really hampered by the writing for Kate. She had moments of wit, charm and also real feeling towards the end. But while Anthony and with that Bailey (who I think really carried the season and made the best of a lot of nonsense) had a pretty convincing character arc where he opened up and realized what he actually wants as opposed to what he's always planned for his life because of his sense of duty/trauma, Kate just stayed stuck too long in this "self-sacrifice" mode. And because the actual motivation for that was "soap opera, so that we can draw things out as long as possible" and not believable intrinsic motivation for the character, it created frustration and distance with Kate.

[Deleted]

Finished season 2, and this apparently is an unpopular opinion but I really did like it.

I thought it was fun and frothy and exactly what you'd expect from the typical Regency romance.

I did think the main romance was dragged out a bit too long, and Eloise was a bit too screechy and overly dramatic for my liking but otherwise it was quite enjoyable. I liked that Kate was a bit older and therefore not so innocent and sheltered the way Daphne had been. I also liked the Bridgerton family dynamics as they played croquet (I read the books so long ago that I don't remember much more than a few major plotlines/reveals but I do remember their family games being a big deal and I thought that was captured nicely in this season). I also liked seeing glimpses of Daphne's baby:)

It's funny people mention not being able to tell the Bridgerton brothers apart, because I totally could not either for the entire first season. And it took me well into the first episode of season 2 to be able to finally differentiate between them.

Lady Danbury is still my favorite character. I'm also guessing that Penelope's story will come next based on the way things ended and what I remember from the books.

[technicolor]

I think season 2 is liked well enough generally from what I've seen online, the audience figures have been certainly strong and the reviews have been quite decent as well. But there's agreement that some of the writing was just bad. It was too much soap opera IMO. I think a lot of the louder complaining is also book fans who are upset that a good couple in the novel was kinda sabotaged by the writing. I think they salvaged it at the end, but the dragging out in the middle of the season was unnecessary.

But then, I thought season 1 also had its bad bits. Daphne was a drip of a heroine and though they didn't give Kate enough focus and development it also felt like two adults negotiating if and why they want to be together between her and Anthony. I also liked that Anthony had more self-awareness than Kate and was the one who became emotionally supportive towards Kate. Usually Manic Pixie Dreamgirl Heroine teaches the hero all about feelings in these sort of romances. Oh and there was no sexual assault like between Daphne and Simon for all that they caused emotional hurt for Edwina with all their misguided good intentions. So that was an improvement.

[Deleted]

Apr 10, 2022 6:23:55 GMT -4 technicolor said:

I think season 2 is liked well enough generally from what I've seen online, the audience figures have been certainly strong and the reviews have been quite decent as well. But there's agreement that some of the writing was just bad. It was too much soap opera IMO. I think a lot of the louder complaining is also book fans who are upset that a good couple in the novel was kinda sabotaged by the writing. I think they salvaged it at the end, but the dragging out in the middle of the season was unnecessary.

I agree that some of the writing was not great and the soap opera type angst was a bit much especially post the wedding fiasco. However (and I think this is where opinions are split), I thought the characters of Anthony and Kate were played so well and their chemistry was so strong that it made up for that. The sex scenes were fewer than the previous season but more effective (imo, anyway!). There was a certain tenderness and poignancy to them that was missing from the ones in season 1.

[luckylexie]

I liked season two infinitely better than season one. I didn’t rewatch season 1, but I’ve rewatched season two multiple times already! Simon is so incredibly dull on screen, IMO, but I guess that’s the actor’s fault. Anthony is so much more interesting.

The first sex scene between Kate and Anthony: did he only go down on Kate or did they do “everything?” I mean, even if they didn’t, they still had sex by definition. In my mind, they didn’t. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Laira]

Is there going to be a season 3?

[chitowngirl]

Apr 5, 2023 13:56:18 GMT -4 Laira said:

Is there going to be a season 3?

There is! They just finished filming.